NOETA
NOETA
View fullsize And then, just like that, Florida. Anchored in Ponce de Leon Inlet, waiting for our fridge replacement, Daytona Beach is just up the road, and tomorrow's entertainment is a rocket launch.
View fullsize Nearby Vilano Beach was charming but not as popular on a Saturday
View fullsize Farewelling Charleston as the sun came up on April 1, we headed south to St Augustine, 25 hours motor sailing, we arrived as the city was waking up. St Augustine, settled in 1565 by a Spanish conquistador, is the oldest continuously occupied city in
View fullsize I had been told that she crab soup and hush puppies were the Charleston go-to delights, and they were. The soup is served with a sherry condiment if so desired. The hush puppies were stuffed with a seafood cream but are often plain, and the story goe
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View fullsize And yesterday, April 1, we splashed, again. Two weeks on the hard at Cooper River Boatyard, courtesy of Zimmerman Marine, we had to wait for favorable/no wind to crane back in. The saildrive install was successful thanks to Skip & Paul. But the s
View fullsize Saildrive installed and waiting for light wind to launch, has provided an opportunity to catch up on a myriad of jobs, like discarding items that create weight and no value. Nod, you said we would throw our passarelle away once we left Europe. Well,
View fullsize Highlight of my Sunday - Diego

We are David & Cate, adventurers from New Zealand, exploring the world on our catamaran NOETA.

Setting sail from La Rochelle, France in May 2018, we crossed the Bay of Biscay, journeyed down the Atlantic coast and then spent our days and nights learning the ropes of sailing in the Mediterranean. Seven months in all, at times unfavourable winds, we travelled 3,298 nautical miles.

2019 was a six month exploration of Italy and Greece, launching NOETA from her winter storage in Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône in May and hauling out in Leros, Greece in October - 2,556 nautical miles.

Back to Greece in July 2020, COVID had delayed our departure from New Zealand by three months, so we postponed our ambitious plan A to head west across to the Caribbean and went with Plan B - picking up NOETA from Leros and travelling clockwise around the Aegean. Skirting the closed Turkish border on a number of occasions we arrived back in Leros in November, the days growing shorter and the nights cooler - 1,799 nautical miles.

2021 was another late departure and, because of COVID, another Grecian season. Arriving back in June we were hoping to get to Türkiye, but when the border finally opened mid-August, we were too far west in the Ionians, and decided to spend our remaining months getting to know Greece even better! 1,419 nautical miles better.

Plan A was back on board in 2022 and we spent five months exploring Türkiye, Croatia, and Montenegro before heading west via Malta to Gibraltar. Collecting provisions and crew we then headed south to the Canary Islands before embarking on our 19 day crossing to the Caribbean via Capo Verde. And it was great – great crew, great food and great weather, great planning I say - 8,174 nautical miles.

2023 was another big year. After spending several months sailing up through the Caribbean and the Bahamas, we took on the Atlantic eastern seaboard, (unfortunately we are too tall to navigate the ICW) and made it as far as Nova Scotia for their one month of summer. Then it was back down again to our winter storage in the Chesapeake above the hurricane 37th parallel, autumnal October haul out after 5,702 nautical miles.

2024 started with a chilly couple of weeks putting NOETA back together again and, once we get our saildrive replaced, the journey south will continue...

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