Once we arrived back at the boat, the job list was waiting for us — and at the very top was the most important task of all: fattening up Captain Mark! We’re happy to report that progress has been made… but the mission continues!

The rest of the list was a mixed bag of upgrades and maintenance jobs – stuff like:

• Upgrading the washing machine (amazing! It’s such a luxury to have a proper washer on board).
• Replacing the faulty watermaker membranes (done! Finally, we have proper drinking water — not just enough for showers!).
• Installing a second spinnaker halyard (done — update to follow).
• And most importantly, servicing our over 10-year-old liferaft.

That last job had to be done by a certified company in Cádiz — which, in turn, gave us the perfect excuse for a road trip along the beautiful south coast of Andalusia.

We rented a car, hoisted the heavy liferaft into the boot, and off we went. What a wonderful day it turned out to be — thanks in part to my brother Christoph and his partner Sijie, who had explored Cádiz before and shared some fantastic restaurant tips with us (I’m still dreaming of that dogfish in spicy batter!).

After a lovely walk through the old town and some churros to complete the Andalusian experience, we started heading back — only to discover that the SailGP was in town! With a simple “G’day, mate,” Mark stopped a cyclist wearing the Australian team uniform… and it turned out to be Chris Draper, the wing trimmer on the Australian boat. What a great chat we had! I don’t know if all these blokes are this friendly to random passers-by, but we left with some excellent surfing tips for Grenada!

So we had one of these days that just fill you up the right ways.

Back on board, we also kicked off boat-school — and it’s actually going really well!
Beyond academics, the boys are learning so many other valuable lessons. The skatepark right next to our marina berth has become their favorite hangout, and they’ve met lots of Spanish kids while mastering their stunt scooters. Joe, who’s usually on the shy side, even went up to a Spanish-speaking rollerblade instructor to ask if he could try a jump he’d set up — moments like that make my heart swell. Every effort feels so worth it!

Tomorrow, we’re planning to say goodbye to mainland Spain and set sail into the Atlantic — bound for the Canary Islands! 

Though La Linea is quite a rough hood, it kinda grew on me and I will miss my morning runs along the harbour.

Cross your fingers for smooth sailing and no orca encounters. We’ll keep you posted — it’s time to get Akuna moving again!