Arrived back in Riposto on January 30th. Petite Lune went on the hard on February 1st to get some new anti fouling and some dents repaired where the anchor hit the bow. Instead of 7 days it took 12 days, partly because of bad weather, partly because other boats had more priority. Back in the water we had some cleaning and boat work to do. Ernst installed 4 new flexible solar panels on the bimini, installed the watt&sea, serviced the generator, replaced some old lines, etc. etc.

While we were still in Riposto we walked around in the snow on Etna and Saskia went horse riding. But the time came to leave Riposto and start the 2023 journey. We sailed through the night to Gallipoli, a beautiful Italian town in the heel of the boot. After 3 nights we anchored at Otranto for one night and went on to Brindisi. As the weather turned bad we decided to rent a car and visited Alberobello, Lecce and Ostuni. When the really bad weather was over we crossed to Montenegro where we checked in in Bar and stayed there for one night and went on to the beautiful Bay of Kotor, where we booked a berth in Marina Porto Montenegro. This is the most luxurious Marina we have ever stayed in. As the weather in Montenegro was also not good, we rented a car again and went to Dubrovnik in Croatia, Kotor and Lake Skadar, one third of which is in Albania. After nine nights in Montenegro we sailed through a not so pleasant night to Corfu in Greece.

We stayed a couple of nights on anchor in Corfu, a beautiful, lively place with great food, but still no spring in sight. The next island was Paxos, then onto Parga on the main land, both places still in hibernation, so very little to do. Parga had a big sandy bay with excellent holding. After Parga on to Preveza, for free at the quay. As it was a national holiday it was very busy. We cycled around on a sunny day. As there was bad weather coming we decided to seek shelter behind Lefkas in the bay of Nydri where we had 35kts of wind. Next on the list was Vathy on Ithaki, the home of Odysseus, but almost everything was still closed. Next was Zakynthos where Christopher was going to join us. As soon as he was there we left for Pylos to take advantage of the wind. After one night we went on to Kalamata, where it was still pretty cold. On we went to spend one night on anchor at Kythira, in the morning we had some hail on deck. Arriving at Spetses we finally enjoyed some nice sunny weather.

The first night in Spetses we spent on anchor, went out for dinner and were the only guests. The family was eating and talking and had to make space for us. The next day we moored along the free quay and could see that the season was starting as shops were opening. After Spetses we motored to Poros, where the weather was sunny as we climbed the hill and enjoyed beautiful views. After Poros we had to go to Lavrion to pick Alexandra up who was landing at Athens airport. We half sailed half motored in not so nice weather, lots of wind and no sun. Next on the list was Loutra on Kythnos, a small port where we stayed at the outside quay and unfortunately missed the hot spring. After Loutra we went to Ermoupolis on Syros. Ermoupolis is the capital of the South Aegean region and a lively, beautiful town with higher up narrow streets with lots of nice little shops and cafés. Then we moved on to Delos (or Dilos) which is one of the most important mythological, historical and archaeological sites in Greece. At one time Delos was the greatest commercial centre of the world and some 20.000-30.000 people lived there. Very impressive site! Next was Mykonos, with big cruise chips and lots of tourists and Alexandra caught a plane to Athens and then on to Holland.

So the three of us continued to Naousa on Paros, for free along the quay as there was no harbour master on duty. A beautiful small port with narrow streets and not so many foreign tourists as on Mykonos. We did a 12km walk after which Christopher and Saskia went for a (very short and cold) swim, the first of 2023! After Paros came Ios where we anchored. We visited the small town by dinghy but that was a bit boring. Then on to Santorini (Thira) where we reserved a buoy at Thirasia, we had the bouy on our bow and another line (coming from the bouy) to our stern. The first day we visited Oia by dinghy, climbing the stairs which was hot, but the reward was a beautiful, lively town. The next day there was too much wind and waves so we decided to visit Thirasia, which is Santorini but 50 or so years ago. Then we moved on to the other side of Santorini where the sandy beaches are, anchored there and visited Thira by taxi. Next was a bigger journey to Crete, to Spinalonga, where we anchored and visited the small island with it's old fortress and former leper colony. Iraklion was next on the list where we stayed on a very rocky quay, we had to get into the dinghy to go ashore and the first day they loosened our dinghy lines, luckily we had a lock on it to prevent it from driftig off. Rethimnon was next, very touristy but not too bad and the last port on Crete was Chania where we met up with the crew of Top Notch from Scheveningen and where Christopher caught a plane back to Holland.

