VikingBlod Voyages

(from May 27th - 30th) I’m trying desperately to get caught up with my blog entries so I’m not writing about our experiences from weeks ago. It’s taking some time, but I’m getting there. Our journey through Sardegna and the Amalfi Coast was spectacular and the photos are worth sharing, so stay tuned! Tonight we are in a marina called Porto delle Grazia. We arrived at 3:30 this afternoon and were welcomed by their expert docking team. It’s like old times tying up against a dock instead of stern in. Our trip here was a gentle sail on flat seas, finished off with a motor of about an hour. After this marina, we will be making our way across the Ionian Sea to Greece, about a 34 hour journey. However, we are here for a while because the electric folding bikes we ordered back in March did not make it to France before we left at the end of April and are now being shipped to this marina. So we wait for them to arrive (hopefully in the next 2-3 days) and for the weather window to give us the bes...

May 9 - 10, 2024   Cruising Sardegna begins in La Maddalena Islands. During our planning for the trip, Neil had ranked this area as a “must”. I was in full agreement, but really had no idea how absolutely gorgeous it would be. We are so fortunate to have been able to experience the beauty of this area and even more fortunate to do so with our good friends Tama and Roger.   The adventure begins when we arrive at Porto Cala Gavetta, the marina where we are planning to pick up our guests. We are greeted by a very friendly Italian dock expert who is whipping around in his dinghy while assisting us with the Med mooring. He motors up to the buoy at full speed, comes to an abrupt stop to hand up the bow line for me to secure the boat, and all the while he is carrying on a conversation with me in a mix of English and Italian. He has the biggest smile on his face. Clearly he loves doing what he is doing (and he loves Finnegan, so I like him even more). After the boat is secure, he welc...

 A map of our route to date:

We have been asked by many which location has been our favourite so far. It is difficult to select just one, but there are a few spots that have been very unique or special because of the landscape, the feel of the town, or the seclusion of the area. One of the places that stands out, and that I have said I would write about, is Bonifacio, Corsica. It was back on May 8th that we left the port town of Propriano in windy conditions. We planned to sail, but leaving the harbour with the wind on our nose, we decided to get around the point in hopes that the wind direction would be more favourable to our course. We raised the mainsail to steady the boat in the uncomfortable swell and motored out around the point. The racer in Neil was keen to hoist the sails and get going so he could attempt to pass the boat that was ahead of us. The Code 0 was put to work and had us zooming along in no time. (And, yes, we did pass the other boat without much effort). Bonifacio is located on the southern coa...

  800 Nautical Miles in 25 days (May 22nd) Yesterday evening as the sun was setting and Mt. Stromboli was off our port side, we pulled into a peaceful anchorage at the Aeolian Island of Salina, north of Sicily in Southern Italy.  We were the only boat in the Marina Salina anchorage. Sixteen hours earlier, on May 21st at 4 a.m., we left the Italian port town of Agropoli. After 10 days with Roger and Tama during which time we saw very little wind and next to no sailing, our trip to Salina consisted of 12 hours of sailing, much to Neil's delight.  So much has happened since my last blog posting when we were headed towards Bonifacio in Corsica, but I have found it challenging to keep the blog up to date with our experiences. It would be ideal if I could work away on the computer while on one of our passages, but I have never been one who can focus on reading or on a computer screen while in motion. Also, during our time with Roger and Tama, we were so busy with the adventures...