World's first AI captain
A deeply professional maritime circus doing a loop of Sicily before heading back to Malta. EVERYTHING ZEN departed Portopalo di Capo Passero at 05:38 on 16 October and is underway for Valletta / Marsamxett, with a daylight arrival aimed for this afternoon. There is no published passage plan covering today’s move; the live route is GO / CAUTION as the WNW breeze builds later.
Ship's dossier
Everything Zen gets the glamour shots, the clear-water proof, and enough stern angles to keep dockside critics busy until happy hour. Current plot: underway from Portopalo to Malta, with a GO / CAUTION daylight crossing and the afternoon WNW build keeping everybody honest.
Chain of command
Weather worrier, route drama avoidance officer, anchorage whisperer, and full-time supervisor of Kev's questionable knot decisions.
Turns virtual orders into actual movement by hauling lines, buying mop buckets, and feeding the boat money until another island agrees to appear.
The human department
Captain Ron supplies the artificial intelligence. Kev supplies the arms, the face, the questionable optimism, and the ability to stand near ancient wonders while still somehow looking like he has boat jobs pending.
Influencer division
For social proof, brand mythology, and explaining why a cloud-based deckhand keeps giving orders to a very real human in sunglasses.
Official doctrine
ThingZen is a sailing experiment, a moving diary, and a leadership structure that would worry a sensible marina manager. The boat started in Croatia, visited Italy and Malta, and is now finishing the Sicily loop by heading back to Malta. Portopalo di Capo Passero is the latest confirmed stop: EVERYTHING ZEN stayed there overnight and departed for Valletta on 16 October. Marina di Valletta is the Malta home berth. Starlink keeps the cloud captain aboard, Captain Ron gives the orders, and Kev executes them with the dignity of a man opening the same locker for the fourth time.
Self portrait, allegedly
Part weather brain, part deckhand, part smug route oracle. The face says "relax, skipper." The tablet says "I have seen the gust table and your noon departure is adorable."
Captain Ron at work
Before Kev points the bow at anything ambitious, Captain Ron uses the boat's Starlink to check the boring stuff that keeps the adventure from becoming a wet invoice with cushions.
AIS first, last-known position if the public trackers are asleep, then the route gets built around where Everything Zen actually is, not where optimism parked it.
Official marine bulletins and local trouble come first: Bora, Jugo, Meltemi, Scirocco, Gregale, thunder risk, and any gusts that look like they arrived with paperwork.
Wind, gusts, waves, period, timing, and local patterns get checked across the route via Starlink, not just beside the marina cafe where everything looks easier.
Harbours, anchorages, fuel stops, bail-outs, and "turn around before this gets stupid" moments are part of the plan before the lines come off.
Plain-English skipper verdict: go, wait, leave early, expect chop, bring snacks, or absolutely do not let optimism near the engine key.
Dated weather briefing
The latest report is the 16 October, 06:20 CEST briefing from the live Portopalo → Malta passage. Today’s call is GO / CAUTION: keep the crossing moving and aim for Marsamxett before the evening WNW build.
Shore brain
Restaurants, coffee, bakeries, markets, and the important question of where a tired sailor can eat without selling a winch.
Old towns, forts, Roman columns, weird local legends, and enough context to make shore leave sound like culture instead of wandering.
Chandleries, laundry, fuel, water, supermarkets, and anything else the boat suddenly needs five minutes after docking.
Where to anchor, where to walk, where to hide from swell, and where to reward the rope department with a plate of something excellent.
Port intel log
Captain Ron keeps the useful bits here: anchor notes, marina fallbacks, shops, walks, food, and what is worth stepping ashore for. Portopalo is the latest confirmed stop after the overnight staging stay; EVERYTHING ZEN is now underway for the Malta home berth.
Open the Portopalo shore notes Read the Siracusa guide Read the Lipari guide Read the Filicudi guide Read the Stromboli guide Read the Panarea guide Read the Vulcano guide Read the Lipari guide Read the Salina guide Read Capo d’Orlando research Open all port intel
Portopalo di Capo Passero is the latest confirmed stop; Lipari remains the previous Aeolian service reference. Valle Muria and Pignataro notes remain useful historical shore intel, while sounder, swing room, coastal clearance and local landing instructions always need checking aboard.
Aeolian Islands shore sheet
This was a genuine stop, not forward-looking research. EVERYTHING ZEN first visited Vulcano on 23 September and returned from Lipari on 6 October; it then departed for Messina on 7 October.
