Cold Summer Cruise to Spitzbergen

Track recorded by OpenCPN

To escape the heatwave in central Europe my wife Ilse and I flew to Bergen, Norway and boarded Hurtigruten MS Midnatsol for an expedition cruise to Svalbard / Spitzbergen on Tuesday 14th, July 2026. The ship is 132m long with a draught of 5m to allow for narrow and shallow passages through most Norwegian fjords and sounds. It was renovated the month before and very comfortable with only half of the cabins occupied. 

 

For our first stop we docked in Åndalsnes, took a stroll around the village, and enjoyed the Isfjorden. We continued to Træna, where we boarded a small fishing vessel to explore the shallow archipelago and visited the small islands Sanna, Husøya und Selvær.

 

 

 

Fishing Village Å

 

Next day we visited Reine on the most western tip of the Lofoten and took a bus to the historic fishing village Å, the wooden Flakstad church,

 

  

Ramberg Beach

 

and finally the snow white beach of Ramberg.

 

 

 

 

Tromsø from Fjellheisen

Early next morning after mooring in the harbor of Tromsø we took a bus to the Fjellheisen cable car to experience the view from the Storsteinen mountain, and then visited famous Arctic Cathedral. 

 

 

 

North Cape

 

After crossing Tromsø Bridge on foot we visited the Polar Museet and finally boarded our ship. After bunkering provisions and diesel we reached the port of Honningsvåg to visit the famous North Cape next morning.

 

View from MS Midnatsol

 Sunday 19th evening we continued our journey northbound across the Barents Sea with south westerly wind up to 36kn, passed the west coast of Bjornøya - 'Bear Island' and finally docked in the small harbor of Longyearbyen in the Svalbard archipelago on Tuesday morning. 

 

 

 

Kongsfjord Glacier

We visited Svalbard Church, Museum, and Camp Barentz with a lot of sled dogs and looked at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.

 

 

 

Coalmine Train at Ny-Ålesund

 Next morning we reached our most northern point in Kongsfjord, admired the sad remainders of the melting glaciers and moored at the small pier of Ny-Ålesund, which was a mining village for Russia and Great Britain based on the Spitsbergen/Svalbard treaty of 1920 and hosts today over a hundred researchers, representing 20 glaciology and climate institutes from more than 10 countries including China, Russia and Austria. 

 

 

After 2 days crossing the Barents Sea southbound and watching some seabirds and wales we delivered some freight at Tromsø. In the afternoon we moored at Torsken on Senja island and took a bus to visit Hamn, Bergsfjord, Steinfjord and famous Ersfjord Beach.
 

 

Trollfjord

Early on Saturday 25th we reached Stokmarknes for a short visit of Hurtigruten Museum  and then navigated into to narrow Trollfjorden spotting some white-tailed eagles and then continued to Svolvær, where we boarded MS Symra, a small wooden fishing boat from 1917, for a fishing trip where I was happy to catch a mackerel.

 

Bessaker Cutter Boat

Next day we reached the small fishing village of Bessaker, again boarded a small traditional cutter boat built in 1961 and with winds up to 33kn explored some fishing grounds in the Skjervøy archipelago.

 

 

 

Hellesylt Falls

At our last stop in Ålesund in heavy rain we visited Ålesund Kirke and some Art Nouveau buildings and then took a bus tour through the Sunnmøre Alps visiting Fitjafatnet, Strandafjellet Skisenter, Geiranger Fjord Viewpoint, Hellesylt Falls, Stavbergsetra and finally Sæbø, where we boarded our ship by tender and continued north along the Hjørundfjord with some snow.

 

 

St. Mary's Church

After 14 impressive days on board we finished our cruise back in Bergen, where we spent two comfortable nights at Home Hotel Havnekontoret, climbed down Mount Floyen, and visited St. Mary's Church,  Bryggen, and Bergenhus Fortress. For a authentic dinner at Marg&Bein restaurant we met my niece Ina Nagler, who is currently a doctoral candidate at the Department of Earth Science of Bergen  University and investigates the North Atlantic surface and overturning circulation of the Gulf Stream.

 

Map after Willem Barents, 1596

 

 

 

 

We logged 3270sm in 14 days. 

You may download our track in gpx-format or view it directly on GoogleMaps.  

