Posted by 
Position: Here and There
How many countries did we visit last year? This is a question we are sometimes asked and sometimes ask ourselves. More than we have fingers to count on. Let’s run down the list:
- United States
- Germany
- Holland
- Belgium
- Luxembourg
- United Kingdom
- France
- Spain
- Portugal
- Morocco
- Turkey
- Italy
That’s it. Granted that the majority of the countries are in Europe where getting around is as easy as it’s ever been and you can visit more countries in a day than anywhere else in the world. But our visits were more than the mere touch-and-goes that you might find on a typical whistlestop bus tour. The kind where you check countries and sights off your list in a mad dash for influencer-cred. Each of our visits prised open a new aspect of the country’s culture and history. Here’s a short summary for those wanting to skip the chore of reading our back catalogue of posts:
United States
Perhaps the most insightful trip last year was for Carol’s dad’s funeral at West Point. Experiencing first hand the rituals that honour West Point’s late graduates led us into a world at once proximal and very foreign. Growing up in an army family is not the same thing as being an active member of the armed forces. Bob Kemble experienced war first hand during the Battle of the Bulge, a distinction that was noted on his induction into the United States Military Academy at West Point. That he lived a long, contributory and productive life made the full military honours at his interment even more meaningful.
Germany
Fixing Aleta’s engine at the Budelsdorf Yacht Club was both a highlight of our year and another lesson in maintaining faith in the journey. That faith is based on two tenets, 1) keep moving forward and 2) when someone offers help, accept it. These two tenets are what keeps cruisers cruising. Once again, we want to express our thanks to Stephen, Roland, and the rest of the BYC for their help getting us back underway and moving south. Without them we wouldn’t have made it as far as Holland.
Holland
Our old clunking propeller led us into Den Helder. Den Helder is the northernmost point of the county of North Holland and the home to Holland’s main naval base. Suffice it to say it is well off the beaten tourist track and it suited us down to the ground. Our stay was highlighted by the area’s long white-sand beaches and friendly folks we met on our exploration of Texel Island by bicycle. Only 65 kilometres from Amsterdam it felt like we were in a different country.
Belgium
You can’t get to the English Channel from Germany without passing Belgium first. Pulling over to replace the clunking propeller proved a longer stop than initially hoped for, so we packed in as much Belgium as we could in the three weeks we spent there. Waiting for parts meant we could visit the Ardennes and follow in Bob Kemble’s footsteps through the fields where the Battle of the Bulge was fought. Heading to and from the eastern border of Belgium gave us a chance to explore art museums and World War I battle sites, too. We left charmed.
Luxembourg
When you’re in Bastogne there’s no excuse for not spending a bit of time in one of the world’s great tax havens. The financial muscles of Luxembourg are surprisingly muted. The city and the countryside prefer to lean on its 19th century Beaux Artes vibe that is picturesque and opulent. Most of the country’s architecture is human-scale and pleasingly old fashioned.
France
Slipping through the Straits of Dover brought us to Dieppe and our first opportunity to wait out the weather for more favourable winds. There we found fabulous French foods and a huge weekend market that made us wish we had a house in the area that we could stock with a wheel of each of the dozens of cheeses we found for sale. Exploring England’s history is as fruitful in Normandy as it is in London’s British Museum. There we viewed both the Bayeux Tapestry that told the story of the Norman Invasion of England in 1066 and the D-Day landing beaches of 1944 when British and American forces started the hard work of forcing the occupying Germans into retreat.
United Kingdom
While in Belgium we took a side trip to the UK to visit family and explore the narrow lanes of Kent on our way to the Chunnel and back. As we transited northern France we paused again in the UK at the island of Alderney. That gave us some extra time on our visas and took Aleta out of the EU and reset her VAT clock.
France – Brittany
The weather cooperated as much as the mutable Atlantic weather could for our excursions in the charmingly Celtic towns of Brittany. Sailing those treacherous tidal and current strewn waters is something that requires a good deal of planning and prefers the settled weather of the summer months. Having made our way through the hottest of France’s maritime tourist hotspots, we were rewarded with a week in La Rochelle in preparation for finishing our crossing of the Bay of Biscay. With the rest of the country roasting under unusually warm weather, we appreciated the ocean’s ability to keep things cool onshore.
Spain
Three days to Galicia is about what we expected, but the wind died and we ended up motoring for more of the trip than we’d have liked. By August, Europe’s killer orcas have moved from the Straits of Gibraltar to the north coast of Spain and lie in wait for tuna and unwary sailors. Certainly, we kept close to shore and moved as far south as we could get as quickly as we could. At Vigo we collected Emma and Jarno who stayed with us as far as Porto, Portugal.
Portugal
The long face of the Iberian Peninsula is broken only by rivers and estuaries. Most towns have some form of marina set back a ways from the ocean. Our spirited and windy arrival in Viana do Castelo was a good example of what the intrepid sailor can expect on the way down the coast. Thanks to the best docking assistance we’ve ever experienced, we tied up and explored the town’s nooks and crannies for a couple of days.
A day’s sail further south in Porto offered no surprises, except for a huge Atlantic storm that rolled in putting the kybosh on our plans to take our passengers as far as Lisbon. Taking a few days to explore the Douro Valley gave the seas a chance to settle. Once they had, we pointed Aleta south and kept on sailing until we turned the corner for Albufeira. A few weeks later Lauren and Wade joined us for the crossing to Morocco through the Orca’s Kitchen. With their help, we covered three countries and two continents in about 10 days of sailing.
Morocco
With no particular plans we took a month and explored as much of Morocco as one can reasonably cover in that time. Being late Autumn, we took advantage of the cooler weather to climb the Atlas Mountains and indulge ourselves in a desert oasis for a couple of nights. From Morocco it’s a five day sail to the Canary Islands and back to Spain. Once there, you realise that the Canaries are only 50 nautical miles off the coast of Africa. A relative stone’s throw from one of the least populated and more remote parts of the Sahara Desert.
Turkey & Italy
A brief couple of trips to Turkey kept us tuned up medically and refreshed our insights into that big, wonderful country. But halfway through our second trip we’d achieved all our goals and decided we’d finish our Christmas holiday in Italy instead. That gave us a chance to explore Tuscany in ways that the Covid 19 pandemic had prevented us doing when we were locked down there in 2021.
The Canary Islands
Strictly speaking the Canaries are part of Spain. This archipelago is distinguished by its mild weather and being the key stopping off point for sailors heading to the Caribbean. That was our plan until we decided we had too many things to fix before a safe passage could be contemplated. Katie and Aron joined us for a few days. Hoping to sail, we instead spent a good deal of time hiking thanks to the worst storm in 20 years battering the island.
Back to the States
Now we’re back in the United States having left Aleta in Tenerife in the caring hands of Joey, our boat fixer upper. We’re not entirely sure how long we’ll be here, but we have plans for at least two road trips and to sponge off our friends for as long as we are welcome.
Many, Many Thanks!
Thank you for reading and following our adventures. We look forward to continuing to inspire you over the coming months. Please contact us if you need house or dog sitting help.
