Monday, October 9th, Mallorca, Spain
 
    
I am continually amazed that even with the total discretion we exercise over the use of our time, we seem not to have enough of it.  We are looking to depart Mallorca today, bound for the southern coast of France, feeling like we have left far too much of the island unexplored.  The good thing is that we have had a wonderful time with our friends Georg and Nathalie and Anthonia.  The other good thing is that we will be meeting up with Joe's sister and brother in-law, Juliana and Mike, in the South of France.  Yet another good thing is that we will be able to come back in the spring to see more of the Balearic Islands.  So, with mixed emotions we depart Palma bound for the Cote d'Azur.  This time of year your best strategy is to look for light winds and it looks like we have a good two day window before some northerlies move in on Thursday.  Depending on where we decide to stop, we should be at anchor again on Wednesday evening. 
 
Hanging out with Georg, Nathalie and Anthonia has reminded me of one of the reasons we embarked on this adventure in the first place.  Meeting them in St. Martin last February, and traveling for a short time through the Bahamas together, we forged a new friendship that was sparked by our similar circumstances - cruising on a catamaran with young children.  Although they are back to their regular life for a short spell before heading to the Pacific for a six month cruise, we have found that our friendship goes far beyond mere circumstances.  They welcomed us to their island with such warmth and generosity that we feel like we have known them for much longer.  Despite their busy lives here, they made time to visit with us and to help us in numerous ways.  We spent one weekend at their country home, had dinner together at their favorite restaurant here in Palma (the ceviche was something to die for), took Georg and Anthonia out for a day sail, and had a sleep over with Anthonia on the boat.  Cassie and Juliana were so happy to have a friend to play with and Anthonia loved being on a boat again.  I have no doubt that this friendship will be one of the many treasures that we bring back home with us.
    
    
 
It is getting a little chilly here in the evenings and we are becoming increasingly aware that the seasons are changing.  It will be our first winter in two years and we are kind of looking forward to it.  We'll make the most of our time in France before heading back to Barcelona for the winter.  We have finalized our plans for the marina there and are excited for that chapter of our cruise.  In the mean time, we can't wait to see Aunt Juliana and Uncle Mike.  We weren't sure if we would pull it off when they made plans to be in France during October but it looks like the stars are aligned correctly.  Lets hope the unpredictable mistral doesn't kick in when we are half way there......
 
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Many thanks to our friend Craig Homenko for his assistance in setting up the website.
We also would like to thank our buddy Scott Brunner who has been kind enough to host the website on his server.
 
   

 
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