So we made it to Algehro, now an afternoon to sort out a car, book the ferry, sort out some accommodation & get to a wedding...... Well we managed the first two and at 3am the next day we were on our way to beautiful Tuscany. Thanks to Keira & Arme we were able to share their accommodation, and were all set for a stunning Italian wedding..... The location just north of Lucca was something to behold. Having never been to this part of the world we were both blown away by the beauty of Tuscany, the tree lined mountains with cute little villages set upon them here and there is stunning. As for the wedding the Villa Catureglio in Borgo a Mozzano was as out of this world wedding venue.

A first evenings entertainment catching up with dear London friends, eating freshly made pizza from the wood fired oven, yum! And enjoy a nice bit of Tuscan red wine, fantastic! The perfect antidote to five hard days sailing.

Sophie & Jujus big day was amazing...... To see so many good friends in such great form, in this amazing location will stay with us forever. Audrey & Bertie had a ball, and Audrey managed to endear herself with a loud WOW as Sophie arrived at Jujus side... The four piece local band with Mandolin & Accordion, playing all the Italian favourites were brilliant, mixed with a rendition of 'All you need is love' by Sophie's cousins on the Guitar & Trumpet & sung by all. A great reception and dancing followed the lovely day. The next day was spent by the pool at the villa mixed with games of croquet and boules, and finished off with take away pizza for 40!!! 

We set off the next day for Florence with our good friends Todd & Tills, and Harvey and Emma. On our way we stopped in at Lucca for a bite to eat. An amazing walled city, the home of Pinnochio, we pottered about for a while enjoying the old town. Rising early the next day in Florence we set off to see Michaelangelo's David, which was every bit as impressive and aw inspiring as you would expect. A lovely late breakfast in a piazza and onto wandering around seeing all the statues, art works, piazzas and old architecture. You can really see why so many artists were inspired in Florence. The Pont de Vecchio is a grand old site from a far, and so lucky to still be standing after being the only bridge not blown up by Hitler in Florence. A delicious lunch followed by a prosecco at the members only rowing club along the river which Rolf managed to blag our way into, finished off by a sunset over Florence. A brilliant day.

We ventured off the next day to Cinque Terra with Todd and Tills, again astounded by the beauty of the region. 5 beautiful old villages set on cliffs into the sea. The following few days were filled with lots of smiles, relaxing, exploring, good wine and food and great friends. Staying in Monterosso this was our base, and glad we did choose this village as it was definitely the most child friendly. It is also the largest of the 5 towns with lovely beaches, shops and restaurants. We decided to see Riomaggiore by taking a boat trip which was a great way to see the 5 villages from the sea. With the kids so small it was also a better way for us to travel as although cinque terra is famous for its walks, it's not so suitable with the kids at this age! Riomaggiore has a picturesque little harbour and a steep main street full of little shops and restaurants. We spent our last day in Monterosso relaxing on the beach, even treating ourselves to our last splurge of a Thai massage on the beach. So relaxing on both body and soul! Time and kids did not allow us to see the other 3 villages but best to leave something to come back and see....... As we drove out of cinque terra we were again hit with beautiful scenery. A walkers paradise and definitely somewhere we would like to come back to when the kids are a little older. Back to Sardinia and Maya, to continue our trip down the west coast of Sardinia. Already happy at a little anchorage the past 2 nights just outside of Alghero! 

With our fun times in Tarifa and Gibraltar behind us, we knew we had a long haul ahead of us to get to Sardinia in time to the get to the main land for our friend Sophie & Jujus wedding....

We left Gibraltar on another beautifully sunny day, dodging the armada of tankers on the other side of the rock. We had a decent amount of wind around the 15knts and that night the strong southerly breeze brought a beautiful Saharan breeze with it. To be sailing in the Med properly for the first time on Maya at night with a thousand stars above and in only shorts & T-shirt was a real buzz. For the first time the dream of feeling total freedom away from the hum drum of London started to feel real. 

Our first leg was to get to, or past Almeria, as this would then mean we could head NE and in the direction of the Balerics. It would also mean we had conquered the 3 major capes of the Iberian peninsula, Cabo Finisterre, Cabo de São Vincente & Cabo de Gata in just over a mth. With the wind almost heading us coming up to Almeria we decided we would sail into the bay as far as we could before tacking out to get round the cape. We were amazed to see the land covered as far of the eye could see with green houses used to apparently grow a large proportion of Europes winter fruit & veg. The strategy of sailing into the bay was one I would not advise as we found what must be a strong current apparently sucking us back into the bay. We rounded Cabo de Gata around one in the morning and set course for Cartagena, from where we would take a view on our route across to the Balerics. 