We left the next day, heading for Kythira but when we arrived there the wind was so strong we decided to continue to Nisos Elafónisos. The wind was still strong but we anchored safely. The following day we sailed 60NM to Koróni and continued the next day to Kalamata for shopping and to pick Jan up, whom Ernst knows from the Maas, who joined us to sail to Malta. In Kalamata the port police proved difficult, asking for a stamped crew list (which we didn't have) and specific insurance requirements (we didm't have either), but luckily they let us go without a fine. After Jan's arrival we sailed back to Koróni where we enjoyed our last Greek dinner. We motored most of the time through 2 nights and arrived in Siracusa on Sicily, a bit of a detour. We hopped to Marina de Marzamemi, also on Sicily, staying there for 1 night. The wind got quite strong so we were a bit in doubt if we could leave the narrow entrance, but all went well and we were on our way to Malta. We had a berth booked in Manoel Island Marina and experienced 30knots of wind entering the natural port of Valetta. Our neighbour in the marina told us that 10 minutes before there was no wind at all. It was time for Jan to disembark as our next visitor was on his way.

Frank joined us and we explored Valletta, visiting Fort Elmo. We left the Marina and anchored in Rinella Bay (Id Dahla ta'Rinella) where our anchor chain became trapped on an old big anchor so Saskia had to dive in to free the chain. The water was very cold! After having seen the whole of Valletta we left for Blue Lagoon on Comino, a small island also belonging to Malta. Luckily we saw the Blue Lagoon with a bit of sunshine as the weather was not that good and only with sunshine you can really see why it is called the Blue Lagoon. We continued our journey to Gozo where we stayed in Mgarr Marina and visited the 'capital' Victoria. Back to Malta again, sailing past Popeye village which we couldn't visit as it was closed due to storm damage, besides, there was too much swell so we couldn't anchor anyway. We anchored at Saint George's Bay near Birzebbuga, went for a drink and enjoyed some live music from 2 musicians dressed as mexicans. Then it was back to Manoel Island Marina where we dropped Frank off whose holiday had come to an end.

We left Malta and intended to spend the night in Porto Empedocles on Sicily but arriving there the very very small marina was deserted, no one answered on the VHF and we were not sure where to moore so we decided to sail on. At 9 in the morning we passed Cala Rotonda on Isola di Favignana (west of Sicily), so we anchored in this beautiful spot, slept for 2 hours, had breakfast and showered and sailed on. Having sailed through the night, we overtook several catamarans and other sailing vessels, we arrived at Golfo di Carbonara, South Sardinia, where we relaxed, walked on the beach and had a drink and a chat with fellow cruisers. As we wanted to see Cagliari we decided to stay Marina di Sant' Elmo. We explored Cagliari where also the Amerigo Vespucci was moored, the all ship of the Italian navy, very impressive. After Cagliari we sailed to Porto Pino, not to be confused with Porto Pino, as it is a totally different village, but beautiful anchorage. And from there on to Marina Tour on Carloforte on Isola di San Pietro where we experienced a very warm welcome from the harbourmaster. Carloforte is the tuna town of Italy and our arrival day was the first day of the tuna festival with streetfood and music. We went to the best restaurant in town and enjoyed a tuna meal. We cycled around the island with salt pans, flamingo's and beautiful beaches. After a relaxed visit it was time to sail another 24hours as we had to pick Alexandra up who was flying to the island of Menorca.

