News from our tours and events

Nisiros – an idyll we would never have found without this tour

5:00 a.m. We cast off from Naxos. The weather forecast doesn’t bode well, but with a strong northerly wind blowing at our backs, we make faster progress than expected. It’s like surfing today and the boat almost flies over the waves. To avoid the forecast strong winds and the high waves that are supposed to come from early afternoon, we decide to go straight again, so another full compass run. more »

Naxos – a night in the middle of a party mile

We continue towards the Cyclades. The Aegean and especially the Cyclades and the Dodecanese are known for rapidly changing wind and wave situations. In the afternoon, the weather forecast predicts some more. In order to get as far as possible, we decide not to sail past the islands halfway, but to rely on our navigational skills and sail for a few hours without having any land contact. It’s a bit strange, because we don’t even see any other ships. First we pass the islands of Kea and Kithnos before relying on the compass. At some point we think we can see land in the distance on the port side (left), but our destination cannot be Naxos, it must be Mykonos. Shortly afterwards, relief: land in sight, we are on course and hit the gap between Paros and Naxos. When we arrive in Naxos town we find the harbour full, but we are allowed to moor right next to the access road and have a fuel truck come so that we can continue safely the next morning. The boat needs diesel to run. But we are pleasantly surprised that we only have to fill up with 500 litres. We are early enough to get ready for shore and explore the old town a bit, have something to eat in a good restaurant and, of course, enjoy one or two anchor beers. Then it’s off to the ship, because we want to get up early again. But we won’t get a good night’s sleep, because the marina is right on the promenade and it’s a hive of activity. Thousands of tourists are partying. And right opposite us is an open-air disco. They are still partying here when we cast off at 5:00. This is the second time we have been deprived of sleep by disco and techno music all night.

Astir Marina Vouliagmenis – you find nothing, but very expensive

Poseidon is really demanding on us and the boat this afternoon. We are torn as to whether we should look for a safe hiding place now, even though we wanted to get as far as Lavrio, but we can’t do that with the waves. Via Skipper App we actually find the Marina Astir in Vouliagmenis, south of Piraeus/Athens. When we finally arrive, we find nothing except for a few luxury yachts. No matter, when we simply docked, everything went very quickly. Security and management were on the spot. No electricity, no water, but one night for 375 euros. What were we going to do. It was really tricky outside. So we spent the most expensive night of the trip. But there was a restaurant, everyone in evening dress and we in camouflage. We left it at a beer, because anything over 150 euros was too steep for us. And the guys all had the motto: Your poverty pisses us off. We cooked ourselves a delicious meal, slept peacefully, recharged our batteries and left at 5am. The sea was still choppy, so we only went as far as Lavrio, but even that took a few hours. Here we did a few checks, because the waves had loosened a few cables and caused faults. We stayed in the harbour the next day and treated ourselves to a hotel room, because we were already in a real sailor’s mood. In the evening, we partied hard in an Irish pub, which was a must.

Corinth Canal – an amazing experience

After a very restless night on a buoy in the middle of nowhere, we set off at 5 am, into the first light and, as every morning, with an intense sunrise. Long waves accompany us through the Strait of Corinth, left side Peleonnese. It seems as if this coast is almost uninhabited, only a few small towns, but many bizarre rock formations. After hours we reach the channel, at first everything looks unspectacular. We register by radio and then wait until we are allowed to pass through. But then: it’s an insanely cool experience to drive through, everything is steep and narrow. There are several bridges over the canal, some of them full of tourists. This passage alone was worth the effort. Simply unforgettable. At the exit, a short stop to refuel and pay the canal fee, a staggering 200 euros. But I saved a good 350km. The canal is still open until September, then it will be closed again to install more crash devices, because 3 years ago the canal was blocked by rockfalls. Then we pass Salamis, a place where the Greeks destroyed the Persian fleet almost 2500 years ago. Then we pass Piraeus and see the mighty city of Athens in the background, we can even make out the Acropolis. Right through the middle of a fleet of containers, freighters and tankers, now we see how small our boat is. Well, and then there are greetings from Poseidon again. Just like Odysseus experienced on his tour. It rattles and rocks mightily, waves crash across the boat and we slowly become a plaything of the forces of nature.

