In the harbor of Karlovasi at Samos, when we turned our back to the see, we looked at a high hill with a beautiful church. However, it was quite difficult to get there with our bike and scooter. Luckily—long live the drone—it can take a look almost anywhere 😉 It turned out to be the Church of the Holy Trinity, beautifully positioned on an elevated location above the port. Its prominent hilltop setting offers excellent panoramic views.

On the northwest coast of Samos, you’ll find the Potami waterfalls. We hopped on our e-bike and e-scooter, and after a 15-minute ride through the mountains from our sailboat, we arrived at this small waterfall. A pleasant path led us there.

Near the town of Karlovasi on Samos, we discovered a small chapel called Agios Nikolaos Chapel. It is often used for weddings because of its picturesque location on a cliff, overlooking the sunset. We parked our bikes and took a look inside the small chapel. We also regularly come across the name “Agios Nikolaos” during our travels through Greece; it refers to Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors.

On our way to Samos from the island of Chios, we were treated halfway through the journey to a group of dolphins swimming alongside the boat. It remains magical—what beautiful animals!

Lesbos is also known for its many waterfalls. They are often dry in summer, but in winter the water flows. After about twenty minutes of scrambling through the forest along a small stream, we reached a waterfall — beautifully hidden, cascading into a natural pool. Our drone captured everything from above.

At the east coast of the island Lesbos, in a small town called Sigri, we walked past a church called Agios Theofanis Theophanes Sugrianis lived in the 16th century and became known as a monk and spiritual leader during a period when the island was under Ottoman rule. His name is still spoken with respect by residents of the region. Inside, the church turned out to be richly decorated, with traditional golden icons and oil lamps that are characteristic of the Greek Orthodox, almost mystical architectural style. Take a look with us inside the church.

We started to walk a steep path into the mountains on the westside of Limnos. We followed a steep trail uphill for about half an hour, winding through the rocky landscape. Along the way, we were rewarded with beautiful views over the Aegean Sea. Suddenly we saw a white cross standing on the highest peak — and there was the cave where the small blue-and-white chapel was hidden. This church has existed since the 13th century, built by monks beneath an enormous rock face. It has no roof; symbolically, the sky itself forms the ceiling. No decoration, no tourist crowds — only stone, air, and meaning. An elderly man was sweeping the open-air chapel with a broom, clearing away the dust the wind had blown inside. He tidied everything, greeted us, and quietly walked away. Then we were alone — that’s how peaceful it is here. I found it one of the most special places I have seen in Greece. We flew with our drone around the cave and the surrounding mountains, while you can see the 13th century open air church in white and blue colors.

From Turkey, we sailed for 8 hours to the first Greek island we came across: Limnos. We didn’t know the island, but the capital Myrina turned out to have a beautiful marina. The harbor lay beneath a high cliff topped by an impressive Venetian castle. We sent our drone up into the air to take a closer look at this stunning surroundings

We were looking forward to sail on The Bosphorus, the 30 km long strait connecting the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara, surrounded by the city of Istanbul (15 mln inhabitants!). More than 100,000 vessels pass through each year, so very busy area, we planned our trip with care and checked all the rules about sailing on this water and the strong currents. In this video you will see the Asian side and the European side, filmed from our catamaran, with hightlights like: - the Blue Mosque - Maiden’s Tower - Yalıs: Ottoman wooden waterfront villas - 15 July Martyrs Bridge - Rumeli Hisarı Fortress - Ortaköy Mosque - Galata Tower and Galata Bridge - Hagia Sophia

In the Sea of Marmara, close to Istanbul, you will find The Prince's Islands (Turkish: Prens Adaları, literally “Islands of the Princes”). They are named this way, because they once served as places of exile for princes, members of royal families and other high-ranking figures who had fallen out of favour. During the Byzantine era, unwanted heirs and deposed princes were sent here, far from Constantinople (now Istanbul). Later, under the Ottomans, disgraced relatives of the sultan or other notables were also exiled here — hence the name. Besides the busy islands, there are also small natural islands. We visited one, called Sivriada. We found a lovely small harbour here to stay in. And 4 other boats with Turkish locals arrived later that day, probably from Istanbul, for a day of fishing or barbecuing — the grills appeared in the late afternoon. Very cosy! Look at the amazing colors of the high mountain, which looks like a collapsed vulcano. We flew from the litte harbor with our drone to the mountain and took a look over the sea towards the other Prince's islands.

