We arrived at the island of Hydra in the Saronic Gulf. The name Hydra has to do with the many water springs that existed here in ancient times. As we sail into the harbor, we can already see the beautiful mansions—remnants of the time when Hydra was one of the richest and most powerful islands of Greece in the 18th century. The island is very rugged and has no farmland, so the inhabitants devoted themselves entirely to seafaring. Hydra built an impressive commercial and war fleet and became an important maritime player in the Mediterranean. When we moored our boat at the quay, we were right next to a group of donkeys. I had already read that the island is completely car-free. Transport is done by donkey, horse, mule, or water taxi. This creates an atmosphere very different from that on other islands. Check out our drone video to see how beautifully Hydra lies by the sea, built against the mountainsides yet sheltered from waves and wind.

Zeerover is one of those places where you instantly slip into the Caribbean vibe. On the west coast, with your feet almost touching the water, there’s no menu at the first window—just a handwritten sign with the catch of the day. We got lucky: Mahi Mahi! You order by weight, pay separately for drinks, and find a spot at a wooden table overlooking the sea. The kitchen is open, so you can watch your fish being prepared right in front of you. Everything is simple, authentic—that’s exactly what makes it so charming. The coleslaw, plantains, and crispy bread complete the experience. Don’t expect luxury, but do expect bold flavors and a laid-back atmosphere. And all of it for a fraction of what you'd pay elsewhere. Zeerover is a must-do in Aruba for anyone who loves real, delicious food!

During our stay in the Netherlands, we go to Meerkerk, our home base. This time, in april 2025, we ordered a spare drone (in case the original one decides to fly away in Greece :) and as a test we flew around in Meerkerk. And actually were very happy with the results! It’s a beautiful place to live and stay in the Netherlands. And typically Dutch, with all the water and green plots of farmland!

South of Athens, at the tip of the mainland, stood an ancient Greek temple that is definitely worth visiting. Perched high on a cliff above the sea, the Temple of Poseidon proudly stands. Standing among the ancient columns, watching the sun set and set the Aegean Sea ablaze, we felt like our journey had come full circle. The current temple was built between 444 and 440 BC, during the Golden Age of Athens. It replaced an earlier temple from the 6th century BC, which had been destroyed by the Persians. The temple is dedicated to Poseidon, the god of the sea, and served as a sanctuary for sailors seeking protection for their voyages. Naturally, we had to make a stop here! Originally, the temple had 34 columns, of which 16 still stand today. Each column is about 6 meters high and made from local marble. In the center of the temple stood a bronze statue of Poseidon, reaching up to the ceiling. Cape Sounion held great strategic importance for Athens. The location provided an excellent view of the sea routes and served as a lookout point for enemy ships. It was also a sacred site where sailors made offerings to Poseidon for a safe crossing.

Vai Palm Beach, located on the east coast of Crete, is a unique and exotic destination known for its beautiful beach and natural palm forest in Europe. With approximately 5,000 trees, this forest covers an area of ​​approximately 250,000 square meters, making it the largest natural palm forest in Europe. The origin of these palms is the subject of various legends; a popular myth suggests that the forest originated from date pits left behind by pirates. However, botanical research has shown that these palms are an endemic species that has been present in Crete since ancient times. ​ The beach itself is a crescent-shaped bay with fine golden sand and crystal clear, shallow waters. The unique combination of the exotic palm forest and the beautiful beach has earned Vai its nickname "Bounty Beach", especially after the famous Bounty chocolate commercial was filmed there in the 1970s. This choice for Váï emphasised Bounty's slogan as 'a piece of paradise on earth', with the exotic atmosphere of the beach reinforcing the tropical association of the chocolate bar.​ What? That commercial wasn't shot in the Caribbean?! That's right, it was shot in Crete, Greece!

During our visit to Crete, we saw so much activity in the olive harvesting process. It turns out that the season for picking olives runs from November to February. Crete plays a crucial role in Greek olive oil production: approximately 200,000 tons of olive oil are produced annually on the island, out of a total of 430,000 tons in all of Greece! We visited on oil factory and filmed the entire process: from picking the olives, collecting them in nets, transporting in burlap sacks, ready for the ride to the local live press, within 24 hours after picking! At the local olive press, the olives are cleaned of twigs and leaves, washed and ground into a homogeneous brown paste. This paste undergoes centrifugation, till it is pure extra virgin olive oil. The oil is then stored in 1,000-liter tanks and then bottled in tins to protect it from light. The oil is then distributed to both local and international markets, allowing consumers worldwide to enjoy high-quality Cretan olive oil!

