Anything to declare madam?

Yes, I bloody hate sailing!

a fine vessel

We left the anchorage at Playa Blanca, Lanzarote on a beautiful sunny lunchtime. Not a cloud in the sky and a good forecast.

We had a lovely relaxed sail, reaching at over 7 knots in a flat sea. I could almost begin to enjoy this sailing lark. Then what do you know?  the wind dies and veers around to... yeah you guessed it....straight on our nose!
And what's worse is that by the time we closed Las Palmas it was blowing over 20 knots - ouch!
I for one was glad to get into the marina (think the cat was too!). And they say it hardly ever blows a southerly down here - Ha!
Don't know quite what's happening with the weather this year. We expected Gran Canaria to be half empty as everyone should be on their way across the atlantic by now.....instead it's teeming with yachts waiting for the trade winds to arrive.

Fantastic video courtesy of Life O'Reilly - thanks guys x

Life explained

And another thing.....

You know how when you download something on your computer it tells you how many minutes there is to go before it's finished? And it starts off with, say, four minutes and you think - oh okay.... then in two minutes time you look to see how it's getting on and it says ten minutes left! WTF?!

Well we got something equally as annoying on the boat. It's called a 'chart plotter' and for the uninitiated it's a little computer type gizmo with a screen that has a map on it of where you are in real time (think Satnav for boats). It's powered by GPS (global positioning satellite) and it also calculates how long it's gonna take you to get to where you tell it you are going (still with me?)

Dusk - somewhere in the Atlantic

So, one minute you're feeling happy 'cos you're flying along at 7.5 knots and it says you're going to reach your destination in 5 hours and you can almost taste the G&T, sitting in the cockpit under the late afternoon sun, ice clinking in the glass as the boat gently... you get the picture?
Then next minute, bang! the wind drops and your speed is down to 5 knots and it's suddenly become 15 hours, or something ridiculous, till you arrive. Grrrr

He will be snoring all too soon.....

Mike has been a little, how shall we say....'overenthusiastic' with the old beer intake tonight. Probably a reaction to being back in a place where every other establishment along the street is a bar.

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.