Author: Jean-Marc Claes

Captains log: Jan 18th 2022 Location: Cape Verde, Sao Vicente, Mindelo During our voyage, we were contacted and invited by a divecentre DIVE TRIBE in Mindelo, located within the Archipel Cape Verde, on the island Sao Vicente. The divecentre has a unique story to tell and we got interested to see & learn more about it and maybe even offering...

Captain’s log: January 5th 2022 Location: Cabo Verde Islands, Islands of Sal, Palmeira As we passed the date from Dec 31st 2021 to Jan 1st 2022, entering a new year, this also means setting new goals and in our case, a new dive area to explore. Looking at the ocean maps that we use for navigation onboard, we can study...

Captain’s log Dec 22th 2021 Location: Cap Verde Islands, Island of Sal, Porto Palmeira After a 6 day sea voyage from Canary Islands to Cap Verde Islands, we are happy and eager to arrive at the island Sal within the archipelago of Cap Verde. Taking a day of rest was needed to relax after a 6day ocean trip, taking each...

Eco diving, is it really “Trash for cash”? During our last weeks of travelling onboard SY Blowing Bubbles, visiting and scuba diving different islands in the Atlantic Ocean, we also came across several diving centres offering Eco Diving. Now, I must admit that Eco diving, at least in my mind, did not get any closer as to Clean Up dives...

Captain’s log: 27th November 2021 Location: Atlantic Ocean, Canary Islands, multiple divesites As we arrived to the Canary Islands, we encountered again SY Ornella, French Flag. Onboard, Cpt Thierry and skipper Nathalie on their way around the world. Both of them were very interested to learn some more about scuba diving as Cpt Thierry already did some diving during 2...

Captain log: October 13th,  2021 Location: Canary Islands, Puerto San Miguel, South Tenerife, Atlantic Ocean We welcome you onboard SY Blowing Bubbles to join in on the adventures we undertake! The crew is still trying to place the memories of Mother Nature’s vulcano momentum, witnessed by the crew during our visit to the island of La Palma and again we...

Hotter than hot! Captain log: September 19th 2021Location: Canary Islands, Tenerife The islands are shaken up by the sudden eruption of the Vulcano Cumbre Vieja, located on La Palmaisland.Although forecasted by the increasing underground trembling, the eruption always comes by surprise andso at 14h10, the old vulcano opened up and with a big bang, the red hot lava came to...

The stories of Blowing Bubbles continue and here you can read one of them, told by Captain Jean-Marc Captain’s log 30/07/2021 How to celebrate 100 scuba dives? Located at the southern part of Lanzarote, we carry 3 new crew members on board! A rather special family to us, as father Bart and 2 daughters Jozefien and Charlotte are not ‘first-timers’...

From boat captain to diver! The stories of Blowing Bubbles continue and we will print regularly updates from this ocean voyage, touching many parts of our blue planet. The nicest part of the story is that you can also read about it in the NAUI Sources magazine BUT you can also join the SY Blowing Bubbles onboard and become part...

Positie: Torrevieja Route: Estartit – Barcelona – Torredembarra – Oropesa – Valencia – Cap d’Or – Torrevieja…our stops during a week No wind, so we changed to motor and enjoying the ride. After leaving Estartit, winds dropped to 2bft and even less and so, with a flat sea surface, we enjoyed looking at the clear blue waters surrounding us. Navigation...

Boat back in the water! During last weeks in Belgium, the boat was lifted out of the water and maintenance was done on our saildrive (engine). The hull was repainted with anti-fouling (it prevents marine life from growing onto the boat, with the result of slowing us down when navigating). Unfortunately, not all the work could be done! The bearings...

Finally, we have left Belgium. The last weeks of preparing our final departure from Belgium just flew by, although some events made us aware of how “time” can be very precious! We lost our good friend, buddy, partly crazy uncle, partly father-figure Paul Peeters MD. Taken away from this world in a sudden rush, Paul, you will always be diving...

(By Jean-Marc) 2015 or was it just another year? Does it really matter? But… So, it has been decided! We will leave on a world tour with a sailing yacht within the next (few) years to come! What do we need to do to be able to make these plans reality? The answer to that question is not that easy...