GHOST

We arrived in the bay of Mahon, Menorca yesterday lunchtime. After the craziness of August in Sardinia & Corsica it seemed completely quiet and the marinas are not even half full - there is a definite step change in September! We did a quick tour of the bay and refuelled, considering where we would tuck GHOST up for a couple of days. In the relative emptiness there were lots of options, either on the town wall or in the marina or on a buoy in a nearby bay, but we decided that in these sheltered waters we could put up with a 10 minute dingy ride into town and anchored in a bay a bit further out where we won't be charged.

For the first time we are surrounded by liveaboards who are now starting to congregate on the west of the med, getting ready to cross the Atlantic toward the end of the year. There is a really friendly atmosphere here between the boats and on our way back from town yesterday we said hi to an Aussie boat and ended up there last night drinking beers with two other boat couples - fantastic!

Even better news is that it was easy to buy a Spanish SIM for our Vodafone dongle, and this should work right up until the Canaries... after a week without internet in Corsica we really missed it - I am wondering how we will cope across the Pacific! Our trip into town was great, everyone seemed so friendly and helpful without any of the Italian/French bravado we had encountered previously, and we couldn't resist EUR 3.50 for an "iced pint of beer"!

So we have some friends, Steve & Tania joining us tonight for a long weekend (a good excuse for me to visit the fresh fish and fruit market this morning, Balbina's seafood paella recipe is great!), then a few days doing jobs next week before my mum & sister join us for a week after that. In the meantime, here in Mahon there is the fiestas de gracia - a big celebration in the town with traditions going back to the middle ages including jousting and prancing horses riding through the crowded streets. So we are planning to stay in our little anchorage here, get some jobs done on the boat (including fixing the extra water tanks - yes we finally tracked down our leak....) and enjoy the entertainment.