Visitors and Repairs

We are still in the Mar Menor! A good friend, Womble, has a flat near here in the La Manga Club and has flown out to see us for a few days. Before he arrived we took advantage of being in calm, flat waters and spent a couple of days clearing out, cleaning up and painting the inside of the forepeak. Hard to believe how much stuf we have stored in there and that we managed to get it all back in again (a few bits and pieces have gone to the basura!).

Unfortunately Nic discovered a crack in one of the engine mountings which has meant further delay. Hopefully we will get it welded in the port here tomorrow.

Mar Menor

The parts finally arrived Monday evening - extortionately expensive...600 euros for a small piece of steel and a couple of o-rings. We sailed south on Tuesday morning and had a gentle sail in light winds. We used the time to try out our mizzen 'tween sail but it didn't add any speed and we've decided we need to modify it slightly so it sets better.

We are now anchored in the Mar Menor, a huge inland sea. Entry is through a canal; the bridge over it opens up every couple of hours.

We plan to make a few more stops down the coast before Gibraltar. We are now looking at exploring Morocco before we get to the Canaries. More news soon.

Finally on our way

We finally set off from Ibiza on 19th after having wait out a few days of storms. We had a great sail across to the mainland and are now anchored just south of Alicante in a place called Santa Pola. Not the most attractive place to be but some essential parts for our generator were air-freighted to a dealer here on Thursday. I made use of the time by doing 5 washing machine loads - the laundry was hanging everywhere!

Typically it's now Monday and they still haven't arrived. We are hoping to have them by tomorrow morning and sail down to the Mar Menor and La Manga.

The last week

We stayed anchored in Salinas until Wednesday 2nd July. Then it was around to Botafoch marina, Ibiza town to take on fuel and water. After a brief stop in Talamanca we sailed down to Formentera and spend a couple of nights anchored across from Juan y Andreas. Today we sailed (light winds, cruising chute) up to Cala Jondal.

We are waiting for some parts to arrive the beginning of next week. As soon as we are sure they are there, we will sail over to Alicante to pick them up. Then on to Gibraltar.