It’s not easy to choose a gift for a sailor or a cruiser. While there are a million things we may need – tools, boat parts, pilot books to name just a few – if you want it to be a surprise, it’s very hard to figure out what would turn out useful. I’ve compiled a list of cruiser-friendly
When we started looking into cruising and living on a sailboat full-time, I often secretly wondered whether it would be for me. I knew I’d love exploring new places, getting to see nature and wildlife often, and swimming most days. However, I had no idea whether cabin fever would drive me nuts, or how I’d react
Last year we managed to find a free marina in Northern Spain. We stayed a few days, enjoying the benefits of land access. This year, we found an unfinished marina up near Mar Menor (love you, Spain!). So why not try and use it? There were no facilities and no access to land, but the
We finally sail in calm conditions to Gibraltar, where a maze of cargo ships is waiting for us. Here, we check out the town and install our brand new windvane. We hope you enjoy this vlog. As always, if you like this episode, please share it, give it a thumbs up, or leave us a comment
After enduring 50 knots of wind in the marina at Rota, we set off expecting a comfortable, boring motor sail down to Gibraltar. We couldn’t have been more wrong. We encounter headwinds and two thunderstorms. We hope you enjoy this episode. As always, if you like this video, please share it, give it a thumbs up,
If we made a video about a normal day on Kittiwake for our YouTube channel, it would get zero views. Why? Most days we work a lot and not much happens. Before setting off, I would have killed for an honest account of a typical cruising day. So I (Elena) figured I’d tell you exactly
As we sailed into Spain, we didn’t expect to see 55 knots of wind in the forecast. We thought we’d had enough bad luck up the Guadiana. Except, the weather gods had different plans for us. They decided to throw a new challenge at us. Join us as we decide what the heck to do
Last year, a post on the cost of cruising was one of our most popular articles on the blog. We decided to follow up on it with some up-to-date figures. Our budget and spending habits haven’t really changed; however we had to adapt to new circumstances and places. Let’s look at our spending for the
Being back on the water was an amazing feeling. The hulls ran smoothly through the water, the sails awoke after five long months of winter and filled beautifully. Even the crinkled cruising chute got out of its bag for a spin. Our first sail of the season was great; we had a range of conditions,
She’s finished! Kittiwake is all ready to go on some new adventures. In this episode, we do more work in the yard, explore the beautiful Portuguese coastline, and finally splash. We hope you enjoy this episode. As always, if you like this video, please share it, give it a thumbs up, or leave us a comment