Wow - it is difficult to believe how much has happened since July and even since our last blog.

Yes - more boat problems but these are becoming more run of the mill and we do seem to be getting on top of the major issues. We timed the new batteries well although we did have 48 hours effectively with no power.

So what have we been up to beyond boat repairs? Generally making our way towards Gibraltar. We have been taking the pace reasonably slowly. In part because we have a good weather pattern that seems to have settled in to blow us West. Mostly, however, we are limited by OB's bladder. Despite early indication of irreverence towards where he went to the loo, He finds that the motion of the boat makes it really difficult to relax. When he can smell the shore he would much rather wait!

We hve now cleared the final cape before Gibraltar (was nowhere near as bumpy as we were led to expect) and we have taken advantage of some lovely conditions to make the distance in manageable chunks.

The Spanish coast is not what either V or I were expecting. I confess we had both imagined sprawling eye sores full of sun burnt tourists  - but this has been a long way from the truth. A dramatic coastline defined by cliffs made from volcanoes of yesteryear, Europe's only desert, salt plains and huge agricultural plants that produces half of Europes winter veg provides an amazing back drop to the journey and a huge variety of topics for our home schooling discussions.

The last couple of weeks seems to have provided its fair share of memories - huddled around an iPad in pitch black when the boat batteries had finally failed to watch the wonderful "My teacher the Octopus", playng chicken with the huge super tankers entering Cartegna, flying the spinnaker for the first time, stopping at the incredible Cala Cerrada, wonderful family tapas in Cartegna, the Da Vinci exhibition, Jasper's boat cooked chocolate chipped cookies and watching a speed boat sink right in front of us!

We have, at last, had some glorious sailing conditions as we have been blown along the coast - yesterday Canopus got over 8kts in 10kts of wind with spinnaker flying!!

Events of last night certainly provided an interesting end to what had been our best sailing day to date. We had decided to press on to take advantage of the weather - always a danger when you have such great conditions. However, the wind began to die towards the end of the day - much to the dog's dismay - so we ended up areiving late into the anchorage. By the time we arrived in San José, the dog's bladder was bursting and it was apparent that the bay was very open to the sea swell. It was certainly going to be an uncomfortable night's sleep. However, I was urgently dispatched in tender with dog and S to make the 200m row to shore. We were met by a nice little town whose African influence was becoming more apparent. After a short walk we returned to Canopus.

Pretty soon a speedboat arrived in front of the small gaggle of boats that we were a part of. About 30m off our bow and worryingly close to our anchor. The boat started behaving erratically before spinning around and then sinking stern down in the 4m that we were anchored in. It all happened quite quickly but the driver very calmly dived from the front and swam to shore. V exclaimed "that was an intentional sinking!" She turned out to be right!!

V rowed out to the site to recover the damaging flotsam (including a leaking fuel can) and to attach our anchor buoy to the boat so that we could track its location. We were obviously concerned about the occupant (who we saw get to shore) but also the navigational risk as the site was an entrance to a marina. Our immediate concern was that currents could push the wreckage either into our hull (or anyone else in our gaggle) or could disturb our anchor in what was a very uncomfortable anchorage.

It is fair to say that it was a long night. Ironically the wreck did not move at all during the night. The huge motion of the boat made it difficult for humans to sleep but apparently very scary for dogs. My watch recorded 0 minutes sleep last night and my bed now smells badly of Spaniel!

This morning we were informed that the boat had been stolen from a mooring, used for migrant smuggling then scuttled (presumably to remove any evidence). A reminder of not only our proximity to the African/European border, but the ease with which the team this morning recovered the wreck indicated that this is not an irregular occurence for them.

Today we rounded our last cape before Gibraltar. Gibraltar will be a milestone in our journey - an opportunity for a bit of a boat refresh (clean and complete a few projects) and get some land time. The kids are really excited for the apartment we have reserved because the block has a pool. Personally a bed and flushing loo will do me fine!

It will also be nice to see Granny - whom the kids are very much looking forward to seeing! Unfortunately I think we may need to say goodbye to OB in Gib as we cannot risk his bladder on the long passage to the Canaries. We will miss him as he has very much become part of the boat and is clearly enjoying the majority of the trip.

We have now reached a small town called Almerimar where we will stop for a couple of days while we spend time trying to source a small but niche and integral part of Canopus! Don't worry I'll not bore you with that tale...l

I gather it has got cold in the UK, so you will enjoy the fact that I am being mauled by the local mosquitoes. So on that note I will sign off!

Sleep well,

L