At the Sailing Association of Mar Menor meeting we met Rob, an English guy who sold up everything in the UK, bought a yacht named ‘Paprika’ and sailed her down to Spain. Paprika is now based in Cartagena, the closest city to Los Alcazares, and Rob kindly offered to take us out sailing for the day on her, knowing how much I wanted to get out on the water. It was a really sunny, hot day and, because the wind was low, we had a very relaxing sail. We spent the day enjoying the views, spotting jumping fish and teaching Dave which rope to pull when. It was good to get a different view of the coast line, from the sea rather than the shore, and Rob pointed out some ‘illegal’ villages tucked away in the hills, which had been built without permission. Once safely back in the marina, without the usual panic that goes with berthing a yacht, we sipped coffee from a trendy bar overlooking the harbour and watched the sun set.

Bring on more days like that please.