Guardamar  early may - 38:06.8N   00:38.4W

This is the place we get to speak to lots of people. Remember the O’Sullivans. A lovely family 4 kids (unpronounceable names)  we previously met in Bayona and Porto. Finally we met up with them again. They have been here 3 months and the kids are in a Spanish school. It was great to see them and as usual they were there to take our ropes. Even though we haven’t seen them since November, it was like it had only been a week.

When cruising time really goes  like an “s” rather than a straight line. There are events that happened last week that seem ages ago while hanging out with the O’Sullivans seems like a week . It was great Lucina ( the mum) immediately showed us the lay of the land, Laundry, supermarkets, chandlery etc, these things usually take a week to work out while Paul (very generously) welcomed us back to the world of alcohol.  A number of bottles of very nice Port went south and i just about made it back to our boat. The kids were immediately back into monopoly /risk/ videos.

I guess i should of said since san jose we have travelled to Garrucha (nothing special) Cartegena which was great a lovely small city with a great roman amphitheatre which we found interesting and Hannah from the stage gave a rendition from bad boyz two or was it Big Momma.

We are now here waiting for our headsail furling gear to arrive as getting our genoa in and out meant me sitting on the bow turning it manually around the forestay, not much fun. Guardamar is a seaside town for Spanish a bit like Llandudno. This analogy comes from Peter who is now with us and resident at the Hotel europa. It was great seeing him the kids were wild with excitement and as usual he came bringing gifts ( alot of them ) Last night we went to a Chinese which was ok though it is weird being in a Chinese restaurant in Spain. 

In about a week or so we are going to visit the Balearics which are a group of islands of the Spanish coast. About two day sailing and then anchoring only, as word on the grapevine is that it its incredibly expensive. The weather is now continuously sunny and swimming around the boat should be fun... a new adventure beckons as up to now we have been mainly in marinas.

Y viva Espangna – April 8^th to June 15^th 2010 - N38 59.0, E01 32.4

Well as you can see from the above, Adams muse has deserted him and he has been neglecting sorrowfully his blogging. The past couple of months have seen us living the Spanish life, enforced on us by the mishap at Cabo de Gata. We had intended to miss out most of main land Spain and spend only a short time in the Balearics before moving onto Sardinia, Sicily and onto Greece and Turkey. However the vagaries of insurance negotiations (excellently dealt with by our insurers) and delivery of replacement parts (completely balls up by TNT and Fed Ex, who couldn’t find the only marina in Guardamar!) have kept us in Spanish waters. Not that we have much to complain about, the weather took a change for the better as we landed in san jose and it has been hot and sunny ever since , give or take a few thunderstorms and one hailstorm! I have been swimming in the sea most days and since we left Guardamar on 23^rd May, we have been anchoring off various islands and jumping from the boat and swimming to shore. Sunbathing on sandy beaches and watching the beautiful people of Ibiza swan around on luxury yachts and in exclusive beach clubs. It’s been a bit like a holiday really!

Anchoring is a completely different lifestyle to being in marinas. You have to conserve electricity and water, so video nights, uninterrupted computer use and daily showers are out and family board games, reading out loud, and showers on the beach are the order of the day. Since leaving Guardamar we have read through the last four Harry Potters avidly, each of us taking turns to read out loud. It is really nice being read to and it reminds me of listening to Jackanory when I was a child.

Cluedo has become a favourite game, which Hannah invariably wins and both Hannah and Gabe have picked up chess.

We have anchored off a small island just off Alicante called Tabarca for two nights which was our first experience of real anchoring, where it is so hot that you have to jump off the boat just to keep cool. Since then we have spent a couple of nights in Formentara (a bit flat and windy and very expensive – small beer in beach bar £5.00) a few days in cala yondal, Ibiza ( very swish beach clubs for exhausted clubbers – beautiful bay but not a great beach),then Cala Talamanca, Ibiza town’s beach for a few days when the wind changed, a chance to visit the town and see some sights. When the wind changed again we went back round the coast to Cala Vadella, perhaps the most beautiful and relaxing small bay where we picked up a mooring bouy and really relaxed for a few days, snorkelling around and learning how to deal with jelly fish stings! Vinegar and bicarbonate of soda paste if you’re interested. We returned to Talamanca where Tan joined us on the 10^th June and via Cala Llonga (a touristy version of Calla Vadella), where we watched englands opening match of the world cup ( less said the better),we have now moved to Saint Eulia and have spent the night in the marina to stock up on food and electricity, ready for our long trek to sicily ( 5 days sail).

Next blog Sicily we hope!