Having booked a berth in advance, the Calvi marina staff saw fit to place us on the premium ‘A’ dock right next to the ‘action’. This was all very well but the loud music went on until 2am and rather took the gilt off the convenience. The visit ticked all the boxes for the ladies... Continue Reading →

Paula has for many years taken holidays on Hejira and her predecessors, mostly with her two friends, Marie and Kate who go all the way back to Southampton University. These holidays have always been static and invariably in my absence. They have included locations like the Canaries, the Algarve, the Riviera and various UK destinations... Continue Reading →

Our passage to our overnight stop at Porto Pollo was only 30 miles but was memorable for the size of the swell left over from the previous gale in the Gulf du Lion. Keen to tuck ourselves out of the undulations we opted to pick up a mooring buoy behind a reef and close enough... Continue Reading →

Before I forget this story, I have to tell you about our arrival in Bonifacio. We had pre-booked and were allocated a good berth on the ‘active’ side of the harbour next to a nice but old Halberg Rassey. The very tanned and clearly seasoned Italian owner ran around deploying fenders as we came in... Continue Reading →

The wind was due to pick up so we modestly put the main up with a reef and let the full jib out as it is easy to reef. It wasn’t long before we were furling the jib to be replaced by the staysail and putting a second reef in the main. This did at... Continue Reading →

How can you extract interest or humour out of bliss? Windlessness apart, our passage to Santa Maria Navaresse was just thoroughly enjoyable passing the stunning Sardinian coastline and the approach to our destination was spectacular backed as it was by a colossal mountain. Along the way however, my bureaucracy paranoia was not eased by the... Continue Reading →

Leaving Tunisia and completing all the very laborious formalities, we were rather pleased to be an EU yacht arriving in the EU with 3 x EU (currently – uuugh) citizens and hoping for a certain relaxation of the very petty and superficial regulations we have experienced since my departure from Venice, seemingly so long ago.... Continue Reading →

To the east of our course, Graham Island, known also as Isola Ferdinandea, was a volcanic island that magically arose from the Mediterranean depths, just off Sicily’s SW coast during 1831’s well-documented submarine volcanic eruption. Its sudden and unexpected appearance created something of a Klondike gold-rush as every country within the proverbial spitting-distance, sought to pitch... Continue Reading →

Our destination in Tunisia was fluid and we finally elected to opt for a fishing village with the necessary officials for clearing in but with only basic provisions for yachts in preference to a concrete Marina further south near the holiday destinations of Hammamet, Monastir and Sousse. So it was that we fetched up off... Continue Reading →

It was interesting to see Blue Lagoon coming to life after a pleasant night at anchor, grateful for the fans producing a welcome stream of cooling air during our slumbers. First a boat arrived and took all the refuse away from the previous day. Then the catering vans started to park up on the headland... Continue Reading →