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GERMAN BIGHT The German Bight. That sounds frightening. If you have never been there, rumours about this part of the North Sea could be a reason never to go there. However, if you have been there, then you really might have a reason never to go there again. But is the German Bight really that scary as stories try to fear us?
Biscay and the German Bight. These two sailing areas aren’t the most popular with sailors. Why did I ask myself? Because mo  |
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member ratings:
published on:
04-01-2009
written by:
FRANGIPANI
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PORTUGUESE ATLANTIC COAST The Atlantic west coast of Portugal isn't as beautiful as the colourful Algave (south coast). And be prepared to make miles, because distances between marinas can be up to 60 to 100Nm. And it is almost impossible to anchor along this coastline. This is a brief overview.
CASCAIS
Cascais is the best harbour on the west coast of Portugal. It’s big and has plenty of space. This very professional harbour has a great location close to t |
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member ratings:
published on:
22-02-2008
written by:
FRANGIPANI
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CABO SAO VINCENTE - CORNER OF EUROPE From Lagos to Sines (Portugal)
Each trip has its moments that are special or exciting. The channel of Corinthia was unforgettable, the narrow passage between two enormous, steep walls, the clear, turquoise water. I had really looked forward to the moment that we passed Gibraltar. Crossing Biskaje will be exciting later on, but now Cabo Sao Vincente lies ahead of us. You don’t want to be here if there is any wind or waves. All the boo |
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member ratings:
published on:
22-02-2008
written by:
FRANGIPANI
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PORTUGUESE ALGARVE Porto Cherry is a great harbour with lots of space. There is a registration dock on the left side and a round tower on the wharf where the harbour office is located. The harbour has permanent security provided by a security service.
The distance from Porto Cherry to Villamoura is about 100 miles. We want to try to arrive before it gets dark; therefore we have to average a speed of 6.5. We sail out of the harbour with a nice quarter-w |
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member ratings:
published on:
22-02-2008
written by:
FRANGIPANI
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45 KNOTS OF WIND AROUND GIBRALTAR This story is a part of an unforgettable voyage from Turkey to the Greek Islands, Greece, Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Menorca, Mallorca, Ibiza, Spain, Portugal, France and Belgium, and back to The Netherlands. This trip provided a lot of practical information about sailing on the Mediterranean. You can find all this information and pictures on sailorsforsailors.com.
The plan to leave early doesn’t work because the narrow harbour entranc |
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member ratings:
published on:
22-02-2008
written by:
FRANGIPANI
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IONIC SEA - GREECE Atoko, One House Bay
We are sailing straight towards the entrance to One House Bay. There is only one house on the island, almost on the beach of the bay. That is where it gets its name. I am convinced that we should turn a lot more towards starboard, now that I have seen it with my own eyes, but the C-Chart indicates otherwise. It is strange that it is sometimes so difficult to estimate distance and direction on the water, especiall |
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member ratings:
published on:
22-02-2008
written by:
FRANGIPANI
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GOLF OF CORINTHIA - GREECE Channel of Corinthia
It is five thirty in the morning as we lower the mooring lines into the water. A small fishing boat crosses our path, Piraeus and Athens are calm otherwise. As soon as we leave the harbour, we cross the busy shipping lane and the anchor area to approach the large freight harbour. We zigzag between anchored tankers towards the Channel of Corinthia. The morning is calm, with a light cross wind from the west. We doc |
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member ratings:
published on:
22-02-2008
written by:
FRANGIPANI
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AEGEAN SEA - MARMARIS (TURKEY) TO PIRAEUS (GREECE) The Aegean Sea is one of the most beautiful areas in the Mediterranean. The sailing area around Greece and Turkey consists of beautiful, clear, warm water and an endless number of wonderful places to drop anchor.