Patras bridge passed – one night at a buoy

5 a.m. Cast off and set sail with the first bit of light. At first we have relatively smooth seas, but that changes again after just one hour. Poseidon has probably noticed that we are sailing on and sends his greetings with wind and waves, and then again a good 40°C, the very warm wind doesn’t really cool us down. Lefkada is an island connected to the mainland by a bridge that is like a ship. Every full hour the bridge ship leaves for 10 minutes, you can pass or you have to wait. In any case, it saves you the tedious walk around the outside of the island. Behind the bridge, a canal-like passage awaits us and first a petrol station, diesel in Greece between 1.85 and 1.95 euros. Now I am not sad that we are travelling slowly, the consumption per hour is now only 20l, before it was sometimes 50l at 25 knots speed. Passing Kalamos, Itaka and Kefalonia, with Zakynthos in sight, we turn into the bay of Patras. We leave Patras on the left and reach the Strait of Corinth at the bridge of Rio. Patras would have been too early to anchor, so we continue. But there is still a lot of wind and waves, so we don’t make it to the next marina (which doesn’t exist either, as we saw the next day). In a mini village near Seleanitika we find a fishermen’s buoy and moor up, which the friendly contemporary allowed us to do afterwards. Very restless night, checking the lines every hour, because we weigh much more than a fishing boat and are also longer, who knows if the buoy anchor will hold. In addition, there was a good swell all night. Meaning: 5 o’clock we let go of the line, hardly slept and had a good shake.

We’re moving on – goodbye Corfu

Finally we can continue our adventure and hope to reach Cyprus without any major problems. We are very happy when we get into the water, but then we have another problem… The workshop mixed up forward and reverse when assembling the two drives. To fix this would mean that the boat would have to be taken out of the water again, as it is the weekend and there is no lift space available on Monday, we would lose another week. We decide to cope with the situation, although it means that we can only sail at reduced speed, but it saves a lot of diesel and we need between 12 and 14 hours for the daily stages instead of 8 hours. There is also a change in the crew. Bernd is now back in cool Germany, but I am very happy that my son Phil has taken time off.
With daytime temperatures of almost 40°C, we finally set sail around noon, steam down the coast of Corfu, then cruise towards the mainland with the destination of Lefkada. But Poseidon sends us his greetings on the way, wind 5-6 and over 2m waves, after 4 hours of mighty exertion we have had enough and head for the port of Preveza. Here we need the help of another 4 strong guys to get our boat to the pier, the wind is so strong. Beautiful marina, appropriately named Cleopatra, good restaurant, but also on the other side techno party until 5 in the morning when we leave here again.

Corfu – Greece reached and forced to stop

We got up early, cast off at 5:15, then to Vlore Port, through the middle of freighters and ferries, harbour tugs and excursion boats, moored at a pier, problem because of the huge wall, but somehow managed. Customs formalities and passport control done and now time to leave the country within 24 hours. Around 9:00 we were at the exit of Vlore Bay and could set course for Corfu. A few waves in between, but still a pleasant trip, to save a bit of diesel, only 14 accounts. more »

Orikum – Albanien

Refuel, clear customs and cast off. In Montenegro everything really worked out great and nice people everywhere. Like the last 60 nautical miles in Croatia, we now have to sail the next 200 nautical miles without the protection of offshore islands. This means a bit more wind and waves, but the boat runs great, dances over the waves, so we can increase the speed a bit to over 20 knots. This means more diesel consumption but also faster progress. more »

