0

Sailing under the night skies is something we feared and dreamed of. The fear for the unknown, not being able to see a thing and being totally dependent on your instruments. Dreamed of because of the spectacular skies and being completely in sync with your boat. After some debate we decided to go for it and embark on our first overnight sail from France to Barcelona. Follow our adventure and check daily updates by subscribing to our Socials: Website: https://oceansdrift.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oceans_drif... Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oceansdrift/ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/oceansdrift

Finally we have reached the Mediterranean but now our biggest challenge yet awaits us. The Gulf of Lion is a fierce piece of ocean with high winds, big waves and unpredictable weather. Sailing across this is no small task for three sailor with little experience. It wouldn't take long until we acquainted with the full force of the gulf. Follow our adventure and check daily updates by subscribing to our Socials: Website: https://oceansdrift.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oceans_drift_betsy Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oceansdrift/ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/oceansdrift

The final stage of our journey through the French Canals has begon. Only the Rhône is standing in our way of the Mediterranean. Thanks to heavy rainfall the river is flowing like crazy so we have to pick a right time to make our way down. The boat is prepared, the engine fixed and the anchor is out in case of emergency. South of France brace yourself, here we come! Follow our adventure and check daily updates by subscribing to our Socials: Website: https://oceansdrift.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oceans_drift_betsy Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oceansdrift/ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/oceansdrift

Waking up on our sailboat early in the morning, to get out on the canals, is often a hassle. It is however necessary evil if you want to put in a lot of nautical miles AND you have to deal with a lot of locks. Chilly mornings but often sunny afternoons while passing through nice countryside in France has been a regular thing last 2 weeks. After the Champagne et Bourgogne canal we were very glad glad to go on to the Soane, finally we could speed our boat up! No internet connection and small countryside towns are no irregularity. Beautiful tunnels and lock houses aren't either though. We are 300 kilometers away from actually hoisting the sails again and obviously are very happy to go towards this goal again. Hopefully Betsy will stay smooth and keeps running like she's done for the last 2 weeks! We are almost boat engine specialists at the moment. Always good while we're heading on to the Mediterranean. Follow our adventure and check daily updates by subscribing to our Socials: Website: https://oceansdrift.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oceans_drift_betsy Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oceansdrift/ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/oceansdrift

After quite some setbacks we finally make some ground down the French Canals on our Vindö 50 SL Sailboat. It's a bit cold we have to admit but we manage to power through. Everything goes smoothly until we ran aground and find ourselves in a pickle. Neil & Karen's Blog: https://nbchalkhillblue.blogspot.com Follow our adventure and check daily updates by subscribing to our Socials: Website: https://oceansdrift.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oceans_drift_betsy Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oceansdrift/ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/oceansdrift

After we finally fixed the gearbox of our Vindö 50 sailboat we set course for Paris. As night fell we reached the city of lights and it didn't disappoint. Seeing the Eiffel tower from your own sailboat was a dream come trough. Wine and croissants fell from the sky and all was good. After Paris, we we're eager to make up for lost time but unfortunately we lost all steering. There wasn't anything we could do but make a plunge under the boat into the Seine. Later we found out this wasn't the last of our problems. Follow our adventure and check daily updates by subscribing to our Socials: Website: https://oceansdrift.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oceans_drift_betsy Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oceansdrift/ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/oceansdrift

in our sail around the world we are well on our way of riding the French canals all the way south we struck a bit of bad luck. The clutch of our Vindö 50 SL sailboat was starting to wear out. With no clutch and stranded in Paris we had no choice but to look for a new one. This ended up te be quite hard in the middle of France, 500 miles away from the ocean. We ended up finding a spare clutch in Holland and had to travel all the way back to pick it up. Our sail down the French canals came to a screeching halt. Follow our adventure and check daily updates by subscribing to our Socials: Website: https://oceansdrift.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oceans_drift_betsy Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oceansdrift/ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/oceansdrift

Our sail around the world we sail down the canals of France we begin the understand why other sailors choose to do this trip in the summer. So far we have had a lot of rain, lock which aren't working and ultimately lost our drone to the canals! So far we haven't seen a single other sailboat and therefore all the ports are closed. This means we go days without showering. Luckily the beautiful scenery makes this all worth while and we continue to push south in the hopes of finding better weather. Follow our adventure and check daily updates by subscribing to our Socials: Website: https://oceansdrift.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oceans_drift_betsy Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oceansdrift/ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/oceansdrift

We sail the open sea for the very first time, get stuck in Scheveningen for four days but eventually make it to Belgium and France. Along the way we made the decision to take a hard left in Dunkirk and de-mast Betsy so we can make our way through the French Canals. Follow our adventure and check daily updates by subscribing to our Socials: Website: https://oceansdrift.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oceans_drift_betsy Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oceansdrift/ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/oceansdrift

Buy a sailboat, restore it from bottom to top, set sail to the south of Europe and eventually complete a sail around the globe. This journey has just begun. We quit our jobs and said goodbye to our friends, family and hometown. But first things first. Leaving the Netherlands in the rear view mirror as we make our way to Belgium coping with stormy weather. Follow our adventure and check daily updates by subscribing to our Socials: Website: https://oceansdrift.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oceans_drift_betsy/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oceansdrift/ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/oceansdrift Music in order of appearance: Ian Randall Thornton - Down in the Meadow Family and Friends - Amadeus Layup - Growing Pains