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Sorry for the lack of blogs again - no excuses!We had a really good time for the rest of our stay in Rabat - walking in the medina in Sale was an easy and interesting excursion every day, although the rain didn't really let up.Ellen lost her fist tooth, and met a boy friend! Dylan (and mum Celia) on a beautiful boat called selkie from England / Chile became friends within minutes and we were mostly inseprable for the few days before we left for the canaries (even having a sleepover). It was really nice for kids and parents alike to meet up with some English speaking like minded people for a while.When the time came to leave Rabat - there were 12 boats all heading to the canries making the most of the weather window. We left at 10am on a Thursday morning (with a great send off from friends there) and set off on the 460 nautical miles to Isla Graciosa by Lanzarote in the canaries. The trip was fast - only 3 days - but eventful. On the Friday night the winds kicked up to over 30 knots, and in the dark our ……. Autopilot stopped working and we ripped our mainsail in two. As a result we gave ourselves blisters and sore arms hand steering the rest of the way, getting only snatches of sleep, and running under the foresail alone. Even so - we arrived at least half a day ahead of the other boats, and got a good spot in the marina here.Ellen and Anna were generally very good on the passage - despite mum and dad being stressed and tired, although anna did need to be next to one of us for the bumpy bits, and to be held onto for the really bumpy bits.The island is largely uninhabited (and very small) and has no roads - it is sandy with a couple of extinct volcanoes and very beautiful, with (at the moment) warm weather and welcome winter sun.We have begun the job of starting to evaluate boat jobs, and will not be heading off anywhere much until we have a completely working autopilot, a repaired sail, and done the rest of our list of maintenance jobs I am insisting on before we contemplate the atlantic crossing.Many of the families from Rabat are here too and our social life continues to be busy and varied. My small amount of Spanish had been completely replaced by French and I am unable to remember anything other than hola in Spanish! There are tons of cruising boats here, all heading across the atlantic at some point and a generally fun atmosphere (except on our boat where there is an atmosphere of industrious fixing and mending).We have met some friends of Nat and Willie which just made us miss them a bit, but made the world feel smaller. We are looking forward to my mum and Roy visiting us in Lanzarote in a couple of weeks, and lastly happy new home to Jon Nicola Isaac Nina and Rosa - we hope it is all you have been waiting for!!
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