Season 1

Paul and Sheryl Shard complete a transatlantic passage aboard their 11-metre sailboat, "Two-Step", and enter the Mediterranean Sea where they make landfall in Gibraltar. Next, they sail over to Ceuta on the North African coast. Then a voyage along the Costa del Sol of Spain where Sheryl visits the local markets and demonstrates how to prepare "Paella", a traditional Spanish meal. The highlight of this show is the dramatic Spanish festival of "Corpus Cristi" in a small mountain town where flowers are strewn in the streets.

The Shards round Cabo de Gata and find isolated anchorages at the foot of the dramatic Costa Blanca mountain ranges including some where the beaches are "clothing optional". They visit ports along the way that were once important Roman mining colonies and in Calpe, Paul and Sheryl climb the monolith, Penon de Ifach. Later, they attempt to sail to the Balearic Islands but are forced to turn back due to poor conditions. They eventually arrive at the island paradise of Espalmador where, with lots of humour, Paul and Sheryl try out nude sunbathing and discover the healing properties of the local mud baths.

The Shards sail to anchorages around Isla Formentera, part of Spain's Balearic Island group and join the modern "invasion" of Northerners on the beautiful beaches of the island. In a quiet cove they discover an entire village built of driftwood and collect winkles along the seashore. They take the winkles to the crew of a Norwegian sailboat and demonstrate how to cook them along with mussels. Bad weather is coming so they do some underwater tests on their anchors and decide to leave for a safer harbour on the island of Ibiza. In the storm, another boat is washed up onto the beach and Paul and Sheryl assist with the recovery.

In this episode, Paul and Sheryl examine "how" and "why" the travelling life lures people away from a regular life ashore. They look back on the highlights of their 11 years on the high seas since they built their sailboat, visiting islands in the Bahamas and Caribbean, diving on tropical reefs, encountering whales at sea and participating in local rituals in the mid-Atlantic islands of the Azores. They also introduce sailors cruising for different reasons - a Norwegian couple who sold their home and are cruising in Spain so they can spend more time with their 2 small children and a retired British engineer who is restoring a large motor yacht for adventures in the Mediterranean.

The Shards sail to Mallorca where they meet a group of teenagers who have sailed a 14-foot boat to a deserted smugglers beach and are camping there for the summer. When they ride an antique wooden train up into the Tramontana mountains, they meet a couple with four children living in an isolated self-sufficient mansion and learn they are former sailors who fell in love with Mallorca. They visit the Palma cathedral, the tallest Gothic structure in the world. Sailing on to the nearby island of Menorca they are stormbound in the tiny harbour in Cuidadella but during a small break in the weather make a run for the safer harbour of Mahon.

Paul and Sheryl sail into the historic harbour of Mahon, on the island of Menorca, said by the British Admiral Nelson to be the safest harbour in the Mediterranean. They moor at a unique floating platform anchored in the middle of the harbour where they are welcomed into a community of international cruising sailors. Menorca has the highest concentration of prehistoric ruins and monuments in the world and the Shards crawl through ancient natural tunnels in the cliffs to visit Neolithic cave-dwellings, Megalithic tombs and later explore sites where an unidentified culture has built huge standing stones and towers.

After spending the winter in Menorca in Paul and Sheryl prepare their sailboat, "Two-Step", for another season of exploring the Mediterranean. It's hard to say goodbye but, ready for new adventures, they cast off their docklines and head to sea for a 2-day passage to the Italian island of Sardinia. En route they encounter vast flotillas of neon blue jellyfish that travel the sea using tiny sails. Late the next day, the Shards make landfall at the dramatic headland of Capo Caccia where they explore an enormous cave before sailing to the medieval town of Alghero.

The narrow strait between the French island of Corsica and the Italian island of Sardinia, is notorious for shipwrecks. So keeping an eye on the weather, Paul and Sheryl navigate this treacherous channel visiting the French island of Lavezzi, site of the worst maritime disaster in the Mediterranean, and explore the idyllic La Maddelena Archipelago in Sardinia. Next they sail to the Corsican side to sample a taste of France in the historic city of Bonifacio before crossing the channel back to Sardinia. Here they participate in the festival of San Giovanni which involves jumping through the flames of a roaring bonfire.

Numerous civilizations have invaded the island of Sardinia over time, but the people of the island hid in the mountains and were never conquered. Called "barbarians" by the ancient Romans, the name remains in this mountainous region called "Barbagia". In this episode, Paul and Sheryl sail along this wild eastern coast of Sardinia beginning their voyage in the resort town of Porto Cervo, the playground of the rich, where the Shards' 11-metre sailboat is dwarfed by 60-metre yachts. Further south they find remote bays and coves and, leaving their boat, travel inland where they meet proud mountain people with strong traditions. The Shards participate in a pagan festival and visit ancient temples known as "nuraghi".

Paul and Sheryl sail to Pantelleria, a tiny volcanic island in the Sicilian Channel close to the North African coast. They arrive in time for the annual grape harvest and learn to make wine in the traditional way, dive on a Byzantine shipwreck with a group of archeologists, and while hiking around the island discover that the volcanic activity makes it a natural health spa. They have a sauna in a cave, relax in hot thermal pools by the sea and restore their energy in a mineral-rich mud bath in the Lake of Venus.

Tunisia on the North African coast is renowned for its warm climate, beautiful beaches and affordable resorts, but when Paul and Sheryl sail in to the port of Monastir they discover that an exciting world lies beyond the marinas and hotels along the coast. Riding camels into the Sahara Desert they sleep under the stars at night, cook bread in hot sand, and learn what its like to live life as a beduin.

It's November when Paul and Sheryl sail to the Italian island of Sicily and olive season is just beginning. They are invited by a local family to join in the harvest and spend a day in the groves picking olives, then deliver them to the regional co-op where the Shards learn how olive oil is produced. When the work is done they celebrate in the hills at the annual Festival of Olive Oil. Snow blows at the top of Mount Etna and the Shards make several attempts to climb to the top of this ancient volcano in the strong November winds.

It's a stormy late season sail from Sicily into Grand Harbour, the port of Valletta on the island of Malta, home of the famous Knights of St. John. The island is also renowned for its role in WWII as a military base and shipyard. The Shards investigate the rich history of Malta which has been inhabited for nearly 6,000 years. Riding the island's antique buses, they visit the underground chambers of an ancient hypogeum, the cave where St. Paul lived after being shipwrecked on the island, and participate in Malta's spectacular Christmas celebrations.