20/09/09 - 28/10/09 Gibraltar to Gran Canaria, 1048nm, 6,783nm Total

Well better late than never! Basically 3 legs from Gibraltar to Madeira to Lanzarote to Gran Canaria. Highlights of the trip would be the special Red Arrows (Royal Air Force Aerial Acrobatic team) farewell from the comfort of our boat in Gibraltar just before we left, good sailing, invitation onto some race boats for a day, meeting a couple who we first met in Valencia at the Americas Cup and turn out live just a few miles away from us in New Zealand, meeting the crew of Roque Gando from Las Palmas - thanks for the tours and the chorizo!!!! Lowlights being water in the diesel approaching Lanzarote (but then we wouldn't have met all the people above so not all that much of a lowlight!).

The Red Arrows with a low pass over the marina...

Yes it really was low, and Gibraltar rock is just a little to the left

They obviously loved Dawn as they aerobatted (?) over the rock of Gibraltar

The runway was right next to the marina and our boat so we had grandstand view of the landings.

And they pirouette on the runway before going to the terminal - so in synch on the ground as well as in the air!

And then it's all over.

"Patch" gets her eye ready for the crossing - an eye infection from the boatyard in Cagliari was taking a long time to clear.

Funchal on Madeira had some nice buildings that would have looked better if the sun had shone some more!

But the shops were very good (yes those are bottles on the ceiling!)

We passed on eating at this restaurant - we 'd had enough of the boat for a while!

And then we took a history lesson - honest Madeira wine can be really old !

Hector and his crew join us in Lanzarote and promise us a tour of their home island Gran Canaria when we got there.

Guest day on the GP42 World Championships - great day out!

Even had time for a "royal wave" - sadly I wasn't allowed to touch anything!

And all too soon it was over.

Testing the new camera at anchor on Lanzarote

Then on to the tour of Gran Canaria

Dawn reviewing Christopher Colombus' rigging in the museum

Sunset at the top of the island was spectacular

Hector and the crew of Roque Gando our tour guides relax

More from the top

And again

And again!

01/08/09 - 07/09/09 Sardinia to Gibraltar, 921nm, 5,735nm Total

Finally we are on our way out of the Mediterranean Sea and about to start pointing the boat in the direction of New Zealand. This part of the trip was just Dawn and myself, taking it easy through Bonifacio in Corsica, Menorca, Mallorca, Ibiza and Formentera in the Balearic Islands then on to Moraira on mainland Spain before a long slow sail to Gibraltar. Memorable moments being our 9 ton yacht being towed backwards by a one metre Tuna before it finally got off the hook, clear blue anchorages, very noisy bouncy anchorages and a cardboard boat race in Gibraltar!
From here, once the weather settles down a bit we are headed for Madeira and the Canary Islands.


Changing the courtesy flag before Corsica - we need courtesy flags for each country we visit

Bonifacio town always looks like it's about to drop off the cliff into the sea

Trying to spot the entrance channel for Bonifacio

We know it's up there somewhere....

Ah there it is!

Now where did I put my glasses? The 10yr old flag has a bit more life left in it I think!

Reel it in quick or we'll be dragged back to Bonifacio!

Think this one was on steroids-dragged a 9 ton boat backwards at 0.5kts! It got away shortly after with a last flick of it's tail but at least we got the picture to prove it existed!!

Calm anchorage in Mallorca

Dawn on the lilo we picked up at sea - we would have had a couple of footballs as well but we couldn't figure how to get them on board! Just some of the rubbish we have seen in the sea over the last few weeks - most of it we wouldn't want to touch!

Oops we anchored in the middle of the race course - at least the kiddies on their Optimist dinghies were quieter than the jet skis.

Sundown in Formentera - there were probably 500 boats in the anchorage when we arrived!

Gibraltar with a frothy topping of cloud and a crowd of ships waiting to load/unload as usual

Cardboard boat racing in Gibraltar - the judgin in Casemates Square

While Dawn treated me to a birthday breakfast - what more could I want?

I even got a guard of honour!

Some of the kids boats were really good....

And some weren't so good!

Then the adults race-Loch Ness monster (in yellow) won.

01/06/09-31/07/09 Malta to Sardinia 635nm, 4,814nm Total

Mixed fortunes at the start of the trip for the year - delays with our insurance claim for generator meant delays in getting moving. Thanks to Charlie at Yacht Services for making it as quick as he could, we had a few days testing the new engine and generator round Malta before setting off for Tunisia and Sardinia. Sadly we had to get taken out of the water again to correct a fairly serious problem and had 3 weeks longer in Cagliari than we planned. Crew that joined us along the way were Rita and daughters, Gary and Marissa from Dive Shack in Malta (the only place to go for diving!) and Edel.





Blue Lagoon in Comino



OK so the haricut was a bit short!



Edel working hard on watch to Tunisia!


Monastir in Tunisia

Monastir again

and again

Dawn and Edel waiting for food!

Carpet weaver in Monastir

The souk in Monastir

The party boat parked behind us in Monastir

Hauling out again in Cagliari, Sardinia

Showers and haricuts in the cockpit while in the boatyard

Church in Cagliari

Another church in Cagliari

More sight seeing in Cagliari - what else to do?

Back in again, 3 weeks to do a 1 week job - they don't hurry in Cagliari!

Anchorage in La Maddelena archipeligo Sardinia

And last look at Sardinia before we go to Corsica