When we arrived in Mahon we anchored in Cala Teulera, a small, very quiet anchorage. It was busy and we just managed to squeeze in, according to the port authorities we were just outside the permitted area so we pulled the anchor in by 2meters and we were fine - at least that was what we thougth - we never saw them back. Alexandra arrived and we set sail to Cala Blanca to visit Ciutadella, where we had already been but not Alexandra. The next day we crossed over to Mallorca to Laguna del Salobra. As we had ordered Starlink, which was going to be delivered to a UPS depot in Palma de Mallorca we decided to go to Real Club Nautico in Palma. which also gave Alexandra the opportunity to see Palma. Ernst picked up the Starlink package and installed it and it works absolutely fabulous! Unlimited internet for everyone on board. Saskia and Alexandra walken around Palma and had a great sangria with cava. On to the next island after Palma: Ibiza, where we had already spent some time last year so we went to Cala Bassa, went for a drink at a beach club, had a nice meal at El Gallo Viejo and visited Cala Comte: one of the most beautiful places in the Mediterranean. And after this it was bye bye to the Balearics and on to mainland Spain.

First stop was Calpe where we anchored, could leave our dinghy in the marina, and went for a drink into town. Next day it was on to Torrevieja, a tourist place, not our favourite. We booked a berth in Marina Yacht Port in Cartagena and were pleasantly surprised by the friendly and laid back vibe of Cartagena. After Cartagena our next stop was Garrucha, a very good marina with a deep eitrance, plenty of space, a nice harbourmaster, the only downside was the seagull poo on the pontoons which made it a bit smelly. We tried to buy the famous gamba's rojas but because it was Monday morning the fishermen were only expected in by the afternoon and by then wer were already on our way to Almerimar. We stayed in the marina, it felt a bit as the cheaper and quieter version of Benalmádena, but the tourist season had not started yet. The following night we spent at Marina del Este, a beautiful, small and secluded marina. The place must be really nice in summer but again, it was very quiet. IGY Marina in Malaga was our next stop and the last one for Alexandra as she was going to fly back home. IGY Marina was set up for superyachts but because not many of them are visiting Malaga, smaller yachts (12-20meters) are now also welcome but only for 2 nights. We enjoyed a very nice last meal with Alexandra and afterwards a visit to friends who live in Malaga. As it was Noche de San Juan we could not get a taxi back so we walked 3.5km back to Petite Lune at 2am, never have seen a place so busy at that time of night!

Alexandra left in the morning by taxi and we left Malaga to sail to Benalmádena where Christopher and Frank arrived in the evening. In the morning we left for Estepona where we visited the old town and had a nice dinner on the beach. La Línea was our next stop, after getting diesel in Gibraltar, anchoring in front of the beach and again dinner on the beach while the beach police checked out our dinghy but as no one was to be seen near the dinghy they left again. We were very much looking forward to our next stop: Barbate, the tuna town of Spain. We passed Tarifa with quite some wind but arrived safely. We had a very good dinner in La Peña del Atun. But coming out of the restaurant we found that our e-scooters had been stolen (again!). We locked them with a chainlock to a pole, the lock provided by the app and there is an AirTag inside but they bent the pole until it broke and took them. If all is well they cannot use them as the electric lock is on. We could locate them and called the police but they couldn't do anything... On to Cádiz the next day, again with a good look out for killer whales, passing Cabo the Trafalgar and into the very familiar bay of Cádiz where we anchored on the Cádiz side because of swell and the next day we went into Puerto Sherry and secured a winter mooring, starting 1 November. Via Puerto deportivo de Mazagon where we had dinner in the street we sailed to Vila Real de Santo António on the Rio Guadiana which is the border between Spain and Portugal. Very confusing sometimes as our phones picked up the Spanish time and the Portugese time so we were constantly time travelling. Frank's week nearly came to an end so we sailed to Faro, visited the beautiful Ilha da Culatra with fine white sand and very clear water, and dropped him of in Olhão.

So it was back to the three of us again and we went on our way to Portimão, where we anchored and paid to leave our dinghy in the marina to eat at Fogo de Chao, which is a Brazilian steakhouse. We stocked the fridge and sailed to Enseada de Sagres. We started out motoring, got the jib out and, the closer we got to the cape, were flying 10knots on the jib alone! The trip around Cabo de São Vicente was not pleasant but we safely arrived at the small anchorage of Sines and went on to the anchorage in Cascais the next day where it was mayhem due to a charity sailing event. Christopher had a good last meal and also his holiday had come to an end when we dropped him off at an uber to go to the airport. Now it was up to the two of us again.

