contact us

Find us on Social Media

Let’s get in touch

Check out our YouTube channel

This is how we prepared ourselves to sail across the Bay of Biscay. After weeks of making our way down the South West coast, we arrive in Falmouth – one of the most famous departure points for sailors preparing to leave the UK and head to mainland Europe. But before we head offshore, there are still a few final jobs to tick off. We spend a few days stopping off in Poole, Portland and Salcombe, savouring our last few sails in UK waters before we head off on our adventure. Along the way, we find time to tackle some important maintenance jobs – servicing winches, scrubbing the hull and even head up the mast. All in a bid to make sure Calidris Alba is ready for the many miles ahead. The next time we leave the harbour, we’ll be setting off across the Bay of Biscay ⛵ If you enjoy real-life sailing adventures, boat projects, and the highs and lows of preparing a 40 year old yacht for ocean passages, make sure to subscribe and follow our journey. We’re Fran and Jack, a British couple sailing our 1986 Rival 41 yacht Calidris Alba as we slowly make our way from the UK towards the Mediterranean, and eventually across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. ⚓ Subscribe to follow the journey. 📸 Follow us on socials for real time updates: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calidris.crew/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@calidris.crew 💌 Enquiries: calidris.crew@gmail.com #sailing #liveaboard #sailingadventure #bayofbiscay #boatlife #sailingcouple #travel Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:36 Setting off from Poole 03:20 Scrubbing the hull 05:59 Sea survival course 07:03 Leaving Portland Harbour 09:43 Testing out our Hydravane 11:04 Using the whisker pole for the first time 11:40 Arriving in Salcombe 12:19 Leaving Salcombe, heading for Falmouth 13:04 Climbing the mast 14:10 The final preparations 15:09 Outro
NOVICE sailors prepare to cross the BAY OF BISCAY
We dreamed of this life for a long time, and now it’s a reality 🫶 #adventure #sailboat
In this episode we’ve been invited to sail aboard the magnificent British Tall Ship Johanna Lucretia, the 96-foot topsail schooner built in 1945, now a sail training boat with the Island Trust. But first, we’ve got to get to her home port in Plymouth by sailing Calidris Alba, 160 miles West, from Itchenor in the Chichester Harbour. We were chasing a bit of maritime history, in what turned out to be a very challenging sail in the prevailing south westerly winds. Battling 3m+ waves, we had to make the difficult decision to turn back and seek shelter from the tough conditions. This journey also marks the start of our big sailing adventure, as we will continue west from Plymouth to Falmouth before crossing the infamous Bay of Biscay. About Us Welcome to the Calidris Crew! We’re Fran and Jack, a British couple who have spent the last two years saving up for our first boat and going from zero sailing experience to learning how to sail. We’ve just quit our corporate jobs in London and bought our dream boat with plans to sail around the world. There are plenty of adventures, mistakes and learnings ahead of us but we can’t wait to get started! ☑️ Thank you for joining us. Subscribe for new YouTube videos 📸 Follow us on socials for real time updates: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calidris.crew/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@calidris.crew 💌 Enquires: calidris.crew@gmail.com #Sailing #BoatLife #SailingCouple #SailingAdventure #BoatMaintenance #Adventure #Yacht #Travel #Cruising #liveaboarddiving Chapters 00:00 Introduction 02:14 Leaving Itchenor for the final time 04:48 We turned back 07:19 Arriving in Newtown Creek 09:37 Setting off for Plymouth (Take 2!) 10:29 Passing through the Needles Channel 12:25 Sailing against the tide in Lyme Bay 16:30 We made it to Plymouth 17:56 Sailing aboard Johanna Lucretia
We turned back. The conditions were too ROUGH
What was supposed to be our first passage across the English Channel turned into a scary sailing experience when our engine suddenly cut out. Once we were able to get it going again, we enjoyed exploring the beautiful Channel Islands of Alderney and Sark, with plenty of sailing lessons along the way. With up to 10 knots of tide, these waters are not to be messed with and proved a challenge to our navigation and passage planning! About Us Welcome to the Calidris Crew! We’re Fran and Jack, a British couple who have spent the last two years saving up for our first boat and going from zero sailing experience to learning how to sail. We’ve just quit our corporate jobs in London and bought our dream boat with plans to sail around the world. There are plenty of adventures, mistakes and learnings ahead of us but we can’t wait to get started! ☑️ Thank you for joining us. Subscribe for new YouTube videos 📸 Follow us on socials for real time updates: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calidris.crew/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@calidris.crew 💌 Enquires: calidris.crew@gmail.com #Sailing #BoatLife #SailingCouple #SailingAdventure #BoatMaintenance #Adventure #Yacht #Travel #Cruising #LiveAboard
