We're Stuart and Nicki, both rather keen on the idea of pottering around the sparkling turquoise waters of the Mediterranean, in the sunshine, on a boat. We've been doing just that since 2012, spending between six and nine months of the year living aboard Comino.
However, as of 2021, the BREXIT rules only allow us 90 days out of a rolling 180 days in the EU. In practise, because we like to sail in warm weather, it means we're now restricted to three summer months a year. We hope the rules will change someday allowing us to get back to longer periods onboard. Fingers crossed!
"How it happened"
Sailing came to us pretty late in life, although I've had a fascination with water sports since an early age. It started as toddler with a rubber ring at the local pool, then a lilo, body boarding as a youngster, canoeing in my teens, windsurfing in my twenties and then straight into cruising yachts in my forties. I seem to have missed out on dinghy sailing somehow - I really must put that right one day !
The love affair with sailing started on a holiday to Malta visiting friends who'd recently bought a 39 foot yacht. After all, what else do you do with a bit of spare cash on a small island in the Med. We sailed with them as passengers to the even smaller nearby island of Comino. The next few days gave us a taste of life at anchor in a paradise setting, eating fish that we'd caught, swimming in the crystal clear sea, basking in the sunshine and making occasional visits to a well stocked fridge. Unsurprisingly, we were both well and truly dazzled by this idyllic experience.
A couple of months later we went back to Malta for another amazing adventure - we sailed from Malta to Sicily with the same friends. Twelve hours to get there, a few days exploring ashore and another whole day to return. On this trip I was keen to learn the in's and outs of how to sail the boat and was duly promoted from lazy passenger to deck hand.
Immediately on our return home, we bundled our tiny tots into the car and headed off to the Norfolk Broads. I had hastily booked a small sailing boat for a week because I was totally smitten with this sailing thing and I now wanted the whole family to get bitten by the bug too. Luckily, the weather was kind and my hearty crew did indeed enjoy sailing big time. We had a magical holiday crashing and bashing our way through the Broads, with overnight stops at idyllic waterside pubs. We taught ourselves the basic principles of sailing with a lot of trial and error and more than a few mishaps. You can read about our experience by clicking on the tab entitled THE BEGINNING at the top of this page.
One thing led to another and for the next few years flotilla holidays in Greece and Turkey gave us a new lease of life. The sailing was awesome, but those warm nights sat peacefully at anchor, in small secluded bays, made us feel incredibly privileged to be there. We'd lay in the cockpit staring up at the stars, the children in bed, both quietly dreaming of what it might be like to come back one day in our own boat.
Somewhere in all of this I bought a speed boat. That's another story for another day, but I did eventually come to my senses and sell it in preference for our first sailing boat - a beautiful old Jaguar 27 called Solace, which I lovingly restored from years of neglect. Our adventures in the Solent and beyond kept us more than happy and cruising with a whole new set of sailing friends made our life as "yotties" even more enjoyable. In the pub, after a days sailing, we often chatted about how wonderful it would be to retire with our boats to the Mediterranean. Everybody dreamt about it, mainly because it rained a lot in the UK.
"Our 1984 Jaguar 27 - Solace"
Looking good after a lot of hard graft.
Our pride and joy for three years.
"And then came Comino"
In 2006/7 we had Comino built. At the time, just wondering about what it would be like sailing her in the Med one day was all we could do. Perish the thought - we had jobs, we had responsibilities. But as someone great once said "a vision without a plan is just a dream". I agree with this bit of wisdom. For a while it really was nothing more than a dream. Then we started to envisaged what might be possible if we made some major lifestyle changes. Finally, there was an actual plan. Yes, we really were going to sail in the sunshine!
2007 - A brand new Comino berthed right behind Solace at Deacons Boatyard on the Hamble.
Our first dinner on-board. I think Nicki's smile says it all. This was to be our be our happy place for years to come.
"We only went and did it"
Comino had arrived at her new berth at Albufeira Marina. Part of her journey was across the Bay of Biscay. At one point the skipper and crew endured a Force 7 blow. They recorded their experience in the log book - rather them than me.
This is how it all took shape. We organised for Comino to be sailed from Southampton to Portugal in 2011 by a professional skipper. The boat was now based on the Algarve whilst we hopped back and forth for lots of long weekends and several summer holidays. We were both still working very hard at the time and with so many flights and so much cost the inevitable became clear - this hectic lifestyle was unsustainable. The time had come to take the plunge. After twelve months we said to each other "let's do this".
So, having packed in our careers, we said goodbye to the rat race in 2012 to start "living the dream". It wasn't easy leaving family and friends, but the kids (young adults) could come and stay with us as often as they liked. The plan was to spend around six months each year aboard Comino, coming home in October till April.
Being full time liveaboards was never in the equation, although I admire people who sell up to sail on a permanent basis. That wouldn't have worked for us and we therefore set off on our new adventure as part-time sailing gypsies on 1st July 2012.
AS AT TODAY
In 2022 we celebrated ten years of part-time sailing in the sunshine. We eventually made it to Greece and the full story of our continuing adventures are documented in this sailing blog.