Our first stop was Nazaré, a hotspot for big wave surfing. We were there by car some years ago and visited the small surfer museum. Because we already knew the town we only stayed in the marina where they installed a new shower and toilet block - very nice. On to Figueira da Foz the next day where we enjoyed a coffee and a pastel de nata in the morning and bought some vegetables in the colourful market. We arrived quite late on the river Douro near Porto where we anchored for 1 night. Ernst picked Constant up, the carpenter from Holland, the next morning as he was coming over to do some measurements for the new fridge and we went to the Douro marina. Walked around in Porto, went for a port at Sandeman and had a lovely dinner. Constant left again the next day and we went on to Viana do Castelo where we moored next to the Gil Eannes, a former hospital ship that we visited, very interesting. It was built for Portuguese fishermen that went cod fishing in Newfoundland and apparently had no medical facilities in the vicinity. 

Then it was on to Spain, to the famous rías, our first stop being in Marina Punta Lagoa in Vigo. We explored Vigo by e-scooter and bike and had tasty tapas for dinner and moved on to Isla Cíes with its beautiful beaches and crystal clear, but cold, water. We walked to the lighthouse on top of the rock and enjoyed breath taking views. The next stop was Ribeira, just for the night, zigzagging to the anchorage around the fish farms. Then on to Fisterra on the free pontoon where we went out for a nice meal. We left the next day for A Coruña with quite some wind and swell. As we arrived a bit late we decided to anchor as we were hungry, and anchoring is much faster than going into a marina. The first anchorage was roly but the second one, a bit further in the bay was quiet. The next day we went to the marina to do some shopping as we were about to cross the Bay of Biscay.

When you sail through the night it doesn't really matter what time you leave in the morning so we left at a decent time. It was quite windy with swell so we didn't see a lot of dolphins and luckily no killer whales. On the French site we decided to go to L'Aber Wrac'h, timing wise that would be good as we were going to arrive there in daylight. L'Aber Wrac'h is situated on a river and around the entrance are a lot of rocks. The next destination was Roscoff where we decided to go for French moules frites, very yummy! And our last anchorage in France for now was on the river towards Treguier, very windy, not ideal. Then the crossing to Guernsey to get some cheap fuel and onwards to an anchorage on Herm. Why we decided to go for that anchorage remains a mistery as it was very roly with wind and we hardly slept, bad idea, so the next morning to Guernsey port where we tied onto a pontoon and had some good sleeps despite the massive storm coming over. After everything calmed down again we sailed with the jib to Alderney where we logged our record speed of 15.6 knots due to the very strong current. We picked up a mooring buoy but unfortunately we were too close to the boat next to us and our Jon Buoy was activated as it was hit by the other boat's anchor. When transferring to another buoy the bow thruster made funny noises but was still working. We had a good night and were ready to go to Portsmouth.

In Portsmouth we booked a mooring at the Gunwharf Quays Marina which is located next to a big outlet centre where we treated ourselves on some good steak knifes. We also met up with friends to have lunch on Petite Lune, inaugurating our new knifes. When it was time to leave Portsmouth our bow thruster decided that it was time for it to stop working and when we gave it one more try our whole system went black. So back to the pontoon again. It turned out that our class t fuse was gone. Luckily we had a spare one. 2 Hours after our scheduled time we eventually left, still not decided where we were heading. Reaching the Strait of Dover our AIS stopped working every now and again. Luckily Ernst managed to fix it (turned out our outside antenna was interfering with our inside antenna) so we crossed half the shipping lane. The other half turned out to be a bit more challenging as there were multiple cargo ships going at various speed, so we spent quite some time on the 'emergency lane' (as we called it, meaning the middle part). At one point we just went and all was well. We ended up at 2am on a mooring buoy in Calais' Arrière Port for some well deserved rest.