From Turkey to the Greek islands, Greece, Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Menorca, Mallorca, Ibiza, Spain, Portugal, France and Belgium, back to The Netherlands. This voyage provided us with practical information about sailing in t |
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member ratings:
published on:
22-02-2008
written by:
FRANGIPANI
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THE SPANISH COSTA DEL SOL Almerimar is a huge, de luxe marina. According to the pilot, there is 6 metres of water in the entrance, but our depth metre drops to 2.5. I pick up the keel quickly and sail between the actual channel into the marina. The approach looks confusing from the sea because there are several buoys. But, if you look closely and you keep to starboard, it becomes clear that you have to steer towards the red buoy on the port side. It gets a bit s |
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member ratings:
published on:
22-02-2008
written by:
FRANGIPANI
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PALMA DE MALLORCA Palma is recognised from afar by its large cathedral. Two miles before the harbour I call the Club del Mar to request a place to anchor. Unfortunately, a Spanish lady hangs up the phone. I try again on channel 9 of the mariphone. Ola, this is Frangipani. Although Club de Mar is an enormous marina, we are told that there is no room. Meanwhile, we are sailing into the harbour and dock at the registration dock of Club Real Nautico, the oth |
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member ratings:
published on:
22-02-2008
written by:
FRANGIPANI
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THUNDER AND LIGHTENING, SARDINIA (SARDEGNA) – MENORCA Imprisoned by Thunder and Lightening.
It’s a very dark, black night. There is no moon, no stars and a lot of clouds. There are many “isolated thunderstorms” in the forecast, but you hear that a lot in the weather forecast here. We haven’t seen any so far. Tonight is different. What I am about to tell you is incomprehensible unless you have experienced it yourself. What happened that night is indescribable, but it was the most frightf |
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member ratings:
published on:
22-02-2008
written by:
FRANGIPANI
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CARLOFORTE - SARDINIA I lie you don't pay, the “harbour master” said. The nice welcome at Sardinia (Sardegna) feels like a comic maffia movie.
The wind is with us, finally. The crossing from Marsala on the west coast of Sicily to the south-eastern side of Sardinia is almost 190 nm. A nice, relaxing breeze blows moderately in the right direction.
The beginning of the night is very black. There’s no moon, but there are a million stars. What a beautiful v |
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member ratings:
published on:
22-02-2008
written by:
FRANGIPANI
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SICILY, SHARKS AND THE GREEK GOD Siracusa, Sicily.
We have been travelling for about 26 hours and we are about 10 hours from Siracusa. We had to make a significant detour due to the hard crosswind. A lot of extra miles. At this speed and on this course, we will arrive at about 6:00 pm. We still have the whole day to go. We lie around, sleep, mess about and read until we enter the bay of Siracusa with a light breeze and after a hot day. If you ever sail in the Mediterr |
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member ratings:
published on:
22-02-2008
written by:
FRANGIPANI
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IONIC SEA - ITALY From Turkey to the Greek islands, Greece, Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Menorca, Mallorca, Ibiza, Spain, Portugal, France and Belgium, and back to The Netherlands. An unforgettable journey of more than 3 months on beautiful, clear blue water. This voyage provided a lot of practical information about sailing in the Mediterranean. You can find all this information and pictures on sailorsforsailors.com.
Breakdown in Santa Maria de Leuca
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member ratings:
published on:
22-02-2008
written by:
FRANGIPANI
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FROM DIEPPE (FRANCE) TO IJMUIDEN (THE NETHERLANDS) In Dieppe we found the wind that we had been missing the past few weeks between Turkey and France. There are a number of low pressure areas and fronts above the ocean and above the whole length of Europe. The English weather forecasts a “wind warning gale force 8 imminent.” On the French side of the channel, it is still a little calmer, but you can clearly see on the high and turbulent waves that there is a lot of wind on the other side |
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member ratings:
published on:
22-02-2008
written by:
FRANGIPANI
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DUTCH COLONIAL PAST - BANDA Harry Jansen and Ellen Quinten set sail in May 2003 with their 39 ft steel Koopmans from Den Oever for a voyage around the world. "Via Patagonia into the Pacific and then we will see where we go from there. Now, almost 5 years and 25,000 miles later, we still can’t get enough of our nomad life at sea.”
