On my list of things to do before we leave Port Ginesta was 'update blog'. So here we go! We are paid up here until 15th Feb, when we intend to head to Mallorca. We have done a lot of the easier jobs, we've run the engines, topped up oil etc, fixed the log, cleared out a lot of the cubbys and spaces that get cluttered when double helix becomes a house boat, washing all the bedding while we have access to a washing machine…blah blah blah! I have managed to r...

HAPPY 2008 - FELIZ DOS MIL Y OCHOWe've survived and enjoyed 2007 and the stress and joy of changing our lifestyle, so now we're looking forward towards our travels this year. We still have some work to do on the boat (the forestay is lying on the quay side and the self steering remains unfixed/replaced) but our discussions are moving on to future plans. Dad Douglas and Pamella have been with us over the festive period, which has been a great help since I broke a ...

We have paid for a month here at Port Ginesta - which means we will be here over Christmas while Ian and Pamela visit. We did leave here after a week and try our luck further north. We had aimed to leave at about 7am to make the best of the wind for the day (which was forecast to be strongly against us in the afternoon). However, Ellen woke up at about 5.30 (wet bed) so we thought that we might as well set off then. It was absolutely freezing!!! Even with layers ...

We have finally made it to Barcelona! Well a marina 12 miles south which we thought might be better than the city marina's. We left Torevieja last Saturday and we arrived last night (Friday), having covered 180 miles, the trip up was good barring one minor incident…We were motoring along in the night hoping for more wind, when I noticed the oil pressure gage was reading zero! We shut the engine down and I checked the oil level which seemed fine so we motore...

Just a quickie! We left Torrevieja at 4am on Saturday morning and had a lovely sail through a moonlit night. Double Helix hit 14 knots at one point and with the wind on the beam it was fantastic sailing (except for when we happened upon an unlit yellow bouy rather fast and head on! John did the equivalent of a handbrake turn and we missed it!). We arrived in Calpe at around 3pm on Saturday - very picturesque with a gigantic white rock / cliff just next to a prett...