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Liz here again! We haven't had wifi for ages now, hence the lack of emails and blogs! Carrying on from last time - we have been having a very sociable time! We took John and Elizabeth (the windsurfing people we met - the name coincidence doesn't end there - Elizabeth is also part of the Douglas clan!!!) for a day sail round the Mar Menor, ending up at Los Nietos - a small harbour with just about room for us on their visitors pontoon. We were allowed to stay for a night as we were just about not blocking the entrance! From there we took a train back to Cartagena for a shopping trip (light railway - the station was a platform in the middle of nowhere which looked very unpromising - tumble weed blowing along the tracks - and empty until about 2 minutes before the train arrived when hordes of people came out of the woodwork (or somewhere).Having stocked up on rice dream etc for the kids we left the harbour and anchored off an island in the middle of the Mar. (* note - at first we tried tying up to a tiny jetty on the island - on approaching it I shouted to John - no! no! no! too shallow! Back off! He continued however and we tied up in incredibly shallow water and went ashore to explore. After a lovely walk we returned to the boat and were making dinner when a very small boat went passed very slowly. The wash it created left us bumping the bottom so we moved and anchored immediately after John had dived under the boat to see how little water we had under the keels. About two inch.) It was very beautiful - two small islands joined by a sandbar - no inhabitants - it was a nature reserve. However, close up it was littered with rubbish! The wind did not do what was predicted and we ended up sitting out some storms which came the wrong way and left us in danger of dragging onto the shore. Our anchor did hold, but we decided to head for better protection, and after failing to get in to a marina at alcazares and failing to get the anchor to hold there we headed to the large marina at Thomas Maestrae for petrol, shops and shelter.On arriving there (our first attempt at mooring was seamless and beautiful - fully under control) we were moved from our chosen spot next door to an Aussie Cat with kids on board, to another berth which we made a pigs ear of parking in. The kids made friends with the Aussie kids (Heidi 6 and PJ 7) fast, and John and I got on well with peter and Donna too. We stayed there for a few days - enjoying the company (us and the kids!) We got a chance to restock and clean the boat a bit after a couple of weeks at anchor (encouraged by PJ who said "you guys should really clean up your boat, it's really dirty")We then all left the marina (pricey) and headed back into the Mar for a couple of days at anchor till the weather was good for moving on. We popped down to the beach by the campsite to say hello to John and Elizabeth again, had a nice drink and doughnut with them and then went up to anchor next to the Aussies for the night LEAVING THE TELETUBBIES AND THE BUCKET BEHIND _ OH NO! the next day brought yet more storms - the lightning was right over head for a while and the thunder was making the boat shake. I had a bad day! We all went off during a lighter patch of rain to anchor back at the other island for better shelter. We rafted both boats up and the kids had a good play on both boats and then eventually when the rain stopped on the island. We had dinner with them (gluten free spag bol) and then went off to anchor for the night (in the dark - no problem!).From there we headed off, out of the Mar Menor (leaving the teletubbies behind) and up the coast to Torrevieja. We had a good sail up here for a while, although tacking was making little progress, and the sea was very lumpy from all the recent strong winds. I ended up feeling sick most of the day and by the time we had tied up in a marina (we found one that is still being built so is not charging us for being a catamaran and discounting us - cheap cheap cheap! The only down side is that it is a long way to town from here - best to use the dingy to cross the harbour) I was exhausted. The girls were a bit quiet and whingey during the sail as well and even John admitted to being a bit queasy once or twice! There is a very cheap chandlery here and we are planning on staying for a couple of weeks and getting solar panels fitted, and getting a new windlass and chain for the anchor. We are also trying to fix the foresail which is getting really stiff to furl. So far I have delighted in putting John up the mast twice to try and fix it. Next time I will not let him down until it is working!!Ellen and Anna have been playing brilliantly together recently, they like a game called Aunty Mo where Ellen has baby Adam and Anna is the doctor who is Rory dog, the latest game is "going to the fair - not this ride it is too scary" (we went to a fair last night).We spoke to Janet today who is by the Baltic sea - I was going to complain that the weather has got a bit more chilly recently, but I wont now!!
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