The Caves of Diros are considered to be one of the most beautiful cave systems in the world. These hidden wonders lie deep in the limestone hills of Mani and stretch for about 15 kilometers. The caves are millions of years old and are filled with breathtaking stalactites and stalagmites, formed by centuries of dripping water. We went on a boat trip through the underground lakes of the caves. The silence was impressive; the only sound we heard was the soft splash of the oar and the echo of our voices. All around us were spectacular rock formations, mystically brought to life by soft lighting. The caves were already inhabited 6,000 years ago, archaeologists have found ancient artefacts here, such as ceramics and tools. The water in the caves is a mix of fresh and salt water and remains at a constant temperature of 14°C all year round. What makes these caves so special is that you sail through the narrow passages, and sometimes even have to duck for the ceilings or walls that come very close. After every bend you are surprised by all the colors and shapes!

This is one of the most famous castles in Greece, and deservedly so. It covers 62 acres on a low peninsula in the south of Peloponnesos, close to the beautiful settlement of Koroni. The fortified town of Corone, as the Venetians called it, was of great strategic importance. It controlled the trade routes to and from the East which gave rise to the nickname "the Eyes of Venice”. The castle flourished from the 13th to the 17th century and the port played an important role in the development of trade with the East. Over the years, the fortress passed from the Venetians, to the Ottomans (1500-1685), back to the Venetians again, marking the beginning of the Second Venetian Empire (1685-1715). With the second period of Ottoman rule, the castle was once more back in Turkish hands by 1715. In 1770 it was besieged, bombarded and heavily damaged by the Russian fleet, but it was retained by the Ottomans until 1828 when it was handed over to general Maison, head of the French expeditionary force in the Peloponnese shortly after the Battle of Navarino.

Experiencing rituals in other countries: I love it! We filmed the Greek Orthodox holiday of Epiphany on January 6th with the ritual called the “blessing of the waters”. ⭐ The Greek Orthodox priest blesses a cross and throws it into the water of the harbor. This symbolizes the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan by John the Baptist. ⭐ Young men (and in some areas women) dive into the water to retrieve the cross. It is considered a great honor and blessing for the person who brings the cross back to the priest. ⭐ Before the ceremony there is a church service and after the ceremony there is a party, music, and traditional meals. Flares with colored smoke are set off on the water We were moored with the catamaran at the quay of this harbor, which was full of people, and 30 meters in front of us the ritual took place! So we had a front row seat and filmed everything with our drone. Epiphany literally means "appearance" or "manifestation" and marks the end of the Christmas season and symbolizes the renewed blessing of nature, water, and community.

We look back on Sailing in 2024 with great pleasure! 5 countries visited 12 weeks of guests aboard 28 video's 30 blogs written 1700 nautical miles sailed Watch a compilation of all the images from 2024 here, music on 😎 !

Cameo Island is a small private island in the bay of Laganas. In the drone video you see the entrance to Cameo Island which is already special: the wooden walkway that hangs above clear blue water. The gracefully fluttering white cloths that can be seen above the beach create a dreamy atmosphere, especially when they stand out against the blue sky. The island is therefore a popular location for weddings. We flew the drone over this small cove so you can clearly see the color of the water and the beautiful surroundings with the cliffs!

On the east coast of Zakynthos is a small hidden beach, Xigia Sulfur Beach. It is set in beautiful surroundings with steep cliffs and the water has healing properties. There are natural sulfur springs that flow from the cliffs into the sea. This makes the color of the water a beautiful light blue and the water contains collagen and sulfur, which helps to relieve muscle and joint pain, improve skin problems such as eczema and acne, and stimulate relaxation. We flew the drone over this small cove so you can clearly see the color of the water and the beautiful surroundings with the cliffs! Fun fact: around 45 seconds into the video, look at the top right corner. There comes a small square white object down from the hotel, diagonally over the green trees you see it go to the bottom left corner on the beach in 10 seconds. You could order ice cream and snacks on the beach at a small stand, but there was no food, it came per order via the white container attached to a nearly invisable zipline, from the restaurant above the steep cliff down. Now that's a delivery service!

Navagio Beach, located on the Greek island of Zakynthos, is known for the iconic shipwreck of the MV Panagiotis. In October 1980, the cargo ship, believed to be smuggling cigarettes, ran aground in the bay due to bad weather and poor visibility. The crew abandoned the ship, which has since been beached and given its current name; previously it was known as Agios Georgios. The beach, surrounded by high limestone cliffs and clear blue waters, is only accessible by boat. However, due to safety risks from landslides and erosion of the surrounding cliffs, the Greek authorities have decided to close Navagio Beach to visitors until further notice. This measure was taken after incidents in 2018 and 2022 involving landslides, partly caused by earthquakes in the region. Visitors can still admire the beach and shipwreck from cliff-top viewpoints, but we were lucky because of our private catamaran to get real close to the beach and the shipwreck! We took our drone with us so we could film the shipwreck even closer.

