On the 27th April 2023 we returned back onboard Sunday Island in Moret Sir Long France, about 2 hours train ride south of Paris.

Rich, Issy and Max riding the folding bike

The 28th April was spent trying to change engine mounts, unfortunately the new engine mounts were not as per the order and did not fit correctly. Emilie spent the day provisioning for the days ahead.

29th April was Emilie’s birthday, and I entertained the kids for the morning while Emilie continued to provision and purchased some pots, pans and dishes that will do us well in the coming years and store better than what was onboard. During the morning we pumped up the dinghy to clean the hull, potter about and also peeled off the old Lelystad stickers and replaced with Valletta. We then had Emilie’s birthday lunch eating crepes and drinking rose.

New port Valletta

Later in the afternoon we let go lines and cruised up canal to Episy for birthday dinner and sleep.

Kids boat life in dinghy. Max fell in not long after.

Today (30th) we departed Episy at 0800 after breakfast and cruised up canal passing six locks. On the way Emilie’s dad joined us in convoy in his river boat “Harfi”. We also passed the house where Emilie spent the first few years of her life.

On route the kids got into boat life and satated their morning routine of school onboard in between locks and wildlife spotting.

School in cockpit in French canals

At midday we stopped at a market in Nemour. Our first approach closer to the market put us aground, so we opted for a deeper landing further away from the market. While Emilie and the kids went to the market, Rich cleaned the weed from the strainer and log.

Harfie alongside

This afternoon we stopped at Souppes sur Loing. Harfie joined us at the dock 30 minutes later. Rich installed a Galvanic Isolator and then we caught a ride in a car to Emilie’s grandmothers house in Chavannes where we enjoyed dinner and wine.

Harfie approaching

This evening we are back onboard. Tomorrow is a public holiday here so the locks are closed. We will enjoy markets in the morning before lunch at Chavannes.

Last minute packing and storage at our house in Palma kept us up until 0130 this morning, but that didn’t stop us waking up at 0520 this morning to board the flight to ORLY France!

If you could imagine a perfect travel scenario today we nailed it! Checked in, two full row of seats at the front of the plane, and then an easy transit to Sunday island

We found Sunday island in the canals slightly dusty but otherwise just as we left her. Not a drop of water in the bilge and as dry as a bone!

The kids were extremely excited to be onboard and immediately found all their forgotten treasures ! For Mum and Dad it was an afternoon and of spring cleaning and unpacking our 120kg of luggage!

Due to the late night and early start we treated ourselves to a bistro lunch and pizza dinner in the park by the waterfalls. Now it’s off to bed to dream of adventures ahead!

Tomorrow Rich has some maintenance replacing the engine mounts and Emilie is shopping for provisions. The kids are keen for a swim in the local pool only 50m away!

Stay tuned for years of adventures ahead!

The last few days I have been onboard our Koopmans 45 Sunday Island doing some winter maintenance before we move onboard again in April.

I found Sunday Island clean and dry. The epoxy coating I had painted in the bilges was holding up very well. It was fantastic to be back onboard again.

For big jobs I find it a lot easier to work onboard alone, where I can make a mess, have floor boards up and covers off etc. I can also leave parts and tools laid out without them being picked up and dropped in the bilge by the kids. As much as I love my family a 6 hour job can turn into a 6 day job, and some jobs – like re building a fuel pump need to be completed in one sitting snd can be quite messy!

Parts and tools everywhere

This weeks jobs included removing and rebuilding the CAV fuel injection pump on our Perkins 4236 engine. The two top seals were leaking in the injection pump, but rather risk dropping bits in the bilge I marked the pump, noted the timing, snd removed the pump so I could do a full rebuild with new seals. While the pump was off I thought it best to replace all the seals as this job normally needs completing every ten years or so when the seals get hard.

You can’t just call a mechanic when you mid ocean, so I think it’s important for a skipper to know how everything onboard works and have the confidence to complete ones own repairs thus being self sufficient.

Rebuilding a CAV injection pump turned out to be quite a job, starting at 10am, I had the pump off by 12, rebuilt by 4pm, and back on the engine at 6pm. But, at 2230 I still could not get the engine primed!

Working on CAV injection pump on Nav station

Finally I went to bed, waking up through the night wondering if I got the timing right, and fuel lines in the right order, or check stop mechanism around the correct way.

