THE GRAND TOUR PART 1

Anyone who thinks that it is always warm and sunny on Europe‘s southern shores has a lesson to learn today. It‘s the beginning of April and Azura, our trusty Marlow 72 Explorer, has just emerged from her winter hibernation in Portimao marina on the Algarve to be greeted by sheets of rain and gusts of wind billowing across her decks. It is so unpleasant that we even have to turn on the heating – just like we do on her usual home berth in the North Sea.

Portugal has been complaining about the worst spring in years but farmers urgently need the rain. When we left the country in November, the newspapers were full of reports of drought, empty reservoirs and forest fires. It’s just a pity that the much needed rain happens to coincide with our return. We are not the only ones suffering. The maintenance crews, whose job it is to prepare people’s boats for the coming season, are gradually going grey waiting for the weather to improve so they can crack on with painting, cleaning and antifouling the boats they are responsible for before their owners arrive.

We are lucky; our maintenance company has done a good job of getting us afloat and ready for the new season. The biggest problem we have is one of our own making: a spare