As you know, Moorspots is made possible for and by the community. This large community of nautical enthusiasts can be found across the globe and therefore we run into them once in a while. Last year we were cruising along the Turkish coast when we suddenly found one of the most active users, Dedanann, when we were mooring in a harbour. It was great to meet him in person, hear his experiences and enjoyed the feedback we got on Moorspots. This year during our sailing trip in the Lefkas area we ran into another very active Moorspots user, Skadi. We know Skadi a little, but you might not and therefore we decided to throw a few questions at them:
Who are the cruisers on sailing yacht Skadi?
Peter Tilburgs, Dutch nationality, is 69 years and on September 1st, 2009 he started early retirement. He started to work as a freelancer later but stopped working permanently on the 15th of May 2015. Peter has been sailing for over 30 years, the main areas of operation the Ijsselmeer & the Wadden Sea (Netherlands), the North Sea – the east coast of England, the South Coast of England and the French coast to the English Channel Islands. He also made a tour around Scotland, the Irish Sea and back down the south of England. For a long time it has been his dream to make a multi-year sailing trip with his own ship. He has purchased Skadi specifically for this purpose in 2007. At first he wanted to skip the Mediterranean and sail to the Caribbean and perhaps even further. Because Annelies likes the Med they started sailing there during the first years of the trip but the Med ties you down . . .
On January 5th, 2014 Peter and Annelies first met after an introduction in December 2013 over the internet.
Annelies, born in The Hague and thus affinity with the sea, had no sailing experience and has made her maiden tour with Skadi in April 2014. During that year, she gained a lot of practical experience during the many trips she made with Peter. The combination of her love for Peter, discovering the adventure by boat and the prospect of distant destinations, made her decide to say goodbye to her high heels and working life, buy boat boots and a sailing suit. However, she stays an urban woman, so the fancy dress is hanging in the ships closet next to the costume of Peter and the jewellery lies in the ship’s boudoir, and there is ample choice of shoes. Odin and Freija are two Siamese cats, 8 years of age, brother and sister from the same litter. This trip was the first time they had to learn to act as sea cats. Peter and Annelies became Cat whisperers. The cats walk beside us, on a leash and obey each command. Reward is important in the form of love and something sweet. It appeared that a cat on board is not difficult, but it requires attention and care. In return, you get a lot of fun and hugs.
What is your home during the sailing season, Peter?
The Skadi is a Beneteau Oceanis 40, 2 cabin version. The major changes we have made is in the electricity system. We installed 2 solar panels each 200W, a Victron MTTP controller and 2 lithium batteries, each 100 Ah. In order the have the optimum performance of the solar panels, we use a dongle connected to the MTTP controller and I adjusted the voltage levels for Bulk, absorption and rest load. We also installed a 2 KW inverter with a real sinus (for the Nespresso machine). All lamps (except navigation lights) have been replaced by LED lights.
During July and August it can be very hot in Greece. We use a portable air-conditioning in combination with a 2.2 KW Honda Whisper generator. With the solar panels and the generator, the Skadi is almost self-supporting for electricity.
We don’t have a watermaker, water is available and of good quality in the whole of the Med in the marinas. For anchoring, we replaced the Delta anchor with an Ultra Marine 21kg anchor and 80 meters of 10mm galvanized chain. This gives us a real safe feeling when we anchor even in strong winds (up to 60 Kts).
Where have you been sailing the past few years?
We left Holland on May 23rd, 2015 and in the first year we sailed along the Belgian and French coast, the north of Spain, Portugal and we ended up staying the winter in Albufeira. The second year we sailed along the south and east coast of Spain up to Altea and then crossed to the Baleares, in the summer we stayed at the Mar Menor for two months, close to Murcia and Puerto Deportivo Tomás Maestre. After the summer we returned to the Baleares Islands, Sardinia and Rome where we stayed 1 month and we wintered in Marina di Ragusa south of Sicily where we stayed on board. In 2017 we made a tour through the Adriatic Sea up to Venice, 3 months in Croatia an 2 weeks in Montenegro. Again we wintered in Marina di Ragusa but we returned home to Holland for the winter. In 2018 we rounded to Peloponnese clockwise and wintered in Crotone, south of Italy, where the boat went on the hard and we went back home to Holland.
What is your journey this year?
In 2019 it is our plan to go to the Sporades, Dodecanese, Crete and around the Peloponnese back to Crotone. But you know: Plans are written in wet sand at low tide… At this moment we are sailing between the Greek island of Evia and the mainland of Greece.
When is your sailing season a success?
Our sailing season is a success when the 4 of us arrive on our winter spot still healthy and without injuries and the ship has had no major problems during the season.
Of course our season is also a success when we sail the planned route with changes in the plans all the time and we can see all sorts of beautiful places, coastlines, bays, meet old friends and make new friends during our trip. We are not in a hurry and let things come as they come. That makes our kind of traveling a calm and relaxing journey.
You have been using Moorspots for a while now. Why do you use it and what is your experience so far?
We have been using several apps for identifying good marinas and anchorage bays but none of them were what we wanted. Moorspots is in that way different (better) and easy to use for adding new spots and posting reviews.
What other digital aids do you use for your sailing trips?
Of course, we use many weather forecast apps like Windy, Windguru, Vento di Mare (Italian) and Meteo (Greek). Especially the latest version of the Windy app is very useful because it shows many prediction models in a single graph. We are a paying member of the Cruisers Association and use the app Captains Mate which gives a lot of information on marina and anchorage spots.
If you’re not sailing, what is occupying you?
In summer, we love to go to archaeological and cultural sites and smell the ancient cradle of the West-European culture. We often rent a car or scooter to visit these spots and get a feeling of the modern Greek culture.
What is the worst spot that you have visited?
That was Puerto de Bermeo in the north of Spain. We needed shelter with bad weather and when we entered we were sent away from a sheltered basis. The harbourmaster said that the harbour was only for locals. We had to dock on a small pontoon in the large commercial port without any shelter against the weather. There were no facilities at all but we had to pay € 36 per night for nothing. After 2 nights we saw a small window in the weather and we rushed to Getxo near Bilbao where we were safe in Puerto Marítimo del Abra.
What is the best spot that you have visited?
This is hard to say. The best spot for blue water and fish for us is Cala Moltó on Mallorca. One of the best cities is Cartagena in Spain, a beautiful city with a lot of cultural highlights. Best anchorage is Messolonghi in Greece in the gulf of Patras. This is a very protected lagoon close to the beautiful and authentic Greek city of Messolonghi. Another highlight of our journey was a stay of a week in Venice in Venezia Certosa Marina.
What about fellow cruisers you have met?
During our 5 years of sailing we have made a lot of cruiser friends. At this moment we follow 37 cruisers in Vesselfinder, we will meet a lot of them during our trip this year.
Are you interested to hear more from Skadi? Follow them on their blog: https://www.zeilschip-skadi.nl/
