Arrived in Olbia in early May to beautiful clear Italian skies....almost as warm as the UK where we'd had temperatures in the mid 20s!
Unfortunately, David ended up in Olbia Hospital for a week fighting off the lurking Indian bug he's picked up during our month backpacking adventure there in March.
It was absolutely wonderful to see our very good friend (and nurse) Del Bissell who arrived while David was still lying in a hospital bed. She was so supportive and David managed a speedy recovery so that we could get out to Isola de Porrie for a day.
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, head away from the safe harbour, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." Mark Twain
Thursday, June 9, 2011
The Mortons at Cala Coticcio Sardinia
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| Gee, Susi and Bridget Morton and Alex Hood |
Jane and Derrick Milton in Sardinia
We were thrilled when Jane and Derrick Millton - friends from Marlborough - emailed to say they were coming to visit. They were in London for THE wedding.....and so we were delighted they squeezed us into their busy itinerary. We met up with them in London several times - had a lovely afternoon exploring Richmond, Richmond Park, tea at Petersham Gardens and Hampton Court Palace with them. Brenda also got up early to see them off to William and Kate's wedding before she joined the throngs in Horse Guards Parade while Jane and Derrick headed for Westminster Cathedral!
They were only with us a few days but we managed to show them a few sights. The weather was kind. The sea was still far too cold for us to swim but Jane took the plunge and enjoyed the crystal clear waters at beautiful Isola Mortorio.
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| Sardinia |
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| Jane and Derrick on Sardinia |
2010 season
After delays due to ash cloud over the UK, David finally flew to Marmaris and I followed a month later. We left the marina late April and headed for Simi, before sailing to Tilos and Nisyros - new Greek Islands for us. They were lovely, as was Astipalea where we stayed for a week. Then it was across to Santorini where we met Sally and Tim Wadworth from Marlborough. Santorini was magnificent, albeit very touristy, and we escaped the crowds by finding a mooring at Oia, at the very top of the island from where we watched some magnificent sunsets. We sailed to beautiful Folegandros and then Milos where we dropped the Wadworths then had a lovely sail across to the mainland.
Jerry and Jan Ford from Timaru joined us at the east end of the Corinth Canal and we motored through this amazing piece of engineering before spending a few lovely days in the Sea of Corinth. Navpaktos was the highlight - a semi enclosed ancient harbour within spitting distance of the new and magnificent Rion bridge that joins mainland Greece with the Peloponnese. Soon we were back in the Ionian - what a lovely area it is. We dropped the Fords in Sami Kefalonia where we met up with old sailing buddies Frank and Kati from Antares. Had a few lovely days with them on the south of the island before David's goddaughter Bridget Morton joined us for the sail across to Syracuse in Sicily.
Fantastic to be back in Italy - gelato, spada, Parmesan, proscuitto, mozarella, ricotta, lemoncello....all those wonderful foods. We loved Syracuse and spent more than a week just enjoying the ancient city and taking bus trips to inland towns. Time to head away though and we sailed the south coast, stopping off at a couple of interesting ports.....very Sicilian......before crossing to Sardinia. Lovely to be back in the clear turquoise waters of Villasimius and we spent a few days here doing chores.
Pete and Chick Anderson joined us in Arbatax and we sailed up to Olbia with them - had only a day between them and our nexdt guests - the Hileys from England. Sailed to Bonifacio with them and back to Olbia where we picked up Amy and Corry from Rutland and Amy's parents Barb and Glen from Fielding - whew....busy time. We sailed up to Ajaccio with them and what a great time we had - such fun people.
Annabel and Sally Wigley then joined us briefly - Annabel had just competed at Burghley and managed to squeeze in a quick Med trip. We dropped them in Olbia where Mirabella was tied up - she just happens to be skippered by a Kiwi who knows the Wigleys! Fantastic to see on board this magnificent yacht.
Time to head into Marina de Olbia for the winter - a nine month contract. Brigitta from Switzerland came down with her friend Monica for a few days and they enjoyed swimming - although it was too cold for us. Time to shut down Bandit for the winter and head to London.
Jerry and Jan Ford from Timaru joined us at the east end of the Corinth Canal and we motored through this amazing piece of engineering before spending a few lovely days in the Sea of Corinth. Navpaktos was the highlight - a semi enclosed ancient harbour within spitting distance of the new and magnificent Rion bridge that joins mainland Greece with the Peloponnese. Soon we were back in the Ionian - what a lovely area it is. We dropped the Fords in Sami Kefalonia where we met up with old sailing buddies Frank and Kati from Antares. Had a few lovely days with them on the south of the island before David's goddaughter Bridget Morton joined us for the sail across to Syracuse in Sicily.
