mcortesastudillo Trip

Sailing the Ionian islands (Greece)

We arrived to Meganisi by the end of June, after some weeks sailing in the Mediterranean sea during the mid season (at that time, most of the boats that we came across at the anchorages where liveaboards). We spent July in the nice Ionian islands (from Olympia to Corfu); some places were very touristic with plenty of charters boats and people spending one or two weeks of holidays sailing. We also knew at that time that we were on our way back to France for a break in our sailing. It was great to be in such beautiful islands to start digesting all the thoughts, emotions and feelings of the previous year.

mcortesastudillo Soledad, Trip

Dealing with passages, from Canary islands to Greece

We use to hear/read about sailing from Mediterranean sea to the Canary Islands but we can hardly find any information about sailing from the Canary Islands to Mediterranean sea. Sailing back to the Mediterranean sea from Canary Islands is going against the trade winds (Alisios), which is more difficult than going with the trade winds that is what most of the people are doing when going to the Caribean, but it is not impossible.

nibheis Soledad

Sailing with Linux (NMEA, GPSd, Iridium)

We have been using Linux on board since our second season on Soledad - three years ago. There exists quite a large collection of marine/sailing software for Linux. As you might know from previous posts, we mainly use OpenCPN and zyGrib for navigation. In this post, I will explain how we got more by connecting our computer to the boat's electronics and to an Iridium satellite phone.

nibheis Soledad, Trip

Winter and boat works in Las Palmas

We literally spent the winter in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. El muelle deportivo de Las Palmas is a huge marina in the centre of the city. At walking distance or by bus (bus pass available at the marina's mini-market) you can find whatever you need. We enjoyed the spannish/canarian culture (carnivals, holy week, etc.) and the weather has been good (even though locals say it's been one bad winter).

mcortesastudillo Soledad, Trip

Are we ready for an Atlantic crossing?

Last months, we had two funny passages: one from Rabat to Graciosa Island and other from Lanzarote to Las Palmas. During the last weeks we have been wondering about crossing the Atlantic. After thinking and discussing about it, we agreed that we are not ready yet - at least not in a way that would make us confident about it. The other conclusion is that we want to be ready to cross the Atlantic ocean by the end of 2018.

mcortesastudillo Trip

Mixed feelings in Morocco

It took me a while to start writing about our Morocco journey, because I do not know from where I could start writing. We would never forget our Morocco trip. Morocco is so close but so different to Spain or France. We have French friends who have been living in Morocco, we have Moroccans friends living in Morocco and we have friends with Morocco ancestors. All of them gave us valuable tips for the trip that made us to have a wonderful Morocco tour.