Sailing Positive Waves

   Our active cruising season has finally started in earnest and it feels so good to be back on the water again, hopping from anchorage to anchorage, watching the weather, planning passages, and exploring new places. Since we left Sweden in July of 2021 we always followed the favorable weather and winds, so we never paused our active sailing. But once we arrived back in Europe we were suddenly faced with seasons again and, between the weather and off-boat travel plans, we ended up effectively pausing cruising for months. Now we're back at it and it is so good. (Pictures are completely out of chronological order.) Our little hidey-hole between Formentera and Ibiza. The entrance was a little hairy with maybe 10cm under our keep at the bar, but once inside we had pond-like conditions during some nasty weather. The kids took over this cave on the hillside and created their own domain, spending days there, including in the rain. Sunshine is back and we moved down to the main anchor...

Yet again we find ourselves in a waiting game. Waiting for Hans to finish work, waiting for favorable weather and winds, waiting to start cruising again. After a two-week skiing hiatus with friends in Colorado (amazing, epic, outstanding, insert all the other superlatives), we returned to the boat in Lagos and made a quick trip to Gibraltar where we would stage for our entry into the Mediterranean Sea. We arrived in Gibraltar a couple days before my mom flew in for her annual birthday visit and Hans left a week later for his regular two week work trip. We've been in Gibraltar for a little over three weeks now and are itching to leave. Gibraltar is fine, but the clear waters and island-hopping freedom of the Mediterranean beckon. First, sailing through the straits of Gibraltar. It was, indeed, legendary and lived up to my expectations. At the narrowest point, the strait is only 14 miles across and is marked on either side by the Pillars of Hercules --massive land forms on the north ...