“50:21,78N 04:10,03W”

Plymouth has been a mixture of anxiety and fun , Marks Dad was unwell so mark popped back to see him , mean while we think we developed a rudder seal problem , so the boat had to be lifted out and parts ordered in and the Mayflower did everything they could to ensure we were ready on time to start the Rally . Chris ( nephew ) was a star and tried to finish all the electrical things on board that had’nt been completed, Gary and Kathryn , more family saviours but us and all our crew up and they all arrived when the boat was out of the water , Ness and jim , more family kept me calm when things were a bit frantic . Have managed to get to know some of the other rally members all look like being great fun. We had 2 good parties with other ralliers before we departed Plymouth , we all milled around the start line at 10-30 am and the we were off , albeit at a very slow pace as the winds were light and the sea flat calm , but just outside Plymouth sound we saw a group of basking sharks , very easy to spot in the calm clear waters , over the next few days we have manage to slip into life on board , with shift patterns , most off time is sleeping , Richard has been rustling up some lovely food , and Robbie had ensured we have good loud music to keep us bopping along the waves , we have had a lovely display of dolphins and to date we have seen 5 whales , 2 very close to the boat the others a little way away and Mark and Richard saw a genuine UFO  real enough to scare them both . Ray has given up sleeping in his bunk he has made a little nest for himself by the table , he claims to only be there to read his book , but after 6 hours of no movement we are pretty  sure he is sleeping . The Bay has been good to us , there having been weather reports saying the sea will be rough but so far things have been surprisingly calm . Until now that is we are now in rough seas and it is like trying to sleep in a washing machine! With the seas easing we approached bayona in blue skies and warm weather and we were very surprised to find we are not the last boat in , had a lovely welcome from those already in and after a long awaited shower and one of the yacht clubs famous gin and tonics we were ready for a good nights rest