The next day started out really nice, we had a quiet coffee and a nice sail wishing the sandbanks of Dunkirk, with a sudden jibe and we lost our folded bimini. The weather turned nastier and nastier and by the time we reached Ostend it was more than drizzling with strong winds. Luckily they kept some space free for us right behind our friend Jewel sailing from Scheveningen. Our last part to Scheveningen was really nice with warmer and dry weather with a warm welcome from family. Finally we were there and work could start: new generator, new upholstery, new fridge, new steering wheels, new steering column, bow thruster repair, various new hoses and many many more small things.

Having finished all the jobs within a tight timeframe we left Scheveningen again, bye bye, until?? and spent the first night again in Calais, very convenient those buoys, now arriving at 23.30 and went on to Cherbourg the next day, sailing through the night, arriving a 6am where we got some decent sleep, waiting for the tide to bring us to Guernsey. Another storm was coming so we decided to stay in the Pool and we visited Castle Cornet. Next was Treguier anchorage and on to Roscoff, to have some moules frites. On to Camaret sur Mer where we met up with the crew from the Pink Elephant (whom we met in Middelburg 2 years ago, they now live in Brittany) for lunch. We spent one night in the marina and one night on anchor. As another storm was coming (story of our life) we set off for Sainte Marine on the river L'Odet for some shelter and also to position us for the crossing of the Bay of Biscay.

In Sainte Marine we walked around the coast line and ordered a seafood platter from the local fishmonger, very much recommended! We left after the storm, no wind, so motoring but still a lot of swell. We motored all through the night and only the next day we could put the sails up. Nearing the Spanish coast we came right into sea fog. Still in the night our foresail came down due to some friction at the top and we hauled it in. Not too much later our steam light broke down and a bit later our stern light. We felt very safe sailing in the dark - not. In the morning we moored in A Coruña marina, went for a walk and a nice meal, enjoying the warm weather. We waited for wind to round Cabo Finisterre and were really happy we left with one reef in as at some point we had a lot of wind. As it went pretty fast we sailed on to Ensenada de la Lanzada where we arrived just after dark, threw the anchor in and enjoyed a well deserved meal. We left at a reasonable time in the morning, crossed the Portuguese border and moored onto the waiting pontoon of Viana do Castelo, as the marina is not deep enough for us and some work was done in the old basin, but that was fine as we already visited the town on our way to The Netherlands. In Porto we just anchored on the river Douro, in Figueira da Foz we had to go into the marina and our next interesting stop over was Ilha da Berlenga.

Ilha da Berlenga is part of the Berlengas archipelago, composed of granite islands and situated off the Portuguese coast near Peniche. There is no marina, you can only anchor in quiet conditions, and that is what we had. It is very touristic, has beautiful coloured waters and only 30 inhabitants. It is very difficult though to go to shore as you cannot leave your dinghy anywhere safe. We left for Cascais the next day as it was soon Saskia's birthday and we were expecting Frank and Diana who were joining us for a couple of days. Cascais was nice as ever but the water at the anchorage was not too clean and we saw massive jelly fish. We did some food shopping and the four of us left for the Sines anchorage where we enjoyed a glass of wine on deck in the sun. We rounded Cabo de São Vicente the next day in absolute quiet conditions, never been so close to those rocks! Our original plan was to anchor in the Enseada de Sagres or Baleeira but there was too much swell so we sailed (motored) on to the anchorage of Portimão where we arrived in the dark, and we moved into the marina the next day.

We walked around Portimão, still a lot of tourists for the time of year, enjoyed a dinghy ride on the river Arade and had lunch in the busy town of Ferragudo (also a bit too touristic and therefor high prices). Albufeira was our next destination where Frank and Diana would leave us but not after a authentic lunch, away from all the fast food restaurants. We had to stay some more days as there was a storm coming so we explored Albufeira a bit more and visited the famous 'Strip' (during day time) and the old town which was, again, very touristic but not too bad. The marina is very good for sheltering as the wind is almost completely blocked by big rocks. We left after the storm but saw another one coming up already so decided to go all the way to Mazagon in Spain and the day after to Cádiz where we could wait for the storm to pass and motor the last 3 miles of this season to Puerto Sherry.