I spy with my little eye, is there anything not beginning with 's' ????

sun, sea, sky, sandwiches, seagulls, socks, sleeping, seasick, scabby.......this is SAILING

Mike kept saying 'hey, this is a great sail! We're going really well'
I guess it's all a state of mind.........

flying past 'Life O'Reilly'

She is a good old boat - I have to admit. Sails fantastically with the wind tight on the nose. That's how we managed to beat our friends into the anchorage by almost 9 hours on the trip.

slightly squiffy cat

yet another fish we didn't eat

Glad to be in Lanzarote. Anchored off Playa Blanca. More soon......

Leaving now

It's daybreak here and we have finally jumped through enough hoops to be considered eligible to leave Morocco (hint; they like paperwork here)

We've nothing to declare except the fact that we're glad to be back to sea again...........so we're off!

Catch you all in a couple of days :)

Are they CRAZY?????

This arrived in the marina today

yep it really is that small

It's going to be rowed across the atlantic to Barbados (if the wind blows in the right direction) by a couple of middle-aged Germans. No, really.
They were going to leave from the Canaries but the Spanish wouldn't let them (no insurance apparently but they probably didn't want the responsibility and the rescue costs)
The couple will be totally alone. They don't even have a support boat (at least they've got a satphone!)

Makes me feel quite silly being afraid of going in a yacht :)

I surrender!

Out of Africa?

Looks like we will finally be able to get away on Wednesday or Thursday.
Thank God cos I'm sooooo bored with being in one place...............
I know, I know, I can just hear everyone saying how lucky we are blah, blah, but that's not the point

Agadir sunset

Getting stuck in one place is not what sailing/travelling is all about for me. But it can all too easily happen. Then the boredom sets in, especially in an urban environment.

stinkin hot today again!

Don't get me wrong....Morocco has been a great experience but I've just had enough now. I want to go somewhere where you don't have to cover up all the time and studiously avoid the stares, don't have to haggle for absolutely everything you want to buy and can just get a beer in any old bar, any old time with no hassle.

L & Francis

Alans mystery companion has returned finally from colder climates after battling with delays caused by snow and Spanish Air Traffic Controllers. Francis came too - bearing gifts for Alan........

custard, cheddar and Fray Bentos.... aaaaah

no wonder Alan is looking so pleased with himself!

In other news, we spoke to our old mate Bill last night. He is living in Gran Canaria now and we are hoping to get there before he leaves for his next off-shore work duty on the 18th.

Still bored....

and Mike's just told me we won't get a 'weather window' to leave for the Canaries until at least mid next week. Eeek!

I believe it's about 25 degrees colder at home....??

Still, at least the decent weather is back :)
I am so bored that I have tidied out the toiletries cupboard. And Mike has done a food cupboard stocktake - twice!!

I have finally managed to download a current driver for the wifi booster aerial thingy that is compatible with windows 7 today so hopefully I will be able to use it with my laptop now. We will be fighting over who's turn it is to use it next..hahaha....

Bored now

Waiting for a decent weather forecast to sail to the Canaries. We are all Agadir-ed out!

pikey pontoon - everyones got their washing out after the rain

Just heard from Samir, the marina manager that another boat has sunk in the recent storms. This time a boat that was in this marina. We remember talking to the people on it. Everyone told them they were crazy to leave when they did but they insisted they had flights and marina booked and had to go.......

wot no mast??

I hope it's all some dreadful misunderstanding but Samir says two of the crew drowned :(
This area of coast is not to be messed with.
There are two boats in this marina with no masts.

these are what you have when you're 'in the know'

can't argue with that!

We have got a new neighbour today....

M/V Indigo -  anyone guess what flag she's flying??

En route to the caribbean for the charter season no doubt. The crew have been scrubbing and washing and buffing and polishing all day long.......

scruffy ole unscrubbed us :)

It's getting colder at night now. Had to put an extra cover on the bed. Might be time to head south......

another gratuitous cat piccy

It's back!

The sun is out hurrah!!

Seriously, it has been a pretty rough few days.

We heard today of a British yacht sinking off the Moroccan coast on Monday night. One guy was rescued but the other drowned. It can get very scary off the African coast. Some of it is to do with there being a shallow "shelf" all along the coast - a bit like in Biscay.

Marina entrance - photo courtesy of Alan

A few boats departed for the canary islands today but we decided to wait cos theres another low sweeping through in a couple of days and it's still a bit unsettled out there. Hell, what's the rush anyway???

the marina has turned brown!

There is so much sediment in the water at the moment (not to mention shit) that you can't tell when you've flushed your toilet......

Scabby really doesn't care about any of this.....

We went to the souk again today and then had a traditional Moroccan lunch of tagine (stew) and tea (all for about three quid). It was good to get out without getting soaked to the skin!

We had to change berth in the marina because where we were was too close to the entrance (exposed) and we had ropes snapping all over the place in the surge. It even broke off one of our fairleads (this is for boaty people only).
Two nights with virtually no sleep, feeling like you are at sea instead of in a marina - not good.

gratuitous cat picture

Quite looking forward to getting to the Canaries now (never thought we'd say that!)