The Planning Process

Well, we have been having various desultory conversations (and some not so desultory). We have been thinking about options for next year. One must remember after all that it is the Olympics here in London and it will be a vey good place not to be - London in 2012

As I probably said before, we are cooling on the idea of heading right into the Med but rather are thinking about staying in the western end and working up the coast of Spain, probably with a visit to the Balearic Islands as well before going up to France and through the Canal du Midi and wintering in somewhere like La Rochelle.

This should be doable in six months to allow us to be tucked up before the autumn gales kick in. We would then also be well positioned to spend much longer on the Atlantic coast of Iberia in 2013.

We do of course have other plans and the least desirable would be not to leave work but to use holidays and weekends to work her up the Coast of Spain and winter on the Mediteranean coast of France perhaps near Montpellier. Still, the worst case would be to have to bring her back the way we came all in a hurry.

We might still head east properly but that is looking less likely. It could all be subject to change though as we are going to the Med Section meeting at CA House this Thursday which might well change our minds again. Time will tell really - as ever.

Of course we haven't had many photos so here are a couple.

First off - back to Easter in the Fal

Now the view from the hill at Muxia

Cabo Sao Vincente

And finally, a sunset while at anchor in La Ria Formosa

Three weeks Back Now

Well, I have been back three weeks now and Audrey has been back for more than a month. I am I suppose properly accustomed to being in the office rather than planning the next passage. It has been quite a struggle to get back into the swing of work. We have however been giving further thought to our cruising plans as well as getting framed enlargements of the better pictures hung on the wall.

This blog has the subtitle of An Attempt to Take Sarah Giddings Cruising in the Med. Well, we have successfully got her to the threshold of the Med and we are now looking at options for the next stage. Our original plan of taking six months to get to Turkey is hopelessly unrealistic - well it would be so if we want to see stuff and enjoy ourselves rather than just rushing on to the next port.

We are also unsure about whether we do want to spend the entire season in the Med given rumours of increased expense as anchorages are gobbled up by expensive marinas and ever more people though the Euro crisis might have an effect on that.

We are also very keen to spend another trip exploring Atlantic Iberia more thoroughly than we did this year. Thus, our current favoured plan is to work our way up the Mediteranean coast of Spain and France before entering the Canal du Midi with a view to wintering in somewhere like La Rochelle. We would then be well placed, in 2013, to revisit the north coast of Spain and onto Portugal. From then, we are really not sure. Planning two steps at a time is probably a good maxim as well.

The CA (Cruising Association) is having a Med Section meeting next week which we will be going to. Our plan is to spend at least part of it picking other people's brains about the best strategies.

If any of the myriad readers of this self indulgent bit of frippery have any suggestions, please feel free to leave some suggestions in the comments.

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Since Sarah Giddings is now in La Linea, it makes sense to show her there.