We locked ourselves in! Ha! This is what happens when you're not up to date. Or just everyone else knows what's going on, you being the only ignorant dummy. Having made it to beautiful Fécamp, we happily entered the harbor. Little did we know that that was not the smartest idea of all we've had. Otherwise we probably wouldn't have enjoyed our stroll around the town as much - especially stumbling over the Palais Benedictine - a neo-gothic and neo-renaissance architectural masterpiece built only to honor a herbal liquor distilled inside the palace. Cherbourg, an old harbor town but not as cozy and charming, serves us as a good stop on our way north for the night ? before we continue sailing to the Dutch isles with some shock maneuvers surrounded by vessels and windparks in the English channel. Sorry for the long wait. Our last videos are waiting for your keen eyes, finishing up our epic journey with Thula. Thank you for watching, thanks for your support!

First of all: we are back in the film editing game?! Thanks to our loyal followers that stayed with us until now despite not hearing anything from us for months! We've been quite busy, had some projects going on, including letting our little one start with kindergarden, lots of organization, some travels around Europe and of course?boat work! This time we skip back to our time in the Normandy where nature sort of forces us to arrive in places we never intended to visit - in pitch-black night! By coincidence we stumble over regions loaded with interesting architecture, natural surroundings and history. Our key words for this episode are: tricky nightly navigation up a river with a sill, a 50km bike ride, concrete's potential, a white volcano inside a sober city, destruction and light spectacles. Enjoy! www.thulasailing.de

Want to know more about us, our boat and our journey half around the world and back? Check out our episodes of the different stages of our journey! Here's a little taste of what it's all about :)

Unexpectedly breathtaking landscapes. Another sill locking us into a mainland Normandy harbor whilst in the harbor entrance all the water is gone. Boats lay aground, tipped to the side. Will we ever get used to this and let our nerves relax a bit? Probably not. By coincidence we stumble over a famous footpath, the Sentier des Douaniers - monitoring the coast for smugglers and enemies. History lesson memories pop back up with terms like d-day 1944, Normandy beach landings, young men fighting for peace and freedom. Making our way around the current-rich Cap de la Hague, Cherbourg then serves as a weather escape because of a strong low pressure system pressing into the English channel. We explore the city, coming across an inseparable French friend manufactured here for unsettled weather - the top-of-the-range umbrella sold all over the world. This high-performance umbrella is even used as protection by the French president. Find out how and enjoy!

This episode is studded with many (unpleasant) surprises that await us on the Îles Chausey - an archipelago under French jurisdiction almost never mentioned in the context of the other Channel Islands. Located in the Gulf of Saint-Malo, the difference of up to 14 meters tidal shift is one of the largest in Europe that we slightly underestimated while visiting this island group - 1.5 times the size of Thula!! We end up in a slicky, shelly, partly painful situation... and then Thula is unexpectedly ransacked... Whilst exploring the main island, names like automobile engineer Louis Renault pop up, also the tragic way of how this island group made headlines with a passionate passing. Lots going on again. So see around the Îles Chausey and enjoy! www.thulasailing.de www.patreon.com/thulasailing

Rocks everywhere, immense tidal currents, 10m tidal shifts - safe anchoring? Not an option!? Sailing and motoring over greenly marked areas that normally fall dry 4,5 meters above sea level - creepy! It seems you are always in a hurry. How important a well functioning engine is here as sailing is always timed. Somehow a bit stressful. We are island lovers as they always seem to have developed special characters being cut off the mainland. Our goal this time: the Île de Brehat, the island of flowers and pick rocks! If only those tides weren't so strong? Gradually one can quickly feel how the sea seems to exhale with a deep, long sigh. The water is gone and a silent inertia settles over the archipelago. The seabed lies open, somehow bare and defenseless, littered with empty shells of mussels snails?and boats! You can literally hear nature here if you listen real quietly. The Île de Brehat is charming, though somehow also very dissapointing. Find out why and enjoy!

No proper charts, 10m tidal levels with super strong currents to watch out for. Silted up river banks. But still a bit of time left before continuing north. Once again our curiousity wins to check out the inner part of Britanny - at least the part that we could reach with Thula! And that was Pontrieux - yeah, we now know why this idyllic town is called the 'venice of Britanny'. So what is it like going up a French river with a sailboat to reach the beginning of a fjordlike estuary of the Trieux river? A bit sketchy without having proper charts, navigating pretty much blind. The worst that could happen? Run aground on a silted up river bank. But how to get off that again with us being the only ones around again doing this little river adventure? See what we pay attention for when doing stuff like this. River adventure, here we come! www.thulasailing.de https://www.patreon.com/thulasailing

After an arduous, cold, rough and poopy 12 day Atlantic crossing from the Azores with our rather little Thula, we had finally - after over 2 years, reached the European mainland again. Since then a pandemic had swept over the world and we had no clue what to expect. Would the French even let us in? Or would we be put on a quarantine quay as we were used to, being tested first? And why in the world were we suddenly denied French fries at the harbor take-away? After figuring out the procedures, swinging our lazy sailor arses on a bike let us explore a bit more of the surrounding beautiful 'abers', the estuaries that cut into the Breton countryside. But then?here a shark. There an elephant or a witch? And then - what is that in the distance? 17,000 pairs of feathered friends?the largest colony in France. Wow! We almost missed it. Find out what we were on the lookout for, first cruising the coast of legends turning into the lovely coppery-pink granite coast with lots of authentic Breton music we recorded on our paths. Enjoy our 100th episode!

