36:08.97N 005:21.27W

We have been here for a very hectic nine days getting Tashi Delek ready for The Atlantic.  Meryon arrived a week ago and has fitted the Hydrovane self steering gear.  A lifelong sailor, engineer, mountaineer who recently sailed to Australia he was just the expert we needed to give us the confidence to drill large holes in the back of the boat.  Kit and Moyra arrived three days ago and have been beavering away on numerous tasks to assist including two walks across the border into Spain to locate the Gas shop so that we could have a fourth cylinder.  Four trips to Morrisons produced eight trolley loads of groceries that are now packed into every nook and cranny ready to keep us fed over the coming weeks.  Laundry done, lists written, oh yes, and a visit to the apes on the Rock.

There is plenty to tell you and a lot of photographs to catch up on but there hasn’t been any time to write the blog so this will have to do for now.  Hopefully we can catch up on passage and then send them from Madeira.  In the meantime we will send some updates over the satellite phone so you can see how we are getting on.

We aim to leave at lunchtime to catch the best current/tide/wind combo through the Straits of Gibraltar, will head west and then turn south to Madeira where we hope to spend a couple of days at anchor on the island of Porto Santo as well as on the main island.  It should take five or six days to get there.  We will then sally forth to Lanzarotte.

This is another of the big ‘moments’ for us as we take Tashi Delek out of the Mediterranean into the Atlantic but she, and we, are ready and looking forward to the next step.