Category: True East Sabre 48 Travels

TE Sardinia West Coast 2026

Returning to Sardinia, we will complete the circumnavigation of Sardinia and Corsica then return to the Italian coast to leave the boat for the winter.

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TE Sardinia east coast 2026

From Elba we will head over to Corsica and then down the east coast of Sardinia, there we will leave the boat for about a month during the ‘high season’ and head over to Tunisia.

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Our summer starts in Barcelona for a few days then on to Rome and Tripoli for a few days. Then on to retrieve the boat from its winter hibernation in Vibo. We will then head up the west coast of Italy to the island of Elba.

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Returning from our aborted mid summer sojourn to Madeira and the Azores, we arranged for the boat to be launched at R Marine in Reggio. We immediately headed north to San Giovanni where we met Dan’s nephew Tony and his wife Julie. They had spent a couple of days in the area trying to track down some ancestry issues.

Our next stop was Marina Carmello in Vibo. Before heading into port we decided to stop for a swim. While getting set up to anchor the boat, the port transmission locked in gear….oops. Once on the dock, mechanics from the marina inspected the situation and Dan consulted his experts in Norway, Greece and Florida. Conclusion was the gear box in that transmission would have to be replaced; however, we could still run the boat on one good engine.

Not wanting to cut our adventure short, we decided to head out on that one good engine. On our way to Acropolis, we planned to anchor up for lunch and a swim….beautiful. Ready to move on, we were unable to raise the anchor. Thankfully, Tony was finally able to free the now bent up anchor….sure glad to have them aboard. The city of Agropolis features and enormous fortress, a massive marina and many fine restaurants.

Continuing north, we decided to cut across the Gulf of Salerno directly to Capri. On the west side of Capri we found a fine spot to drop the hook and have lunch and a swim. Continuing on, we stopped at Positano. As there is no real port there, we picked up a mooring ball for the night. With all of the tour boats buzzing around and a moderate wind, staying on the boat overnight was untenable. A comfortable night in a hotel, great dinner and an a walking tour of this famous city. Cruising back east along the Amalfi coast we stopped at the small port of Cetara where Tony and Julie left us to continue their journey on to Pompii.

At Cetera, we rented a car to drive the Amalfi coast over to Amalfi staying there overnight. Back in Cetera, Oriol and Tomas arrived from Barcelona to join us for a long weekend. We had anticipated a nice cruise back along the Amalfi coast, around Capri and over to Sorrento and on the other side of the peninsula. Instead we had a very rough trip to wonderful city of Sorrento. Given the weather, we took a ferry over to the island of Ischia for the day, renting a car for a tour of this great little island. The following day, the Barcelona boys left us and we took a day to relax.

With Pompii less that 20 miles away, we decided to take a cab over and spent the night touring the ruins the following day. An amazing experience well worth the trip. We later read the book ‘Pompii’ by Robert Harris and visited the Museum at Naples…both highly recommended.

Now we had to make a decision about there we were going to get the transmission replaced, a project we assumed would take the boat out of service for about a month. Go north or go back to Vino where we had met the mechanics. Returning to Vibo was about a 150 mile run and Dan decided that would be best and we would cut our cruise short and leave the boat there for the winter.

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TE Ionian Sea and Sicily 2025

After a few days in Barcelona, we arrived in Corfu at the Gouvia Marina on May 9 and were greeted by our great winter crew, Ilias, Dimitries and David. Over the winter we continued with the 10+ year upgrade program with new interior upholstery, new solar panels and dozens of small fixes and tweaks.

Leaving Corfu we made one more stop in Greece before heading over to Itlay. We had previously visited the island of Ereikoussa, with a population of about 500 souls. The waters here and on the adjacent island of Othonio are some of clearest we have ever seen. Unexpectedly, the marina was quite full; however, we found a spot.

From Eikousa to the ‘stiletto heal’ of Italy is only about 60 miles. We got beautiful weather and having visited Otranto on a prior roadtrip, we decided to take a 170 nautical mile run to Cortone. This south coast of Italy along the sole of the boot is not very interesting. In four days we arrived in the Reggio Calabria area.

We had expected to find several first class marinas in this area….what a surprise. In Porto Baler we found a small marina that had been built in the rustic style. We met the owner and it was clearly his design choice not due to a financial constraint. We rented a car here an headed up to Tropea, a classic hill top Italian town. While in the area, we made arrangements to store the boat during the latter part of July and early August at the only boatyard in the vicinity.

