October 3
We are going back to Sweden for a month, before spending the winter in Rome.
September 24
We have reached the Italian mainland, after cruising Elba, our favorite
Mediterranean island so far.
September 6
Corsica is a beautiful island. We took a bus tour in the mountains the other day
(with friends from Gannet - good sailing to Tunisia! - and Possessed) which was spectacular. We
have been anchored
outside of Porto Vecchio and are now in a marina in Solenzara on the eastern coast. Thanks Frank & Birgit for the
company and dinner!
August 26
After spending several days with Possessed and Walkabout in various bays of
northern Sardinia, we have now arrived in France - Corsica. We are in the
beautiful but somewhat hectic port of Bonifacio, doing laundry and other
household chores that require unlimited supply of electricity and water. Oh,
Gannet just arrived too. It seems like anywhere we go now, we meet up with cruising friends!
August 16
Another new country! We are in Sardinia, Italy, eating pasta and pizza and
enjoying - again - the company of old and new friends. Thanks Bill & Linda for
the welcoming to Italy!
August 9
Lazy days in Menorca - in very good company. We have run into old friends and
new. We are really starting to feel like a part of the cruising community.
July 28
We have so much to tell you now! Like yesterday, Mats shook hands with the
Spanish king. He also had to dive into the unspeakably disgusting water of Palma
harbor to cut a line that stopped our propeller from backing. Because of this,
we have to get some gel coat for a small blemish on Olivia's nose... And today,
we're finally (fingers crossed) having our bimini (sun cover for the cockpit)
delivered. We are in Mallorca and ended up ordering it instead of sewing it
ourselves. It's been to hot to sew - and too hot to live without the bimini...
More pictures.
July 13
More pictures.
July 7
We have rounded the south east corner of Spain - Cabo Gato and sailed on to
Cartagena, a town with many historical buildings from pre-Roman and Roman times.
We're staying this week to finish the work on our much needed bimini. It's hot!
July 1
Caleta de Veléz is a small town without the tourist high-rises that we have seen
along the Costa del Sol. Cozy with a local atmosphere. And a good spot for
excursions to Nerja where we again visited our friends.
June 28
With the new Monitor wind vane in place, we left Gibraltar for Ceuta on the
24th. This Spanish town on the African coast provided us with some exotic sights
and the possibility to fill our propane bottles. Yesterday we left for Malaga
where we are now anchored in the eastern harbor, visiting friends Ulf & Sara.
June 18
Celebration! June 15 was our 1 year cruise anniversary. We have left the
Atlantic and are in the Med. Right now mooring in Marina Bay, Gibraltar, waiting
for a new wind vane. The old one is no more... It was smashed to junk in
Chipiona as we were hit, twice, by a new boat with a new captain. Oh well, he
paid up.
Our friend Tommy has joined the crew. We hope the package arrives soon so we can get out of this silly place. Dirty, overpriced. Of course the rock is magnificent and we have to see the monkeys but we couldn't imagine spending a long time here.
June 8
We are still in Chipiona. We had the wonderful opportunity to have a bimini
constructed! At least the arches, we will sew the fabric ourselves. Several
friends from Sevilla have kept us company during our stay - Gannet just hauled
out here and Ulf and Sara came by yesterday. Waiting for a few parts to arrive
from Sweden Monday, then hopefully we will get going again!
May 29
We finally left Sevilla a week ago. The city changed color a bit during the last
few weeks, with an invasion of tourists and soccer fans and with temperatures
around 35C. So it was time to leave, but the good times we had in Sevilla will
be remembered. The Club Náutico was a great place to stay the winter, with a
good crowd of yachties. We made lots of friends, also with a few locals.
Right now we are back in Chipiona, where we have hauled out for four days for maintenance. Olivia looks great, with new antifouling, polished & waxed hull etc. Now, we're ready to go to the Med, whenever the winds are right.
May 12
Lots of new pictures. And
the first near complete edition of the cookbook!
We are still in Sevilla but plan to leave at the end of the week. The Semana
Santa and the Feria de Abril were incredible, as well as the wedding we were
invited to in April. What a party town!
April
5
More pictures, from our
surroundings in Sevilla, and from an excursion to Ronda and Setenil.
March 23
More pictures, from an
enjoyable excursion to Aracena. And a short
movie from a flamenco show.
March 16
There is a bunch of new pictures (with Swedish captions...) in the
picture library.
March 4
February was a month of working on the boat. We went on a couple of small
excursions, to Italica and Cordoba, but most of the time was spent on finishing
interior work of the forward and aft storage areas. Ann also studied Spanish 16
hours/week. Of course, we've been to more flamenco shows - we love the rhythms.
Some boats are beginning to leave Club Náutico, Sevilla, for the Med, but we
will stay another two months or so. Lots of work on the boat still, and many
attractions yet to see and experience in Sevilla.
