Lille Blå (First 405), Hurra (Benetau 36) and Noravind (our faithful friends in the Catamaran)  was waiting for us at the yacht club in La Corona. It was great to see everyone again. We invaded the yacht club, went for "school excursions" to the beach and had a good time. Colin got to have a friend sleeping over from Lille Blå. That was a first for him and very exciting. Camilla spent the night onboard Noravind with her friend Ida.

All the 11 children from the four boats enjoyed each others company greatly. It is amazing how quickly we have become a small quite close community. The kids go to school on each others boats, the adult help each other out with practical issues, we all socialise. We come from all walks of life but all share the spirit of adventure and love for sailing. At the dock in La Corona we where joined by a Danish boat with two children on board that where heading across the Atlantic and then into the Pacific like we plan to. Also two more Norwegian boats joined us. Josefine with Bjørn and Benedikte on board we last met in Brunsbuttel (Germany). It was great to see them again. Bjørn has helped me and many other yachties with all sorts of computer problems. He knows all there is to know about PC's on boats.

La Corona itself is a facinating city. Beautiful buildings, narrow streets, great beaches and hostorical monuments and buildings. After having moored the boat in a secure, but rather rolly marina in La Corona,  it was time for me to go back to work. Commitments from before our trip was finalised brings me to Düsseldorf for three days. Exciting work for a very good customer. It feels a bit strange though to go from the one "lifestyle" to the other. But rewarding to find that it all works out. The biggest "change" I feel that my perception of time has changed slightly. 2 hours is not a lot of time any more. While before 2 hours was an ocean that had to be filled with something. Buildings have now for me a more stuffy feel than before. The air feels unhealthy and stale. But then again I have only been on the road for 9 weeks.

Now sitting a thousand miles away from the boat it is also time to reflect on our trip so far. It has not at all been the way I expected. It has been great. We have seen and experienced  a lot. Hard to imagine that only 9 weeks have passed. We got to see a lot of Holland and I never imagined it had so much to offer. SOuth coast of England is always nice. But I must admit I did dream about better weather and swifter progress. The weather has really slowed us down and a lot of my focus has been on the weather and trying to get south. I realise now that for me it has meant that I have not enjoyed the places that we visited as much as I should. I have all the time had the feeling that we should have been somewhere else. Hopefully I am now learning to enjoy the her-and-now. Meeting other "yachties" have taught me a lesson here. Many have a very relaxed attitude based on an understanding that our progress is not ours to decide. It is all up to the weather gods.

I also expected less boat repairs and worries, and more time with the kids probably against better knowledge. Having worked on boats for years I should know how much work they are. We bought Coconut because she is very strongly build and offers a comfortable home at sea. That she also sails well is a bonus. But we have had a few issues that should have been ironed out before we left e.g. the engine. All advice from sailors before us is that you need to have sailed your boat for at least one year before you go. They are right. The other mistake I made was that I got to "cheap" and tried to save money. We should have changed the engine right away. So if you are planning a trip in an old boat, just change everything you are in the slightest doubt about.

Lille Blå, Hurra and Noravind have now all left La Corona. Noravind arrived in Bayona today. They will wait for us there since Steinar is going off to work for a few days and leaving his family onboard.The other two will arrive by tomorrow. Hurra is in a bit of a hurry to get to Morocco to see friends.  Lesley and the kids are left alone waiting for me to come back from Dusseldorf. Another friend of ours on his yacht Adele is expected in to La Corona on Friday. Hopefully we will find time to sail south together. Our plan is to use a couple of weeks on the trip to Lisbon.