Finally late morning on the following day we caught our first fish - yes! Finally a fish, and a whopping tiddler Tuna at that. Our first thoughts were to throw him back, but the hook had made such a mess I had no choice but to bring out the priest & throw him in the freezer for later fish bate. Not long after our fish excitement, I discovered that although we had the engine on with both alternators running we were not charging the batteries needed to keep our navigational instruments running & fridge & freezer cold. Being only a few hours out from Cartagena, and having already been on the move for almost 48hrs we decided we had little choice & it would be most prudent to pull in and try and diagnose & fix the issue, as well as getting a decent nights kip, out of watch.

Cartagena from the sea doesn't sell itself well, the large & unsightly petro-chemical works to the north of the bay are enough to put you off, but once you get inside, you realise what a little gem of a place this really is. When faced with the choice of the old marina with a pool or new marina with out, obviously our fatigue & memory of Lisbon came to a fore, as we went for the old marina with a pool. Big mistake! As the marina hand (old sweaty man on a bike speaking no English) tried to hem us in to a corner of the marina, despite my loud protestations, we were finally offered a mooring on the town wall..... Bitter experience has taught me, the last place you want to be moored for the night is the town wall. Not only are you the evenings entertainment for the local promonaders, but the chances of getting mice & cockroaches on the boat are pretty high, so we were pretty keen to get fixed & get moving. I spent the next hour tracing our generation issue back to a diode box which I thought had blow one of the diodes. Having diagnosed the issue (and phoned Geoff in London to run my theory by him), I called the marina on the VHF to see if they could recommend a marine electrician to source the part. Although they were able to send us an electrician the next morning, within half an hour Jon & Jenny appeared at the boat, having overheard our call on the VHF, Jon and ex big boat skipper & general oracle on boats, said for a small fee he would diagnose & help source parts that evening, which was music to my ears. Having showed him what I thought it was he concurred & promptly showed me a way we could circumvent that diode to get us on our way. Thanks to Jon we were fixed up within 3 hrs of having arrived in Cartagena, a massive thank you to him. By this stage it was so late and we were totally exhausted that we decided to move marinas to the new one & away from the eye sight of people & vermin alike.

Still feeling under time pressure to get to Sardinia on time, but deciding we & kids needed a day on land we decided to stay in Cartagena & we liked it a lot. Cartagena is one of those places everybody has been through from the Romans, Moors and beyond it is a beautiful place, rich in history & pleasant architecture.

The following day we beat our fairwell to make hast for Ibiza/Formenterra, and on past the south of Mallorca & Minorca before looking for a weather window across the Med to the west coast of Sardinia & Algehro. Jon & Jenny came by to bid us a safe travels the night before & to give us their phone number & call should we require any assistance. I have never been so glad to have somebody's number, as shall be revealed.

Our sail to Balerics was beautiful, if some what disappointing to be passing so close to Ibiza, but with so little time that we couldn't stop. We have vowed to return when we leave the med to finally break our Ibiza virginity. The sight of Ibiza from the sea at sunset was, however, stunning! The source of our next boat heart stopping moment was, however, only round the corner. The following morning as I came back on watch, the engine suddenly started to splutter. Our engine has never spluttered........ as I shouted up to Nicky to stop the engine, she shouted down to me 'the engine, Rolf the engine'. As I came up on deck with the worry of the engine in the forefront of my mind, my fear was compounded by seeing we were only 3miles to the east of a small island off the Mallorcan Coast. No wind, no engine & hard lumpy rocks near by, zikes! 

