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Home via Geneva.

A leisurely drive up to Geneva with plenty of stops for tea and lunch. On my previous trip to Switzerland I had to buy an annual vignette so I intended by-passing Switzerland to get into Geneva. However TomTom had sent me to the Swiss border along the motorway. I managed to find a gap in the central reservation and headed away from Switzerland. At the first chance I pulled over to re-programme TomTom to take me to my address avoiding tolls. A few miles down the road we actually entered Switzerland but we continued, finally getting to our destination untroubled. My aunt had expected us much earlier and apologised for the meal which she claimed was over-cooked. Tasted fine to me. A look over the house and at Tom’s homemade coffee machine, some more cake, more conversation and it was time to go out for an evening meal. We were taken to a restaurant that had a very good reputation and, judging by the number of people coming through the door, we thought it must be good. Food and drink orders taken, drinks came out without a problem. The first course was served at different times and the snails course that I had ordered was not the one (initially and partly consumed) that I ordered. This was rectified but then the second course was being served before all had finished the starter and before they had cleaned away the plates! My aunt had to wait at least 10 minutes after everyone else had started their second course before she received hers. Desserts were had by some, teas and coffees before the bill arrived. For the service and quality of the food I thought it was overpriced. Back at the house a good nightcap was had before retiring for the night. A good hearty ‘english’ was had and we said our goodbyes. Back on the open road we headed for Calais with plenty of time for the shuttle. Food and tea stops enroute we arrived in Calais with three hours before our shuttle time. We popped into Carrefour for some wines and beers and then filled up with diesel before getting to the terminal. Apparently all the trains were fully booked so we had some time to wait until ours. Once on board the shuttle there was time for a bit of sleep before we got to Folkestone. Only another 40 minutes and we would be back home. What a trip, and we still haven’t sailed Electron!

As if we hadn't had enough of the water, we caught the ferry from Patras to Ancona, stopping overnight in Piacenza before heading up to Geneva. Met up with an aunt I hadn't seen for far too many years!

The circumnavigation.

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My journey started in June 2018 when I left Preveza, Greece, in my Bavaria37C, a monohull bound for Gibraltar. I had decided to cross the Atlantic with the ARC and had declared that Gibraltar would be my stepping point in order to prepare the boat for this passage. I had ordered a Hydrovane self steering mechanism to complement my autopilot. I also ordered a water maker as I thought that with four crew on board and only holding 300 litres of water, I would need to make some during the trip. The person I had asked to carry out this work was, let’s say, rather slow, cut corners and, to be honest, never finished the work. An ongoing project between Gibraltar and Cape Verde. From Cape Verde we sailed with the ARC to St. Lucia. The boat was left on the hard in St. Lucia over the winter of 2018 before I sailed her back to Greece in 2019. At that point I knew I wanted to go further but needed to think about the type of boat required to sail round the world. At this point I decided that a catamaran would be the best type of boat for this passage so sold my Bavaria and bought a Lagoon 380 S2. The boat was based in St Martin so it was sailed from there down to Trinidad in May / June 2022. It was left there for quite a bit of work to be carried out before setting off again in January / February 2023. Leaving Trinidad to head through the Panama Canal across the Pacific I left my last crew member in Bora Bora. From there I sailed solo up to Sri Lanka where the boat was left once more over winter. In January 2024 I will return to Sri Lanka to complete the last leg of the circumnavigation, heading up the Red Sea, through the Suez Canal and back into the Mediterranean. All of the daily blogs have been written and placed on my website.

The legs

Greece to St. Lucia via Gibraltar, Gran Canaria and Cape Verde.

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St Martin to Trinidad.

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Trinidad to Sri Lanka.

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Sri Lanka to Greece.

Change of Boats

In order to complete the circumnavigation I had decided that a 'larger' boat was needed. Not necessarily in length but wider, a catamaran. Also my old boat only had one heads (toilet) and a second was required. So, from a monohull, a Bavaria 37 Cruiser a Lagoon 380 S2 was bought.

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