Channel Crossing Gone Wrong! ENGINE FAILURE in the Alderney Race
Calidris Alba is a boat again! We’re so excited to have her back in the water⛵️ #sailboat
In this video we go sailing on our 1986 Rival 41 sailing boat for the first time! After buying her a few months ago and an extensive refit, we were so excited to hoist the sails, but took it slow with one at a time as we have a lot to learn sailing this boat! We also go on our first night sail since we did our Day Skipper qualification last year, leaving Itchenor in the Chichester Harbour by night, and sailing to Osborne Bay on the Isle of Wight. We hope you enjoy it, let us know what you think in the comments as we are only just starting our channel - with big adventures to come! About Us Welcome to the Calidris Crew! We’re Fran and Jack, a British couple who have spent the last two years saving up for our first boat and going from zero sailing experience to learning how to sail. We’ve just quit our corporate jobs in London and bought our dream boat with plans to sail around the world. There are plenty of adventures, mistakes and learnings ahead of us but we can’t wait to get started! ☑️ Thank you for joining us. Subscribe for new YouTube videos 📸 Follow us on socials for real time updates: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calidris.crew/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@calidris.crew 💌 Enquires: calidris.crew@gmail.com #Sailing #BoatLife #SailingCouple #SailingAdventure #BoatMaintenance #Adventure #Yacht #Travel #Cruising #LiveAboard
We Finally Did It… Hoisting the Sails for the First Time
The day has finally arrived for us to relaunch Calidris Alba back in the water, after two months of work in the boatyard getting her ready to cross oceans once again. We were super nervous about whether our DIY repairs to the seacocks, osmosis of the hull and antifouling would be water tight or not - but there was only one way to find out! We can't wait to get out there and start sailing around the south coast of the UK, before venturing out on some bigger adventures. About Us Welcome to the Calidris Crew! We’re Fran and Jack, a British couple who have spent the last two years saving up for our first boat and going from zero sailing experience to learning how to sail. We’ve just quit our corporate jobs in London and bought our dream boat with plans to sail around the world. There are plenty of adventures, mistakes and learnings ahead of us but we can’t wait to get started! ☑️ Thank you for joining us. Subscribe for new YouTube videos 📸 Follow us on socials for real time updates: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calidris.crew/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@calidris.crew 💌 Enquires: calidris.crew@gmail.com #Sailing #BoatLife #SailingCouple #SailingAdventure #BoatMaintenance #Adventure #Yacht #Travel #Cruising #LiveAboard
SPLASH DAY! Launching our sailboat in the WATER for the FIRST time
Expectation vs reality – boat edition! ✨✨ #travel #funny #sailing #sailingcouple #boatlife
We’re full steam ahead getting our Rival 41 sail boat out of the boatyard and into the water. The list of jobs just keeps getting longer: after repairing our osmosis blisters and sanding the hull, this week we’re getting down to refitting the Blakes seacocks, polishing the propellor and finally starting to paint on the antifoul. As well as moving out of our London flat, selling / donating most of our belongings and moving onto our first boat! About Us Welcome to the Calidris Crew! We’re Fran and Jack, a British couple who have spent the last two years saving up for our first boat and going from zero sailing experience to learning how to sail. We’ve just quit our corporate jobs in London and bought our dream boat with plans to sail around the world. There are plenty of adventures, mistakes and learnings ahead of us but we can’t wait to get started! ☑️ Thank you for joining us. Subscribe for new YouTube videos 📸 Follow us on socials for real time updates: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calidris.crew/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@calidris.crew 💌 Enquires: calidris.crew@gmail.com #Sailing #BoatLife #SailingCouple #SailingAdventure #BoatMaintenance #Adventure #Yacht #Travel #Cruising #LiveAboard
Refitting Our 40 Year Old Boat to Cross Oceans: What It REALLY Takes
Subscribe