Ibiza to the Spanish Coast

Current Location: South of Mar Menor heading for Cabo de Gata, southern Spain.

Well at last we are SAILING! Since we left Ibiza yesterday morning the wind has been behind us and we have made good time. At present we are about 20 miles off the Spanish coast running parallel with the main shipping zone from Gib to the European coasts. Linda is asleep, I am off watch and Gilly is in the cockpit. Today we got the last Med chart out. We will go onto it sometime around 4am tomorrow morning and then we have less than 200 miles to do to get us to Gibraltar. We will be pleased to arrive I must say.

We picked up new crew in Ibiza. Our long time friend Linda has joined us for the last leg to Gibraltar. We met her and her husband Hugh (NOT a sailor) 30 years ago when we worked in South Africa as geologists. We met at a party in Cape Town and found they had just driven a British registered landrover from the UK to South Africa. After a day of debate we decided to buy the land rover (DBL 479V or "DBL" to us all) and drive it back. This we did in 1984/85 taking the best part of year to get back to the UK after many adventures and diseases along the way. By now H and L had arrived back in the UK so we met up to swap stories and have been firm friends ever since. I am godfather to their son Luke. Linda was born on the same day as Gill and I am 3 days older than Hugh. They have two well travelled sons and we have two well travelled daughters. They are like brothers and sisters. Anyway, back to Ibiza.

We had a couple of nasty days weather in Ibiza with strong winds and big swells. We did not get much sleep in that busy anchorage. Then Linda arrived. We had told her the pick-up from the beach could be a bit bouncy. Anyway it was nearly midnight when Gill and surfed in to shore in our (new) dinghy. As we arrived a wave picked us up and turned us sideways. We almost fell in but just avoided it. We found Linda whose taxi had arrived and got her into some of Gill's old clothes. Then she got into the dinghy whilst we pushed out through the surf. First wave comes along. Bang. Over she goes (Linda that is) and is lying soaked on her back with her legs in the air. As Derek and Clive would say "Laugh? We nearly shat!". Anyway we bounced back to Petronella, arriving soaked through with the "all round white" light half full of water and never again to function.

Since then Linda has been great and just those couple of hours keeping watch gives us time to unblock the toilet (shit, not again I hear you say), plan the last stretch to Gib and generally ease up a bit.

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