South of Basa, the mountains of Sardinia start stretching into lower, rolling hills until they form large, slightly inclined plateaus....

The Sardinian Fisherman coming in at 9 am As we were standing on the pier in the harbour of Alghero, a fisherman arrived from his daily...

Sunset yesterday over Stentino After Castelsardo, we set sail for a choppy sea and headed towards the small fishing village of Stentino....

Castel Doria - Castelgenovese - Castillo Aragonès – Castelsardo. The name says it all. Same place, four names, three rulers. History...

We changed flags today. The French was replaced by the Italian tricolour and the Corsican One Moor had to give way to Sardinia’s Four....

One of the more special moments on a sailboat are the early hours. The first rays of sun give everything a fresh glow, the sea is...

After a day of leisure in and around the Bay of Gioleta, we decided to stay up after dinner and wait until the last ray of light had...

Yesterday, we aimed for Girolata, the bay on the west coast, where in 1540 the Genovese fleet captured Turgut Reis, after he had sacked...

Calvi in the early morning hours Every morning when we wake up and meet for coffee on the deck, it is beautifully quiet, the air is still...

The beautiful Gulf of Saint-Florent this morning What a beautiful day to wake up to. No clouds in the sky, the sea totally flat, no wind....

Our first week of sailing brought us to Bastia. We are now low on sea food, fresh vegetables, dairy products, water, fuel and white wine....

The loudspeaker was squeaking and a female voice with a Parisian accent came through: “Ici Corsica VMS, Allo! Allo! AFAET! Votre...

When discussing our plans for today over dinner last night, we thought we would visit the two Spanish Fortresses, buy some white wine...

After a quiet night in Portoferraio which has far fewer visitors than in a normal year – maybe a third – we intend to sail to the south...

A long sailing day today. A good hour into the journey we passed Livorno. It is a modern harbour today that handles most of Tuscany’s...

One of the few things I could never find out was how the Doria Castle in Porto Venere was linked to the Doria family – except for the...

First full day of sailing. We got up at 7 am for some kayaking and left at 9 am for Porto Venere. There was a tiny bit of wind but our...

After months of planning and much uncertainty, the big day has arrived. We met Captain Nikos and the crew of AFAET at lunchtime in Porto...

Had to wait with writing this blog until I walked down the Strade Nuove yesterday. What an experience. There are so many beautiful 16th...

In the blog about usury, we talked about the Council of Niceae in 325 AD, which unified Christian doctrine and decided which books form...