The Biggest Challenges of Our First Liveaboard Season
2025 was the year we took the biggest leap of our lives, buying our very own catamaran and starting our first full liveaboard sailing season. And while it was hands-down the best year we’ve ever had, it also came with some of the most challenging, stressful, and downright terrifying moments we’ve ever faced at sea.
In this episode, we’re looking back across our videos at the biggest challenges of our first liveaboard season, sharing the moments that tested us both physically and mentally, and showing the reality of yacht life beyond the instagram highlights.
Living on a boat in the Mediterranean isn’t always sunshine and calm anchorages… sometimes it’s fear, exhaustion, tough decisions, and learning the hard way.
We’ll take you through our most frightening overnight passage crossing from the Balearic Islands back to mainland Spain, our brutal introduction to boat life during a Bay of Biscay crossing, we relive the moment we tried to save another yacht as it crashed onto the rocks in Formentera, and finally the terrifying experience of discovering flooding in our master cabin while sailing 60 nautical miles offshore.
Despite everything, we’re excited to do it all over again this year (with hopefully less drama!).
Thanks for watching, and we’ll chat with you in the comments ⛵💙
0:00 - 0:40 Introduction
0:40 - 6:00 Caught in a lighten storm
6:00 - 11:41 Bay of Biscay Passage
11:41 - 19:18 Yacht crashes onto shore
19:18 - 27:04 Yacht Floods Offshore
27:04 - 27:32 Conclusion & outro
Hey! We’re Ruth and Andrew 👋🏼
After years of dreaming, we left our family, friends and lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, behind as we set off to chase our shared dream of sailing the world. Last year, we bought our 11m catamaran, Rúna, which we now call home as we live, work, sail and adventure. Join us as we explore the Mediterranean and get to grips with life at sea 🏝️
Find daily content on our socials:
📸 Instagram: http://instagram.com/lifestylegibbon
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/therunalife
🎥 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@therunalife
🖥️ Collab enquiries: [email protected]
#sailing #sailingyacht #sailboatlife #liveaboard #sailingdisatser #problems #mediterraneansailing #cruisinglife #sailingcouple
The Runa Life
Andrew and Ruth Gibbon traded corporate Edinburgh for an Excess 11. Follow their 2026 Mediterranean circuit aboard Rúna in this technical feature.
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2025 was the year we took the biggest leap of our lives, buying our very own catamaran and starting our first full liveaboard sailing season. And while it was hands-down the best year we’ve ever had, it also came with some of the most challenging, stressful, and downright terrifying moments we’ve ever faced at sea.
In this episode, we’re looking back across our videos at the biggest challenges of our first liveaboard season, sharing the moments that tested us both physically and mentally, and showing the reality of yacht life beyond the instagram highlights.
Living on a boat in the Mediterranean isn’t always sunshine and calm anchorages… sometimes it’s fear, exhaustion, tough decisions, and learning the hard way.
We’ll take you through our most frightening overnight passage crossing from the Balearic Islands back to mainland Spain, our brutal introduction to boat life during a Bay of Biscay crossing, we relive the moment we tried to save another yacht as it crashed onto the rocks in Formentera, and finally the terrifying experience of discovering flooding in our master cabin while sailing 60 nautical miles offshore.
Despite everything, we’re excited to do it all over again this year (with hopefully less drama!).
Thanks for watching, and we’ll chat with you in the comments ⛵💙
0:00 – 0:40 Introduction
0:40 – 6:00 Caught in a lighten storm
6:00 – 11:41 Bay of Biscay Passage
11:41 – 19:18 Yacht crashes onto shore
19:18 – 27:04 Yacht Floods Offshore
27:04 – 27:32 Conclusion & outro
Hey! We’re Ruth and Andrew 👋🏼
After years of dreaming, we left our family, friends and lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, behind as we set off to chase our shared dream of sailing the world. Last year, we bought our 11m catamaran, Rúna, which we now call home as we live, work, sail and adventure. Join us as we explore the Mediterranean and get to grips with life at sea 🏝️
Find daily content on our socials:
📸 Instagram: http://instagram.com/lifestylegibbon
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/therunalife
🎥 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@therunalife
🖥️ Collab enquiries: [email protected]
#sailing #sailingyacht #sailboatlife #liveaboard #sailingdisatser #problems #mediterraneansailing #cruisinglife #sailingcouple
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