Underway from Morocco to the Canary Islands.

Current Position underway to the Canaries: North 32*51'680 West 009*15.140
Position while in Rabat, Morocco: North 34*01'652 West 006*49'378

After a great two week stay in Bouregreg Marina in Rabat, Morocco we are back underway and on Passage to the Canary Islands. Due to large swell outside the river entrance to the marina the port was closed for over a week so when the swell finally died down enough yesterday we all made a mad dash over the bar and back out to sea. We were joined by 21 other yachts so there's a convoy of us all heading in the same direction.

Last night we spent the whole time trying to avoid the Moroccan fishermen with their nets that line the coast with just little flashing lights to mark each end. Unfortunately the lights are all the same so it's impossible to tell where one net ends and another begins. We seem to be free of them now and are making good progress sailing down wind averaging around 5 knots of boat speed. With 310 Miles to go we should arrive at La Graciosa Island some time on Wednesday.

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Gibraltar to Rabat, Morocco.

Current position heading south along the Moroccan coast: North 35*18'011 006*17'440

After spending a week in Gibraltar preparing Blue Moon for our Atlantic crossing we're back underway. We have just passed through the straights of Gibraltar and into the North Atlantic Ocean. Thick fog engulfed us a we left the port this morning and we've been motoring through it most of the day. Crossing the shipping channel was pretty hair raising as we could only see a boat length in any direction...thank god for the AIS!

We are now motoring down the coast of Morocco and unfortunately the fog is back upon us and it's now dark outside. Instead of ships we have to worry about running into fishing nets and boats that don't show up so well on radar. So it's back outside for me as four eyes are better than two and I'll post more tomorrow when we arrive in Rabat.

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Ibiza to Gibraltar - Day 3

Current Position underway along the coast of Spain: North 36*23'433 West 003*46'432

We have 78 nautical miles to go to Gibraltar and still not enough wind to sail. This morning we were able to fly the headsail for a few hours but eventually it started to flog and had to pulled in. So now we're back to just motoring, the good thing is the auto pilot works perfectly in these conditions so we rarely have to touch the helm. The Shipping lanes are just south of us and now and again a cargo ship or ferry will brake off and pass in front of us heading to a Spanish port, other than that; a few fishing boats and lots of dolphins are the only signs of life we've seen.

Our arrival time in Gibraltar should be about midday tomorrow and our first stop will be the fuel dock to fill up on duty free Petrol and Diesel. We're looking forward to spending a few days in the luxury of a marina to mark the end of our time in the Med (and on British soil no less) and to supermarkets filled with English goodies!

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Ibiza to Gibraltar

Current Position Underway along the Spanish Coast: North 37*09'546 West 001*18'267

We left Formentera Island yesterday and are now underway along the Spanish Coast heading for Gibraltar. There's been very little wind so we're motor sailing along on an oily calm sea and making good progress. With a lot of shipping in this area it's been great to have the AIS system transmitting our position and it makes night passages much more enjoyable! With 212 miles to go we should be arriving in Gibraltar on Tuesday if the weather continues to hold in.

We've finally gotten in to some good fishing ground and today we caught four Mahi Mahi within a couple of hours of putting the lines out. We released two back and the other two have given us plenty of fillets for the next couple of days meals and without a freezer we're limited to how much we can keep.

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Ibiza and Formentera Island.

Position at anchor in Cala Saona, Formentera Island: North 38*26'151 East 001*23'216
Previous position at anchor off Las Salinas beach, Ibiza: North 38*50'435 East 001*23'382
Previous Position at anchor in Cala Boix, Ibiza: North 39*01'738 East 001*36'507

We're currently anchored off the west Coast of an Island called Formentera just south of the Island of Ibiza. The water is 10 feet deep and a beautiful turquoise colour, so crystal clear that we can see our anchor snuggly hooked up into the white sand ahead of us. We haven't seen an anchorage like this since the Maldives and it's hard to believe we're in the Mediterranean!

To be honest Ibiza was a very pleasant shock to me, I'd never been here before and it being pretty much the clubber's Mecca of the world didn't bring up images like the one I'm looking at! Gorgeous sandy beaches, great sailing and on the north side of Ibiza loads of beautiful little Cala's (bays) surrounded by towering rock formations...if only we had more time. It would be easy to spend a month or more here exploring the coasts but as usual we have a schedule and the Atlantic is calling!

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