Season 1 - 2019

We really enjoyed our first season as live aboard cruisers on Fair Isle. Producing YouTube videos was just an experiment to see if we could produce films for the internet that people would enjoy. We just released films as & when they were ready, usually about every three weeks.

 

The map opposite shows our route and the areas the episodes were filmed in.

 

 

Season 2 - 2020

Season 2 started in Cartagena where we had spent a lovely warm (even in Jan / Feb) winter. We had planned a slow trip through the Balearics, on the Corsica, then Sardinia, Sicily, Italy , Malta, Croatia and Venice where we had already booked Certosa marina.

 

We started in early March to make the most of the off season in the Balearics which become very crowded and expensive from July to September.

 

Our very first port of call was the Mar Menor, a small inland sea accessible by lifting bridge just a day sail North of Cartagena. We had planned to stay a week, we ended up getting stuck there in lockdown for almost 3 months!

 

So, by the time were allowed to leave, our leisurely trip to Venice had become a bit of a race. We had to take a more direct route, miss out Corsica and Malta and barely touch ground on Sardinia.

But we did make it to Venice in time for at least some family to come - although Covid scuppered our plans somewhat.

We didn't film much of the early years of Fair Isle but we've put together something to show our time in Holland and England preparing to set sail. Hit the thumbnails below:           

Holland

England

We travel to Holland to buy Fair Isle, a Hans Christian 48T built in 2000 in Thailand.

She is lying in a marina in Monnickendam on the Markermeer. We take her to Enkhuizen for a lift and survey, stay for the winter in the ice, then sail her to England in the spring.  

Bringing Fair Isle back to England was supposed to be for one year while we sorted out work commitments and added what we needed to the boat to make her a good live-aboard cruiser.

One year turned into two, but we did get an extended summer cruise off the Channel Islands.