Sailing Yacht Florence Archive – Page 5

We fix the damage to Florence from our South Atlantic Ocean crossing and explore French Guiana in South America. We explore Devils island and share how the film Papillon may have taken some liberties with artistic licence and the European space centre laun...

Sailing overnight along the coast of South America we turn left and navigate off the charts up a jungle river. Taking a sailboat into the jungle is a real change of scenary after all the ocean sailing we have done recently. We have been sailing around the...

Offshore sailing in the Doldrums, a sailors nightmare. Join us as we plot our way through frustrating calms and challenging squalls sailing from South America to Trinidad. With nothing to see but sea sky, we had our heads in the clouds as nature painted a ...

Sailing to Tobago is not supposed to be easy, but it is not supposed to be this bad! Sailing upwind against the current became more difficult when we were hit by a 35 knot squall. We also caught a massive fish and experienced the delights of cruising Tobag...

What is it like to SAIL AROUND THE WORLD? We spent the last 6 years sailing offshore across oceans through storms and calms, meeting new cultures and overcoming challenges. THIS IS OUR STORY of 6 years at sea, sailing full circle around the world. Sailing ...

Are we GIVING UP SAILING? Getting a NEW BOAT? Or buying a CATAMARAN? We have sailed all the way around the world, NOW WHAT? In this episode we will share with you our future plans as we explore the beautiful waters of Tobago Cays in the Caribbean. We have...

PREPPING FOR THE END OF THE WORLD or just a normal sailor provisioning? Finding a cost effective supermarket for provisions in the Caribbean means beating upwind for 2 days on Florence. Some wild sailing followed by wild shopping as we prepare to explore m...

Sailing through the Caribbean to the beautiful islands of Les Saints. After thousands of miles of Ocean Sailing, we are enjoying the change of pace in the Caribbean. Shorter distances between countries means we have more time to explore this sailing mecca,...

Antigua and Barbuda are well known as holiday destinations, we made a fast and boisterous sail north across the open Atlantic ocean swells, to take a look for ourselves at these two very different islands. One island busy with superyachts and parties, the ...

Is Blue Water Cruising just FIXING BOATS IN EXOTIC LOCATIONS? We have had our fair share of problems to fix whilst sailing around the world, but this is the biggest breakage so far. We have a cracked bulkhead in the hull and we need to learn some fibre gla...

Exclusive playground of the rich and famous, St Barts in the Caribbean hosts superyachts and high fashion shops. We were told not to visit as there would be nothing for us there, but we went anyway. Join us as we get an eyeful of the life of the rich and f...

Too busy to enjoy, too crowded to anchor and too expensive to have fun? The British Virgin Islands are a mecca for sailing holidays, but is it worth taking your own boat there? We set out to find out and invite some friends along to help us. We have been ...

Sailing Offshore for 4 days to our final country in the Caribbean, WHY DO WE DO THIS? Seasickness strikes before we face the challenge of a narrow and shallow reef passage between us and the smooth lagoon waters. Extra content and real time updates on Pat...

Running aground is a constant risk when Sailing in the Bahamas, but navigating over the shallow sandbanks with turquoise waters for miles around makes it worth while. In the rarely visited outer islands we find stunning deserted beaches all to ourselves be...

We sailed days out of our way to get here but was it worth it? After sailing 46,000 miles around the world, have we now found the best sailing destination? The shallow, azure waters of The Bahamas provide a breathtaking backdrop. Navigating around uninhabi...

This ocean crossing DOES NOT START WELL. It is time to point Florence east for the first time on this sailing circumnavigation. It is time to re-cross the North Atlantic Ocean, our 5th major ocean crossing. We will face headwinds, strong winds, and calms i...

After a seasickness inducing rough few days sailing from Bahamas to Bermuda we finally get to enjoy the beauty of ocean sailing. BUT it is not going to last and we have to use this time to prepare Florence for strong headwinds to come which will have us ba...

