Visited Sarah G

Well, we have just got back from a visit and a generally enjoyable time though coming back was just as difficult as last October. We didn't achieve much at all in terms of works on the boat but we had a nice relaxing time and did some more planning.

The view of "The Rock" is particularly impressive at night from the boat.

This year's cruising is now taking shape in a more definite way. We have shied away from trying to make it to Sardinnia and Corsica. Instead, we are going to head back west to Portugal and revisit much more slowly the south coast of Portugal (the bits we liked) and Spain. This will involve about a month of river crawling mainly as we intend to explore up the Guadiana and Guadalquivir. We will then head on into the Mediteranean and work swiftly past the Costa del Sol with a view to finishing up in Cartagena or Alicante.

Whether we return to England or stay aboard is another interesting question still to be decided. It would apparently be quite easy for me to get work in Gibraltar and I would imagine that Audrey would find the same. Of course, we would not be able to live aboard if the boat were in Alicante. Plans are though still quite nebulous in that area anyway.

This trip we first visited Gibraltar to allow Audrey to experience the strangeness of one of Britain's last colonies. We then hired a car and I showed Audrey both Barbate and Cadiz (albeit briefly) It was while visiting Cadiz that confirmed us in our view that we wanted to revisit the Atlantic ports again before making the final jump into the Med out of the Atlantic.

The views over the Straits from the Tarifa Algeciras road are typically spectacular and made a nice picture of Audrey as well.

Congratulations to Marco Nanini still holding second place in the Global Ocean Race and facing a huge storm in Drakes Passage while rounding Cape Horn

Also a huge thanks to Sitting Kitty who looked after Schrodinger excellently while we were away.