Well, we’re off at last. Slipping along the coast over a wan glassy sea,Tainui is at last doing once again what she was built for. All the stresses and anxieties of comissioning are behind us.…

At 4.30 we slid into this gorgeous little bay and tied up in the centre of town. A jewel of a place. Brightly painted cottages climb steep rocky hills on all sides and tavernas line…

We tied up at the wharf at about 4 pm after a lovely sail. Palon is a snug harbour with tavernas lining the waterfront. A fresh beam wind made berthing a challenge, as it usually…

We had been recommended this anchorage by some Germans at Nisiros and we are suitably impressed. Entering the snug, landlocked bay at 4 after a bash round the northern point of Astipalaia we dropped the…

We were on our way by 0730 this morning, hoping to avoid the fresh westerlies of yesterday afternoon. As it turned out, our concerns were groundless and we ambled across a glassy, empty ocean whose…

We have left the Dodecanese. Last night’s anchorage at Nisos Iraklia was the first of our Cycladic islands. And a lovely little spot it was. The small bay of Ayos Yeoryios has the clearest water…

For two days we hunkered down in Naoussa Harbour on Paros as the wind whistled through the rigging. The strong south-easterly weather was preceded by a spectacular band of electrical storms which caught us approaching…

At Kythnos we finally swam. Exhilarating but seriously cold.                         After poking our way north through the Cyclades, a fast broad reach from Kythnos…

(Chris) Whoever heard of Dalaman? Fortunately, the travel agent had, and she duly sent me off into that long dark night of the soul that is the airport/terminals/plane trip from Sydney to Turkey, there to find a…

My old friend and longest-serving crewman David Lucas drowned on 12 March in the sea he loved so much. It was a vicious rip at Brunswick Heads. Such a sad loss to the world. Dave ran…

All boat owners know them, but the last week has been a particularly bad one for this old man. A week when a small list of fix-up jobs turns into a marathon; when everything you…

In Tainui, Corinth is famous for 3 things – Mycenae, Acrocorinth Castle and a fouled propellor. Dealing with them in order of significance, Let me talk first about the propeller. The trip through Corinth Canal…

I have been reading “Darkness at Noon”. The 3 hour crossing to Corfu from Igoumenitsa passed quickly with cockpit discussions about Number One’s great purges in the 1930’s. It is ancient history for my young…