We were now ready to start of circumnavigation of Sicily. We started on the east coast at Riposto. As is often the case, we like to leave the boat for a few days in a new area and explore the interior by car or train. From Riposto we took a train to the wonderful town of Taormina with its Roman ruins. Back on the boat we cruised to Catania, the major city in the region where Anna joined us. At Syracusa, more Roman ruins. Ragusa become our base where we returned several times.

At Licata we rented a car and headed for Palermo where we dropped Anna at the airport returning to Licata by a different route. This gave us a good chance to see both the interior and the coast of the island. Returning to Ragusa, we took the ferry over to Malta. Malta is one enormous fortress sitting at the divide of the eastern and western Med. St John’s cathedral was one of the most embellished we have ever seen.

Rounding the south west corner of the island we stopped at Marsala for a few days. Given the weather, we elected to take the ferry over to the island of Favigana. We also visited the ruins at Castelvetrano, amazing. On to Trapani with a side trip to the mountain town of Erice, what a ride.

On to Palermo where we joined up with Steve and Tiffany. Cruising the north coast we spotted the hull of s/v Bayesian that sank off the town of Imerese. Cefalu was a great stop with crystal clear waters and a fine town. Soon we were back on the mainland at R Marine in Reggio Calabria where True East was hauled and stored for a month.

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TE Croatia Return 2024

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Crossing over from Italy our first stop was Pula in Croatia. Here we met Jane and Carla who would cruise with us down to Zadar. From Pula we took a short cruise over to the Briljuni National Park where Tito maintained his summer home. A beautiful island with a golf course, zoo and some guest accommodations.

With an early start we proceeded south to the cute little town of Osor. We needed to arrive for the 9am draw bridge opening. While we made the bridge opening as Osor, we were not so lucky at Mali. With the bridge closed till 5 pm, we decided to go around the bottom of Losing Island to visit Mali. Mali is one more of the many pleasant ports in the Croatian Islands.

Our next stop was Rab, with time to spare we decided to circumnavigate the island. The west side is boring, but the east side is well protected by the neighboring island of Dolin. ACI has a nice marina in the city, the hilly park being the main attraction here. Continuing south, we took a side trip up the Zavratinca gorge before stopping at Nin for lunch on route to Zadar. Nin is a small island only accessible by tender. Zadar is one of the major cities in Croatia and one of the charter boat capitals with over 500 boats available. Jane and Carla left us here and continued their travel adventure thru Europe. Although we could not watch the US Presidential debate, we did read the disastrous results in the am.

Kristi and Gabrielle joined us in Zadar and cruised with us to Split. First stop was Rogoznica, known primarily for its great marina and promenade around the well protected bay. Stari Grad on the island of Hvar was the next stop. Fell in love with this port and used it a base to explore the island. Hvar city is very well known as it can accommodate cruise ships, but not a place for recreational boaters.

From Stari Grad, we headed back up to Trogir. This is a walled city that we visited several time. Around the corner is Split, another principal city that we underestimated on our first visit. Sadly Kristi and Gabrielle left us in Split. However, a few days later Steve and Tiffany joined us for a cruise down to Dubrovnik.

Leaving Split we stopped at Supetar on the island of Brac, lots of swimming in the relatively warm waters. The lovely walled city of Korcula was our next stop. The city is a great walk around the wall and is ringed with restaurants and gift shops. Here we rented a car and took a nice tour of the island. We even stumbled across the monument to Main Caparin, the pioneer vintner of the Posip wines.

On our way to Dubrovnik we stopped again at Gastro Mare marina and restaurant. Once again a wonderful five course meal and good friendship. From here we were able to tender to Ston, the crazy walled city that’s missing the city.

Dubrovnik is so well known there is not much to say except ‘where did they get all the stones?’ Here we spent our last days with Steve and Tiffany, we are always sad to see our guest leave us but know they will continue their adventure.

It was now late September and the weather was changing to cooler and windier. Two stops in Montenegro at Kotor and Bar and then a long run past Albania to arrive back at Corfu. Here we met with the team and reviewed the works to be carried out over the winter.

By now we had decided to come back to the Adriatic for one more summer. As that would include the west coast of Italy, we decide to go explore this next area before the summer travels ended.

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TE Italy 2024

Arriving from Tanzania, we drove to Monfalcone to get continue on True East. On route we stayed at the wonderful Castello de Roncade, an estate owned by only two families over the last 400 years. Naturally we loaded up on a few cases of wine.