Stopping to repair Florence in the middle of the ocean, the tiny remote island of Bermuda offers a temporary refuge to offshore ocean sailors. Once we have repaired Florence and readied her to sail on to the Azores we found time to explore this tiny island...

After 7 years away we are sailing back to where we began this journey, this is not the end, but it is a huge milestone that deserves to be celebrated. We have had lots of messages asking when we will be arriving so that you can watch us sail in, so here is...

Have we made the right decision? After an anxious 2 weeks staring at the weather files we THINK we have found an opportunity to leave. We won't know if we have made the right decision for 2 weeks, IF we arrive safely in The Azores, between here and there w...

Is this the PERFECT BLUE WATER SAILING YACHT? This boat has carried us 50,000 miles across 5 oceans and been our full time home for over 7 years. Take a look around Florence underway at sea and see how life onboard differs out on the ocean to at anchor. ...

HAIR RAISING WHITE WATER SAILING. Offshore passages across the north Atlantic Ocean are not easy, depressions frequently sweep across the area bringing gale force winds and steep seas. The forecast was for windy weather, but what we actually got was a gale...

Is it RELIEF or JOY that we feel as the rugged remote island of Flores appears on the horizon? Landfall after an Ocean Passage is always an exciting time. Sailing into a new port never gets old. This isolated island has been called the Marquesas of the Atl...

After battling some rough and raw weather across the North Atlantic Ocean we have made landfall in a remote and rugged paradise. A mystical land where nature rules. Flores island in The Azores holds a history of transfixing sailors with its beauty, yet few...

After a 12 day Atlantic crossing we thought we were safe, BUT but an approaching storm is forcing us to leave and seek shelter on another island 140 miles away. Sailing through the night to the island of Horta in the Azores we find a stunning island to exp...

Suddenly losing your instruments is not what you want to happen hundreds of miles out to sea. This year has been unprecedented for the number of summer STORMS rolling across the North Atlantic Ocean. We have been waiting for months in the Azores to find a ...

The FINAL MILES of our North Atlantic Ocean Crossing. 4 months ago we set off to make this forbidding ocean passage. Join us as we dodge fishing boats to catch our own fresh fish for dinner and see our first glimpse of England since we set off to sail arou...

Sailing turquoise waters, anchoring off white sand beaches, these stunning islands look almost tropical but with the benefit of a few home comforts. Join us as we explore this cruising mecca surprisingly close to home. We have been sailing around the worl...

Sailing back to the exact point we left the UK 7 years ago to sail around the world brought forth a lot of emotions. Coupled with meeting family for the first time in 6.5 years, and visiting stunning anchorages on England's South Coast, it was an emotional...

This is it, the final leg, sailing home to an unbelievable welcome. As we sailed past the iconic needles and back into the Solent, 7 years and 50,000 ocean sailing miles after we left, it brought out a lot of emotions in us. Being joined by hundreds of our...

Repairing Florence ready for the next adventure. 50,000 miles of offshore ocean sailing has taken its toll on our boat. We take Florence into the boat yard and strip her out for a survey. The result is a daunting list of work that we need to do ourselves b...

Wrecking our boat was the painful first stage of fixing her problems so that we can set sail once more. 8 years ago we were searching for a boat to to take us around the world. But within that search most boats had major problems which were way outside of ...

Join Matt and Amy on the challenging journey of refitting Sailing Yacht Florence. Discover the intricacies of sailboat repair, upgrades, and technical challenges.

How do you keep an old sailboat warm? Welcome to the challenge of fitting insulation to an old boat. Living in a cold damp environment isn't much fun, so before we sail Florence north to colder climates we need to add insulation to keep us warm and reduce ...

Heating will be crucial to enjoying our voyage to the Arctic, in this episode we decide upon and install a new boat heater for Florence and explain our reasons for choosing it. Get 5% off of anything at www.autoterm.store by using the discount code: flore...

Revealing Florence's new look after 6 months of refit work, now we are getting somewhere! New paint, new varnish, new deck. We have been sailing around the world for 8 years after setting off from England in 2016 on board our 37ft sail boat Florence. Now ...