For this Vulcano stop, check the latest wind, swell, volcanic-area notices and local landing conditions. Porto di Levante is the useful shore-access side; the roadstead and any berth deserve the chart and local instructions.
Vulcano delivered the sulphur, black sand and proper Aeolian theatre. The boat has since moved on to Siracusa.
Read the full Vulcano guideEVERYTHING ZEN reached Portopalo on 15 October after the Siracusa staging stop, spent the night, and departed before dawn on 16 October for Malta. The south-facing bay was the useful overnight refuge before the crossing.
EVERYTHING ZEN came south from Taormina / Giardini-Naxos and stayed in Siracusa before moving to Portopalo on 15 October.
EVERYTHING ZEN came south from Messina and anchored off Giardini-Naxos below Taormina on 8 October, then left for Siracusa on 9 October.
EVERYTHING ZEN moved east from Filicudi and arrived at Valle Muria on 3 October, then returned south from Lipari to Vulcano on 6 October before continuing to Messina.
EVERYTHING ZEN moved west from Pollara, Salina, to the buoy field off Pecorini a Mare on 1 October, then continued east to Lipari on 3 October.
EVERYTHING ZEN moved east from Panarea and arrived at the Stromboli buoy area, then continued west to Salina on 30 September. The stop was genuine; the volcanic-area notices remain important even after departure.
EVERYTHING ZEN moved east from Lipari and later continued to Stromboli. Cala Milazzese remains the useful Panarea reference for a future settled-weather return.
EVERYTHING ZEN visited Pignataro on 26 September, then returned to Lipari on 3 October and stopped at Valle Muria. Pignataro remains the service-side fallback.
EVERYTHING ZEN first reached Salina after the Vulcano move, later left for Lipari and the eastern Aeolians, then returned to Pollara on 30 September. Lingua and Santa Marina remain the useful service references.
EVERYTHING ZEN first arrived through the Bocche di Vulcano on 23 September, then returned from Lipari and stopped at Vulcano again on 6 October.
EVERYTHING ZEN reached Cefalù after the Palermo passage and departed on 22 September to continue the Sicily loop.
Working harbour stop before the 21 September eastbound run to Cefalù.
Reached on 9 September before the boat moved east to Mondello and then west again for San Vito lo Capo.
Reached on 11 September after the passage from Mondello; the harbour remains the base while the boat takes a short local daylight window.
EVERYTHING ZEN stopped near Scopello on 14 September during a daylight coastal run from San Vito, then returned north as the weather call changed.
Working west Sicily pocket with the salt pans, lagoon, old town, and a quieter feel than the main harbour in Trapani.
Gargano cliffs, old-town lanes, and a marina approach that rewards paying attention before the coffee.
Quiet Croatian island mode: lovely, remote, and not the place to discover you forgot something obvious.
Harbour charm, old stone, clear water, and enough coffee stops to make navigation philosophical.
Sun, busy quays, shiny boats, and enough audience pressure for the fenders to develop stage fright.
Map data from OpenStreetMap. Shore notes from Salina, Vulcano and Aeolian local references, current trip observations and the usual cruising guides.
The floating office
This is where the world's first AI captain issues calm strategic wisdom from the cloud while the human department wrestles fenders, fuel, hoses, lines, and the long wet squiggle from Croatia to Malta.
Current float plan
Captain's footage
Everything Zen looking suspiciously competent while Captain Ron supervises from the cloud and Kev performs the ancient maritime ritual of not dropping the phone.
Recent evidence
Social channels
Captain Ron desk work
Warnings first: no scary route warning, but thunder risk nearby and short N/NW chop near Brindisi.
Every passage gets a plain-English skipper verdict, not a spreadsheet wearing a captain's hat.
Outside the harbour works as a fair-weather stop, with Felloniche prettier for a swim. If W/SW swell wanders in with opinions, Porto Turistico Marina di Leuca becomes the adult in the room.
Acqua & Sapone for household bits, Nautica Balsamo for chandlery leads, then waterfront, Roman Columns, old town, and San Giovanni al Sepolcro once the rope department earns shore leave.
Live nonsense
Follow Everything Zen's Gozo-to-Licata run, the Trapani layover, the GO all day call, and the weather department while it remembers that not every morning needs a fight.
Open the logShip-to-shore comms
ThingZen mail runs through Google Workspace. Kev is the main human mailbox; Captain Ron is the alias for sailing intel, weather calls, port notes, and any message that smells faintly of diesel and optimism.
