Razzmatazz's voyage from England to the Ionian has hardly been exceptional, except maybe that it has broken the record for slowness, and that we have used the engine very little. These two attributes may be connected!
In fact, we set out in 2005; spent a year cruising the Spanish rias; failed to round Cape St Vincent in October 2006 as the autumn gales came in early; returned to England in 2007; refurbished Razzmatazz with fixed keels replacing daggerboards; set out again in 2009; then spent whole seasons and more exploring the Algarve, Balearics, Sardinia and Corsica.
I'm delighted we lingered, especially in the Balearics and Sardinia, for they are wonderful cruising areas, and in our old age I can't see us sailing back to them. But this year it was time to leave Sardinia, with its interminable Mistrals.
The following pages are an account of this season's voyage from Bosa in Sardinia to the Ionian.
Razzmatazz is a Dazcat 9.2 catamaran, bought as a stripped out racer, and gradually evolved into a more comfortable, but sadly a bit slower, cruising boat with sybaritic additions such as a toilet and cabin table. She's a great boat for summer cruising in benign conditions - cool inside, adequate space, big aft cockpit, sails well in F2, doesn't roll when anchored off a beach at night, and all the gear is manageable by an elderly couple. She'd be impossible in winter, so we lay up and come home.
Part of our extra weight is our bikes, although they only weigh about 11Kg each. We use them anywhere we stay for more than a bare overnight, partly to get around and carry our shopping, but also to explore inland and get some exercise. Greece is a bit mountainous for leisure cycling. But as will apprear in our account, we have found rides that are not excessively strenuous in around half the places we've stopped.