Sailing La Vagabonde

‘Dream Job’ Reality Check

Dear ladies and gentlemen thank you for entering the description section of dream job reality check. It is here that you will learn a little bit more about the video that is playing above. Some things that I would like to highlight is that if you love what you are doing that nothing is ever really like being at work. This doesn’t mean that life isn’t difficult maintaining a weekly upload schedule and sailing around the world. There have been arguments, squalls, pirate attacks, shark encounte...

Gybing out the Gibraltar Strait [Ep. 132]

Off we go, gybing out of the notoriously busy Gibraltar Strait. Sea container ships galore... and La Vagabonde amongst the mayhem trying not to get in anyones way. Our good pal Josje is back to help us with the sail down to the Canary Islands, we love her! Join us as we set off on an entirely new adventure.  

The extra footage is not up on Facebook yet but we'll be putting it up in time for next week's episode. We went through 4 years of footage so you can imagine how long it took us........

When the cats away the mice will play! [Ep. 131]

After a spontaneous trip to the blue town, Riles and I crank the engine for Ceuta in no wind.. which means no sailing.. which means way too much free time out there. Join us for a dolphin party, a missed fish and good vibes all round. 

Thanks for supporting these videos! You're the best!

Elayna & Riley 

xo

On our way out, Moroccin’ about [Ep. 130]

We sail west, along the northern Moroccan coastline. It’s all go go go right now, just making quick stops in every few ports so that we can make our exit out of the Mediterranean. New oceans are calling our names. We tie off the boat in another marina that’s pretty much deserted and head into the country on a road trip. I’ve always dreamed of visiting Morocco, to get lost in the ally ways and go spice shopping at the markets. Thanks so much  for supporting what we do! I hope you enjoy...

Nice Men with Machine Guns [Ep. 129]

We thought we were anchored at a ‘deserted’ island above Morocco until a boat came flying around the corner, 6 men in uniforms, one with a machine gun in hand, to tell us we had to leave… IMMEDIATELY. We had unknowingly jumped in the water for a swim in a military zone… our navigation charts showed nothing of the kind. Join us for our sail down to Morocco from Spain. It’s a goodie. 

Videos made possible by YOU :) Thank you for your support!

Elayna & Riley xo

What it’s like to SAIL LA VAGABONDE! [Ep. 128]

This video sums up what an average sail on La Vagabonde across the sea is really like for us. With only two crew onboard, there is never a dull moment or time for boredom. We’re pretty much always busy doing SOMETHING. Our moods and energy levels are highly influenced by the weather. Rough nights at sea obviously = no sleep, and calm nights are always an absolute treat for our body and mind. Join us from France to Spain as we give you a taste of our life on the ocean. 

Thank you for sup...

The Quintessential Spanish Cove [Ep. 127]

We go for a scooter ride around the island on what could fairly well be described as a lighthouse tour headed by Christian, "the inspector". You don't see it in the videos but Logan absolutely refused to keep up with everyone and would arrive at least 10 minutes late to each lighthouse much to everyones amusement.

Probably the most amazing thing from my point of view was that Simone turned out to be a cosmologist but was so humble that we only found out on the last day after Pete prompted her....

A Moonless Night at Sea (Sailing La Vagabonde) Ep. 126

After a moonless night at sea, we arrived in Menorca - Balaeric Islands. Our patrons found us and we get to spend the next week with them sailing and exploring what this INCREDIBLE island has to offer. Join us and the crew for good times 😄 We hope to meet many more of you awesome humans in the very near future!! Stay tuned for more info.

Videos made POSSIBLE by each and every one of you guys. So thanks a million. Love, Elayna and Riles.

Sailing Upwind, it Sucks [Ep. 125]

Off we go, sailing upwind for a 260nm journey to Sardinia. On top of that, a broken engine upon our arrival means we received some help upon our arrival. But this has got to be one of my favourite adventures of the year! It’s funny how when things don’t go as smooth as you’d expected, those end up being the best memories. Bye bye to the lovely Josje and Tunisia. Checkout Josjes channel below! https...

We got Drenched, Sailing to Northern Africa! [Ep. 124]

It was our last day sailing at sea, before we’d be making landfall in Tunisia, a country in northern Africa. The wind picked up and for the last few hours we were absolutely hammering into the wind and waves with a bandaged up captain Riley, Josje the magnificent and I. HELLO TUNISIA. Let’s get lost! Congratulations to our Patrons Matt Rascoe and Ryan Hagelstrom!!. Send us an email and we'll send you through the details when we get closer to crossing the atlantic. 

Videos made with lo...

Reaction Video: Girls on Boat, Man Cracks Head Open!!