Returning to the boat, we found the yard had done a really excellent job of refinishing the bottom and tuning the props. After a night on the dock we headed for Trieste. While the dockage was less than ideal, we did love the city.

With some extra time on our hands before meeting guests in Venice, we decided to go back down the coast to Slovenia because we loved it so much the first time. We visited Koper for a lunch stop and then on to Portoroz, unremarkable. Next day a short hop to one of our favorite cities, Piran. Dan will never forget the carbonara served here.

Next we headed to Italy, stopping in Grado, very much a resort town with a carousel and lots of beach. On to Punta Faro on the edge of the Marono Lagoon, another resort town. At the Miami boat show we had met the owners of Marina del Cavallino, so stopping at their marina was a must. This great father and son team showed us the area and recommended taking the tender into Burano. This was about a 10 mile ride thru the Venetian lagoon to this colorfully little island town. Lunch at Riva Rosa was wonderfully classical Italian…Mamma Mia!

On to Venice where we stayed on the east end of the Island and enjoyed walking the city and visiting the Biennale Art festival. Our Barcelona friends Oriol and Eric joined us in Venice for a long weekend trip to Rimini, poor Tomas forgot to set his alarm clock. Along the way, we stopped for a night at Chioggia the southern flood barriers is located, a massive structure. We were surprised to find offshore oil rigs off the coast here, now abandoned and being dismantled. Lots of swims, good food and wine along this leg of the cruise. What a wonderful surprise to see not one but two flocks of flamingoes flying towards Venice!

After dropping off Oriol and Eric, Marcia managed to find another mini golf. Rimini turned out to be a fun walking city with the river running thru. From there, we had an amazingly calm crossing back to Croatia landing in Pula.

TE Croatia North, Slovenia and Italy 2024

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We finished up in Zagreb and were able to meet Robert and Jason there and we all drove back to the boat outside the industrial cit of Rijeka. Along the route we stopped at the Griffin winery, had lunch and stocked up. After a night on the boat, we headed off to Krk island, we are still trying to pronoun that.

Dan grilled chicken wings on the boat and after getting smoked out put on a snorkel, soon followed by a swim. On to the cute little down of Osor with it’s draw bridge that opens twice a day. Another 50 miles or so takes us to Pula, Croatia back on the mainland. Pula has one of the largest Roman amphitheaters, now used as a performance center. Robert and Jason left us here in Pulja after a great visit.

North Croatia is really out of the typical charter boat cruising grounds so once we passed Pula we saw very few boats other than locals. The marina operators up here were surprised to see a visiting boat, forget an American motorboat. A short hop away we stayed at the Brijuni National Park, Tito’s former summer residence. We rented a golf cart and toured the island with its hotel and huge guest houses, golf course and zoo. The following day we circumnavigated the island and continued on to Rovinj with its monumental clock tower. The old city sits on a promontory with limestone rocks carved with steps and paths for bathers. After spending well over an hour trying to locate the harbormasters office we gave up and ended up staying for free….gotta love that price!

Our last stop in Croatia was Porec, a popular resort city with the adjacent small island of Svelte Nikola its with many upscale resorts. Here we checked out of Croatia as our next stop would be in Slovenia.

On the way to Piran, we tucked into the fortress city of Novigrad and fueled up. Piran, Slovenia is beautiful with its fortress high on hilltop, quite a hike. We liked everything about the city and were sorry we only stayed a day and planned another visit on the way back south. We were now getting close to the end of the first half of the boating summer as we would arrive at Marina Lepanto in Monfalcone, about half way between Trieste and Venice.

Our plan was to leave the boat boat here from 15 July to 24 August during the height of the European vacation season and the hottest weather. While the boat was there we arranged to have the bottom sanded smooth and painted and to have the props removed and sent out to be tuned. True East had gotten a little sluggish.

It was now off to a road trip through Slovenia and northern Italy before we head off to Zanzibar and Tanzania.

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TE Croatia Middle 2024

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Our Barcelona friend Anna and Marcia’s sister in law Cheryl joined us in Trogir for the journey up to Zadar. Leaving Trojir we headed for Skradin where we would visit the magical Krka National Park with its multitude of waterfalls, lakes and wooden boardwalks. On the way up the river we passed oyster and mussel farms and stopped at a cute floating ‘farm stand’ for fresh oysters and mussels.