This is a look back at our sailing year 2025: from Crete through the Cyclades to Athens. Through the Corinth Canal to the Ionian Sea and back again. Along the Sporades islands and the three peninsulas to Chalkidiki, on our way to Turkey, where we celebrated Christmas. Sailing through the Bosphorus in Istanbul and watching the fireworks on New Year’s Eve!

'Do you have a Christmas Tree on board?'. Absolutely, we have a Christmas Catamaran, fully decorated ;). Here is the video of the boat in the harbor, it really stands out!

One of the most iconic spots on Skiathos is Lalaria Beach, on the north coast. This beach is only accessible by boat and is characterized by white pebbles, high cliffs, and a natural rock arch. In calm northern conditions, it is a magical place to anchor or to sail by slowly. The water here is an intense blue and crystal clear—an absolute highlight when seen from the boat.

One of the sails we like to use on Horizon, is the Code Zero. It goes all the way from the front to the end and is very suitably for light winds, because it had 80m2 to cover. We took our drone up in the air, and you can see the main sail + Code Zero sail at work while sailing on the Aegan Sea in Greece!

The small islet of Peristera, which is part of Alonissos (the Sporades island group), has a shipwreck that is partly underwater and partly visible above the surface. We went there, jumped into the crystal-clear water with our snorkeling gear, and saw the ship underwater using our GoPro. Lots of fish and rusted parts. We found it a fascinating sight! And with the drone, we had an even better view of the shipwreck.

At the island of Evia (on the eastside of Greece's mainland with Ahtens), exists a unique place with more than 80 natural springs. The city of Loutra is famous for these hotsprings, where the waters contain many minerals, including calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, and sodium. The temperature of the spring water varies, some springs reach 75–85 °C. We jumped off the boat and swam to shore in about 10 minutes, and we could already feel the water getting warmer. The fascinating thing was that natural rock pools have been formed right along the coastline. You can sit in these baths, use the yellow sand to rub in your body and then rinse it of with the termal waters. Watch the drone video we made flying along the rock pools and ending with a natural 75°C waterfall!

And the closer we came to the “exit” of the Gulf of Corinth on the west side, the more we saw the bridge near the city of Patras appear. It is the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world, about 2,880 metres long, connecting the Peloponnese peninsula with mainland Greece. There were quite a few challenges in building the bridge, as the foundation had to be placed in deep water with a loose seabed, and there is seismic activity and tectonic movement in this area because the Gulf of Corinth is slowly expanding. The bridge was opened shortly before the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. The vertical clearance under the bridge deck is approximately 52 metres in the widest central section. In the side sections (less central), the height is considerably lower, around 32 metres, and at the very edges about 15 metres.

At the norht coast of the Gulf of Corinth, hidden between steep mountains and deep vallies, lies the world famous ancient city of Delphi. We visited the old ruins and were impressed by the 2 km in which the complex was build. We read about how kings and generals, not only from Greece but from Italy and Turkye made the long journey to the Oracle to ask their questions. In our latest blog we write about how the ritual of asking questions went, how the Oracle gave her answer and what examples were of questions and answers. We cycled back to the harbor at the bottum of Delphi, through the hairpins bends! You can see this 42 seconds into this video.

Here you see us crossing the Canal of Corinth. You see how the cliffs look on both sides when you pass with your ship (max width is 24 meters). The Canal is only 8 meters deep and one-way traffic. It’s one of the narrowest sea canals in the world and even cruiseships can pass through when they are below 52 meters (because of the 6 bridges over the Canal!). We really enjoyed the sail, it's only 6 km long, but really impressive to see. And it saves ships like us the 340 km of sail south around the penninsula of Pelepponnesos to go from east to west of Greece (or west to east)!

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.