I'm terribly sorry for the 'click bait' title Patreon fam!! Sometimes we have to play the YouTube game. I hope you can forgive us hahahaha. Have a laugh with us as we watch the playback of Riley hitting his head (which is a very serious issue, we know... things could have been much worse and it was a huge wake up call for us). For now though, all we can do is laugh at this cringey coconut sound it made. 

What Not To Do on a Boat: Lesson No. 1,485 [Ep. 123]

Ohhhh dear. Well I wasn't expecting to have to glue up my boyfriends cracked head with my friend Josje onboard, 50nm away from land. It definitely could have been worse. It goes to show how quickly things could go wrong and it doesn't even necessarily have to be from something super risky or adventurous. We've swam off the back of the boat COUNTLESS times (and will continue to do so, but next time butts will be shuffled just that little bit further off the back before sliding in 😂). I'm just ...

London Boat Show Tickets Update

Hi everyone!

We have given away the 60 free tickets we had but if we receive any more, you will be the first to know. If any of you received a ticket but something has changed and you can't make it, let us know and we can pass it on to someone else.

If we can't get hold of any more free tickets, the two for one offer should be available right up until the first day of the show via this link:
http://bit.ly/2for1Ti...

Polish Girl buys Sail Boat for €1 !! Yes, that is ONE EURO. Ep. 122

Hello to you lovely humans. Riley and I hope you've had a good few days celebrating Christmas and all that jazz! Thanks for being awesome. I hope you like this episode :)

Justyna, 22 years old, was miserable at university in Poland when something incredible happened. She saw an ad online of a couple wanting to sell their sail boat, but only to the RIGHT person. She took a chance and flew to Malta to go and see the boat meet the owners. Over dinner with the couple, they asked “how much ...

She thought I was alone at sea! Little did she know.. (Sailing La Vagabonde) Ep. 121

Merry nearly Christmas to our big Patreon family!! We have a bonus episode for you this week, to say thank you for all of your love and generosity. This video is on the house (free for you).

A big CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR PATRONS Marco-SAN, Riz and Maya, and Kerry Porter!! Can you make it to Florida? Send us an email. Thanks so much for the support.

Meanwhile, Elayna who was waiting patiently for my arrival in Malta thought I was alone at sea. Houmaid (a man I had just met and aske...

Free tickets to see us in London!!

Not long now until we will be crossing the Atlantic towards the Caribbean and  USA. We were considering organising a meet up in Europe before we left the continent until we were invited to attend the London Boat Show to talk  publicly about our adventures. The other good news is we were able to get some free tickets for you to visit us! We have 30 free tickets to give away now and we may have another batch to give away in the next 48 hours.

All you need to do is to comment below if y...

6 Degrees of Separation [Ep. 120]

After the debacle we experienced out at sea, I decided to send everyone off to have some down time away from the boat. I intended to sail solo from Greece to Malta but that was before I met Humaid, a true gentleman and one of the most interesting guys I've come across. After some provisioning and some weather watching, we set sail for Malta which was going to be approximately 380 nautical miles.

I test out my cinematography skills for this one. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did making ...

NIGHTMARE AT SEA!!! (everything goes wrong) Ep. 119

Drifting out to sea, in 40 knots of wind, attached to another vessel by anchor chain. We had to be rescued by the coast guard that turned out to be an extremely old fishing boat. The Meltemi wind was blowing a steady 35 - 40 knots all day, we were safely anchored in a sheltered bay UNTIL... another boat anchored on top of our anchor and off we went, attached to one another, just avoiding running into a super yacht in the anchorage and then out to sea. The video is pretty self explanatory. I'm go...

Our Journey through the Famous Corinth Canal! [Ep. 118]

Woohoo! We made it through the famous Corinth Canal - Greece. The canal is 8m deep and excavated at sea level so it doesn’t need any locks. It took them 12 years to make it and it was first opened in 1893. The canal shaves off a 700km journey around the Peloponnese peninsula and around 11,000 ships pass through each year, mostly small vessels that can handle the narrowness and are able to dodge the result of landslides the sit under the surface. Join us on La Vagabonde as we cruise right on th...

Greek Myths & Real Sailor Stories Ep. 117

Well howdy there Kefalonia, how do you do? You might possibly be home to the best beach in Greece! I've never seen a beach quite as blue as you. So fresh. Join us docked in the village of Argostoli on La Vagabonde. Road trippin' around the island and some Kiwis share a very close call during their short sailing careers. Hope you enjoy! 

Did you know, last week we passed exactly 3 years since I first uploaded an episode to YouTube. Pretty crazy hey?! Back then, it was just a pipe dream tha...

