12th October 2005 (Leaving Mar Menor)

We had to get out of the Mar Menor and start our trip to Malaga, but you are limited by the opening times of the bridge. My mast would be nearly 10 metres too tall to go under the bridge! There was no way we would make the 10am opening, so we aimed for12:00 and made it with a couple of minutes to spare! There was absolutely no wind at all, the lagoon was totally smooth and we motored across the 6 miles, chatting and looking around the boat. We motored under the bridge, with Patty and Michelle doing Yoga stances in their bikinis on the foredeck! That was definitely popular with all the fishermen and a couple of local lads, who were by the bridge! Mum and Charlie were also by the bridge and had come over to wave us off! Hopefully I'll get a photo emailed to me of us coming under the bridge??? As there was still no wind in the Med, we carried on motoring South West towards the tip, whilst a joint effort created a salad for lunch.

Mid salad, the wind arrived at last, so we finished lunch, then hoisted the sails. The wind was on the nose (sailing staright into it) but would be better once we went round the tip! If only I'd known that this was going to be our problem for the next 4 days! As we rounded the tip, the wind did the same and we were still trying to sail into it. We made progress, but it was not as fast as planned and also not as comfortable for the new crew! All three are experienced sailors, but being tired after all the travelling, and now in a choppy sea, it wasn't the smoothest initiaton into the boat!

We aimed for Cartagena, shortening the planned trip for the day, but didn't even get that far! We ended up stopping in Puerto Portman, a small fishing village about 5 miles East of Cartagena. Michelle was keen to feel land, so I took her and Patty ashore, whilst Graham chilled out on the boat! We cleared the waves and landed on a sheltered end of the beach and had a local dog come up and welcome us! Michelle seemed very popular to the dog and she took a few claw marks as he jumped up to her! The beach was all black sand, so she looked quite a state as we walked along! The beach was alkso covered in dead fish! There was a fish farm only 500 metres from the shore, so I presume they just washed up! We headed back for the tender and I managed to time it just right so we got absolutely soaked by a wave! All three of us were drenched by the time we got back and Graham decided he'd made the right choice!

I'd made some spaghetti bolognese yesterday, in case they were hungry when they arrived, but we ended up drinking instead of talking, so tonight it had to be eaten! Mince heated up, spaghetti cooked, served in the cockpit, Graham and myself eat! Michelle had some spaghetti without mince, Patty tried one mouthful, then went for the rear steps! I thought it tasted ok, but either my cooking was a disaster, or the first day aboard wasn't so good for the girls!

We had an early night and let everyone catch up on some sleep!

13th October 2005 (Puerto Portman to Aguilas)

We were up relatively early and keen to get on our way again. We hadn't made much distance yesterday, so an early start would help us get closer to Malaga! We set off and I told Graham to head through a gap in the fish farm, where I'd seen the fishing boats going through! A fisherman came racing over and told us to go round as there were lots of ropes in the water, so we hit reverse, spun round and did the full lap of the farm!

Once clear, we raised the sails and set off! It was going to be another day with the wind against us, and whilst we were making progress, it was clear that it would be a slow journey again! Out of the 10 hours travelling today, we spent nearly 6 hours with one engine running, just to help us against the wind! Even with the motor sailing, we only managed about 40 miles through the day! The crew were feeling a bit better today, but the girls weren't too happy below decks!

Graham used to work on fishing boats when he was younger, so as our professional fisherman, he was tasked with catching the tea! Unfortunately he decided that all our lures were no good, as he caught nothing!

We made it to Aguilas at 18:00 and dropped anchor near a group of yachts just inside the harbour entrance. The crew trusted my cooking enough to blame the weather and seasickness for not eating yesterday, so we converted the spaghetti mince into a pie, with a thick layer of mashed potato on top. This time, the bowl was emptied and I am declared competent with the cooking!

We were planning on going ashore, but were all tired after the fresh air, so it was agreed that we'd have an hours sleep, then get up and go ashore! Two and a half hours later I was awoken by a phone call form mum to ask how the journey was going! I updated her, then woke the others, we had clearly needed the sleep! We went ashore and strolled around Aguilas, it's a small Spanish harbour, with a nice beach, but very little entertainment. We found a Spanish bar and settled in for a couple of drinks. The bar soon filled with a Belgian group, who had clearly been drinking for a while before they arrived! Michelle wasn't too impressed by her countrymen, but we enjoyed our drinks before returning to the boat.