In the northeast of Zakynthos there is a beautiful sheltered bay. And that is not easy to find, because the wind often blows from the northeast, so right on the coast of Zakynthos, the so-called lee side. It is then difficult to find shelter. Yet we found this bay that protected us from waves, we had a quiet evening and night here and beautiful white cliffs to look at, where swallows regularly flew in and out. And if you looked down, you saw the beautiful bright blue water.

Paxos (also Paxi)is a small island south of Corfu. Paxos is 18 km2 in size and has about 2.500 permanent inhabitants. At the northerntip of Paxos, is a small town called Lakka which is located at the border of a sheltered bay. When we arrived in this bay, the water was so clear that if felt you could almost touch the seabed with your hands. We took our drone out to film this special bay and there you can see the bright turquoise water. What you can also see in this drone video is the yellow lines at the back of the boats. These are called floating lines, landlines, that you tie first at the back of your boat and then to a rock or a tree, so your boat stays in a steady position. Because normally at anchor, the boat starts turning towards where the wind blows it or the current pushes it. And this bay is very popular which means busy, so it’s a courtesy to others to use as little space as possible and more or less park the boat as if you are in a carparking lot! That also means, that after anchoring, you have to jump in the water (or take your dinghy) and drag the line towards a rock near the coastline or even to a tree and tie it to it. Luckily the water is still about 23 degrees at this time a year, and had an exotic emerald green color, it’s not a bad experience! Next to a nice view over the bay, the drone also flew towards the small town of Lakka. You can see it is a cozy maze of white houses with brightly colored shutters. Many houses are covered with ceramic roof tiles.

Our last stop at Paxos, was on the west coast because we wanted to see what are called 'Blue caves'. They are special, because it's 3 coves connected to each other at the back, so you could swim from 1 cave to the other. They are truly hidden beauties. This is what we discovered when we took our GoPro with us which can also film underwater. We jumped from the swim plateau of the catamaran in the bright blue water which looked and felt like a swimming pool! We snorkeled our way to the first cave. In that cove, we swam to the backwall and entered the second cove. You could feel the floor of the ‘connection rock’ between the 2 coves. And the last cove was spectacular, almost luminous turquoise water and a high round ceiling with a hole in it, raised before our eyes.

We sailed along the northern coastline of Corfu, from Kassiopi to Sidari, because that is where the Canal d’Amour is. This beach is surrounded by impressive sandstone rock formations, which have been eroded by the wind and the sea over the centuries. This has resulted in beautiful bays, caves and narrow waterways that are characteristic of the area. The most famous part of Canal d’Amour is the underwater tunnel. Legend has it that if lovers swim through this tunnel together, they will stay together forever. So we wanted to try that 😉. We filmed the entrance of the tunnel, the Canal d’Amour, with our drone and then flew over the beautiful surroundings. Enjoy this part of Corfu!

Half way the western coastline of Corfu, the rocks started changing into green walls in stand of sandstone rock formations. In front of Sinarades, was a large rock that we wanted to explore a bit better. The water was almost transparent turquoise and had a great temperature. We took our drone out and filmed the beautiful scenery.

After 10 days of sailing the Albanian coast, we arrived in Sarande, the most southern harbor of Albania. You have to hire an agent to do the check out and customs clearance with your boat. We heard about Jelja, who is a young business woman with a travelagency. She could do the paperwork for us. The day before we would get the papers, she came to our catamaran and asked us if we were willing to do an interview with a German TV crew from WDR. The were on a 'Adria Bus Tour' this summer and interviewed people about travelling along the Adriatic Sea. They heard about our world trip and wanted to interview us, also as an example of Jelja's client. We said yes to their request, even before we knew the interview had to be done in German ;). It became a funny interview and the 3 crewmembers (camera, sound and interviewer) were really kind. Check out the 5 minute video that ended up on TV (the show has about 1.000.000 viewers!)

Below the city of Vlorë in Albania lies a beautiful southwestern coast with many hidden bays that you do not initially see from the sea. The Bay of Grama is such a hidden gem. This bay is known for its spectacular rock formations and crystal clear water. It is a remote place that is mainly accessible by boat, making it a popular destination for sailors. The rock walls surrounding the bay are impressive and give the landscape a dramatic character. In ancient times, the bay was often used by sailors and pirates as a shelter. You can even find inscriptions in the rocks, presumably left by ancient sailors who visited the bay for protection against storms. In the corner of the beach, there is a small tent where we enjoyed a simple, fresh meal with seafood.