Spring Plans 2026

When we had the idea to sail around the world, there was really only one major problem: we can’t sail at all. This kind of thing makes me nervous, but Alex reassures me: we have all the time in the world to learn, and that’s exactly what we’ll do in 2026.

Preparation

We want to try out different types of yachts, firstly to gain experience and secondly to develop a feel for the kind of yacht we can imagine living on.

Such yachts can simply be rented, or chartered as it is correctly called. The prerequisite for this is an internationally recognized sailing license and a radio license. I obtained the German Sportbootküstenschein, SKS, last autumn. Alex got the RYA radio license.

The Plan

From March, we will spend almost 2 months in Croatia. Croatia is the sailing destination in Europe and is very beginner-friendly with excellent infrastructure. Moreover, our sailing school, JoJo München, operates there.

SKS includes a three-day theory course and a week of practical training. I still don’t feel confident enough to lead a yacht. Therefore, I will first do a week of Skipper Training: An advanced course for SKS holders.

The following week, Alex will then do her sailing license. She wasn’t keen on the theory-heavy and somewhat outdated SKS. Instead, she’s trying the US version of the American Sailing Association, ASA 101, 102, and 104. They supposedly cover theory and practice in one week. The course is in Rjieka where we also rented an apartment for 2 weeks.

Since we have our dog Charly with us, we have to alternate between courses and dog-sitting. I think it’s not so bad if we take different courses alone, so we can benefit from each other.

Monohull

After that, we have chartered a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 410 for a week and then a 440. The Sun Odyssey is the European mass production boat. Top modern and at an unbeatable price. But these so-called production boats have a bad reputation: they are produced for the charter market and therefore only need to last a few years. Theoretically, we can very well imagine such a boat, let’s see what practice shows.

Catamaran

Fundamentally different is a catamaran: with two hulls, it sails worse, i.e., slower and you can’t sail as close to the wind. However, you have infinitely more space and comfort. Since it sails differently, and especially maneuvers differently, we have booked another week of catamaran training at JoJo, I do the first half of the week and Alex the second half.

Then we have booked a Nautitec 40, theoretically our clear favorite so far, and then a Lagoon 380. The Nautitec is relatively rare, the Lagoon again the mass production, with corresponding quality problems.

We are excited and think after these 4 boats we will have a better feeling for what modern boats can offer. In the fall, we want to delve into one segment and possibly also rent older, higher quality boats, but as beginners, we don’t need to wreck a good boat right away.

And then

Then it’s almost summer, and then we don’t want to charter boats: First, it’s overcrowded and second, the boats quickly cost twice as much in the high season. We will travel through Italy to Greece (we want to stay in the EU because of Charly). And then from Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Austria slowly drive home. Along the way, Mäge will join us somewhere for a bit.

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