Well, here we are again in the middle of one of our sailing rampages where we move huge distances over a few days to get to another part of the med. This time our decision to sprint north about 400 miles was driven mainly by the unusually good 20+ knot winds which have been blowing steadily to the north for the past few days. When we saw this in the weather forecast it was like being offered a free ride to northern Italy… and a free ride to northern Italy is something nobody should ever decline.

When we left Malta a few days ago, northern Sardinia (a big island to the west of Italy) was our destination. To break up the long passage we stopped for two nights in Trapani, Sicily, then hopped on the back of a big wind system yesterday morning for the 220 mile ride to Sardinia. This is the type of sailing we dream about. With 25 knot winds pushing us from the rear quarter, we cruised out of Trapani and crossed 180 miles over the next 24 hours, a new personal record. We also hit a top speed of 16.3 knots (17 mph) of boat speed, which is also a personal best, and we believe the fastest this boat has ever gone (although Gibby may correct us on that).

As we finish up this leg, with Sardinia now emerging from the haze on our port (left) side, we can’t help but notice that again we’ve seen not a single other sailing boat the entire way here. It seems the pace of our program, and the distances we are now covering probably puts us in a small group of the most aggressive cruisers in the med. Most yachties out here spend several months in each country, so it takes them years to see it all, while others blast across the southern route without seeing the most interesting parts tucked up in the north. We start to wonder if Tamarisk might see more of the Med this year than any other cruising yacht.

The greatest thing about these longer passages is the confidence we build from them. Before we started this trip in April, we had such little experience on the open water (neither of us had ever done an overnight passage) that the idea of a circumnavigation seemed a distant dream. That is no longer the case – we are starting to feel in control of this mission and understand that we can deal with the challenges when they arise and learn what we need to along the way. It would have been a mistake to wait until we were “ready”. We only have one life, and we’re glad we didn’t waste too much of it “getting ready”.

What do you get when you mix a South African, a Brit, an Auzzie, two Italians, and two Americans? You get a funny mix of accents, and you also get the jet-setting crew we’ve had aboard Tamarisk the past couple of days, including our parents and our three friends Lisa, Mara, and Alex. If we had found an Antarctican we could have rounded out the continents, but nobody’s ever met an Antarctican and we’re not even looking.

Together we explored all of Malta’s three islands, including Gozo to the north of the main island, and the tiny Camino island that sits in the middle. What we’ve seen is a unique fusion of cultures here, probably because Malta sits half way between the northern tip of Africa and the southern tip of Europe and has been strongly influenced by both continents. As you can see in the pics, we found some amazing hidden coves and swimming spots that would be impossible to find from the land, meaning you get to enjoy them without the hassle of the tourist crowd. If you come by boat you will love Malta.

We said goodbye to the two Italians and Aussie Alex and we’re now looking at the north end of Gozo for the last time as we sail north towards the western tip of Sicily. In traditional Windebank style, our parents have decided to abandon their flight home and instead stay aboard for the journey to Sicily and then to Sardinia next week.

An embarrassing thing about us Windebanks that we don’t often talk about is the subject of fishing because we’re hopeless at it, not because we don’t try, but because we’re just really bad at fishing for whatever reason. We’ve got all the excuses prepared for when the questions arise…: these waters are fished out, it’s not the right season, our sailing speed is too fast for the fish here, etc.. But the truth is that we’re just terrible when it comes to fishing. Piers and Richard have decided that all this nonsense changes today, so the lures have been rigged up properly, the boat is sailing at a perfect 4 knots, the hooks are now overboard, negative jokes and sarcasm have been forbidden today, and we’re already talking about the fish BBQ later tonight. Stay tuned for pics in our next update (and if there aren’t any, remember… these waters may be fished out).

All the teams on the Black Sea Run gathered in the center of Budapest on Saturday morning for the official start of the rally. There are 11 cars this year who are hoping to make it to the finish line in Ukraine in two weeks which is over 3000 kilometers and 10 countries away from the starting line. Sometimes the cars travel together in convoy, but most days it’s a free for all, so cars are free to explore different places and get lost as often as they please. After mixing in breakdowns, confusion, and people getting lost, it works out that about 50% of the teams make it to the target spot each night.

The first day included some long distance driving as we headed south from Budapest towards the Croatian island of Pag. Pag is known for its famous Zrce Beach, which is packed with beach clubs and has become one of the most famous party-places in the world. Mature adults would be horrified that Croatia has allowed such a beautiful beach to be defaced by jumbo sound systems, swimming pools, dance floors, intelligent lighting systems, and go-go dancer stages. That explains why there are no mature adults here, and also why we think it deserves its reputation as a premier party spot.

We intended to leave Pag yesterday morning, but because everybody woke up with raging headaches and couldn’t get out of bed, it was early afternoon before the first cars started rolling. Most of the cars headed to Dubrovnik, which is the Croatian tourist town that we went to with Tamarisk several times in the past few weeks. So we’re diverting our own route and headed into Bosnia for something different tonight. Bosnia is a huge country but only has a few short miles of coastline, so they pack it full with hotels and millionaire’s homes. We’ve fallen behind the other cars but we should have no problem making back our 100km deficit tomorrow.

A few days ago we were wondering why Croatia had so little wind compared to Greece just a few hundred miles south. Croatia must have heard us saying that because it responded by delivering three straight days of flawless sailing winds. We’ve been using the wind to do some serious island hopping and we continue to be blown away by the character of the small marina cities that line the island coasts, many of which barely even appear on the map and are very unspoiled by modern things (like cars, tourism, etc.), so you feel like you’ve stepped back in time a few hundred years. It’s a boater’s paradise and our only regret is that we can’t spend more time exploring the place. Uncle Bob couldn’t have picked a better week to join us.

Before we came to Croatia many yachties warned us about how expensive it is and how you have to be rich to explore Croatia. Our experience is the opposite – the prices for food are reasonable and the marina fees (around 100 euros per night) are easy to avoid by dropping the anchor just outside the harbor, which we do almost every night. We’ve found we can be very aggressive in dropping our anchor wherever we want and nobody ever seems to bother us – this, we think, is the key to inexpensive sailing. Because the cost savings are so compelling for being on the anchor, we’ve decided to extend our anchor chain from 75 meters (250 feet) to 150 meters (500 feet) so we can anchor in deeper water and have more options for where we spend the night. That will not be a cheap upgrade, but it will likely pay itself back many times over the next two years.

Our travels for the past three days have covered three of the most beautiful islands in Croatia: Vis, Hvar, and Brac (where we are now in the city of Bol). Today we head further south towards Korkula and we aim to be back in Dubrovnik on Friday where Bob’s flight departs and where we will begin our long passage back to Greece.