The next morning I woke up, refreshed but bloody cold. I continued to prime the Perkins but could not build pressure. Finally I cranked the engine over in short bursts gradually working my way through the system to bleed the air out. With each crank I held my breath that I would have enough battery power. Finally on the third crank the Perkins roared to life, running smoother than ever before. My prayers had been answered snd confidence restored.

Other jobs completed ready for the summer included fitting a gas alarm and remote solenoid shutoff, fitting the 300W inverter so Emilie can use her beloved blender, checking all the bilges and a final super clean.

Rivers running strong in France

The French canals this time of year are not ideal for cruising. It is so cold the olive oil has hardened, and there was ice on deck. This morning my car door was frozen shut! France was very beautiful however, with the rivers running strong. I was very glad to have the Webasto diesel heater to keep me cosy.

We look forward to moving onboard full time in April when the olive oil resumes its liquid form. For now Sunday Island is resting peacefully in the canal.

Merry Christmas and happy new year to all!

Our family traveled to Malta for Christmas but returned to Palma due to a high number of COVID cases in Malta.

While in Malta we have registered our Koopmans 45 “Sunday island” to Valletta Malta and received our new official number, call sign and MMSI.

People often ask the origins of the name “Sunday Island”. Previous owner of 30 years Peter Voogd chose the name Sunday Island from the story of a young man J.W.Wray living near Auckland in 1937. Having no job he started building the wooden yacht Ngataki, from logs collected from the beaches.

With friends he undertook long voyages in the Pacific, one of the first islands discovered was Sunday Island. There is a book of his hand: South Sea Vagabonds, a remarkable story how to design your own boat, to build it and make it seaworthy, without money, and sail the seven seas.

Sunday Island is part of the Kermadec group otherwise known as Raoul island to the North of New Zealand.

The boat was well build and survived, she is now in the collection, with other iconic yachts, of the British Maritime Heritage Museum.

We are now back in Palma and our intentions to return to “Sunday Island” for the new year have been flawed with Emilie testing positive to COVID. Thankfully Emilie is recovering well but we remain stuck in Isolation at our house. What a shame we are not Isolated on Sunday Island in the Pacific!

Hopefully we are back onboard for some time in January.

This report is a bit delayed, because after we left Paris we had a bit to do prior to heading back to Palma for a months work before Christmas and so the kids can enjoy the final month of the year at school.

We motored out of Paris on the 21st November and motored up the Seine to Canal De Loing. We had passed some beautiful country side, and some amazing mansions. We noticed that there are some areas that are dedicated to the rich and famous with mansions on one side of the river and forest lands on the other side of the river. In the forest we could see the other side of society, with a few neat shanty towns and tents pitched amongst the trees.

We arrived in Canal De Loing on the afternoon of the 22nd November and started to clean the boat up and get her ready for some chilly winter days ahead. Our berth is near Emilies fathers boat in Morey Sur Loing near Fontainebleau, about one hours car drive from Paris.

The morning of the 23rd was busy as I had to clean and winterise the entire boat, and while Emilie packed the bags and packed away all the bedding to make sure it would stay 100% dry in our absence. I have never left a boat in a location that has the potential to ice over, so I paid particular attention to draining all the water lines, closing all the sea cocks, and clearing out any moisture or condensation I could find in the pipes and throughout the boat. The forecast was for snow over the next week so we were think we have timed our temporary departure well.

Once the boat was cleaned we visited Phillippe for lunch on his boat then went to the train station. Issy and Max loved the train ride to Paris. I was glad we left early as it was chaos in the Paris train station, but we made it to the airport in plenty of time, and caught the plane back to Palma Mallorca.

Depending on the temperature in January we may head back to the boat for a few weeks after Christmas, otherwise it may have to be after March. Fingers crossed the world has come back to more normality then!

Thanks for reading our blogs, I hope you enjoyed them. Please keep in touch. Rich, Em, Issy, Max.

We arrived in Paris in the afternoon of the 19th November 2021. Sailing up the Seine past the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, the Leuve, and Notre Dame, we arrived at our marina in Port De Plaisance next to place de Bastille, right in the center of Paris!

After hot showers and a quick tidy up we got off the boat and haled a cab towards the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately the tower was closed for the night but we enjoyed walking around it and the kids has a go on the famous carousel while Emilie and I enjoyed some bubbles under the Eiffel Tower.

We enjoyed dinner at a nearby resteraunt and found some Souvenirs for friends. Emilie and I bought a beret each but Issy demanded they should not be worn because the look silly. I’m not sure where she gets her Fashsion from!