January 25 (2003)
We have spent Christmas and New Years here in Sevilla, a city we're growing to
know and like very much. Flamenco, tapas and good company in boats from all over
the world add to the joy. Recently we took a short break to visit the boat show
in London. Mats also went home to Sweden a few days. Cold!! Here in Sevilla,
spring is in the air now!
November 17
Finally, we have reached our destination for the winter stop-over: Sevilla. We
had a tornado passing over the port in Chipiona but we were very lucky, no major
damage. Several large sailboats on land tipped over. The engine is fixed. We
will stay put here for nearly six months.
November 12
We left Portugal and continued to Chipiona in Spain, a couple of days ago. This
small town is just on the mouth of river Guadalquivir on which we will continue
to Sevilla. But our engine broke on the way so we're stuck here for a while,
waiting for new parts to arrive. There's a great fish restaurant close to the
marina so we are in for a few treats while waiting. And we don't mind touring
the province of Cadiz in the meantime. More pictures are to be found
here.
November 8
Still in Lagos. We decided to have a "vacation" before continuing to our winter
stop in Sevilla. We're enjoying the ocean air and warm weather, and just being
lazy for a while...
November 2
We had a magnificent cruise from Sines to Lagos, passing the southwest corner of
Europe, Cabo de Saő Vicente on a practically calm Atlantic Ocean. The Algarve,
the southern coast of Portugal, sports Mediterranean temperatures. We're staying
in the marina in Lagos, a small town full of vacationers.
October 27
Winds and rain kept us put in Viana do Castelo for more than a week but this
weekend we have had warm days and nights and we motor sailed 200 nm to Cascais.
Karl B - hope you have a wonderful cruise, sorry we missed you in Malaga and
Gibraltar!!
October
18
Our first Portugese port is Viana do Castelo in the north. Beautiful city.
October 9
Suddenly the weather has changed to chilly. We are in Baiona, after finally
passing Cape Finisterre in calm sea.
September 30
La Coruńa was a wonderful surprise. We had heard only bad things and had low
expectations, only to find the most beautiful city. The marina was a bit
turbulent with wash & swell so we have moved on to Sada, just closeby. From here
we have visited the town of Betanzos which was even more beautiful and with
friendly people. Hey, this new life just keeps getting better - strange feeling
since it's already so good!
September 21
We spent nearly two weeks in Pedreńa, just across the bay from the city of
Santander. This was our best port so far, out of Sweden. Lovely, friendly
people, an amazing amount of restaurants in the little village, and a beautiful
river where we made dinghy excursions. We even considered staying there over the
winter, but since it gets cold and rainy on the northern coast we decided to
continue. Waving farewell to our new Spanish friends, we sailed another 150 nm
in 24 hours to Ria de Ribadeo, also on the north coast. Beautiful old village,
although many of the fantastic old houses are falling apart.
September 8
We have crossed the Biscay in calm weather, accompanied by a large number of
dolphins and whales!! Santander on the north coast is our first port of call.
September 3
La Rochelle is one of the nicest cities so far. We arrived last night after
a long days sailing (95 nm in 15 hours) and after an excellent restaurant dinner
(fish soup, tuna steaks and heartwarming wine, along with cheese and créme
brulée) and a good nights sleep, we have done some sightseeing today. Would love
to stay longer. Let's see what the weather decides for us this time...
September 1
We caught our first fish yesterday, five mackerels, by towing a line after the
boat. They made an excellent dinner here i Pornic, another cute French town.
We'll stay for at least another night to do some sightseeing and laundry. There
are new pictures on the site (captions in Swedish
but you'll get the idea!)
August 29
We are continuing down the Brittany coast and have reached cozy Concarneau.
Three other Swedish boats are sailing with us for the moment. The weather is a
bit on the cool side but we're having a great time!
August 25
Still in Brittany but a bit further south, we are in the Moulin Blanc port
just outside of Brest. This is where we will decide whether to continue down the
coast or to cross the Biscay.
August 21
Bretagne (Brittany) is gorgeous. We are in the small village of Lézardrieux,
resting after a long days sailing from Cherbourg.
August 16
We are now in Cherbourg after a long leg, 200 nm in 30 hours.
August 12 (2002)
We are well on our way now. We started from our home
port at Ljusterö, Sweden, June 15th and we are now in Belgium. We spent quite a
few weeks along the Swedish cost, seeing friends on the way. Denmark is a
must, we spent a lovely week there. Then the weather turned nasty so we had a
lot of waiting time in cold and rainy Germany, mainly in the Kiel canal. Holland
welcomed us with warm weather (and some rain...). We motored through the canals
in the "standing mast route" down to Amsterdam. Since a few days we've been at
sea again, on passage from the entrance of the North Sea Canal to Blankenberge
where we are now. We stopped at Scheveningen (outside of the Haag) for a couple
of days, and we will stop here for another day before taking off to France.
You will find links to pictures here. The captions are still only in Swedish. The logbook stories are also still only in Swedish. We are becoming utterly lazy... But please come back soon, we will write more in English as we continue our trip.
/Mats & Ann on s/y Olivia