27th May

Well we did go to Alicante, but on the bus. We've decided to leave the boat here in Santa Pola while we return to the UK. Sadly Roger has now left us; it was great having him on board. We had lunch by the harbour in Alicante and then saw a replica of one of the great Spanish galleons. The castle in Alicante is accessed through a long tunnel into the rock on which it stands, and then a lift journey up through the rock. There were fantastic views from the top. We walked down and caught the bus back. Tomorrow we will clean the boat and catch the plane on Thursday. Don't be disappointed if you don't hear any more until we return next week.

26th May

There was no need for an early start today. We went to the market, had a drink in town and then went 10 miles down the coast to las Dunas. It's in a river and they clearly haven't dredged it lately. There was just enough depth for us to get into the marina. However the lady in the office looked appalled to see us and said there wasn't any room. So back on the boat and another 10 miles further north to Santa Pola. We were planning on leaving the boat here for a week while we flew home. However they say they miscalculated their quote and are charging me more than I anticipated. Perhaps we'll go on to Alicante tomorrow.

25th May

Today is what Roger signed up for and we envisaged. Once we threaded ourself out of our overnight iron enclosure we drifted north on flat seas under a cloudless sky. If we looked to our right there was the boundless ocean with a few flecks of white sails on the horizon. To our left was a continuous cliff of high rise holiday homes. About midday a gentle breeze allowed us to slowly sail to our destination. A mere 15 miles covered. Here we are in the marina. We are starting to master stern too mooring on lazy lines. Off for a beer and tapas.

24th May

We're now at anchor outside an inland sea called the Mar Menor, near La Manga. Lucinda envisioned 10 miles of isolated beaches. It is 10 miles of high rise apartments all along the sand spit on the seaward side of the Mar. We're at anchor in the outer harbour. However they have obviously decided to build another marina here as we threaded our way through walls of iron pilings into a sort of marine prison yard.

23rd May

At last we're making progress. An early start but a good tail wind. We mainly motor sailed, covered 85 miles and ended up at anchor in Aguilas.

22nd May

The plan today was to get up early and sail some 35 miles up the coast. Last night I wrapped the lazy line rope around the propellor (Mediterranean sailors will understand). Before we could go a diver had to cut the rope free. It was late morning by the time we were ready and the wind in the shelter of the marina was then blowing at 22 knots, waves were breaking over the harbour wall and the sea was a mass of white horses. We decided to return to our berth. By an amazing coincidence we were moored next to another 385. Our humble Portuguese wooden plank was not long enough to reach the shore. The only way we could leave the boat was by using their passarelle (non yachties can look it up). The diver said they had an old one knocking around the yard so I bought it and spent the afternoon inserting the socket into which it sits. I had lots of advice from our friends next door and also from Terry, a sailor from New Zealand.

Here we are next to Enigma.

21st May

I should have looked more closely at the forecast. A steady 30 knts gusting 35. It was an exciting downwind ride of 60 miles. It's still blowing hard but we're safely moored in Almerimar. Coincidentally we're next to another Broadblue 385.

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May 20th

We are now in Caleta de Velez, a fishing harbour with a few recreational boats in one corner. Sailing past Malaga and Torremolinus made me ponder how much human civilisation had achieved. Will many episodes of the new BBC programme be devoted to the mind expanding growth in foreign travel and experiences available to the masses? We welcomed Roger on board. He will be with us for the next week. My brother, Simon, thinks these blogs are really boring. I'm considering livening them up with fascinating facts such as miles covered, course steered, engine hours and fuel consumption. Last night's supper was accompanied by bull fighting on the TV. Tonight Tapas.

19th May

The great escape. We finally got away from Gibraltar. We spent the night at the waiting pontoon in the marina while several other boats remained in the anchorage. We got away before the office opened and motored east in light winds. Apart from a freighter that seemed to follow me whatever my course the journey was uneventful. A PAN PAN was current for someone who fell off a yacht. We're in Fuengirola. It's our first Med type marina with moorings now or stern go the dock. However they've left us side on to the visitors pontoon which is a lot easier.

17th & 18h May

We're still stuck. We took a bus to Tarifa. It's the most southerly part of Europe with Morocco clearly visible a few miles away. Strong winds of more than 30 knots are said to blow there for 300 days each year. No wonder it's a surfing destination. There's a castle, the old city and rows of surf shops. On Sunday we cleaned the boat and filled up with water. Late afternoon we motored to anchor outside the marina. Shortly after supper the police came to tell us we couldn't anchor there. They also visited two German boats and an Italian also at anchor. We moved back into the marina. The others all stayed. What was that all about?

13th & 14th May

The winds remain strong from the East and it looks likely that we'll be stuck here until the 18th, Sunday. Yesterday we explored Gibraltar. One of the main attractions is the Morrisons supermarket. The Garmin men have fixed the wind direction indicator. They also fitted an AIS transmitter. This means that when underway we will transmit our position and other details. If anyone wants to follow us download an AIS app (probably one you pay for to pick us up). You need our MMSI number which is 235093159. While here we've also had the rigging checked and tightened. There's always something going wrong.

15th & 16th

The winds are still blowing strongly from the East so we've stayed put. We did the tourist thing in Gibraltar and saw St Michael's cave, the Great Siege Tunnels and the apes. I bottled out when it came to fish and chips. The forestay has been tightened and the last two evenings we've been playing Scrabble with our new German friends.

