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Full time cruising Have you thought about selling up and setting sail?

In June 2019 we left the South Coast of the UK and became full time live-aboard cruisers.

It took us 3 years to prepare ourselves and our boat. In 2016 we sold our house in Kent, bought Fair Isle in Holland, and sailed her to the South Coast for a refit. We are in our 50's so not retired yet. Part of our preparation was setting up a system of working remotely so we could start sailing before we got too old.

If this is something you might be interested in doing our website has lots of information that might help including a tour of our boat (Hans Christian 48T) and videos of our progress South.

Your needs on a boat for long term cruising are very different from weekend sailing. Power and storage space we found the most important things to consider.

Judy writes a regular Blog that gets put out on the Sailing Fair Isle facebook site and on the Blog page on the website...

To get South from the UK means sailing across the Bay of Biscay. We decided to do it off shore in one hit. Everyone who sails the North Atlantic has heard stories of the Biscay. It can be a wonderful place to be, the dolphins are great, but by day three of our trip it was living up to it's fearsome reputation ...

Bay of Biscay

Storm Miguel cuts across our path. We run for A Coruña. Six boats we are traveling with can't make land before the storm hits and head out to sea. Two lifeboatmen lose their lives in Les Sables.

Lagos

We make it to Lagos, Portugal. Up until this point we have been sailing with other boats as part of the rally ARC Portugal. This was a nice way to travel as it's very social and you all share the same experiences. There was a posh dinner at the end so Judy got to wear her dress!

On our own now continuing into the Med. we stop off in Faro as we've heard it's a good place to get a quick lift for a bottom job.

Not even six months into our sailing adventure we've already experienced so much. We've met some wonderful people and learned a lot about our boat.

Colourful streets in Portugal
Sometimes the swell in Biscay means you only see the top of the mast of other boats!
Mike and Katie on Tiger Lily, very jealous of their spinnaker!
Excursions inland
Cadiz, Spain
Gibraltar, gateway to the Med.
Guardian of the rock!

Into the Med!

We had a fantastic sail through the Straits of Gibraltar, to be greeted by warm sea and sunshine.

It's now mid October and we're in Cartagena, Spain. It's warm and sunny here and cold and wet back in the UK. Our first winter on board Fair Isle was spent frozen into the ice in Amsterdam. It was lovely, but we're looking forward to a warmer winter aboard here!

Iced in on the Markermeer, Monnickendam near Amsterdam

If you want to follow our journey there are 8 episodes so far on the button bellow.

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel to follow us slowly sailing around the world.

Created By
steve holloway
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