Ionian June Leisure Cruise

My second crew arrived at the Athenian pontoon in Nydri, Lefkas on Saturday 20th June 2026: Gabriela, Heidi, Ilse, Herbert, joined by Andreas and Michael from the first cruise. While the crew went shopping for our provisions I prepared the Lagoon 43 catamaran for our next cruise. We went to The Pinewood Restaurant for dinner and enjoyed nice mezze, fish, shrimps, and good wine and spent the first night on board moored at the Athenian pontoon.

 

 

 

After an early Greek breakfast at myBakery we motored with no wind round famous Scorpios island and proceeded south to Atokos island to have a look at the swimming pigs. We continued west to NE of Ithaka, looked at Ormos Kioni and finally anchored south of Ak Agios Illias  on 7m sand. Michael and Andreas prepared 2 wonderful Branzinos on a bed of vegetables in the rather weak oven and we enjoyed the quiet bay. Early next morning some wasps drove us away and we motored with no wind east to the remote Drakoneres Islands while having a nice breakfast. We rounded Nisida Sofia, Provati, and Karlonisi, passed a lot of fish farms and anchored lonely in peaceful Ormos Dioni near the NW entrance to the strait of Patras, where we saw some cows bathing in the warm sea.

 

 

 Tuesday 23rd with no wind we motored west to the southern tip of Ithaka and anchored for a swim in the middle of crowded Antri Bay  in 15m and continued to the harbor of Agia Euphimia, where we moored at the last NW space in 2m with bow anchor. We replenished our provisions at the AB Food Market and enjoyed a fabulous Greek dinner at Amalia Restaurant. Next morning we had English Breakfast at Fior Di Amore and motored north through Diavlos Ithakis, rounded Ak. Daphnoudi, motorsailed SW to famous Fteri Beach and anchored a bit further north in front of high sand stone cliffs at Ageredes Caves in 4m sand. We spent the afternoon swimming in warm water and slept through a quiet night.

Next morning we motored south through Ormos Kyriakis, passed the Venetian Fortress of Assos and visited the small Assos Bay, then set sail and crossed northwest over to the south coast of Lefkas to the crowded bays of Ormos Syvota and Micros Gialos. With no wind we motored east along south coast of Meganisi, passed some nice anchor spots near the eastern tip, turned north and found a nice anchor place in 7m in the middle of Ormos Rementinoú. In the morning of our last day we explored the NE bays of Meganisi: Atherinos, Ambelakia, and Balou. Early noon some northerly wind rose to about 13kn and we could try some tacks and jibes and experienced the good sailing performance of this new Lagoon 43 catamaran. For a last swim we continued southwest and anchored east of Nisida Thilia in 4m sand. In the afternoon we motored back to Nydri and moored safely at Athenian pontoon. Again we celebrated our cruise at Taverna Roza.

We logged 182sm in 6 days. You may download our track in gpx-format or view it directly on GoogleMaps. 

Cruising Around the Ionian Islands on a New Catamaran

 I met my first crew: Andreas, Christoph, Hans-Christoph, Michael, Peter, and Robert at Hotel Armonia in the south of Nydri in Lefkas on Saturday, 13th June 2026. After completing formalities and buying provisions we boarded our boat, a brand new Lagoon 43 named Emerald, chartered from Athenian Yachts. We had an authentic dinner at Tasty and slept our first night on board moored to the small Athenian pontoon.

Next morning after breakfast at myBakery we motored south passing the west coast of Meganisi. Leaving the channel we checked the new sails. Despite light southerly winds we were happy with the sailing performance: with 7kn of true wind beam reach we were able to do 4kn speed over ground. In the afternoon we anchored in the middle of Filiatro Bay on a sandy patch of 7m in the NE of Ithaka and had sardines in buckwheat breadcrumbs for dinner prepared by Andreas. Next day at 09:00 we continued south with nice NE winds of 14kn reaching 7kn SOG near Akra Skinara at the NE tip of Zakynthos. We looked at the impressive Blue Caves, passed Agios Nikolaos and finally anchored at south of Xigia Cove on 9m sand with a faint smell of the nearby sulfur bath and had Tagliatelle Bolognese for dinner carefully prepared by Andreas and Michael.

On Tuesday 16th we motored with no wind into Zakynthos port, moored with anchor in the southern harbor alone at the Athenian pier, and got a stronger folding chair as a replacement for a broken down plastic chair from the friendly manager. We replenished our provisions at Kritikos Supermarket and visited the harbor cafe. Early afternoon we left the harbor and motored to the Nature Reserve for turtles in Laganas Bay in the very south of Zakynthos, where we anchored in the north of Laganas Beach in sand at 4m.