12th May

We're the catamaran on the left. Next to us is Infinite Dream who we sailed with down to Portugal. We have to have work done while we are here. We were hoping to sail East fairly soon. However the forecast is unhelpful until Sunday so we may be here for some time. There are worse places to be stuck. We're off to Morrisons across the border. We've been told it's the place to stock up with pickle and baked beans.

12th May

We're in La Linea marina in the shadow of the Rock.

11th May

We've done it. We're officially in the Mediterranean. The conditions couldn't have been better for the trip. We motored the first half on flat seas and on turning due East into the Straits we had the wind and current with us. We filled up with diesel at duty free Gibraltar prices and then went a couple of hundred yards across the border into Spain again. We've been learning from those that have done this trip before. Arrive in the evening and anchor outside the marina. In the morning go in and leave late the following day to anchor again. Voila nearly two whole days in the marina and three nights in the location while only needing to pay for one night on shore. Lets hope the anchor holds otherwise this wonderful wheeze won't seem so clever.

10th May

Another day with the wrong winds. The weather is glorious and what's the hurry. We got Antonio, our local taxi driver, to take us to Cape Trafalgar. We had a long walk over sand to get to the lighthouse and gaze out over the waters where one if Britain's most important and glorious sea battles took place. It took us a further 90 minutes to walk back to the local town and find a restaurant for lunch. A beer, local specialities and some ice cream were consumed before Antonio was summoned to take us back. Several bedraggled boats limped into the marina from the West looking a bit battered. It's been rough out there. Perhaps we can leave tomorrow.

9th May

Well we're not going sailing today. We had a lazy start, cleaned the boat and then after lunch took a taxi up the coast to near Cape Trafalgar. No mention in the guide books of great sea battles. It took two hours to walk back through the national park along the cliff edge. The views were stunning. Before supper our new best German friends gave us lots of information about the best places to go in Mediterranean Spain and the Balwarics.

8th May

The forecast was for light easterly winds. Not ideal for passing through the Straits but westerlies are not predicted until Sunday or Monday. We set off early into flat calm and almost no wind. About 10 miles out of Tarifa the wind suddenly increase and rapidly grew to more than 20 knts. Unsurprisingly the waves also increased. To continue meant motoring into the wind and waves and they were likely to increase until past Tarifa and into the Straits proper. So we turned back, Lucinda practiced her David overboard drill, and we returned to Barbate to wait for a change in wind direction.

7th May

The forecast looked good so we set of for Barbate. There was so little wind we motored the whole way. We survived passing through a firing range. A boat behind us thought we were being targeted. Even though the nearest the shells came was probably over a mile it did provoke some tension, particularly as we were a British boat heading to Gibraltar. Furthermore we weren't far from Cape Trafalgar. The chart shows that big overfalls can occur here. Not today. Back in the early 1800s Nelson chased the French fleet to the Caribbean and back to Europe. On October 20th 1805 a combined French and Spanish fleet, like us, headed southeast out of Cadiz. On the morning of the 21st Admiral Villeneuve turned his fleet north back to Cadiz. Nelson's 27 ships attacked the enemies' 33 ships. They were destroyed or scattered without loss of a single English ship. England expected every man would do his duty. Our duty is to put our feet up and have a beer.

6th May

The winds are all wrong to go to Gibraltar, strong easterlies. We will stay here in Rota tonight. In the meantime I am exchanging emails with Garmin about the lack of a wind direction indicator and dodgy autopilot. Lucinda is cleaning the decks and I'm getting prepared to climb the mast to look at the wind indicator. Wish me luck.

5th May

We got up at 5am and slipped out of Faro Lagoon just as the sun was rising. With no wind and many miles to cover I put both engines to work. By midday a slight breeze arrived from the east. Sadly that was where we were headed. During the afternoon the wind increased and for the last few hours we were bashing into a strong headwind and moderate seas. We made it to Rota Marina in the Bay of Cadiz just as the sun went down. I also sent off a distress signal by mistake. The Spanish coastguard were fantastic. They politely put me in my place and nearly gave Sophie a heart attack by giving her a call.

4th May Culatra

We couldn't leave until the marina opened at 9am. And we had to get out by 10 as the Lagos marathon was coming through the marina and over the footbridge blocking our exit. We are now over 40 miles from Lagos at anchor off the Island of Culatra in the Faro lagoon. It's been a pretty tedious day. Light headwinds meant we motored the whole way. It was quite cold under the bimini so I wrapped myself in a blanket while Lucinda sunbathed out in the sun. We feel we are finally on route to the Med.

3rd May

Our first sail. Would the steering work, have we put the sails up correctly, what could possibly go wrong? We were both a bit nervous motoring out of the river for the first time this year. There was one important problem, the wind direction indicator didn't work. Annoying but not vital. Everything else seemed OK. We went to Alvor and dropped the anchor. The new anchor roller looked great. Then back to the marina. We were planning to leave about 8am but discovered the marina office doesn't open until 9. We need them to open the bridge. And the Lagos marathon is taking place and the course crosses the bridge. Will they open it at all? We will find out.

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Imagine nearly ready

2nd May

Lucinda is doing the final cleaning. We've been at it for 4 days and now Imagine is nearly ready to set off. Tomorrow we plan to go to a bay not far away and check everything is working. The sails have been overhauled, the engines serviced, a new anchor roller fitted, a replacement solar panel and other work carried out.

If nothing goes wrong we'll set off for the Med on Sunday. We've nearly finished series 3 of Game of Thrones. Hardship, battles, love, setbacks, triumph, conquest and incest. Sailing has many similarities.

We'll keep In touch.

Imagine nearly ready