14th October 2005 (Aguilas to Almerimar)

We woke early (8am) to a smooth sea and no wind. Graham and I started the engines, raised the anchor and we set off, whilst the girls had a bit more sleep! They soon came up to join us as sleeping a few inches above a running engine can't be easy? We were trying to make as much progress as possible, as our only hope of getting Michelle to Malaga for her flight was if we mad Almerimar today! We knew it was ambitious as it would mean covering 85 miles, yet our longest trip so far was 45!

It was 13:00 before any wind turned up, and even then it wasn't very strong, force 2-3 and as usual in the wrong direction! We continued motor sailing and at 15:00 we had a force 5 Southerly, just as we were approaching Cabo de Gata, which has 3 knot or more tides running against us, making progress difficult.

Everyone was feeling much better today, even though the sea was similar to the first 2 days, but we were all now more used to it. Graham caught his first fish!

Actually it was a plastic bag, but better than nothing!

Using a different lure, a couple of hours later, the line went tight, then up in the air! He'd caught his first seagull, we reeled it in and with teamwork, the hook was extracted from its beak and set free! We didn't know how to cook seagull and decided it was best letting it go! A couple of hours later and on lure 3, the line went tight and this time it was a fish!!!!! Graham reeled it in and it was about 40cm long, lovely colours and looking like food for tonight! As he lifted it onto the deck, it came off the hook and was saved from the oven and swimming free again! 5 minutes later and we had another! With the aid of the laundry basket, this one was caught and brought onboard . Hook removed and the fish introduced to a deep sleep by the hammer! We have tea!!!! It wouldn't be much for 4 of us, so out goes the hook again!

Another 5 minutes and now Michelle is reeling in the next fish, Graham catches it in the laundry basket and we have enough for tea!

Graham demonstrated the gutting and beheading techniques and we cleaned the fish, then started peeling potatoes and carrots to make food for the evening!

Caught, cleaned, cooked and eaten within 3 hours, it was really great to finally eat something we caught off the back of the boat and it tasted great! We sailed (motored) through the night, arriving in Almerimar at 3am. Patty managed to sleep on top of the engine, and Graham had a couple of hours, then swapped with me, so I slept too! That was a nice bonus for me, to be able to go to sleep without worrying about the boat! We nearly ran aground as we approached the marina, as there was an unlit peninsula, which stuck out a long way just near the marina. We were down below 2.5m as we approached, but headed out slightly and had no real problems. A Guardia Civil motor launch came out, just as we arrived, but they ignored us and set out to sea. We anchored near the entrance, tidied up and went to sleep!

15th October 2005 (Almerimar)

We went in to Almerimar and found Spencer's chandlery, only to discover that the engine hadn't been delivered! They might deliver today, but the couriers are on strike on Monday, therefore if it isn't today it will be Tuesday! As this is Spain, they don't deliver, so Tuesday it is! Michelle has to be in Malaga by Monday lunchtime to fly home, so we decide to stay in Almerimar as she can get a cheap bus to Malaga on Monday morning! At last we can rest for a few days!

16th October 2005 (Almerimar)

Sunday in Almerimar! We relax on the boat, go ashore and check out the shops, and generally don't do too much! We finish the day with some great food in a restaurant near the marina! A farewell drink with Michelle as she has to get the taxi at 6am ! We'll all be up early to see her off!

17th October 2005 (Almerimar)

I'm sat here this morning updating the website. Michelle left this morning for Malaga, we all went ashore at 6am and she left in a taxi to the bus station 10 minutes away, then the 6.30am bus to Malaga. We abandoned her in the taxi and went back to bed, definitely a good plan!

We went back to sleep, then got up at a more civilised time (about 11am) emptied a couple of rucksacks, then went ashore to try and find the big supermarket. We've been advised to get a bus and go to the big one near the motorway, so off we go! We get on the bus and after a couple of minutes, see a large Mercadona supermarket, which we could've walked to in 5 minutes! We stay on and after a lap of every part of Almerimar, eventually get to the out of town compex, where the shopping centre is. It's a bit disappointing, not many shops and the supermrket is big and very clean, but expensive! We get asked to leave by security! We had walked in with our rucksacks on our backs and we have to take them outside! We decide to just pay for what we have in the trolley and leave anyway! We will go to the Mercadona supermarket in town instead!

We caught the bus back to town, walked to the Mercadona and discovered a much better shop! If only we'd known and gone here first! 2 rucksacks full and an extra 30 litres of drinking water to carry by hand and we're heading back to the tender!

18th October 2005 (Almerimar)

OK Today the engine should arrive! We had breakfast, then went to Spencer's chandlery and arrived 2 minutes before the courier with the engine! He unloaded a box onto the road, the box had collapsed and the engine was just hanging out! We unwrapped it all and inspected it before agreeing to pay for the delivery, but it did look undamaged!

