Petite Lune spent the winter of 2021/2022 in Puerto Sherry.

We bought a new boom that we transported on our car to the south of Spain in February. The boom was needed for the double tradewind jib that we bought. Furthermore we changed the gas hob for an electric one and we now even have a grill in the oven. We were not sure as of how safe gas on board is so we decided to go for electric. We are planning to have two more solar panels on the bimini so we should be okay with our electricity needs. The last addition was an 220V/110V isolation transformer for shore power in 110V countries.

Ernst went end of March to Petite Lune, he had various small jobs to do (and wanted to get some early sunshine). End of May we sailed to Tanger as this was on last year's list but Morocco was closed due to Covid. But now everything was open so we decided to go. The marina is quite new but not yet finished. It took a long time to book into the marina and the country, lots of paperwork and stamps. We also have 2 drones on board and they are forbidden in Morocco so they had to be put in storage in another building with, again, lots of paperwork. We stayed for two nights, were happy that we went there but it is not very likely that we will come back. Checking out again took a lot of time, also because of the drones.

End of May we went with two crew who wanted to get some overnight sailing experience from Puerto Sherry via La Línea de Concepción, Ceuta, Gibraltar and Estepona to Ibiza as we wanted to spend the summer in the Balearics. We left Puerto Sherry on the 24th of May and sailed directly to the anchorage near La Línea, we arrived at around 00.30h so this was already an adventure to sail through the Bay of Gibraltar in the dark. Going to Ceuta was nice, coming back, the Strait of Gibraltar was very choppy so not good fun. We went on to Estepona, and from there decided to go straight to Ibiza, which took us two nights with on the second night 40 knots of wind, which was maybe a bit much for the crew’s first overnight sailing experience. But we arrived safely in Ibiza on the 31st of May, anchored and jumped into the beautiful clear waters.

The first half of May our daughter Alexandra came to Ibiza; as she doesn't like sailing we promised her we would only motor around Ibiza. After 1 week our son Christopher joined us as well so the whole family was complete. We had a good time swimming, sunbathing, eating, etc etc. After Alexandra left to go back to work again, Ernst, Christopher and Saskia did a deep dive course with SSI Vellmari in Formentera. We did one dive in an old fishfarm which was fantastic, we saw tuna, barracudas and many other fish. Because Christopher finished secondary school we went back to Holland for his graduation ceremony. So we sailed Petite Lune from Ibiza to Valencia to leaver her there for a week.

Coming back, Frank, a friend, joined us on board. Back to Ibiza and from there on to Mallorca, where, after a week, he said goodbye to us. Ernst, Christopher and Saskia explored Mallorca, amongst others Andratx and Sóller, and sailed on to Menorca, where we stayed in the beautiful area of Mahón and also near Ciutadella. Christopher was supposed to fly from Menorca but because his friend Toon decided to join us for a week, he wanted to go back to Ibiza so that is what we did. We picked up Toon in Cala Tarida, went to Cala Comte where there were too many jellyfish, we sailed to Formentera, Cala Saona, where we were very closely anchored to superyacht Aria SF that went up into flames. We anchored in Cala Savina where another sailboat that dragged anchor bumped into us and sheltered for wind in Cala Talamanca in Ibiza where we dropped off Christopher and Toon as their holiday was over.

Now that Christopher had left it was the two of us again, but now for a longer period. We left Ibiza and sailed to Palma the Mallorca once again and stayed in the marina as it gave us easy access to the supermarket. From there on it was on to Menorca to the bay of Mahón again, and through the night to Sardinia. The first town to explore was Alghero where we stayed for free at the public docks. Alghero is beautiful with it's walled old city and it is a famous area for red corral. Luckily the temperature came down a bit so exploring the city was not too hot. After a couple of days we left to go through the Passaggio dei Fornelli, the swimming pool of Italy. Beautiful clear water and white sand, but unfortunately again jellyfish. Porto Liscia was our next destination, a wide bay with a beautiful sandy beach, the next anchorage was Porto Pollo/Porto Puddu, around the corner and on to Olbia where we stayed again for free on the public docks (not as nice as in Alghero), we were pleasantly surprised by Olbia, especially the icecreams were very tasty. We anchored in a bay close to Porto Cervo and took the dinghy to explore Porto Cervo and went on to Porto Palma where we spent the night, and the next day took our electric scooters to visit La Maddalena. When we left we had an acient anchor hanging off our anchor so that was a challenge to get that off. We went to Cala Porteddu for one night and back to Porto Liscia as there was a bit of bad weather predicted.

