Long Overdue Update from Almerimar

Yes, we are still here - seven months and counting!  But we have no regrets for having spent the time.  We have made wonderful new friends, spent time with some old friends, seen some beautiful sights, begun learning a new language, and, in general, had a load of fun.

Now, however, we have slowly begun to do the work necessary to cast off again and recommence our journey.  Yesterday, we hauled the boat out of the water to grease the propeller, change a zinc, and scrape the hull - the usual stuff.  If you want to see H2OBO getting lifted out of the water, click here.

Our marina fees are paid up until the end of the month and with the way the winds have been blowing so far this spring, they might not settle down until then.  We are told the weather patterns are changing.  The winter months used to be stormy and rainy, but the past winter was mild - very accommodating for Maggie and me. The spring isn't normally as windy as it has been (50 kts. recorded during the last wind storm), but at least it is warming up and there has been little rain.

Our detailed cruising plan for this season is: Be in Croatia sometime in June.  Even that is tough to nail down.  Most likely we will take a route through the Balearic Islands, perhaps touch into Sardinia, which is only a two day passage from Menorca.  There seems to be a lack of anchorages in southern Sardinia, so we may just keep right on going to Sicily, another two days, if the winds are kind.  Then the short route would be along the north coast to pass through the Messina Strait, where Ulysses had his encounter with Charybdis and Scylla, to the boot of Italy.  Or, we could take the longer route along the southern coast with, perhaps, a detour over to Malta.  We will be passing through much beautiful cruising ground and it will be tempting to stop and have a look around, but we will have to keep in mind our goal and try to stay with the plan.  Even though we might skip past some of the nicest parts of the Med, we are only postponing our visit until after we have seen the Adriatic.  There is just so much to experience, and we want to see it all.

But before we do, we still have to get the outboard running, change the oil and impeller on the engine, polish the stainless, rebuild the galley pump, flush the bilge, polish the windows, swab the deck, reprovision ..........

Branko