Pic shows the Rock at Gibraltar with its trademark cloud cap.

No, not a spelling mistake! The colour refers to the new paint on Saraoni's hull - normally blue. The colour change is not in sympathy with the red dust that periodically descends on Saraoni's decks from the great desert lands to the south - red paint was cheaper than blue paint at Almerimar's boat yard!

We came off the hardstand early yesterday with some new rigging and other improvements and are now plodding along the last of the Mediterranean coast towards Gibraltar. Predictably, the Med has delivered yet again calm seas and a countercurrent of about a knot, so the engine is again asked to do its job.

The news from the Atlantic is not so good. The Azores high pressure system, which is nearly permanently positioned in the North Atlantic, has broken down somewhat and has been replaced by what seems to be a huge, low pressure area producing large swells along the Moroccan Atlantic coast and contrary southwest winds between Gibraltar and the Canaries.

Magellan, Columbus and countless other seafarers, including us, depended on the normally reliable "Portuguese Trades" - the northerlies which take a sailing boat from Europe to the Canaries and beyond. We will just have to wait in Algeciras Bay / Gibraltar until the wind shifts.

Signs of winter are now appearing in Spain - the last front dumped a layer of snow on the Sierrra Nevada mountains past which we are now motoring. This coast is not one to hang around too long - there are no anchorages to speak of until Gibraltar and, despite the grand scenery of gaunt, brown hills, the Spanish have contrived to make an eyesore of their Costa - dull apartment blocks line the beaches while behind are the ever present hordes of plastic polytunnels. Perhaps the coast should be renamed the Costa del Plastico y del Concreto.

More favourably, we have seen gannets plunge-diving for the first tme since the shores of New Zealand (though these are the Northern hemisphere race) and together with shearwaters, petrels and dolphins, perhaps this is a hint that the now nearby Atlantic will yield more marine life.

Next to the Almerimar marina entrance a group of volunteers have been saving the life of an orphaned common dolphin - an area of water has been cordoned off for the last 7 weeks and tents house the people who go into the water with wet suits and snorkels to keep the little dolphin company.

Latest entry - we have now been anchored behind the breakwater at La Linea since yesterday. Wind finally arrived in gentle form from the East as we approached a gloomy looking Rock and the distant view of Morocco to the South. We passed serried ranks of large ships anchored or drifting near the eastern end of the Straits as we negotiated the overfalls around Europa point. A very British voice came over the VHF asking a pesky Guardia Civil to verify their intentions in "British Gibraltar territorial waters". The rock was shrouded in cloud and it blew 30 knots in gusts as we rounded the point into Algeciras Bay. Rather coincidentally, Alison's sister, Susan, was in Gibraltar that day for a trade union health and safety conference and the Easy Jet she took off in back to London passed just over our mast as we sailed up towards La Linea!

Since our arrival we have been treated to some very British weather. It has been cold, grey and wet, but to be fair to Gibraltar, the weather is widespread right across this part of Spain and nearby Morocco, too.