36:27.455 N  001:59.801 W

20/07/10

14:00

Demetri and I flew in yesterday.  We provisioned and generally prepared for departure.  We are doing a four day leg (686 miles) to Tabakara, the Western most port of Entry in Tunisia. The total run to Greece is a bout 1500 miles.

This morning the rock was completely blanketed in a heavy duvet of fog, which burned off pretty quickly.  I dashed into town to do some last minute shopping and could hardly move, there were so many people there.   As we left and saw the monster cruise ship, I understood why the town was so inundated.

We left at noon. Hardly any wind, currently West Force 2 so we’re motoring again.

We were parked next to an Oyster 56 who has the same gangway as ours.  These units are stored in padded bags and as  ours had perished we had had a non padded version made in New Zealand.  Our Oyster neighbours  had grey canvass work everywhere including a grey padded bag for their gangway.  He kindly gave us his original Blue padded bag which is even the right colour for us. 

18:30

The Wind has strengthened and gone aft. WSW Force 5.  It looks set to stay that way at least until tomorrow so we set the newly repaired Spinnaker and are pleased to see the repair looks excellent.  While I was in London Steve drove two hours to the nearest real sail maker in Spain and picked it up 5 days later.  The guy did it for his quoted price but said afterwards that if he’d really understood what he was committing to he would have asked double. Anyway, welcome back Spinnaker.

21/07/10

00:15

When we left Gibraltar there were many many ships close by, as we work our way East they are much more spread out but there are still at least 18 ships within a few miles of us. It is a beautiful clear half moon lit night.  The wind is SW Force 4 and our boat speed has dropped to 6.6 knots.  Earlier this evening we were often doing 10-11 knots as we had some current with us,  There is no sea to speak of and it is very very idyllic sailing.

09:30

The wind went West for a while last night and our boat speed wasn’t brilliant, but very good for sleeping. It’s now SSW Force 3 which is nearly on the beam and the Spinnaker seems to hold okay.  We’ve only got 10 knots but are sailing around 7.  It’s another sunny morning.  We have been dodging shipping all night.  In a few hours we will clear Capo De Gata the Southeast corner of Spain and maybe the traffic will thin out.

12:00

We continue to play dodgems with the tankers but we’re nearly clear of the main shipping lanes. Wind currently SSW Force 4.  Gentle sailing.