Wednesday, 16 November 2011

The excitement builds

Sunday 20th November is approaching fast, 99% of the boat checks are complete and the excitement is building as the start date comes ever closer. The seminars are proving interesting and provide at least a couple of new ideas in addition to reinforcing best practices, lets hope they keep us safe and that the crew and boat arrive in tact!
Shopping is proving the most popular passtime for the majority of yachties in a last minute attempt to empty all the shops in Las Palmas of any food products, its reminescent of the major food stores on Christmas Eve in the UK.
Hoping to explore ashore this afternoon as we can finally start to relax - if were not ready now, it ain´t going to get looked at and well have to just deal with issues as they arise.
Really looking forward to setting sail and starting the second leg of our Caribbean adventure.

Sunday, 13 November 2011

Hooray - arrived in Las Palmas

Safe in Las Palmas, following a windless journey from Gibraltar which seems kind of ironic seeing as our departure was held up by foul winds we arrived in Gran Canaria on Friday late evening.
The trip down was uneventful with everything working well on the yacht, one of the advantage of light winds was being able to troll a line of the stern and our efforts were rewarded with 2 fish suppers (very yummy). Having departed from Gib just after midday we cleared the straits and set a course along the African Coast although planning to stay well off. In all the excitement we tried to settle into a night watch but none of us got much sleep the first night. Thankfully after a short period you get so tired that as soon as you come off watch and your head hits the pillow your out for the count. Its weird how your body apapts and on our first night back in port none of us slept well again as we kept waking up to fulfil our watch duties!
The atmosphere in Las Palmas is vibrant, there are still around 40 yachts to arrive, but we are here and resting before the next leg. The yachts are adorned in code flags and look very colourful, the crews are all in good spirits and there seems to be a party every night for those that can cope with it all.
Today we booked in at the ARC office, had our safety check and passed with flying colours so all is well on that front, we are planning a job day tomorrow before heading off for a swim followed by a paella and bottle of wine. We decided that a paella was almost compulsory as it will be some time before we have another opportunity to sample one.
Looking forward to all the seminars next week, hoping to learn lots and pick up some good tips which we can then use in the school.. Will set up a link on the website with tracking reference details and boat number which is 118 as soon as we know oursleves.

Tuesday, 1 November 2011

The Adventure begins

Our Caribbean adventure has begun, the yacht we are crossing on Kinnirossi Blue has arrived in Gibraltar. El Rubicon has been winterised, our bags are packed and we are set to meet the yacht in Gib. However a massive low pressure sitting in the Atlantic is delaying our departure to the Canaries until the weekend, hopefully it wont leave too much fetch. The prospect of seasickness at the outset is not going to inspire the crew with confidence!
Still it gives us time to gather our thoughts and take in what we are about to attempt, crossing the Atlantic under sail is not to be taken lightly and the weather will play a major part in our plans, our current delay is weather related so it clearly isn't doing us any favours at the moment, lets hope its just asking us to show it the the respect it deserves and will behave itself from now until we arrive in the Caribbean.

Tuesday, 13 September 2011

Countdown to Southampton Boatshow

The countdown has begun to the start of this years Southampton Boatshow.
Don't forget to come and see us on stand J105 where we will be launching information on our new Tidal sailing venue - Isla Canela. You can now join us as we sail between La Manga and Isla Canela on the Spanish/Portuguese border. Contact us for more information on our extended cruise and Tidal sailing courses.

Friday, 22 July 2011

Boat show news

Find Mar Menor Sea School at stand J105 working in conjunction with Yacht Port Cartagena, everything you need for boating in Spain.

Thursday, 30 June 2011

Southampton Boatshow 2011

Come and visit Mar Menor Sea School at the Southamtpon Boatshow which runs between the 16th-25th September 2011, you can find us on stand J105 in the Sailing School and Yacht Charter hall.

Sunday, 12 June 2011

Southampton Boat-show

Mar Menor Sea School will be exhibiting at the Southampton Boat-show which runs between the 16th-25th September. We will be promoting RYA sailing courses, ourYachtmaster fastrack programme, yacht charter and sailing in Spain.
Stand details are still to be confirmed so will advise ASAP
Come along and have a chat, find out more about us and join us for a coffee.