Back while we were still in Barcelona, some plans changed. Several friends who were supposed to join us for the remaining leg of the trip to Malaga had family and health situations which precluded their flying over to join us. Of course we felt badly for them, and would have loved to spend the time together, but, boat wise, it wasn't a disaster. The passage required no overnights, and Captain Ken and I can handle Moonbeam quite well....except for stern docking. Yes, we can...and have done it...but, if you recall from an earlier blog, even if we are prepared well in advance with three fenders on each side, a stern fender, rear dock lines, and the boat hook handy, it still is like a Chinese fire drill with the Captain at the helm, and me having to toss the two stern lines and quickly use the boat hook to snag the bow anchor line from the dockhand and run to the bow and pull it in hard and attach it....not to mention that I'm really not strong enough to get the line tight enough to keep the boat in place. Often, the dockhand has had to jump on board to help this damsel in distress. (As they say, it's nice to have a man around the house...I mean...boat.)

So...while still in Barcelona, Ken struck up a conversation with a young man, Jose, (a boater) who said he had a friend.....(Guillermo) ....who was an experienced sailor. Guillermo said he would love to join us for awhile but he would like to bring his girlfriend (Aina)....both of whom you Moonbeamers have met in prior blogs. The two of them were amazing finds. We had a great time and Guillermo has been wonderful to have on the boat. Then, Guillermo posted our blog site on FB...and because of that, we were contacted by Paco, (the go-to guy of Puerto Deportivo de Benalmádena). When we met Paco, Ken mentioned that he would like some pre-Atlantic crossing service work done...and Paco introduced us to Carlos, the go-to mechanic, who, while he doesn't speak much English, was able to discuss the technicalities with Guillermo who is still with us (we're actually considering handcuffing him to Moonbeam)..who speaks both English and Spanish.

So....this is just about letting life roll out. The pic above is of the mechanics doing routine service on the engine, generator, etc. Carlos obviously knows everyone in the area, and is putting us in touch with someone to check the standing rigging, to get a minor part fabricated for the passerelle, and anything else we need to do to get Moonbeam in ship-shape for the crossing. (This line is for you: Jens, Bob, Rob and Lee...the ocean crew. I thought you guys would like to know this.)