Banda
A minuscule tiny dot on the chart, about 100 miles south of Ceram. This tiny island realm was once the most desirable place |
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member ratings:
published on:
22-02-2008
written by:
EDITOR SFS
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VIKING ROUTE - DENMARK Via Borkum towards Denmark, Thyboron, Limfjord, Aalborg, Grenaa, Aarhus to Kiel and back via the North Sea channel and Cuxhaven. We call it the Viking Route. And we are Jaap Schermer and Hennie Jongholt on board of the Dutch sailing yacht Walkura.
'You approach Thyboron easily with a wind speed of seven from the west.....'
A local business owner from Delfzijl sent us off with this well-meant, reassuring tip. We had shown our whole |
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member ratings:
published on:
22-02-2008
written by:
EDITOR SFS
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BISCAY - BAYONA TO BREST During our passage from Turkey to the Netherlands we crossed the Bay of Biscay. Starting from Bayona to end up after 468 nautical miles with a dead engine in Brest. For this crossing I have asked my fried Patrick to joy the team, so our crew contains 3 people now. The boat is a aluminium custom built 53 feet Judel & Vrolijk.
Thursday, July 20st, Bayona, Spain.
The crew ask me what the plan is. I give two options. We can directly sa |
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member ratings:
published on:
26-12-2007
written by:
FRANGIPANI
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highest rated cruising stories:
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BISCAY - BAYONA TO BREST
During our passage from Turkey to the Netherlands we crossed the Bay of Biscay. Starting from Bayona to end up after 468 nautical miles with a dead engine in Brest. For this crossing I have asked my fried Patrick to joy the team, so our crew contains 3 people now. The boat is a aluminium custom built 53 feet Judel & Vrolijk.
Thursday, July 20st, Bayona, Spain.
The crew ask me what the plan is. I give two options. We can directly sail away to Camarinas and then tomorrow t |
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member ratings:
published on:
26-12-2007
written by:
FRANGIPANI
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GOLF OF CORINTHIA - GREECE
Channel of Corinthia
It is five thirty in the morning as we lower the mooring lines into the water. A small fishing boat crosses our path, Piraeus and Athens are calm otherwise. As soon as we leave the harbour, we cross the busy shipping lane and the anchor area to approach the large freight harbour. We zigzag between anchored tankers towards the Channel of Corinthia. The morning is calm, with a light cross wind from the west. We dock at Isthia, on the south coast of the c |
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member ratings:
published on:
22-02-2008
written by:
FRANGIPANI
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SICILY, SHARKS AND THE GREEK GOD
Siracusa, Sicily.
We have been travelling for about 26 hours and we are about 10 hours from Siracusa. We had to make a significant detour due to the hard crosswind. A lot of extra miles. At this speed and on this course, we will arrive at about 6:00 pm. We still have the whole day to go. We lie around, sleep, mess about and read until we enter the bay of Siracusa with a light breeze and after a hot day. If you ever sail in the Mediterranean, you should at least go to Siracus |
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member ratings:
published on:
22-02-2008
written by:
FRANGIPANI
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THUNDER AND LIGHTENING, SARDINIA (SARDEGNA) – MENORCA
Imprisoned by Thunder and Lightening.
It’s a very dark, black night. There is no moon, no stars and a lot of clouds. There are many “isolated thunderstorms” in the forecast, but you hear that a lot in the weather forecast here. We haven’t seen any so far. Tonight is different. What I am about to tell you is incomprehensible unless you have experienced it yourself. What happened that night is indescribable, but it was the most frightful experience that I have ever had in th |
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member ratings:
published on:
22-02-2008
written by:
FRANGIPANI
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PALMA DE MALLORCA
Palma is recognised from afar by its large cathedral. Two miles before the harbour I call the Club del Mar to request a place to anchor. Unfortunately, a Spanish lady hangs up the phone. I try again on channel 9 of the mariphone. Ola, this is Frangipani. Although Club de Mar is an enormous marina, we are told that there is no room. Meanwhile, we are sailing into the harbour and dock at the registration dock of Club Real Nautico, the other big marina in Palma. I call the harbo |
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member ratings:
published on:
22-02-2008
written by:
FRANGIPANI
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