Three Captains, 1300 Nautical Miles.

THE JOURNEY BEGINS

So today, the 6th of December 2022 is the big day!
Our boys are setting sail with our brand-new Bavaria C42.

Today our captains Nathan Neville, David Irvine and John Costi will start their voyage to deliver our C42, ‘Breaking Wind’, from Koper marina in Slovenia all the way to sunny Cyprus.

They’ve had a busy day fuelling, testing the engines, and running round buying supplies. They plan to set sail in the early evening, with their first fuel stop in Lastovo, Croatia.

We’ll be updating you daily folks, so watch this space!

DAY 1 – at sea

After departing Koper marina last night at 8.30pm, the boys are now 89 nautical miles into their journey. They had a chilly first night of 3°c and a northeast swell making it a rocky start to their voyage.

Back to today and they’re currently passing the Croatian coastline with 10 knots of wind SSW. The water is still a little choppy, so they’ve used the opportunity to get the mainsail out, to help with stabilisation.

All three of them are missing the Cyprus sunshine already, they have grey skies, 11°c and drizzle!

day 2 – at sea

About 250 nautical miles travelled, and our boys have made it to their first stop. Our new yacht is currently moored in Lastovo harbour in Croatia while the boat is being fuelled.

They had a rainy and windy night on the way there, as they met the forecasted weather – 21 knots of wind, swelly seas and rain. Though they did have some friendly company along the way.

They aren’t stopping for long though, back on the water soon and onwards toward their next fuel stop in Corfu. Hopefully the weather isn’t as bad as forecasted for them!

DAY 3 – at sea

An exciting 24 hours for our sailors! It started with calm waters and blue sky leaving Lastovo, but they knew they were heading for bad seas from the forecast.

And it didn’t disappoint, with 30 knot winds and huge waves coming at them! They were re-directed off course slightly from Corfu due to the conditions and have taken shelter in Brindisi, Italy (across the channel)

They will shelter here for the night

day 4 – uPDATE

The crew is sheltering in Brindisi marina today, waiting for the storm to pass. A day for recovering, sourcing supplies, and drying out their very wet sailing gear! Perhaps a little sightseeing along the way!

They plan to set sail tomorrow towards Corfu, then onwards around the southern Greek coastline and the Peloponnese peninsula.

dAY 5 – at sea

The sun’s out and the new Bavaria C42 is back on the move!

The wind has switched in their favour and the rain has stopped, so the boys are taking the chance to get back out at sea.

They plan to aim for Corfu to get them back on course, with their next planned stop at Lefkas to refuel. All being well, they should arrive at Lefkas tomorrow morning. Watch this space!

DAY 6 – at sea

The crew was blessed with good winds yesterday, which lasted through the night. Despite the 2 metre swell, they’ve made it to Greece and past Corfu. They should be arriving in Lefkas by lunchtime.

They’re not far away from being halfway home, despite their diversion to Italy.
Fingers crossed the weather stays reasonable for them!

DAY 7 – AT SEA

Big day for the crew today. The wind and swell are behind them, and the weather doesn’t seem too bad (despite the rain), so they plan to head around the Peloponnese peninsula.

They’ve decided not to stop for their planned supply run in Pylos, and just to go for it while they have a window with the conditions. Once they turn the corner around the peninsula, this puts them at about the halfway point of their voyage.

Good luck boys!

DAY 8 – AT SEA

Our boys made good progress yesterday. They’ve made it around the peninsula.

The winds picked up over night so it definitely wasn’t all smooth sailing. Plus there was a huge amount of marine traffic out there, meaning the crew need to be on high alert throughout the night.

However they passed lots of interesting landmarks along the coastline during the day.

Total nautical miles travelled so far for our new Bavaria C42: 876 nm.

The yacht is now heading for Santorini for their next stop, they should arrive there this evening.

They are hoping to arrive back to sunny Cyprus by the weekend, but this will depend very much on what Mother Nature throws at them!

DAY 9 – AT SEA

At Present, the lads are moored in Astipalia. They have had quite a fast few days’ sailing, but managed to beat the strong winds to moor here to refuel, and to hunt down coco pops for Costi as his thinking is, “breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so I’m having five breakfasts”

Depending on what the wind does, they will hopefully pass Rhodes this evening or tomorrow morning, onward to the last potential hideout at Kastelloizo, which is also the turning point for home…

The boys are currently scrubbing the road dirt from the teak and polishing up the stainless before popping into town so John can get his daily dose of cereal! Keep going boys, not long left now!

day 10 – at sea

The lads are heading to Rhodes, and it’s sunny…. The sea state can be described today as lumpy, with winds blowing in almost the most unhelpful direction…. But they continue to press on. They should be near the eastern tip of Rhodes early tomorrow.

We are continuing to monitor the coco pops situation which now sits at 67%.

day 11 – at sea

After a windy morning, an occasionally windy night, and a super calm morning, the lads will be shortly heading into their last stop of the trip, Kastelloizo. They will be topping up on fuel and refilling the fresh water. They are currently in a dire situation with the coco pops being down to one bowl.

They are planning to arrive Monday, hopefully around lunchtime.

Day 12 – at sea

So, this is it, the final leg of the voyage, after a quick run, a bit of hill climbing, they will be leaving Kastelloizo inbound for Cyprus…

This leg should take about 24 to 26 hrs, hopefully, they will arrive in Cypriot waters with a NE wind which will allow them to arrive under sail.

Thankfully the lads are now stocked with enough coco pops to prevent a breakdown in crew morale, however, the milk situation is dire…

The final voyage home

Well, they made it back to Latchi, and the last night on the water was perhaps one of the most spectacular they’ve witnessed… The sea was like glass, without a cloud in the sky, and no moon until about 2 a.m. so the stars were fantastic…

They made good time to Latchi, and had to throttle back so they arrived in daylight…

Fortunately, the breakfast crisis was brought to a happy resolution with the discovery of a mysterious carton of Slovenian UHT milk

Rumour has it there are still coco pops on board….

Thank you for joining us on our journey.. Now time to book yours!

Or, maybe you are inspired to learn how to Sail…