The next day we purchased tickets to the Natural history museum for the Evolution display in the great hall. We all enjoyed looking at all the different animals and bones. Included in the ticket was a chance to look around the gardens and the Zoo. We are not normally fond of zoos but apparently this zoo has an excellent breeding program saving some almost extinct species.

One of my favorite finds in the museum was a book case with journals from the likes of Darwin, Freycinet, Bates, Wallace amongst other explorers.

For lunch we found an unbelievable Moroccan restaurant opposite the museum. The smell of the food drew us inside and we were not disappointed.

We then headed back to the Eiffel Tower. Itvv be was cloudy and sadly the top floor was closed, but we waited in line snd managed to get to the second level which was amazing.
Today we enjoyed breakfast at a cafe and took a stroll around Bastille. We then washed dien the boat, did some laundry and cast off lines at 1245 to continue making our way up the Seine towards Canal De Loing where we will leave the boat to return to Palma for December.

Tonight and tomorrow shouldbe chilly with temperatures set to drop below zero!

Words can not describe how fantastic it is to sail your 45ft yacht into Paris, so here are some photos



Everybody woke up early this morning. The boat felt warm and cozy but when we ventured outside we discovered a thick blanket of fog. Visibility was less than 300m. We got underway regardless, traveling slowly with extra lookouts.

Pic Emilie working the foredeck in her thermals, wet weather gear and Nicky River Ugg’s from Tassie!

The fog gradually lifted and we were traveling down stream making 7kts. Suddenly just before midday the fog completely dissspeared revealing a beautiful sunny day traveling some beautiful regions of France.

We passed three locks in quick succession with barely a wait, and parked at Conflans Sainte Honorine at 1325, gave the boat a quick tidy and wash down then went to lunch. Today was Beaujolais Nouveau in France, so apparently we had to have a glass of red wine to celebrate. My arm was twisted.

Pic Issy feeding swans next to the berth in Sainte Honorine

We then walked up the hill and found a big park where the kids enjoyed playing on swings and in the autumn leaves. After this we visited Museum Batellerie, with nautical history of the barges and canals.

We then returned to the park until sunset snd made our way back to the boat. Tomorrow we have secured a berth in Paris Arsenal marina!

Everybody woke up early this morning. The boat felt warm and cozy but when we ventured outside we discovered a thick blanket of fog. Visibility was less than 300m. We got underway regardless, traveling slowly with extra lookouts.

Pic Emilie working the foredeck in her thermals, wet weather gear and Nicky River Ugg’s from Tassie!

The fog gradually lifted and we were traveling down stream making 7kts. Suddenly just before midday the fog completely dissspeared revealing a beautiful sunny day traveling some beautiful regions of France.

We passed three locks in quick succession with barely a wait, and parked at Conflans Sainte Honorine at 1325, gave the boat a quick tidy and wash down then went to lunch. Today was Beaujolais Nouveau in France, so apparently we had to have a glass of red wine to celebrate. My arm was twisted.

Pic Issy feeding swans next to the berth in Sainte Honorine

We then walked up the hill and found a big park where the kids enjoyed playing on swings and in the autumn leaves. After this we visited Museum Batellerie, with nautical history of the barges and canals.

We then returned to the park until sunset snd made our way back to the boat. Tomorrow we have secured a berth in Paris Arsenal marina!

Today we had another good run with 6 locks and 69km. Some of the motoring was a bit slow because of 4km/hr speed restrictions (2kts) and slow commercial boats ahead of us.

One of the barges had a African grey parrot onboard (similar to a cockatoo) which kept the kids entertained in the lock.

At the start of our trip when we were entering the big locks we have the kids the iPad to watch Bluey (Aussie cartoon) and we were finding them very wound up by the end of the day. Now we are more confident with the locks all screens have disappeared. It is amazing the change in the children with snd without screens. Without they are happy inventing games snd doing craft. Issy even made her own cardboard computer which gives far more enjoyment than the real one! The kids are also having a lot of fun with the walk-in talkies, though their radio etiquette requires some improvement!

We are now just 2 days away from Paris and we are trying to book into Bassin de L’arsenal, a marina right in the Centre of Paris. Fingers crossed there are not too many cruising boats mad enough to be traveling through France in November!

We have been experiencing quite a bit of weed and algae so maintenance today included cleaning out the log and mud box strainer as well as researching how to change the seals on the leaking injection pump.