After an overnight stay in the huge and empty bay in Pasman next to Muntan island we headed on up to Ugljan island for a MdR reunion. We were able to sail most of the way, starting off gently downwind at 3kts playing around with the genny and staysail winged out […]

20th July: A very relieved Emerald crew are now floating again and so far so good: the bilge is dry! We’ve bravely left the safety cocoon of Murter to venture a few miles north for a few easy days. Life in a boatyard can be hard work physically. There’s all […]

There are many bad things that can happen to a boat. Earth (running aground), water (sinking) and air (wind and lightning) are all enemies to our floating home. Right now it was water that was threatening us. As we motored away from the Krka river, a hideous, high pitched squeal had emanated […]

As I’m writing this having finished the Croatia leg of our summer sailing, I can confidently say that the Krka waterfalls was my highlight. It was also great to be back in a river again. Emerald likes her rivers what with the many weeks we have spent up the Fal, 18 months […]

18th June: (A blog from back in time – trying to clear a backlog!) After filling up with diesel, it was mid morning before we were away from Vela Luka and a westerly wind had set in. It was a F4 as we motored away from the town and if […]

Vela Luka on the north end of Korcula island was our chosen bolthole for some strong southerly winds that were forecast to blow for Thursday into Friday. We knew we’d be on buoys for a few nights at 150kn a night but at least we’d be safe from the risk […]

11th June 2016: On our way from Cavtat to Mljet with a southerly F4 we had our first sail in Croatia, woo hoo! It was a bit rolly though and after 20 miles as the wind eased we had to give up, the wind angle and wind strength were not enough […]

7th June: We arrived at the Croatian customs check in port of Cavtat with some trepidation bubbling within. We were running on empty after not a lot of sleep due to rolly seas overnight and we’d read some not very enticing reports about the officials there. First item to check off […]

Otranto An overnight passage messes with our body clocks, especially when it’s just one night and we can’t get into a watch system rhythm, so we usually need a day of rest to recover. The harbour of Otranto was perfect for an afternoon nap – the sea was calm and a beautiful […]

27th May to 1st June We are beginning to strongly dislike the Ionian Sea. Of the three crossings we have made, none can be described as having been enjoyable. The first was a dull slog where we only sailed a quarter of it, the second was beset with no wind […]

What follows is a short summary of our favourite bits of sailing in Malta during May. We would definitely visit again if we happened to be passing. However, our planned route back out of the Med won’t take us that way. Although we’re now behind the boats who left MdR straight […]

Post via ssb from crossing from Sicily (Porto Palo) to the Adriatic (Otranto) Position: 38 28.99 N 17 08.13 E Speed: 5.7 knots Course: 029 deg All well on board. Currently crossing the scary Gulf of Squirrels. (no squirrels sighted, but did spot an inflatable pink turtle!) We have lost […]

Mellieha Bay The landscape of Mellieha Bay is very different from that of the south of Malta. Gone were the soft, yellow cliffs and gently sloping fields to be replaced by a much more rugged and craggy terrain. The bay is huge – which presented us with a dilemma – […]

Birzebbuga Could this be our new favourite anchorage? Well almost….. We had a mostly uneventful motor down the rocky coastline from Rinella Creek. The swell picked up as we rounded the south of the island and had us doing a nodding dog but the distance wasn’t too far before we […]

Emerald must have been saving up her breakages this winter. After the leaking rudder we have had problems with old petrol for the outboard, a perished outboard fuel line and worst of all…. a blocked loo! Just a few blogs ago I wrote how Colin had had his worst day […]