We bought a few more spares from Spencer, including a toilet pump for the port head! and carried the engine back to the old tender. Back to the boat and lift it all onboard! The weather isn't suitable for fitting the engine today, it's pretty windy and onshore, so we can't even get onto the beach easily! At least I have it, so I can fit it another day!

19th October 2005 (Almerimar to Puerto de Motril)

We get up early today and leave Almerimar at 8:35am there's no wind at all, so we set off motoring along the coast, we have some time to make up on the journey! By lunchtime the wind picks up and we're sailing again and on our way towards Motril.

We arrive in Puerto de Motril at about 16:30 and find a huge cargo port, with a small fishing harbour and marina in the corner. There are boats on moorings near the marina, so we anchor nearby, just in front of the Guardia Civil office!

The water is totally flat here, so we drop the jet rib back into the water and lower the engine into the boat. I spend the next couple of hours getting oily and greasy, fitting the engine and almost finish before it gets too dark! Then I drop a part! Luckily it's only a cable end for the forward / reverse on the engine, so not fatal, but it must be in the slime in the bottom of the hull. (I had forgotten to block off the 2 stroke oil tank when I disconnected it and all the oil had poured into the hull and mixed with sea water! Not NIce!) I tried to find the part, but just got slimed and decided to give up and try again in daylight!

20th October 2005 (Puerto de Motril to Fuengirola)

I was going to finish the tender this morning, but we're up early again and the sun isn't! Instead, we lift up the tender on the davits and set out for the next stop, wherever that may be!

At about 11am we had our first major sighting! A pod of dolphins swam past, played with the boat for a few minutes, then carried on East along the coast! It was Patty and Graham's first sighting since joining the Blue Dolphin and it definitely cheered us all up!

We ended up motoring for a few hours as there was almost no wind and we needed to make some mileage, but the wind picked up again about 3pm and we carried on under sail.

at 4pm the gps chartplotter packed up! it just locked up and refused to respond to any buttons! We turned it off and on again several times, left it powered off for a while, but it was looking pretty dead! Out with my Garmin streetpilot (the backup gps) and Graham found his handheld one also! We entered the cooordinates for Fuengirola and kept going!

At about 5pm we saw more dolphins, not just a couple, but more than 30 !!! They were swimming by in pods of 5 or 6, playing with the boat, diving around the bows and posing for photos!

We decidied it was too good a chance to miss, we were about 10 miles offshore and being surrounded by dolphins, we had to go swimming with them! After one pod left the boat, Patty and I got changed ready for swimming, then waited and waited and waited for the next pod! They eventually came, but swam past too far from the boat for us to join them! We gave up and just decided to go swimming anyway! The wind had died and we could actually outswim the boat and easily stay ahead of it! We swam, whilst Graham stayed onboard to keep an eye out for more dolphins! We had agreed that we couldn't all go in, especially as the sails were up and a bit of wind would make the boat uncatchable if we were all swimming!

After about 10 minutes and no more dolphins, we got out and Graham dived in for his exercise! He was just saving the lid to Patty's shampoo, which had gone overboard, when we had a small gust and the boat accelerated to nearly 2 knots! It felt like we were hardly moving, but Graham had no chance, he started falling back as we raced away!!! I spilt the wind and let Graham catch us and get back onboard, then we set sail again and carried on towards Fuengirola!

We arrived at 10pm and anchored inside the breakwater, just outside the harbour, nice and sheltered, so we would sleep well tonight! Plenty of bars ashore, including Lineker's right by the marina, but we were too tired and just went to sleep!

21st October 2005 (Fuengirola to Gibraltar)

We were up relatively early and the sea was really smooth, so Graham decided he would go up the mast this morning! I had removed the radar reflector from one of the spare halyards and wanted to fit it permanently to the spreaders, so up he went! 10 minutes later, job done and he came back down, we were now ready to go!

Our target for the day was Gibraltar, but with the wind against us (as it has been all week!) we were never going to get there, so we had a couple of alternative stops prepared, then Gibraltar in the morning!

The wind was against us and with a force 4 on the nose, plus about 2 -3 knots of current against us, we were making slow progress! Then in the afternoon, we had a few windshifts and increase to force 5 - 6 winds and suddenly we're heading for "The Rock" at 9 knots! We are going to get there, so we hold the tack and at 8pm we are dropping the sails in the shelter of the rock, just off Europa Point.

