I have realised that we have become very lazy sailors since making Valencia our Mediterranean Home Port - there is just too much to see and do on land!

That said there is no excuse for not keeping up with our blog. Shame on me. It is only now that I am back in Spain onboard Patience for a sneaky September, no sail, city break, that I suddenly thought "Blimey where did I leave the blog? Yikes, not sure!"

So to continue where I left off back in the end of June, for those of you who have been waiting for the next instalment with bated breath (as if - haha.) We were heading back to La Marina de Las Dunas the very understated port next to the Segura river that we loved on the way south. It didn't disappoint, especially the people, the feel of the place and of course the frozen yoghurt bar. It is definitely a future home port to consider if we stay in Spain and get fed up of the fast city pace of Valencia.

Our next leg was going to take us to the port of Villajoyosa. We had a stonking sail and I got some hilarious video footage of Ricky standing on the back of the boat flapping his arms and making very loud seagull noises to try to keep the seabirds from diving onto his lure. Daft birds, but I guess from a distance the colourful rubber and metal pretend fish must look edible. The horrible 'got ya' hook must glisten as its dragged through the waves and look like sunlight twinkling off fishes scales. The port itself was full of large fishing boats one side and was obviously quite commercial as they had their own processing plant on the quay. This had a fish market and a pick up point for smaller boats to collect food for the fish farms dotted around outside the port. It was very interesting and very smelly if you stood downwind. That said, new port for us to visit and ideal stop off port on route to our next destination Denia.

There is an actual marina called Marina Greenwich , which you've guessed sits on the Greenwich meridian line 000 degrees. This was for me a very exciting thought as in my 65 years on Planet Earth I have yet to cross the Equator, so sailing across the imaginary line that circles our planet from top to bottom is a pretty good second place. Unfortunately a stay in that marina was not a tactical move for this trip (gutted.)
So that left me determined to try our hardest to get that precise photo on the chart plotter showing 000 degrees
East or West! It was rather like trying to put an exact amount of pounds worth of petrol in your car, with the added bonus of lumpy seas and having to go more off shore than I'd hoped. Needless to say - I missed it (gutted again.) Next time I am going to direct Ricky from the chart table downstairs to not only record sailing over the allusive line but sail up it!

Fab stay again in Denia, as always. A lovely town and modern marina. It is the nearest mainland port to the Balearics, so sadly way out of our price range. Quick overnight stop, chance to marvel at the super yachts then back out to sea.

Wow what a trip, full sail, zooming along, life was pretty good. Just as we sat down to lunch Ricky caught a fish. An enormous fish. Things became pretty hectic while Ricky wrestled with his catch, with no idea how big it was, while I tried to clear away the unfinished lunch and keep the boat straight. I have to say far smaller fish have tugged more on the line than this one, so you can imagine my horror as it got nearer to the back of the boat. I prayed it would slip the hook and sail away but no chance. Ricky tried desperately to get the hook out to set it free as it was so big, but no chance of that either. So sadly we had to make the decision to bring the fish aboard and feed ourselves and the sailors in the marina. It is at times like this I am so please and grateful that Ricky was a chef as I was sent down into the saloon and spared the gory job of de gutting and filleting the magnificent Mediterranean tuna. Needless to say, despite no happy ending for the fish, it did not die in vain. It was eaten and appreciated by many, including me, and cooked by Ricky it tasted delicious x