Next stop was a marina in the Kornati National Park on Murter with swim stops along the way….the water was warming and now in the mid 70’s. On to Otok Zut where we stayed in the ACI Marina. ACI has several dozen marinas in Croatia and this was not one of their best. We then headed around the north end of Kornat, about 15 miles long and run south on the east side. The southern end, including a number of small island on its eastern side form the Kornati National Park. Swim, snorkel, anchor up, drink wine, etc.

Traveling up the west side of Dugi we spent the night at Veil Rat before heading into Zadar with a lunch stop anchored up on the west side of Ugljan Island. After a day exploring the city with its magical water organ powered by waves, Anna and Cheryl departed. We had ordered a water pump in Trogir that had not arrive when we left, so we doubled back to get our backup pump installed, then headed back to Zadar.

Headed North again, it was a 54 nautical mile run to the walled city of Rab with its great fortress. It was then on to Rijeka or so we thought. This is the fourth largest city with a population of about 100,000 and the waterfront is totally industrial. We decided to go to the neighboring smaller city of Opatija with its ACI marina. Arriving about 5 pm, we were assigned a space with a shore power plug we had never seen before with 5 pins instead of 3. As we planned to leave the boat for another road trip, we needed an adapter. At 10 pm an electrician showed up and made us a custom adapter, things we love.

On the road again with our first stop at the Pitvice Lakes National Park…many of these parks were created by Tito and are spread throughout the country, many with campground or inexpensive lodging. This was another park with magnificent waterfalls and a great boardwalk around the park. Continuing on to Zagreb we crossed the fertile plains of Croatia that are mostly agriculture.

What fascinated us most about Zagreb was its Museums, of Broken Relationship, of Illusion, of Hangovers, etc. Palaces, old world charm, great food and the wines! Time to get back to the boat.

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TE Croatia South 2024

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At Port Montenegro we cleared customs and headed up the 45 nautical miles to Dubrovnik, Croatia where we would clear into the EU and Schengen. We passed by the city and headed around the point to the Frapa Marine on the back side of the city. We were directed to first go to the customs dock, a pretty rough jetty. On entering the office Dan was immediately charged with crime of passing between the island and the city, despite there being no signs or indications on the charts. $200 later he starting the process..go to the harbormaster a few blocks away, get papers then go to port police on the other side of the building up the stairs and give up papers, then go to customs on the other side of the building and get new papers and then you can go to the marina that is on the other side of the same building.

The old city of Dubrovnik is a short bus ride, or for Marcia an long walk. This is a wonderfully restored or maintained, hard to tell, walled city straight out of Game of Thrones. It has now become one of the most crowded cities in Europe; however, it is still delightful.

Our friend Lisa joined us here for the cruise north to Split. Our first stop was at Sipanska on the island of Otok where we anchored up for lunch and a swim. On to Gastro Mare in Broce where we had a wonderful meal prepared by a renowned chef Ante Bjelancic who is also great fun. The service was interrupted by Lisa getting locked in the shower…longer story.

The next day was 25 mile run along the island of Mijet that is mostly a National Park with crystal clear waters and hiking trails. On to the charming walled city of Korcula on the island of same name. This is little Dubrovnik without the wall to wall crowds. Once again very nice docking facilities Med moor styled. Throughout these island there are thousands of miles of stone wall most of which must have been built in ancient times.

From there it was a 70 mile run to the Lav Marine in Podstrana a cab ride away from Split. Lisa departed to continue her adventures and we rented a car for another of our road trips. We headed back south down the coast to have some famous Moli Stan oysters and visit the walled city of Ston. Unlike most walled cities that all full to the brim, this is mostly walls with a single fortress on the mountain top. On the lovely city of Mostar in Bosnia with its famous bridge. While the city was heavily destroyed in the civil war, it has been beautifully restored.

Continuing up thru the mountains of Bosnia, we reach the capital of Sarajevo. After spending a few hours wandering around, we decided it was time to move on, not much of interest here. Next stop was Travnik, a charming smaller city up in the mountains with its great fortress. It was then back to Split where we spent some time exploring the city before returning to the boat.

We had a few days before our next guest would arrive so we headed over to the island of Solta on the north end at the village of Maslinica and spend a night. It was a double back but we decided to visit the island of Hvar and docked a Vrboska. We had heard about Stari Grad on the same island but the guides discouraged us from docking there, so we took a cab over. We really like Stari and planned to return there on our way back.

We next headed to Trojir where we hoped to get a couple of boat issues resolved and were very fortunate to find a good shop at the marina. We also found a delightful city that is closer to the Split airport than Split.

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