Off Africa Tomorrow

In a just a few hours we leave Gibraltar for The Canaries. 600 miles of ocean sailing starting with the tricky passsage through the Straits of Gibraltar, past Tarifa, across the shipping lanes and then on towards the Moroccan coast. A 9.30am start tomorrow SHOULD give us favourable winds, currents and tides though we might be met with fog when  we wake up - just what we don't want.

We met Jen and Marcus last night at the airport and today has been a combination of jobs and tourism. This morning we climbed The Rock, watched the, really cute, little baby apes and caught up with news. But we also finished the netting around the bow to stop us falling overboard, filled the water tanks, found that the repaired toilet is leaking again, prepared the sails for off, returned our marina pass cards, stowed the last few things and said our goodbyes. Finally it was back to our favourite tapas bar for Iberian ham, eggs and chips as well as 7 other tasty dishes. Goodbye La Linea - we will miss you.

Tomorrow, we leave on the start of the adventure.

Here are some pictures symbolising preparations for departure. With luck the next blog update will come to you from somewhere in the east Atlantic.

Final touches to the safety netting

Last minute stowage problems