From the Maddalenas we sailed to Bonifacio in the south of Corsica, a beautiful medieval citadel where we stayed two days in the marina, very impressive and lively (but also touristy) city. Following the west coast up we tried to anchor at Campomoro but it was either too deep or bad holding ground so we moved to Portigliola - a bit more towards Propriano. Long sandy beaches with again beautiful water, but, very strange, not one bin on the beach. We had a very interesting night with thunder and lightning all around us, very scary! Our next stop was Girolata. This is where the violent storm hit Corsica on August 18 of this year. And we could still see the impact - numerous boats were still stranded, very sad to see (and also scary). Our last stop on Corsica was Calvi where we anchored. Again a beautiful medieval citadel with nice waterfront restaurants.

Some bad weather was coming in - thunder and wind - and we decided to use that wind to sail to Saint Tropez where our electricity man was going to do some work for the later to be installed extra solar panels and watt&sea. We anchored in the Baie the Pampelonne, then into the Cogolin marina for two days and with the mistral coming in we anchored in the Golfe de Saint Tropez. After the mistral had gone we went for a morning dive and got the shock of our lives: 17.5 degrees Celcius! Next stop was the bay of Cannes and then to Antibes for 8 days as we were going to Holland for 1 week. Coming back on board onwards to anchor at Rade de Saint Hopice, which was also our last anchor spot in France. Italy here we come!

The first place we went to was Sanremo and we decided to stay in the marina. We managed to buy simcards for TIM, 100G for €11, valid for 1 month, good deal! Ernst called Genova a few times to see if we could get a berth there but as there was a boat show going on it was all very difficult (even some days after the boat show had finished) so we decided to give that a miss. We waited for some good winds and sailed all the way to the bay of La Spezia. It was a horrible journey with unpleasant waves so we were happy to arrive at Le Grazie. The next day we spent all day inside as it was raining. We decided to take Petite Lune around the corner to visit Riomaggiore, one of the small towns of Cinque Terre. What a touristic place that was, horrible, so as fast a we could we went back to Le Grazie. Le Grazie turned out to have the best value for money pizzeria we have ever been to. We took Petite Lune over to the other side of the bay to Lerici, to have a change of view but went back to Le Grazie as Saskia went to Holland for a few days to celebrate her sister's 50th birthday and Ernst stayed on anchor. Being back in Italy we took the opportunity to visit Pisa as we had a car.

Back on board we were invited by good friends who were cruising in the area with a smaller cruise ship, it was wonderful to catch up with them and what a treat lunch was! However much we liked Le Grazie we had to get on and our next destination was Elba where we visited Napoleon's house while he was exiled there. Our next stop was Porto del Valle, on the other side of Porto Ercole where we couldn't anchor because of the swell. Then on to Fuomicino where we anchored in a marina that was under development - we have the feeling it will never be developed further. At around 10pm we had a visit from the Guardia di Finanza to check if all our papers were in order (they were), a bit scary being entered in darkness. Next was Isola di Ponza, a lovely island where we made a dinghy tour in beaurtiful blue waters. A lot on the island was closed though as the holiday season was over. After Ponza we decided to choose for Isola di Procida and not for the more well known and bigger Ischia. Procida was sweet but with one of the most horrible cappuccini - and that in Italy!

Then on to Sorrento, in the marina, very helpful harbour master, and we were very glad we had electric bikes as the town is situated a lot higher up then sea level. The famous Isola di Capri was next, this is where a lot of celebreties holiday in summer time, now there was no celeb in sight as it was not the season, but still very busy. We stayed in the marina as the anchoring spots were not very good. We toured the whole island on our electric bikes, fantastic! Cetara was next and we were pleasantly surprised. The marina was very deep and the harbour master friendly and helpful. Cetara is not big but has a nice feel. Onwards to Palinuro, Cetraro and Tropea. This must be a busy place in the summer as there are a lot of beach clubs, unfortunately all closed now. Then Isola Stromboli where we anchored for 2 nights. We toured around Stromboli in our dinghy and saw a small outburst of the volcano. Every 20-30 minutes there seems to be an outburst. There is one particular big area where you cannot anchor or sail as hot rocks are falling constantly into the sea. We were safe though! Next through the Straight of Messina into Messina marina and on October 30 we arrived in Marina di Riposto - Porto dell' Etna where we were going to leave Petite Lune for December and January to go back to Holland to spend some time with family. But first we had a lot of visitors coming to Petite Lune. It is always nice to share your journeys with others!