Kumbor – Montenegro

Actually, we wanted to sail from Korcula to Cavtat, the last port in Croatia, so that we could leave there properly. On the way there, we passed Dubrownik and were able to marvel at the fortifications that served King’s Landing in the Game of Thrones series from the sea. The day at sea was totally relaxed and twice we had the pleasure of seeing dolphins close to the boat. On the other hand, Croatia remained an unpleasant memory, more »

2nd Step – Korcula / Croatia

Unfortunately, we could only leave Split at noon, and in the morning we had to replace a broken V-belt. The part had been replaced during engine maintenance, but it still didn’t last long. So we went to the shop and bought a few more V-belts at the same time. You never know what will happen and whether you can get parts. After leaving port, calm seas, hardly any wind. That would be pleasant for the rest of the journey. more »

First night – Split Croatia

We cast off as planned at 5:00 am. After leaving the sheltered bay of Sukosan/Croatia, we felt the greetings of the wind bora. Waves about one metre high, rain and of course good wind. The „cloud roller“ over the mountains is approaching the coast. We consider turning back, but decide to walk further south to get away from the storm or to head for a sheltering harbour or bay if necessary. After a good 90 minutes more »

SANCY comes back to water

Finally, after more than a week’s delay, we can have our boat lifted into the water. It was quite an act to find an articulated lorry that had time to transport the boat the 2km from the dry dock to the lift station. But we were not allowed to lift with the crane that loaded the boat, the crane had to do it on site. The total cost of the lift was around 800 euros. We hope to make up for the delay on the water with hopefully calm seas, but the treacherous wind Bora is approaching and may hold us up for another three days. The plan is therefore to get up at 4 am and sail out with the first morning light. We’ll see, because it’s been pouring with rain all day.

Engines are running, but…

First a „puh“… found a good service partner for the two Volvos. A few things that were a bit of a headache again, but could be fixed without having to remove the engines. But then: the cooling system has a problem, a pipe is defective. Now we have to get the part and at least one engine has to come out. Organised here too, but now it’s the weekend, which means standing around for 3-4 days longer. We use the time to polish a bit, repair seals and stock up on food and anchor beer. Now it’s also clear that I won’t be going on tour alone, but that a friend has hired me as a „sailor“. I quickly decided to get on the plane to Zadar and hired him. Great joy and gratitude.

Final work on the boat

Before we set off on the big journey from Croatia to Cyprus, there is still some final work to be done. It will certainly take longer than expected. Some checks have not yet been done and unfortunately some things have been stolen: all lines, fenders and clamps

Another great adventure will start soon

Now it’s almost time for our next adventure. We are transferring our „Sancy“, our boat, from Croatia to Cyprus. It goes down the entire Croatian coast, past Split and Dubrovnik, past many well-known holiday resorts and diving spots. Then we pass the coast of Montenegro and Albania, reach Greece. more »

Pics from our tour to Adonis Bath – 10th of April 2023

Thank you very much for your booking. With the pretty ladies we had to make a stop at the rock of Aphrodite, of course. You can download all the photos with the LINK we sent you.

Lefkara – Private guided tour – 29th March 2023 – Pics

Thank you very much for the really fun hours in the mountain village of Lefkara. Especially our coffee break with homemade cake will remain in our memories. Please ask for all pictures to download. See you again soon?

Now Online – some Pics – Cape Greco Tour – 3th March 2023

SanCyTours – Cape Greco Tour. At Cape Greco we really discovered a unique nature, wild coasts and culture and enjoyed the time with you, our dear guests, thank you very much. Remember Bridge of Karaka, Lover´s Bridge, Green Bay, Chapell and Smugglers Cave, Sculpture Park, Cape Greco View Point

Pics from our Nicosia Tour Half day – 26th February 2023

SanCyTours – Nicosia Old Town Tour. We visit some historic places, the Ledra Street, crossed the border, tookn lunch in the turkish part of Nicosia in Büyük Han. Many thanks to our guests, you can download all photos with the LINK we emailed. Enjoy the remaining days on the island.