Aeolian Islands, Italy We left the Caribbean seven years ago, in part, because we were tired of islands. There’s only so much cobalt blue water and white sandy beaches that one can take. We wanted more to do on land, more culture, more history, so we sailed Berkeley East across the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, […]
Capo d’Orlando, Sicily We were moving quickly to put Berkeley East in a marina for a few weeks while we traveled back to the states. One of the most difficult things about cruising is being far away from home for long periods of time. Things happen, good and bad, which require your attention, and often […]
Southern Italy & Sicily We were sitting in the cockpit of Berkeley East below beautiful Taormina, Sicily, wet from showers and settled in for the night, when we heard a voice. “Do you know this Eddie Vedder?” It was George from The Yacht Hotel, the company that owned the mooring that BE was currently tied […]
Montenegro Legend states that sailors named the country of Montenegro (meaning Black Mountain) because the darkness of the trees was all that could be seen from the sea. We have gazed upon these forests before, and the rugged rocky terrain that seems to rise straight up from the Adriatic, when we visited Montenegro in 2012. […]
Italy While at home this past winter, we decided to keep the boat projects to a minimum. We had done most everything on the “To Do” list during the last three winters in Turkey, plus Berkeley East was in a boat yard where little English was spoken so communicating BE’s needs was challenging. Before leaving […]
Croatia We hadn’t planned to go back Croatia this year, but after more than a month at the dock in Italy, we were ready for some anchor time. So we thought back on the time we had spent there, and selected some of our favorite spots to create a two-week cruising route south through Croatia, […]
Parma, Italy Part of selecting Fano, Italy as the winter marina for Berkeley East was so we could travel in the nearby region of Emilia-Romagna, famous for its cheese, ham and balsamic vinegar. We love cheese! And we love ham, so we toured the area surrounding the cities of Modena and Parma where Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, […]
Motor Valley, Emilia Romagna, Italy We have always had a love for Italian design, especially when it comes to cars. Our 1992 Cadillac Allante, that we still own, is as close as we have come to owning one. The body and interior were designed and built in Italy by Pininfarina, then shipped on a 747 […]
Fano, Italy We decided to begin our cruising season a bit later than usual this year, for several reasons: 1) Berkeley East was in Fano Italy, which is fairly far north in the Adriatic Sea, and we knew the weather would be cooler and wetter, so we set a May 15th departure. 2) We really […]
Fano, Italy The last day of the season is always bittersweet, and this year was no exception. After six months of living, and cruising, on Berkeley East, we are typically ready for a break, but we are never, really, ready to let go of the life completely. It was nearly October and we were on […]
