We thought it was about time to send an update on what we have been up to since returning to Spain. We have carried on doing some sightseeing, visiting Ronda where we stayed in the Parador, which sits on the edge of the gorge and has magnificent views over the surrounding countryside. We were so close to Gibraltar we decided to take the opportunity to visit the excellent chandlery and of course Safeway to stock up on some English necessities like teabags, mustard, branston pickle etc. On the way back we stopped overnight in Marbella before returning to Almerimar by the coast road stopping at Salobrena for a very pleasant lunch sitting outside in warm sunshine and overlooking the sea.
At the beginning of February we had Stratagem lifted out of the water to have h
er bottom cleaned and anti fouled and the hull polished. Needless to say Ray found this a nail biting time but the marina did an excellent job and she looked like new when she was put back in the water. We are now waiting until the weather is more settled at the end of March to set off on our journey again. We are hoping to head for the Balearics where we are due to meet John, Alex and Peter in May. At the beginning of June we should start heading east, and will probably sail along the south coast of France and on towards Italy, taking in Corsica and then Sardinia. A lot will depend on the weather but we will be meeting Paul, Jackie and the children at the beginning of August in either France or Italy.
The weather has been very mixed since we returned with some lovely warm sunny days when the shorts have come out, but at the time of writing we are sitting out the third day of a gale, which today has reached 50-knot winds. We walked along to the beach to look at the sea, which was just a boiling mass of white water with huge waves crashing onto the beach and over the breakwater. The storm started on Wednesday with a terrific thunderstorm and torrential rain but this was the first rain since December 2nd so I think the locals were glad of it.
Our social life is still very hectic and we have now joined in a games night at one of the local bars where one can play cards, board games, dominoes, crib etc. We have taken up playing canasta again which we played regularly some 20 years ago, we had forgotten how much we enjoyed playing. We also had a really good St Valentine Day dance, which was well attended by people of all nationalities. We also continue attending Quiz nights and have ended up on 2 occasions having to devise and present the quiz, which is not as easy as it seems. I continue to attend Spanish lessons twice a week and have just joined a gym at one of the local hotels for one month. This also has a lovely heated indoor pool and offers aquarobics 3 times a week so this might help keep the weight down. Ray has started attending a pool night and has won twice; he obviously had a mis spent youth.
The only problem we have had since returning is that Ray has had to have some dental work carried out which has been very painful as it included root canal work and the capping of a tooth. Fortunately we were recommended a very good dentist who speaks English. After some 4 visits the next one should be the last?
The early problem with the 220v AC generator has still to be resolved. A local (English) mechanic is working on the problem in conjunction with GenACis back in the UK but at the time of this report the outcome is still unknown. What we do know is that Fox’s in Ipswich, who did this and other work to Stratagem charged an awful lot of money for some very shoddy workmanship! (John Bradley, please note).
That is about all for now although we will get back into sending more regular reports once we get going on the next part of our journey.
Our best regards to you all - and we would welcome any notes of what is going on at your end to keep us in contact with friends back home.
Ray and Sandra
Stratagem
Almerimar
Spain
At the beginning of February we had Stratagem lifted out of the water to have h
er bottom cleaned and anti fouled and the hull polished. Needless to say Ray found this a nail biting time but the marina did an excellent job and she looked like new when she was put back in the water. We are now waiting until the weather is more settled at the end of March to set off on our journey again. We are hoping to head for the Balearics where we are due to meet John, Alex and Peter in May. At the beginning of June we should start heading east, and will probably sail along the south coast of France and on towards Italy, taking in Corsica and then Sardinia. A lot will depend on the weather but we will be meeting Paul, Jackie and the children at the beginning of August in either France or Italy.The weather has been very mixed since we returned with some lovely warm sunny days when the shorts have come out, but at the time of writing we are sitting out the third day of a gale, which today has reached 50-knot winds. We walked along to the beach to look at the sea, which was just a boiling mass of white water with huge waves crashing onto the beach and over the breakwater. The storm started on Wednesday with a terrific thunderstorm and torrential rain but this was the first rain since December 2nd so I think the locals were glad of it.
Our social life is still very hectic and we have now joined in a games night at one of the local bars where one can play cards, board games, dominoes, crib etc. We have taken up playing canasta again which we played regularly some 20 years ago, we had forgotten how much we enjoyed playing. We also had a really good St Valentine Day dance, which was well attended by people of all nationalities. We also continue attending Quiz nights and have ended up on 2 occasions having to devise and present the quiz, which is not as easy as it seems. I continue to attend Spanish lessons twice a week and have just joined a gym at one of the local hotels for one month. This also has a lovely heated indoor pool and offers aquarobics 3 times a week so this might help keep the weight down. Ray has started attending a pool night and has won twice; he obviously had a mis spent youth.
The only problem we have had since returning is that Ray has had to have some dental work carried out which has been very painful as it included root canal work and the capping of a tooth. Fortunately we were recommended a very good dentist who speaks English. After some 4 visits the next one should be the last?
The early problem with the 220v AC generator has still to be resolved. A local (English) mechanic is working on the problem in conjunction with GenACis back in the UK but at the time of this report the outcome is still unknown. What we do know is that Fox’s in Ipswich, who did this and other work to Stratagem charged an awful lot of money for some very shoddy workmanship! (John Bradley, please note).
That is about all for now although we will get back into sending more regular reports once we get going on the next part of our journey.
Our best regards to you all - and we would welcome any notes of what is going on at your end to keep us in contact with friends back home.
Ray and Sandra
Stratagem
Almerimar
Spain