WOW!! Checkout this Ship Wreck on the most Stunning Beach in Greece! (Sailing La Vagabonde) Ep. 116

Ship Wreck beach, or Smugglers Cove as it’s referred to, has been a place on my bucket list to visit for many years now. This freightliner, the MV Panagiotis ran aground one stormy day in 1980 on the island of Zakinthos - Greece. There are rumours of the ship smuggling things like cigarettes, alcohol and women. You can only reach this cove by boat, or you can BASE jump down if you’re into that. We cruised right on in on La Vagabonde to drop anchor, swim to shore and explore this INSANE spot....

An Epic Journey Across the Ionian Sea [Ep. 115]

We hoisted main, behind us shrank Sicily, eastward bound, cross the Ionian Sea, 4 scoundrels, narry an air of worry, barrel to the brim, bearing north the cardinal buoy that be cardinal sin, Jack be nimble, Riley be quick, bring FOOTAGE OF THOSE WHALES BACK TO THE SHIP! And you, stand fast ye lubber, we'll handle the sail, sit back, relax and enjoy the rest of the tale. 

Enjoy! It's one of our favourites!

Sending lots of love from La Vagabonde!
Elayna xo

Success in the Messina Strait. Swordfish for Days!! [Ep. 114]

Yeeehaaaaaaa! WE HAVE HAD SUCCESS IN THE MED!!! 

Riley landed his first Short Billed Swordfish in the Messina Strait. Looks like we'll have enough fish to last us a good few weeks, having also maybe fed some fellow cruisers 😁🐟 🍻Cheers to catching our first fish on La Vagabonde II.

Thank you for supporting our videos. We couldn't do it without you!

❤️ Elay & Riles xo

The Most Beautiful Child Mummy in the World! Rosalia Lombardo

Meet the most beautiful child mummy in the world, Rosalia Lombardo. She lays near THOUSANDS of preserved humans in the 4 corridors beneath the Capuchin Church - Palermo, Sicily for all to see. Rosalia died of pneumonia on December 6, 1920. Rosalia's father Mario Lombardo was devastated by her death and approached Alfredo Salafia, an embalmer, to preserve her. The eldest mummy dates back to 1599 up until Rosalia, the last to be embalmed in 1920.The embalming procedure consisted of formalin to kil...

Sicily - Sailing Adventure, Local Culture, and Mummified Corpses!! [Ep. 113]

We arrive in Sicily and regather ourselves after the jet lag of night shifts at sea. It is always nice to arrive somewhere new. It didn’t take us long to find some friends and these guys were locals who were happy to take us around and show us their island. Stefano and Maricetta were so lovely to us we felt very humbled to have received such kindness from strangers.

I hope you enjoyed the episode. Thanks for watching and your continued support. We couldn't make these episodes without you! Th...

Happy Sunday to our Patron fam! Just a quick update from us.

Hey guys Riley here. 

To go on from what I said in the above video I think that the best way to describe it would be calories spent per nautical mile covered - C/NM.  Now as I was saying you can spend all day outside walking around trimming sails pulling up the code 0 taking it down again but you're really only playing with the top 10% of your speed. When I first started I couldn't care less about this but I learned to love it and I think everyone does eventually after years of saili...

Just swinging over to northern Sicily [Ep. 112]

Sailing Sardinia has been an absolute treat. But, it was time to move on. Off to Sicily we go! We provision in a city called Olbia before heading off into the Tyrrhenian Sea. Join us for some random adventures onboard La Vagabonde. I’d like to thank James and Destiny for coming onboard and the support, we had such a great time and we’re so happy to have been able to show you a little bit of what our life is like on the water. Good luck with Yacht hunting. Cheers, Riley.

A Marriage Proposal!!! Onboard the Yacht!! [Ep. 111]

Yes folks!! Something special happened onboard La Vagabonde. We witnessed the first ever proposal on board. Join us in the north of Sardinia as we celebrate good times!

Sending you love from the Mediterranean!

Elayna xo

The time we saw a FLYING DINGHY! When did this become a thing?! [Ep. 110]

I certainly wasn't expecting to see a FLYING DINGHY fly past my window as I was having a shower onboard. Being out at sea and out of range a lot of the time, we seem to miss out on the launching of the latest technologies/fashion/tv shows.. so we were quite shocked to see such a contraption fly by, one mellow afternoon. Someone please fill me in?? What is the deal? Leave us a comment.

Thank you for supporting our videos. We are able to keep them coming because of YOU :)

Videos mad...

Sailing the Secret Islands of Sardinia [Ep. 109]

Ever heard of the archipelago of La Maddalena? They’re a bunch of secret islands above Sardinia. We hadn’t either really, so we didn’t have much of an idea of what to expect. It was a rough sail getting there with our crew, Daniel, Destiny and James. But it was well worth the trip! Join us in crystal blue waters, on the hunt for a pink beach and good vibes all round. Cheers from us here on La Vagabonde and thank you so much for supporting our videos xo