Life On Sail

     Budget overview: We left Narbonne Plage on 1st April, one month after buying and renovating the boat.  And we finally returned back to France, at Leucate Port, our final destination on 16 March 2026.  So I'm ending our expenses at this day.  However, spendings are still ongoing, as you need to pay for the harbor yearly, and most of all, we are putting Vogue for sale. Which means we need to do some little repairs on it, which has a cost.  But if we leave it on 16 March,   We spent a total of  1596  euros, for 2 weeks.  March spending details: The reason we spent so much is because it was our last leg of the trip. We had a friend onboard, so we went out and about, for our last spending spree. But most of all, we started to order plenty of spare parts ahead of our return to the harbor, for the final repair before the final on sale listing of Vogue.  March vs the overal Budget:   So the questions we've been all await...

 Alex's first sail with us, and we're bringing him back to France.  It was a very short stay in Italy for him.  And it was the most memorable trip! We had wind, sun and an amazing dolphin family swimming alongside Vogue for 15 minutes or even more as we were about to cross the French border.   It was absolutely amazing.  They were so close to me I could have touched them with my feet.  We reached 33.5 NM in 6h36 min at 5.1 knots average.  You can watch on YOUTUBE a 360 video of this interaction with dolphins.  360 degree video means you can scroll anywhere on the screen and watch the video from the angle you want to. Try it out and try to watch the dolphins as they swim! Best viewed on YOUTUBE directly:  https://youtu.be/U6QRBzIjES4

    Budget overview: It was one of our lowest spending months. But still more than we would have wanted because of unexpected event.  We had our dinghy stolen, no extra costs yet, it will incur next month.  It it is our last month before crossing to the French border.  We spent a total of  1711  euros, which is one of our lowest spending during this gap year.  February spending details: We had to stay in ports more than we would have wanted to. Unfortunately, in Italy, the low season price is as expensive as the high season in France.  Also sailing in winter is rough, either too much wind therefore we had to shelter, or not enough, we used the engine far more than we would have wanted. So we had to fill up the tanks twice this month! And last but not least, our autopilot hydraulic pump broke down, we had to get spare parts delivered quickly. It did entail extra costs.  February vs Budget:   We only have 1700 euros left to spend for ...

 No wind today, last sailing day in Italy.  Tomorrow we'll be heading back to France.  We reached 18.7 NM in 4h19  at 4.3 knot speed.  Alex is joining us for 5 days and experience life on sail with us!

 Not much wind today, we reached 28.8NM in 8h15 at 4.6 knot average.  It's our last 2 days in Italy before we cross the border to France. 

  We reached 8.3NM in 1h50 at 4.6 knot average. We arrived the city of Christopher Columbus! We visited the city the same day And bonus, we even shot our YOUTUBE episode 24h in our boaters' life in Genoa. 

  We crake the engine and went further than planned for to get closer to Genoa. We reached 43,2 NM in 8h32 at 5.1 knots. We passed by the infamous Cinqueterre!

  46NM in 11h14 min just by engine. At 4.1 knot average. We moored in a river (Arno) for the first time ever. Closer ever to nature. And the next days we went to visit the infamouse Pisa. First time for Nico, and also celebrating our 25th anniversary there.

  no wind today, only cruising with the engine at 4 knots average, we reached 23 NM today in 5h44 min. It's warm and sunny today, so overall pretty pleasant.

  We reached 42,7 NM in 9h22 at an average of 4.6 knot. Sunny day, unexpected wind! It was all fun.

  We didn't expect wind today! But we did have some after lunch, which propped up our cruising speed to 4,3 knots average, for a 9h43 minute sailing day reaching 40.9 NM with tacking as we had headwinds.

  The autopilot died on us today! We had to steer and stay alert the whole sailing trip. We did reach 37.4 NM in 7h42 at 4,8 knot average. Staying here for 2 nights.

  We’ve reached another milestone – we’ve arrived in Rome! We’re getting closer to France. Today we had a good tailwind, averaging 4.5 knots on a 29.9 nautical mile sail in 6 hours and 37 minutes. The marina was pretty windy upon arrival and the staff had to push the boat to dock. It's a good occasion to stay a bit longer and celebrate the CNY with our friends who also left HK to leave in Rome.

  We didn't expect wind after 8h30 on engine but we got unexpected 15 knot sustained headwind the whole 8h left on our trip. We reached 70.3 NM in 16h33 at 4.2 knot average. We came across family of dolphins for 5 long minutes swimming alongside Vogue. What a surprising day.

  We reached 35.8 NM in 8h24 min with 4,6 knots in average. We passed Naples, the weather is pretty bad, rain throughout the passage. Soon we ll have to shelter as heavy winds are incoming. We took advantage of the clear style in the afternoon to visit the medieval city before being stuck the whole next day in the boat.

  51.9 NM in 11h28 at 4.5 knot speed but it was mostly engine all this time. We arrive again at Procida island and once again we won't be able to visit the beautiful colorful town of Corricella. Wrong Calculus, I thought this one was our 200th sailing but it's not!

  We reached 31.8 NM in 7h33 min at 4.2 knot average. Rainy sailing, and very boring.

  we did reach 10,9 NM in 3h at 3.7 knots. No wind at all. Only engine against a lot of swell.

  Huge waves when we came out of the port. It was a rainy day. we reached 38,5 NM in 8h32 mn at 4.5 knot average. We were to moor here two nights as there is no wind tomorrow. But the swell is strong despite being in a secluded bay! Let's see how it goes tomorrow.

  52.9 NM in 10h15 at 5.2 knot speed. We alternated between no wind and too strong wind gusts. The side swell and the heavy rain made it even worse. We ll stay two nights in order to wait for the wind to subside.