At 9pm we are tied up alongside the customs quay and going through the formalities. It's my first time in customs with the boat, as I've not left Spain before. I've prepared a sheet of paper with all the boat information on and all the crewlist, including passport numbers etc. They were really friendly and the process easy, he saw my form and just stapled it to his and said it had everything he needed! We were out in about 5 minutes! We motored round the runway (it sticks out into the sea) and anchored about 200m to the side of the runway and just hoped they have good pilots! Whilst we wanted to go ashore and explore, we're also really tired, so decide to drink on the boat, then go ashore the next morning!

After losing a few games of cards, Patty had to sing and dance on the decks to Madonna and I had to sing English drinking songs in the cockpit, whilst acting drunk. Graham has yet to lose and hence hasn't had to do a forfeit, but when he does..... In the morning 3 of the neighbours left early, I'm sure it wasn't because of us??

22nd October 2005 (Gibraltar)

Up fairly early and we go ashore, There are signs everywhere saying no dinghies as they don't like the cheapskates who anchor and don't pay! So we tie up to a jetty which is 6 foot above the dinghy and climb up!

We spend the day strolling along main street, all duty free shops, selling cameras and camcorders and electronic items. In the past I would have been in heaven, but I resist temptation by not going into any of them!

We have some lunch in an Irish bar (They're everywhere!) and just stroll through town. We head out to the Supermarket which is well signed and find a Safeway which is really well stocked, but very expensive compared to Spain. We stock up on lots of things for Graham (he is allergic to Gluton and Flour) and head back to the tender!

We lower the jet rib again and I continue serching for the missing part. I get the manual pump and pump out as much of the oily mess from teh bottom as I can, but it's no good, I can't find it down there! I look all round the engine, then eventually find it sitting on the engine, wedged between the barrels and the carburettors. I pull it out, refit it and carry on with the rebuild!

There appears to be a missing pipe! I've almost finished the boat and I have a place for a water pipe, but no spare pipe! We spend about 5 minutes discussing it, then I realise that the pipe I've fitted to the top of the exhaust is actually supposed to go on the spare fitting and the top of the exhaust is only used for flushing fresh water through the engine! Problem resolved!

I struggled with the wiring, it was easy to see where the wires went, but hard to plug them together! eventually we got there and fitted the battery! insert the dead mans key and press the start button...... Starter motor spins really fast, too fast! It's not engaging in the flywheel!!!! We tap it gently, remove the starter motor, curse lots and decide I need to talk to the supplier before I do anything else with the engine! Time for a serious degreasing, then food and wine and a nights sleep!

23rd October 2005 (Gibraltar)

Today we are mostly being tourists! We find the Internet cafe at the marina, but it has 1 computer and is in use, come back in an hour! They guide us to another which will be open after 12:00, so we find it at 11:00 and it is closed! Off to climb the rock! We walk up some steps, some more steps, and even more steps, then get onto a road heading up towards the top of the rock. We meet our first Gibraltar monkeys, snacking from the rubbish bins! Graham decides to get out his rice cakes and feed one (against the law, £500 fine) But the monkey spots the bag and wants them all! The monkey launched a flying attack on Graham, who panicked and threw the bag to me! Thanks Graham!!!! I hid the bag rapidly and the monkey couldn't see them and gave up! that was a close one!!!

We carried on up to the Moorish castle (which has been closed for 2 years) and bought tickets for the "Upper Rock". for £8 we could go into the tunnels where the gun emplacements had protected Gibraltar from the Spanish, really impressive. We visited St Michaels Caves, which sank deep into the rock and were thought to form a tunnel right to Morocco! Rumour has it that that's how the monkeys came to Gibraltar!!

We walked right to the top of the rock and climbed up a thin track which allowed us to look down both sides of the rock, as high as we could get. In ancient times, this was thought to be one of the Pillars of ???? which held up the sky to stop it falling down!

We eventually headed down the rock and went to Main street for Apple Pie and cream, then the Internet cafe to check emails etc!

I watched Chelsea draw with Everton in Charlies Bar, whilst Patty and Graham went back to the boat. I said Hi to George (the landlord) and passed on regards from Dave and Lisa (Ocean Lady) I think they must've spent a lot of money with George in the past as he wouldn't let me buy a drink all evening! 3 free pints, plus a couple for Graham and Patty when they got back! I was allowed to pay for the food, so we bought all the staff a drink to say thanks!

We did the tourist thing really well today and had a great day, but were worn out by the end of it!

A few photos from Gibraltar.

Yes that is the runway for Gibraltar airport!	And that's the border with Spain (Behind the plane)	Just beyond the plane is the Blue Dolphin at anchor!
Graham and Patty in St Michael's Caves		Lady Moura, My neighbour in Club De Mar Palma!
View from the top of the rock, Morocco in the background.		Just another container ship!