Now as handy as like to profess to be, a diesel engine that doesn't work still fills me with dread. Although we had done a full engine service in Gibraltar, I was now facing one of my greatest fears, how to diagnose & fix an engine problem under pressure. The mind runs wild, diesel bug in one of the fuel lines, air in the system, filter blockage. Our first course of action was to see if we were being swept by any form of current onto the land, it appeared not. Then if we needed to, could we anchor, probably not. With the land dropping straight into the sea, 60 meters is not really anchoring territory. So we contacted the Spanish Coast guard to let them know we had an issue, our location & predicament. This was swiftly followed by a call to Geoff in London to calm the nerves. And finally a call to our friends in Cartagena to see if Jon could help. Never have a been so happy to hear somebody say 'Rolf I'll have you up and running in half an hour'. With the help of Jon at the other end of the phone he talked me through opening up all the injectors and pushing fuel through the system. Thank goodness it was air and not bug in the system. After an intensive half hour of diesel mechanics the engine roared back to life. It feels like I am slowly becoming a diesel mechanic. Hallelujah!!! & a large sign of relief all round. Jon if you're reading this, thank you again.

Onward to Mallorca and a quick fuel stop before the two day magnificent sail across to Sardinia.... As we left Mallorca astern a beer & cigar to a day of excitement. 

We had been watching the weather for the crossing to Sardinia for days and our worry had been the +40knt gale which we had seen would stop us from getting across in time. As it happened with our stop in Cartagena the worst of the weather had gone through a day earlier and we were left with a 20knt northerly breeze which meant we flew across the Med under full main and 3/4 jib most of the way. Maya loves this kind of breeze and we had one of the best sails of our trip so far. As we came into sight of land Maya was made ready for week long rest, not before one last piece of excitement to finish this leg. Out of nowhere we were suddenly faced with the sight of a high speed rib charging around us - the dreaded Guarda di Finanza!!! As they pulled along side us  we are greeted by 7 grey suited men looking quite menacing asking for all our documents, followed by a large fishing net being pointed in our general direction. We obiendtely passed over our passports, ship papers & insurance documents, and waited nervously as they followed us into Algehro, 10 metres behind us. In the end I think the sight of Audrey & Bertie playing on deck swung them to let us get into save port as soon as possible.

An epic 800 mile run, now to get to the mainland for our friends wedding & some land time r&r.....

Sorry for such a long break in our blog updating. As you might have seen from our yellow tracking line, we have been making some long fast tracks leaving little time for updating the blog. A lot to catch up on!

We left Lisbon as hurricane Berthas wind finally calmed down, although still providing us with the tail end of lots of wind in the right direction for a good sail down to Lagos. The sea was quite swelly making it a bit rocky to start with, but we eventually had a heading which allowed the swells to come from behind us, easing the boats rocking and allowing Maya to surf the waves a little instead. Lots of dolphins spotted on the trip, the thrill of seeing and sailing with them never dulling. What beautiful, playful animals they are. For the best part of the journey from Lisbon to Lagos we were befriended and looked over by 'Sammy the Seagull', a lovely large brown speckled seagull. He would circle us a few times and then land next to the boat, and as we would drift off he would eventually again circle round. This continued for some time, and he returned a few times along the trip also. It was our first real joy of birds at sea, even if only a sea gull and although we weren't at sea for weeks on end, it provided some joy and comfort having our bird friend watching over our passage. 

Arriving into Lagos in the early morning was stunning. The white/yellow cliffs and rock faces are amazing, with lots of caves and grottos to explore although we didn't have much chance for this, on this trip. Lagos itself was not our cup of tea. A bit of a package tour trap, extremely busy with English holiday makers. The marina itself was also very expensive. The heat was extreme for the day we were there, perhaps heightened by our sheer tiredness of the few nights sailing behind us. The custard tarts were unfortunately not as good as those from Lisbon which we have now well and truly finished. All we have left of those scrumptious little tarts are the sweet cinnamon smell in one of the cupboards which wafts out still every time you open it. Mmmmmm so yummy!!!!! Rolf having stopped into Lagos before knew of a fantastic fish restaurant, which we all enjoyed. 

Making tracks from Lagos quite quickly we left on a other scorcher of a day having another lovely days sailing. Settling into super relaxed mode as evening approached and with the kids all tucked up in bed, we concentrated more on chatting and relaxing rather then setting up for night and the increasing wind. Woops, this meant that as the wind increased to over 30 knots, we then had to reef the main in the dark, with the apparent wind well above 35 knots. Not really being prepared at all made this task quite difficult.... Another valuable lesson. Enjoy, have fun and relax, but always reef when you first think you should, preferably with some day light still about, and always prep for night fall before it's dark!! Then relax after! Arriving into Barbate we looked forward to seeing the Greenland Dock posse and having a bit of a break in Tarifa with them. First we had to round all the tunny nets, made slightly more difficult by the now broken binoculars which we discovered as we headed into port...!! This was also made a bit more nervy as the wind increased as we headed into port, a phenomenon which is becoming more familar to us. 

