With Alex and Tom, we already spent a week on the SKS practical course a year ago. Now we’re spending another week together, this time without a sailing instructor, but the four of us will manage it somehow.

The first few days were incredibly full and stressful. We’re seriously wondering whether we’re made for this kind of life, or whether we should come up with a different plan.

On Saturday we take delivery of our Belize in Lefkas. Then on Sunday morning Sofia arrives, and she will be at our side as a sailing instructor for 3 days.

For our autumn visit to Greece, we drive to Ancona with two stopovers, where we board the ferry to Igoumenitsa. From there we head into the Greek countryside, where we will look at our first boat.

For the past few months, a big project has been running in the background for us: finding our own long-distance cruising boat.

We have done a lot to learn how to sail. Together we are already up to around 10 different courses, plus a whole month on charter boats in Croatia, plus who knows how many books, blogs, workshops, and YouTube videos.

Another project for this summer is a Giorgo memorial trip. I inherited a folding boat from my father. This canoe is over 50 years old and a beautiful piece of craftsmanship.

We’re spending the summer at home. It’s too hot and also too expensive in the high season. We sold our house in Zurich so that we could even afford this whole thing here. With part of the proceeds, we bought a small apartment in Oberägeri, because it is beautiful up here in the foothills of the Alps.

After almost 4 months, ten countries, and thousands of kilometers, we are home again. Just in time for the start of the summer holidays.

We’ve both been to Hungary quite a few times. I had a development team at Siemens in Budapest, and Alex has distant relatives in Hungary.