Vigo-a-Go-Go
Position: 43°13’12.1″N 9°00’02.4″W Crossing the Bay of Biscay from La Rochelle commits you to being at sea for at least 350 nautical miles. Distance is only part of the equation. What those miles are really telling you is how many …
Category: Underway
La Rochelle
Position: 46°08’49.2″N 1°10’05.7″W Gliding upstream past the two imposing limestone towers guarding the entrance to La Rochelle’s harbour transports you back hundreds of years. Imagine your triumphal return from a fraught campaign against the infidels of Cypress. Roses shower down …
Practical Sailor & Living on Aleta
Position: Crusin’ and Cursin’ Here it is. Our response to last week’s video from Practical Sailor about what it’s like cruising and living on Aleta full time. If you haven’t watched the video yet, see it before you read on: …
Belle-Île-en-Mer
Position: 47°18’24.6″N 3°03’41.4″W Places with evocative names like Paradise Valley or Bel Air are frequently the inverse of what their name inspires. Paradise Valley in Arizona was paved and covered in parking lots back in the 1960s. Bel Air sits …
Alderney
Position: 49°42’45.0″N 2°11’42.8″W Hitching a ride on the current from St. Vaast we crossed the top of the Contentin Peninsula as far as Cherbourg. For the second time in our lives, we decided we didn’t want to explore Cherbourg. From …
Saint-Vaast-la-Hogue
Position: 49°35’16.6″N 1°15’48.8″W Turning back the clock a couple of weeks, it is time to bring you up to date on our adventures between Dieppe and Paimpol. One of the nicest anchorages on the Cherbourg peninsula sits just outside the …
Brittany and the Amoco Cadiz
Position: 48°35’57.0″N 4°44’06.9″W Brittany’s coastline is as rugged and beautiful as it gets. New Englanders would recognize the jagged rocks and tenacious pines that fade in and out of the fog that forms when warm air meets cool Atlantic waters. …
Norman Leer
Position: 49°55’40.7″N 1°04’57.8″E “Before you get out of the slings, turn on your engine and make sure the propeller spins in the right direction,” our mechanic told us, “…it shouldn’t be a problem, but just in case.” Minutes later, Aleta …
The Last of Belgium and a Bit of Britain
Position: 51°07’46.4″N 2°45’05.3″E Never a truer word was spoken than those by that immortal wag Anonymous who once quipped, “Cruising is the art of repairing your boat in exotic places.” Some folks might not see Belgium as ‘exotic’, and with …