We decided to leave hiring a car until the next day after arriving into Barbate early evening, and instead went straight to seeing our Greenland Dock friends, with Adrien picking us up. A lovely first night at the farm house, with a delicious BBQ full of chorizo sausages and balls, we were truly in Spain now! Audrey and Bertie took much delight at the numerous farm animals all over the surrounding country side and most car journeys were spent with COW and HORSE being yelled at high pitch almost every 3 seconds and a finger pointing out the window. We were all happy to see Kate, Adrien and the boys, and Pato and Jacko; and to meet the Spanish contingency, and have a few drinks and a chat.

Unfortunately the car hire was not very easy from Tarifa, and so it was decided it would be best for Rolf to get the buses to La linear which borders Gibralter to hire a car from there, as we would have to move the boat some time that week to Gib anyway and so it would making the car dropping easier later on. This took the best part of the day, and also meant we would all have to catch a bus back from Gib later that week to Tarifa when we moved the boat, and battle with Gib/Spain border control a few agonising times! A bit of a logistical nightmare in the end, which ate up a few of our relaxing days with the gang in Tarifa. Better ways we could have done it, but hind sight is a beautiful thing!


While Rolf was off getting the car, the kids and I went along with everybody to Tarifa beach. Wow what a sight! Miles of long beach awash with hundreds of kite surfers, like nothing we have ever seen before. The wind was in the right direction for great beach chilling and both Audrey and Berite were in their element on the beach, with the kids and friends. We ate in Tarifa old town that night, and had a selection of delicious Spanish food shared amongst all friends at the table. We went for a short stroll through the town after dinner and discovered how much Tarifa had to offer. And so, started our love of Tarifa, what cool place!

Upon returning to the boat in Barbate to move it to Gibralter, Rolf recognised on the yacht next to us, his day skipper instructor Mike from 15 years ago!! He and his wife were sailing their boat down to Greece. And so it was that we both sailed down to Gib together. What a small and strange world. Happy to leave Barbate marina (which has nothing to offer and was very expensive for what it did offer). We had a brilliant sail down to Gib. Amazing sight sailing with Europe on one side and Africa on the other. And an epic moment finally rounding into the Med. Really felt like we had made a major achievement in our adventure. As we came into Gib the wind picked up to 35-40 knots, making for a fast and fun sail in through all the super tankers. Our first Mediterranean mooring was a bit tricky. A few missed attempts at stern too (Maya really doesn't like going about & astern), bow first was much easier in the end. The rock of Gibraltar looks pretty amazing but the town itself is a bit 'tacky'. It would have to be great money for a short time for me to live there. It does, however, have super cheap booze, as it's tax free, and so Maya is well and truly packed in the bilges with rum, gin, whiskey, and vodka! While we don't drink that much these days, the £6, 1litre bottles of Havana club rum etc just couldn't be missed! We returned, however, to Spain for our food and provisioning shop for the long haul to Alghero, as the food is much chaper and better quality then in Gibraltar. The freezer is now packed full of chorizo sausages and balls!

We returned to Tarifa for a surprise birthday meal for Alex and our last night seeing the Greenland Dock Gang. The restaurant was not a mainstream place, being a specially organised/invite only affair in the mountains near the farm house were everyone was staying. The food was plentiful, fresh and delicious. I think I recall something like 6 courses ranging from pate, to clams, to large fresh tomatoes (the reddest and juiciest), to meat, to a whole fish each! A brilliant 3 piece musical set began after the meal, with 3 local guys on 2 guitars and singing, topping the night off, under the stars. Intending to depart the next morning we set off back to Gib. Sad to say goodbye to everyone but was great to see them all. However, only getting back to the boat at 4am we delayed our departure by a day so that we could recover and prepare the boat properly before the 4 night, 5 day journey to Alghero

We had been told that the diesel in Gibraltar was cheap, so Rolf had stocked up on a few more jerry cans, but were unsure if they would actually fill the cans at the cheap rate. In the end the friendly diesel guy filled our tanks & our cans as we are a yacht in transit for £0.59 a ltr. Brilliant!