After sailing 2 years around our globe from Germany via the Caribbean and the Panama Canal to French-Polynesia and all the way back - often against winds and currents - we finally reach the European mainland again crossing an imaginary line. But wait?that was a little too fast and too easy. The focus is on HOW we ever got here. As the last path across the Atlantic was NASTY (episode 98). Before we reach the Bretagne we have a nasty storm on our heels, JITTERING if we would make it in time or if ANOTHER DEPRESSION would give us a wipe. Speaking of jittering?days before below us a felt WHALE ARMADA accompanied us a little close for our taste with WATER in front our bow suddenly turning RED. Sh** happens! A different armada we also faced when crossing an impressive UNDERWATER CANYON letting us have a very watchful eye on what was going on around us with our RADAR showing funny screens. Ilja explains what FAILURE had occurred. Enjoy watching!

Today we shall start the special journey across the North Atlantic from the Azores back home to mainland Europe.  Or as Ilja says: Cold. Wet. Gusty. High Seas. Home of shit weather. That pretty much sums it up. This passage was HARD! Depressions hunting us, Thula not able to flee as the systems just move too fast. Had we maybe not chosen the right weather window? Once again we pinned down all our hope and trust in Thula with her just recently improved rigg. What would break this time on our little floating home? Hopefully not again our back shroud... Then suddenly - 300nm off the coast of mainland Europe. Whales everywhere! Fascination, Panic. Especially when the water in front us turns red. What on earth had happened? Enjoy! Thanks for following :)

This time we are swallowed by volcanic legacies in the underground of Terceira. Spooky, creepy, wet and chilly ? and super exciting crawling along an almost 700m long lava tube used for Christmas masses and weddings in the Azores! The 2000 year old Algar do Carvão cave 550m above sea level surprises us with massive stalagtites and black walls. Once again we climb into the vent of an extinct volcano. No fun for claustrophobic people! Poisonous "smoke" coming out of the ground at the Furnas do Enxofre once more visualize how active the underground of the Azores actually is covering the surrounding rocks with trendy colors. And last but not least before leaving Terceira for mainland Europe we visit the sheltered magnificent Renaissance city Angra do Heroismo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that was massively damaged by the 1980 earthquake, also felt on the neighboring island Graciosa. Lots of history, geology and interesting background facts this time! Enjoy :)

Did you know that the Azorean island Corvo is actually moving every year? That people have one of the highest per capita incomes living there although the island almost seems asleep? How? Find out! Today's program is Flores north coast and the smallest island of the Azores - Corvo - born from just one volcano whose impressive caldeira with a circumference of 3.5km we visited! Not only the caldeira, sorry - caldeirão - is of a special kind. The so-called Corvinos enjoy a pieceful life on this island with one of the highest per capita incomes in Portugal. How is that possible? If you already enjoyed Flores' landscapes in our last episode, here comes a top-up of spectacular views and impressions of the more isolated isles of the Azores! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thulasailing Thanks for your support!

Of all the island's of the Azores, Flores was Janna's dream destination. Could we or could we not? That was constantly the question as Hurricane Lorenzo had struck Flores so bad, making it impossible for us to go with Thula. And we saw the aftermath - an almost completely destroyed harbor! So do what? Very unsustainably hopping on a plane the first time in years to not miss this green nature paradise. Oh, what we would have missed if we had left this out! Astonished to find a seemingly untouched green paradise this close to Europe with magnificent hiking trails above clouds, streams ending in crashing waterfalls to bathe in. Sparkling, colorful lakes?and almost untouched and laid back - just our taste. Our retirement spot found? Check it out and fall in love yourself.

Having sailed over 15.000 miles around our globe you should know what you're doing when maintaining your engine, right? Ha, turns out not! Expecting the next low pressure system reaching the Azores, we quickly hop over 50 nautical miles from the Azorian island Graciosa to Terceira. Here a long awaited package finally reaches us after enduring thousands of hard miles over months with important broken systems on board- even over 50 days across the Pacific Ocean. But before on Graciosa....thermal baths, what a special treat! On no other island have we walked as much as on Graciosa as Graciosa's traffic system is rather improvable, making us hitchhike to the thermal baths of Carapacho lying at the foot of the caldeira we explored and showed you in our last episode. Rural, picturesque and quiet landscapes surprise us as well as the newly built breakwater close to Graciosa's main town Santa Cruz da Graciosa - a new marina is being built!