Fantastic to be back in Italy - gelato, spada, Parmesan, proscuitto, mozarella, ricotta, lemoncello....all those wonderful foods. We loved Syracuse and spent more than a week just enjoying the ancient city and taking bus trips to inland towns. Time to head away though and we sailed the south coast, stopping off at a couple of interesting ports.....very Sicilian......before crossing to Sardinia. Lovely to be back in the clear turquoise waters of Villasimius and we spent a few days here doing chores.
Pete and Chick Anderson joined us in Arbatax and we sailed up to Olbia with them - had only a day between them and our nexdt guests - the Hileys from England. Sailed to Bonifacio with them and back to Olbia where we picked up Amy and Corry from Rutland and Amy's parents Barb and Glen from Fielding - whew....busy time. We sailed up to Ajaccio with them and what a great time we had - such fun people.
Annabel and Sally Wigley then joined us briefly - Annabel had just competed at Burghley and managed to squeeze in a quick Med trip. We dropped them in Olbia where Mirabella was tied up - she just happens to be skippered by a Kiwi who knows the Wigleys! Fantastic to see on board this magnificent yacht.
Time to head into Marina de Olbia for the winter - a nine month contract. Brigitta from Switzerland came down with her friend Monica for a few days and they enjoyed swimming - although it was too cold for us. Time to shut down Bandit for the winter and head to London.
Friday, April 29, 2011
2009 season
Anzac Cove or bust! And bust we nearly did as we battled the Meltemi all the way up the Turkish Coast. Whoever said it doesn't blow until July - we've got news for you! One day we almost gave up.....Brenda was in the galley making coffee when we took a greenie over the bow. She got drenched, the coffee was severely diluted and tempers were somewhat frayed. From that point on we learnt to always close the hatch!!
Gallipoli was amazing and going ashore and seeing Bandit anchored in Anzac Cove was very special. From there we had a magical (and fast) sail across to Thasos and Samothraki - beautiful Greek Islands seldom visited due to their northern position. Only a handful of yachts there including Americans Dick and Ginger off Alchemy who we have since followed around the Med.
Next up were the Sporades where we followed in the footsteps of Meryl Streep and co - Mamma Mia was filmed here. On a beautifully calm day we anchored in the bay beneath the chapel in "that" wedding scene and exhausted ourselves by climbing the steep steps to the top - what a view.
A series of lovely downwind sails to the Cyclades where the Meltemi picked up all its strength for us. We battled short, choppy seas and horrendous winds to pick up David's cousin Tina Hamilton on Tinos. As we eventually docked (after lots of attempts), the neighbouring boat told us they'd had 40knots out there. Our top gust was 38 - that's no fun. A week later we picked up James, Diane, Harrison and Sophie on Mykonos and sailed down to Paros and Naxos with them, managing to find ways to entertain the kids even with the Meltemi constantly blowing.
The Meltemi was still blowing when Chick and Pete Anderson arrived on Paros, but we headed straight down to the small Cyclades for a fantastic few weeks......sheer bliss! Then we had another Marlborough visitor in the form of Del Bissell who flew into Paros. We sailed to Kos where we picked up daughter Rebecca and then had a lovely time island hopping across to Turkey where we headed into Marmaris to drop them off and finish our season.
Looking forward to some inland travel we bussed up to Bulgaria spending time in Plovdiv and Sofia before flying to London.
Gallipoli was amazing and going ashore and seeing Bandit anchored in Anzac Cove was very special. From there we had a magical (and fast) sail across to Thasos and Samothraki - beautiful Greek Islands seldom visited due to their northern position. Only a handful of yachts there including Americans Dick and Ginger off Alchemy who we have since followed around the Med.
Next up were the Sporades where we followed in the footsteps of Meryl Streep and co - Mamma Mia was filmed here. On a beautifully calm day we anchored in the bay beneath the chapel in "that" wedding scene and exhausted ourselves by climbing the steep steps to the top - what a view.
A series of lovely downwind sails to the Cyclades where the Meltemi picked up all its strength for us. We battled short, choppy seas and horrendous winds to pick up David's cousin Tina Hamilton on Tinos. As we eventually docked (after lots of attempts), the neighbouring boat told us they'd had 40knots out there. Our top gust was 38 - that's no fun. A week later we picked up James, Diane, Harrison and Sophie on Mykonos and sailed down to Paros and Naxos with them, managing to find ways to entertain the kids even with the Meltemi constantly blowing.
The Meltemi was still blowing when Chick and Pete Anderson arrived on Paros, but we headed straight down to the small Cyclades for a fantastic few weeks......sheer bliss! Then we had another Marlborough visitor in the form of Del Bissell who flew into Paros. We sailed to Kos where we picked up daughter Rebecca and then had a lovely time island hopping across to Turkey where we headed into Marmaris to drop them off and finish our season.
Looking forward to some inland travel we bussed up to Bulgaria spending time in Plovdiv and Sofia before flying to London.
