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 [...]

Hiding from August

17 August 2015 | Marina di Campo, Elba - 4,445 NM
Hot , Sunny and Stormy
We really enjoyed exploring Bastia with its citadel full of narrow, old winding streets leading down to the port with more old windy streets. To our amazement it also had a train station with links to the centre of Corsica. We took the train to Corte which was a wonderful ride as the little train wound its way up through the mountains and Corte itself was lovely with a citadel perched on top of the town giving lovely mountain views and of course more old winding streets to explore and a delicious long lunch.

We don't feel as if we've done Corsica justice but we've found it quite unfriendly, very crowded, very hot and impossible to get around and explore. I'm sure most of that is the August effect but we thought it time to move on.......

Leaving the marina in Bastia after stocking up in the French supermarket, it looked as if we'd have a great sail for the 37 miles to Elba. Up went the sails and we were doing 5 knots with the wind on the beam - perfect. Very soon we were doing 2 knots so thereafter it was a very pleasant motor sail! To our horror the bay we'd planned to anchor in looked as if the yachts were playing sardines it was so crowded and the beach, which we could just see in the through the yachts, looked even worse! Not for us and so we headed on to the next anchorage. Luckily Elba has quite a few and so not too far. Marina di Campo is a huge sheltered bay and although there were hundreds of boats at anchor there was still room for 1 more - plus lots more as the evening went on!

On our first day in Elba we didn't actually make it ashore - not sure where the day went! But the next day we explored Marina do Campo and loved it. It's a really pretty and colourful town with lots of nice looking restaurants and shops. Very touristy but the tourists were attempting to cover every inch of the long beach when we were there and so weren't in our way. There is also a small fishing fleet and lots of fishermen around giving it a 'real' feel and very few cars (lots of bikes) making it feel very peaceful. Our project was to arrange an appointment to get my haircut which we originally thought was going to be impossible but we eventually found a hairdressers. We went in and the man who we thought was a customer threw his hands up in horror looking at my frizzy curls and said "cut - prego!" Clearly no appointment necessary! I'd decided to go short and we showed him a picture we'd found to which he said "si" - cut!' He set off with much Italian flair, scissors and comb waving in the air and as is the want of most hairdressers, it's much shorter than the photo and bears very little resemblance but I think I like it and it's definitely a huge improvement!

There's a small beach very close to where we're anchored and we thought we may be able to walk around the beautiful, wooded headland surrounding it and so we took the dinghy ashore. We were disappointed to find all of the woodland private but there was a path going inland and so we headed off on one of our mystery tours. It was a lovely walk a up the hill and then a long the coast to town - not what we expected but at least we got coffee and wifi ! In the afternoon we had another terrific thunder and lightening storm. They're spectacular and really clear the air.

Off to explore more of the island on the bus today................

Click here for the interactive map of our travels
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