SERENITY NOW

  We’re in Gib. Neither of us feeling on top form, we’ve spent a few days in a turmoil of whether to head to the Canaries or remain here. There’s so many factors to consider, and neither of us are in a good way to make these decisions. Being a little run down and not eating much, I succumbed to a bout of man flu which saw me miserably laid up in the cabin for 24 hrs. Mid afternoon, Chez decided that the rapid onset of a hacking cough and associated moany husband could conceivably be Covid, and decided to use up one of our self tests to be sure. After a gag inducing swab around, she exited the cabin, and I returned my congested head to the pillow. Five minutes later I hear the words: “You’ve got Covid!” Oh dear.... that’s put another spanner in the works to add to the bag of them that’s already been dropped on us. Thankfully, I’d actually mis-heard, and incorrectly translated “It’s not Covid”. Well that’s one less thing to worry about! We finally decided that we should leave the boa...

  On the boat, our house batteries had begun to show little signs that they were on their last legs: low volts, the sound of boiling acid... and the signature smell of hydrogen sulphide in the air - that’s bad eggs if you’re not familiar with it. Having checked how much the local chandlery were hoping to fleece us for some new ones, Chez managed to find some excellent replacement batteries online. They come in at less than half the price quoted at the Chandlers, an added bonus is that they provide ‘‘free’ 24hr shipping’. Well they did eventually arrive... after a long and frustrating week waiting around - not exactly 24 hrs! I can’t not write about it, but sorry to have to put the words down; Cheryl’s lovely little mum, Audrey unexpectedly passed away after a short time in hospital. This has left a heavy dark cloud over everything since, and makes all else seem rather trivial. We finally got away from Almerimar. We were glad to be leaving there, not the most inviting of locations, ...