We are not quite sure at the moment whether we are travellers, tourists or just visitors. We were certainly tourists in Seville and Cadiz but we feel as if we are visitors in Gibraltar. Firstly because they speak English and secondly because the water maker is being fixed here, slowly but surely by Shaun. He is most helpful even if he has an English, rather then Irish accent.

We felt like travellers on the way to Seville from Ayamonte at the bottom of the endearing Rio de Guadiana. We were acosted by a Spanish gunboat. 'Halt who goes there!' wasn't quite the language. In fact they were very polite when we eventually realised they were hailing us on the v.h.f as 'sailing vessel on my bow' instead of by our name, which is perfectly plain to see on our mizzen cover. They informed us that we were sailing into a live missile firing area and that we should move 12miles inshore to the beach to be out of the way of the missiles being fired from the frigates. We duly did so, and were thanked for our cooperation. We might have been safer in the firing area however, judging by the direction of the trails of smoke coming towards us from the frigates. Obviously experimental!

We were welcomed at Chipiona by a fleet of fishing boats on collision course. All except one were very polite and kept to the rule of the road. We altered course for one rather large one however, discretion being the better part of valour.

We were travellers on our two and a quarter hour bus trip from Chipiona to Seville through the little hill towns of Andelucia. The countryside is a little like Norfolk or Cambridge but there are more palm trees, and they grow vines and cotton instead of wheat and barley. We also saw cows and goats as well as the horses for which Andelucia ia famous.

Seville is a very grand town with wide bulevards and many trees (mostly palm trees). It was settled in the first millenium B.C. by Iberian tribes who worked the mineral deposits in the countryside surrounding the Rio Guadalquirir on which Seville stands. About the same width as the Seine in Paris. It was an important trading centre for the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks and then Romans. The Roman Emperors Trajan and Hadrian, of wall fame, were sons of Seville.

The Visigoths and Moors follwed from 400 to 1258 A.D. when Fernando III recaptured the city and made it the Capital of Spain. There is a fabulous Royal Palace/Castle there dating from this time with beautiful gardens full of paraketes and oranges! We were tourists and spent about three hours going round the castle, which despite being built by a Christian has much Moorish architecture within, especially the mosaic walls, the distinctive round topped doors and a courtyard with a water feature at almost every turn. We spent a lot of time dodging the tours with their guides to find the quiet courtyards and gardens. It was a very pleasant place and we recommend you visit it. It is called the Real Alcazares.

We completed our tourist bit by taking a horse and carriage ride round the inner part of the city with its beautiful pavilions from the 1829 Exhibition. They are very ornate and probably the forerunners of British Victorian architecture, except with more subtley of detail.

The bus ride back to Chipiona was accompanied by students finishing their week at Seville University, which is quite extensive in the city. They were a bit rowdy and enthusiastic, not a bit like our students would have been in Britain, of course!

Cadiz was our next tourist attraction, although we did join all the locals on the 1930's ferry from Puerto de Santa Maria, over the bay, where we had moored for the night at the Yacht Club. Cadiz, like Seville, benefited enormously from the wealth from the New Worlds, and it shows, with its beautiful churches and squares and narrow streets. They all have a similar architecture, mostly eighteenth century, with five story buildings, white plastered, with attractive balconies. Most of the streets were about two pavement and one car width, although some were pedestrianised and others one way. It was still excting jumping out of the way of cars and the ubiquitous speeding scooter.

Sir Frances Drake sacked the city in 1587 followed by Lord Essex in 1596. No doubt the layout of narrow streets comes from this time since it would be difficult to progress any body of fighting men through the city without attack from the natives. Again a city worth visiting and the marina protection at Puerto America, near the city, has now been upgraded so it should be a lot quieter than that mentioned in our pilot books.

There was another gun boat parked near the coast on our way towards the Straits of Gibraltar. This time he had a huge sign near him with a red and white checkered banner. We didn't want to be hailed, but sailed straight in towards the beach where there were a number of little fishing boats happily playing. We were right. They didn't fire on us this time but the coordinates given on the navtext for their practice area seem to cut a headland we sailed round. A splendid sail up the Straits of Gibraltar, against the wind, but with a two knot current with us and a flat sea. We didn't seem to have done much serious sailing on our way down the Southern coast.

Gibraltar speaks English, which is quite a relief since our Portugese and Spanish, although improving, aren't really very good. It is a very industrious place, with a thriving tourist industry, a naval dock yard and three civilian dry docks, which at this time are filled with two tour ships and an LPG carrier. The rock is impressive, although the weather has been more Scottish than Mediterranian since we got here, with a number of rain storms including one with thunder and lightning!

We assaulted the rock yesterday by foot since we didn't want to pay the £7.50 return for the cable car. It was a long way (about 15 miles in total) and we returned exhausted. We had however seen the famous Barbary Apes and some of the tunnels used to shoot guns at the Spanish and French during the great seige of 1780 when Bonaparte's army were succesfully resisted by General Elliot. Gibraltar has been British since 1704 and appears it wants to stay that way.

We are joined tomorrow by Murray Nelson, who is going to help us sail down the coast of Morroco to the Canaries. We are hoping to call in at Casablanca and Agadir as well as a number of smaller ports before sailing for the Canaries. We are told the natives are friendly. We hope so.

A few more snaps for your album.

Love from Will, Margaret and Susan