Freya & Us

Vessel Name: Freya of Wight
Vessel Make/Model: Westerly Oceanranger
Hailing Port: Portishead
14 September 2022 | South Wales
04 May 2022
02 May 2022 | Kos - 8,924 NM
24 April 2022 | Lakki, Leros - 8,914 NM
11 April 2022 | Lipsoi - 8,776 NM
07 April 2022 | Samos, 8,735NM
20 March 2022 | Samos - 8,735NM
31 October 2021 | Samos - 8,491 NM
09 November 2020 | Severn Beach, Bristol - 8,735 NM
08 November 2020 | Samos Marina, Pythagorio - 8,735 NM
26 October 2020 | Samos Marina, Pythagorio - 8,735 NM
20 October 2020 | Marathakampos - 20th October 2020 - 8,715NM
09 October 2020 | Limnos - 8,620 NM
30 September 2020 | Patmos - 8,602 NM
25 September 2020 | Evdhilos, Ikaria - 8,552 NM
13 September 2020 | Oinoussa - 8,491 NM
03 December 2019 | Bristol - 8,443 NM
05 November 2019 | Mytilini - 8,443 NM
18 October 2019 | Mytilini, Lesbos - 8,413 NM
11 October 2019 | Molyvos, Lesbos - 8,379 NM
Recent Blog Posts
14 September 2022 | South Wales

Final Story

After 12 years, 8,924 miles, 376 ports of call we officially handed Freya to her new owner last night.

04 May 2022

Interactive Map

By clicking on the link below you can load an interactive map to see our route and explore the places we stopped at.

02 May 2022 | Kos - 8,924 NM

The end of another adventure

Time to move on as we needed to drop Ian and Jess off in Kos for their flight home. There wasn't a breath of wind as we motored to Kos harbour which is very atmospheric under the old castle. It all felt very hectic in the town after a few weeks exploring the tiny, peaceful islands. We were treated to [...]

24 April 2022 | Lakki, Leros - 8,914 NM

Stunning Aegean

It was 11 miles to Skala Patmos and an amazing broad reach sail all the way (almost!) - definitely what it's all about. The sea could've been flatter but it was as expected after the high winds. We went side to on the quay with a Finnish boat where it was very flat and peaceful, especially after the [...]

11 April 2022 | Lipsoi - 8,776 NM

At last, we’re off!

And finally we were ready to go! The engine started first turn, we let off the lines and left Samos marina. We've loved our extended stay on Samos but we're not sorry to leave the marina which is very is unprofessionally run. We were joined on our first trip for ages by dolphins just outside Pythagorio. [...]

07 April 2022 | Samos, 8,735NM

Very stressful final preparations

The engine was removed very efficiently and with great respect for the boat. It was taken to Zlatco's workshop for further investigation! They returned an hour or so later to clean up - very impressive and the engine bay has never looked so clean and shiny! It was very traumatic watching Freya having [...]

Russian Invasion

28 October 2013 | Marina Bajadilla, Marbella 2,324 NM
Sunny
The next day after a final check to make sure our ginger friend hadn't stowed away, we motored to Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on the Moroccan coast about 13 miles away. We saw some flying fish and 3 sun-fish basking in the water but this time saw no dolphins. We were a little nervous about mooring in Ceuta. Up until now all the marinas we have visited in Freya have had finger pontoons that you just pull up alongside of. At Ceuta and nearly everywhere in the Med you moor "stern to". You reverse up to a wall and are passed a lazy line that you need to walk up to and secure to the bow of the boat without the stern hitting the wall or swinging in to the boats moored alongside. Since having our new prop fitted Freya has definitely had a mind of her own when reversing not helping a tricky manoeuvre for the inexperienced, but while our approach wasn't "textbook" we got in safely without damage to our or anybody else's boat.

Ceuta was a pleasant but noisy base. It has a wonderful 13th century fort and moat built to defend the town and the ruins of a roman basilica displayed under a modern building constructed some years ago.

We needed to buy some stamps so headed off to the post office. There were five counters and only about 15 people in front of us, but being typically Spanish there was no sense of urgency from either the customers or staff. 45 minutes later we got our two stamps and headed off to Lidl's supermarket to stock up. The weather forecast for the next day looked wet and we were considering staying for another day, but the arrival of a flotilla of charter boats crewed by noisy Russians settled the matter and we decided to go.

The exit from our berth at Cueta was going to be difficult as we were sandwiched between two very large Russian boats and no more than a boat length in front of us and we had to make sure we didn't foul the lazy lines of boats moored opposite, but this time our manoeuvring was textbook perfect and we were on our way to Marbella, some 43 miles and 8-9 hours away.

The forecast was for little wind and some possible drizzle early on. The forecast was wrong. Yes, there was no wind, but it rained most of the way. It was like sailing at home, only warmer. The journey was monotonous but we did see a few large pods of dolphins and as we motor sailed all the way we arrived in marina Bajadilla in Marbella in good time. Again this was a stern to mooring and this time we executed a textbook entry to our berth. The marinero handed me the lazy line and I started to walk this to the bow of the boat. The far end of the lazy line should be connected to a chain running in front of the wall and stops the boats surging backwards into the wall. As I pulled on the lazy line, it wouldn't go tight and eventually the end came up from the sea. It had broken away from the chain and was useless. So we had to try again in the next berth and this time the lazy line held!

The sun is shining again and so off to explore Marbella........

Click here for the map of our travels
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