2008 season
We began with a few cruisy weeks in the beautiful Ionian Sea, joined firstly by Adie and Pete McLean and Chick Anderson and then Barry and Fiona Shearer, before heading across to the Greek mainland. We dropped Barry and Fiona off here and went inland ourselves to explore the ancient site of Olympia. Then it was a fantastic few weeks sailing down to the Peloponese which is a gorgeous and relatively undiscovered area of Greece.
We picked up Richard and Wendy Batchelor near Naflion and visited some wonderful islands - Hydra, Paros and Mykonos before dropping them off in Naxos. We loved the Cyclades - despite the Meltemi wind. We took our time cruising across to Turkey. Rosie Todhunter and three friends joined us in Kos (one of the easternmost Greek Islands) and we skipped across to Turkey with them before dropping them off in Rhodes.
Met Kiwi sailors Ross and Jo Blackman in Bozuk Buku in Turkey with the girls onboard and had a wonderful night at a local restaurant with Ross being coerced into getting his guitar from Sojourn and serenading the crowd - what a fantastic musician he is. We met up with Sojourn again later in the season and spent some wonderful days together in the Kekova Roads area of Turkey - simply stunning.
We ended the season in Marmaris marina which is a great meeting place for yachties. Met up with Jo and Ross again and another Kiwi couple Keith and Pam Goodall off Savarna, a lovely Hanse yacht. Also met some great Australians, Swiss, French - well all sailors are fantastic people aren't they?
At the end of the season we headed to Cappadocia and then flew to Istanbul before heading to the UK for another winter.
We picked up Richard and Wendy Batchelor near Naflion and visited some wonderful islands - Hydra, Paros and Mykonos before dropping them off in Naxos. We loved the Cyclades - despite the Meltemi wind. We took our time cruising across to Turkey. Rosie Todhunter and three friends joined us in Kos (one of the easternmost Greek Islands) and we skipped across to Turkey with them before dropping them off in Rhodes.
Met Kiwi sailors Ross and Jo Blackman in Bozuk Buku in Turkey with the girls onboard and had a wonderful night at a local restaurant with Ross being coerced into getting his guitar from Sojourn and serenading the crowd - what a fantastic musician he is. We met up with Sojourn again later in the season and spent some wonderful days together in the Kekova Roads area of Turkey - simply stunning.
We ended the season in Marmaris marina which is a great meeting place for yachties. Met up with Jo and Ross again and another Kiwi couple Keith and Pam Goodall off Savarna, a lovely Hanse yacht. Also met some great Australians, Swiss, French - well all sailors are fantastic people aren't they?
At the end of the season we headed to Cappadocia and then flew to Istanbul before heading to the UK for another winter.
our first season
Our first six months on Bandit was spent heads down, bottoms up cleaning, cleaning and cleaning. We scrubbed and polished her until she gleamed. In fact one local sailor at the marina came past one day and told us he simply didn't recognise the boat. She was in a pretty sad state when we bought her, but by April she (and we) was raring to go. Our first few days sailing up the Spanish coast was interesting as we got used to her - David's first attempt to "Mediterranean style" berth was heart in mouth stuff. Luckily son Ryan was also on board so there was an extra pair of hands to help.
We reached the Balearics just in time to meet David's sister Susi, husband Tim and daughter Briony who were joining us for a few days. From the Balearics we headed to Corsica where Nick and Jock Clouston sailed with us to Sardinia and then it was Jimma Dillon's turn. It was an incredibly busy season as in August we had Zak and Helen Ensor, who joined us in Sicily and sailed with us to Greece, then in September Jenny and John Oswald, Stephanie Maraz and Brenda's son Sam. We spent the time with them in the beautiful Ionian Sea.
We visited some stunning spots and it was wonderful to be back in the beautiful Greek Islands. Both David and Brenda had been there in the 1970s.....so there was catching up to do - on ouzo, Greek yoghurt and memories!
Bandit spent the winter in Preveza while we headed to the UK to become Animal Aunts - looking after the houses and pets of the wealthy while they holidayed. A fantastic first season
We reached the Balearics just in time to meet David's sister Susi, husband Tim and daughter Briony who were joining us for a few days. From the Balearics we headed to Corsica where Nick and Jock Clouston sailed with us to Sardinia and then it was Jimma Dillon's turn. It was an incredibly busy season as in August we had Zak and Helen Ensor, who joined us in Sicily and sailed with us to Greece, then in September Jenny and John Oswald, Stephanie Maraz and Brenda's son Sam. We spent the time with them in the beautiful Ionian Sea.
We visited some stunning spots and it was wonderful to be back in the beautiful Greek Islands. Both David and Brenda had been there in the 1970s.....so there was catching up to do - on ouzo, Greek yoghurt and memories!
Bandit spent the winter in Preveza while we headed to the UK to become Animal Aunts - looking after the houses and pets of the wealthy while they holidayed. A fantastic first season
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