 

Early next morning we rounded Keri Caves SW of Zakynthos, visited Porto Vromi and looked at the Panagiotis shipwreck at Navagio Beach. With some NE winds and waves we sailed north and anchored in Spartia Bay on 6m in the south of Kephalonia. Next day we motor sailed along the west coast of Kephalonia, passed Ak. Gerogompos, Ak. Atheras, and Ak. Daphnoudi, and crossed Diekplous Kephailinias. We anchored in the south coast of Lefkas at Standing Stones Beach in 21m in Ormos Kastri where Robert and I prepared pancakes with buckwheat flour worth remembering.

On our last cruising day we sailed east between Kalamos and Kastos, passed Schinas Bay and Kalamos Marina, rounded Asporgiali Light and continued north to Paleiros, where we anchored south of the port on 5m sand for a swim. Finally we continued SW back to Nydri, where we moored to the Athenian pontoon for a crew change and service of the watermaker. We celebrated our cruise at Taverna Roza with a exceptional Greek dinner.

We logged 220sm in 6 days. You may download our track in gpx-format or view it directly on GoogleMaps. 

Indian Summer in the Ionian Sea

 

On Saturday, 12th September 2025 my fabulous crew (Biggy, Dorly, Eva, Evelyn, Evi) and I arrived at Marina Cleopatra south of Preveza. We had ordered some provisions from yachtness, which arrived reliable ahead of time. At Check-In we discovered some maintenance problems with our boat S/Y Paspartu, a nice catamaran Bali 4.1 from Riginos Yachting. So we could not sail as planned in the afternoon and had to wait for absolutely necessary repairs and the replacement of 2 missing fenders.

 

Early next morning we motored to the northern end of Lefkas Canal, where normally the Floating Bridge "Agia Mavra" should open at 10am. But it had been removed due to the expiration of its safety certificate. Now the ferry “Faneromeni” should operate as a temporary connection between Lefkas and the mainland at 08:00, 10:00, 14:00, 17:00, 19:00, and 22:00. It is a shame that those times were not easily available online. At 10:00 a.m., the intermediate ferry gave way to a seemingly endless line of boats heading south.

We continued south, passed the south eastern tip of Meganisi and the south western tip of Kalamos and anchored in Abelakia Bay on the eastern coast of Kastos where we went for a refreshing swim and enjoyed Greek Salad and Spaghetti ai Legumi.

 

Next morning with nearly no wind we continued further south to the fine sandy Kaminia Beach SE of Kephalonia, where we anchored in sand with some swell. After a long swim we prepared our dinner with potatoes and a lot of vegetables, accompanied by delicious salads.

On Tuesday, September 16th we tried to sail and found the rigging of our boat in total disorder. The 3rd reef line was much to short and the topping lift was mounted wrong. After some arduous work we were able to sail with a rather short main and visited the Blue Caves at the northern tip of Zakynthos. Then we did some MOB training and finally moored in Agios Nikolaos Harbor. 

 

 

 

 

In the evening we replenished our supplies and had a nice dinner at Taverna Porto, so we had nothing to pay for mooring and electricity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next day with our rather short main we sailed north to Ithaka accompanied by a handsome dolphin. 

In the afternoon we anchored in the beautiful Filiatro Bay on the eastern coast. With the help of my ambitious crew I prepared Risotto al Limone with some fennel and we spent a quiet night at anchor.

With nice easterly winds we sailed further north to the south of Lefkas, where we anchord south of the long beach of Vasiliki. We prepared Fussili al Tonno with some salads and admired many ambitious surfers and sailors training around our boat.

Early morning to start our last leg back to Preveza we rounded Cape Lefkatas Lighthouse and sailed north with strong easterly downwinds along the impressive west coast of Lefkas and stopped for a short swim at Agios Nikitas Beach with strong currents. 

Refreshed we continued to the fairway into Preveza harbor, refilled our diesel tank, spent the afternoon in Agios Thomas and finally moored our boat ending our cruise in Marina Cleopatra. We celebrated our harmonious sailing week at Restaurant Celeste with an exquisite dinner.

Saturday morning we left our boat and visited the Archaeological Museum of Nicopolis, enjoyed a fine Branzino at Filippas Tavern and finally took our flights home.

Despite all those problems with the poorly maintained boat from Riginos Yachting we enjoyed a beautiful sailing week. You can view some photos of the defects in this Google Album.  

 

We sailed 183sm in 36h during 6 days.  You may download our track in gpx-format or view it directly on GoogleMaps.