Back to cold Atlantic sailing ... better be prepared! Between fishing vessels in the harbor of Praia we start preparing ourselves for soon crossing the cold North Atlantic - immersion suit inspection & demonstration! But before leaving for Graciosa, we are stunned by the landscape of one of the most famous hikes in the Azores archipelago: from the Serra do Topo passing the Faja de Caldeira de Santo Cristo to end up at the Faja dos Cubres on São Jorge! 10 kilometers full of perfect idyll between blooming hydrangeas, green pastures, grazing cows, waterfalls and awesome views. Absorb the magic of São Jorge's fajãs and learn more about their important history as 70% of São Jorge's surface is found at an altitude above 300m - on Graciosa only being 5%! When arriving on Graciosa, we figure it differs from the other islands in the archipelago in many ways. The large caldera occupying the southern part of the island surprises us as for the first time in our lives we descend into the underworld through a volcanic vent to reach its mysterious, still active inside!

Sao Jorge sticks out like a dragon's back or an enourmous stone ship eternally anchored in the blue expanses of the Atlantic being one of the youngest volcanic islands of the Azores with its estimated 550 000 years of age. Lying within the sight of Pico and Faial, we enjoy amazing sights with crystal clear sunny skies, Thula being safely tied up in the small marina of Velas. Our stops lead us to paths that lead along Sao Jorge's adventurous cliffs with their many waterfalls down to the Fajãs, the flat coastal plains. The island of cheese is so surprisingly beautiful - a little hidden gem being inhabited by 30 - 35.000 cows but only around 10.000 inhabitants. The flora of the highland pastures ensures that the 'produced' milk is among the best in the world - the island cheese a delicacy! Last but not least hop on board Maja, a Najad 49. What a different sailing experience adding 16 foot and a few tons extra to cross the choppy sea back to Faial.

You think you really have achieved something when arriving in Faial on the Azores. But then you meet people like Sven Yrvind, crossing oceans on self-built vessels measuring about half the size of Thula - even Cape Horn in winter! In Horta you certainly meet astonishing personalities. Listen to what the 82 year old Swede has to say. @SvenYrvindExlex Join Janna on her first cold water dive in a nature reserve just south of Horta and then hop on board a ferry to Pico & afterwards on board Thula. With us catch sight and experience a population of birds - 500.000 pairs living only on the Azores! - who turn our night into day in tranquil Velas, São Jorge. Our volume of the scenes at night in Velas was edited down to 20% in the episode - so just imagine how much sleep we got with these special inhabitants sounding like they'd flown through a cloud of helium - Mickey Mouse in aviated fashion. Enjoy!

On Faial we make landfall after 29 days crossing the Atlantic from the Bahamas to the Azores making it to Horta, the 3rd most visited harbor by yacht numbers worldwide! Sailors meet in the middle of the Atlantic coming and heading into all different directions?but before must come together for a gin at Peter Café Sport - an institution with a long tradition. Hills, inlets, formations resulting from volcanic activity increasing the island's size, picturesque green pastures and the mass of hydrangeas dividing the fields and lining along the roadsides give Faial the name of Ilha Azul, the blue island - its caldera often hidden in misty thick fog. What a mystic and authentic place! It is an island where animals seem to communicate and dance with and for us - possibly the happiest cows we've met in Europe? Tradition says that sailors must make a painting on the marina wall in Horta to insure their safe return before leaving. So we do! And we roadtrip. Enjoy this long one!

Playing cat and mouse between Atlantic storms and the notorious Azores high - that pretty much this episode best. Watch us trying to sail as wise as we can following our Predict Wind weather forecasts constantly being chased by new weather conditions - sometimes successfully, sometimes making a lot more miles extra. Force 7-8, a ripped sail, a bumpy ride ?and then?stuck in the middle of the famous Azores high. Watch (sperm?) whales from above passing our way that have their breeding ground around the Azores. Find out how we tackle Saragossa Sea problems. Join us on another ocean ride and enjoy!

Tropics - bye-bye! Hello Atlantic, hello Gulf Stream Route! Last provisioning in the isolated town of Spanish Wells in Eleuthera with its interesting shipwrecked adventurers' background. Lots of gulf cart provisioning fun fitting in groceries worth more than 800$ for two boats on one cart! Ouch! The beginning of our nearly 3000nm Atlantic crossing wanting to take the Gulf Stream Route (400nm longer than the direct way - why would you do that?!) doesn't go as planned? And once on the Gulfstream Autobahn we are constantly confronted with challenging, nasty weather patterns. Have fun watching! www.thulasailing.de www.patreon.com/thulasailing