We’re presently weather bound, anchored on the south end of Isola San Pietro, a small resort island off the southwest corner of Sardinia. Mistral is the local term for the fresh northwesterly blows that spawn up in the Gulf of Leon and affect the central Mediterranean Sea. This one, packing winds of up to 40 [...]
The Southern coast of Sicily is an easy day sail from Malta. The trick is to find a weather window that provides the necessary breeze to get you there, but allow you be comfortable when you arrive as there are few protected anchorages between Syracusa on the east coast and Trapani on the west coast.
An [...]
Continue reading about The South Coast of Sicily and Egadi Islands
After our excellent haul out, we spent the next three weeks waiting for the new dodger cover to be completed. Somehow we managed to find a plethora of jobs and projects to fill up most of our days. Our “to do” and “to get” lists are the shortest they’ve been in years, both hovering in [...]
With the prevailing northwesterlies forecast to continue for a few days and Moonshadow back in sailing trim, we planned to set sail for Malta on 23 June. The last job prior to departure was to “mow the lawn” or clean the bottom. Our two-year-old anti-fouling paint had lost most of its “anti” qualities and after [...]
After a month in the United States and forty hours of travel time from San Francisco, we finally arrived back on board Moonshadow. Other than a coating of dust and rust, she was in pretty good shape thanks to guardianship provided by Mohammed and his staff from the yard at Monastir, who looked after her [...]
I was surfing through the Letters section of an old issue of a California sailing rag awhile back and came across yet another “I’ve got this yacht, can anyone tell me about it” letter. After purchasing the yacht the owner was looking for information on her design, quality, and sailing characteristics; ostensibly weather or not [...]
Continue reading about Some Thoughts on Buying “The Best” Cruising Yacht
Introduction by Peter Montgomery, written by long time Stewart 34 sailor George Backhus.
Just published, this 182 page, A4 size book documents the extraordinary history of one of the most significant one-design class racing/cruising yachts in New Zealand history. The Stewart 34, early on known as the “Patiki,” literally changed the face of NZ yachting and the world standing of [...]
Continue reading about “Stewart 34 Yachting-the First Fifty Years” book+DVD now available!
We rose before sunrise and left the anchorage at Malfitano on the southern tip of the island of Sardinia at 0630 on a clear, calm morning. We set a southerly course towards the continent of Africa and within 20 minutes a nice breeze had filled in from the east. With 8 to 15 knot on [...]
The Italian island of Sardinia is the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and actually lies closer to the African continent than to its own mainland. The Sardinians actually speak of Italy as if it is another country, not their own. With a ruggedly beautiful coastline, clear waters, beautiful interior countryside and unique wine [...]
The town of Villefranche
Heading west from the Riviera of Italy, we had intended to stop in Monaco for a few days to see how the other tenth of 1% live. A wicked swell was rolling in from the south to which both of the anchorages near town were exposed. Monaco is reported to have the [...]
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