We left Cartagena on the 9^th August and headed to Puerto De San Pedro Del Pinatar about 40 miles further along the coast. Originally we were going to Thomas Maestre marina in Mar Menor but we decided just to push on a bit further. It was a long day, with a bigger than forecast swell, roughly 1.5 to 2 metres and windy enough for a reefed mainsail and genoa. We beat to windward for about five hours out by Cabo de Palos hoping for an easterly wind shift which didn’t appear till much later so motored round Cabo de Palos and pushed on to our destination.

It was a nice wee marina where we would have liked to stay a few days, but it was a bit out of town and would have needed bikes. The very friendly marina staff did offer to lend us one but we obviously needed two. We only stayed one night but would visit again on the way back.

It has been a worrying few weeks recently with Harry having been unwell and not

being in a position to help Diane in any way. However, since going home Harry has had two operations and is now up and about and doing well.

At the pipe band competitions in Glasgow, where they bumped into Anne-Marie Haddow

Before leaving Cartagena we visited the Roman Amphitheatre and Forum which were only just discovered in the mid to late 1990’s.

Dave and Iain arrived at the boat bearing gifts……..two very compact, very needed fans. We now have five on board, three electric and two 12 volt ones and would you believe, it’s still hot!Just as well Dave is a mean Gin & Tonic mixer.

Oh and they brought a new “wee” saltire for Camira as well.

We had held off visiting the sites of antiquity that Cartagena is famous for in case we all wanted to see them together – however the nearest we got was the 1^st night passing a giant sculpture where we were in raptures watching the kids running in and touching his nether regions.

Culture? … Us? … Aye.

Needless to say, this is how the next few days continued, great fun!

In between times we did manage a trip to the beach

A day sail to a bay along from Cartagena where we anchored swam and had lunch.

Dave’s manly plunge into the depths! holding his nose, having been finally pushed by captain Pugwash

The more able beach boys followed suit

I won’t go into the graphical description of Dave getting back on board after his swim but it was hysterical, let’s say there could have been two moons in the sky and one of them was almost upside down.

Anyhow back safe and moored up.

The boys had hired a car so we took the opportunity of stocking up on a few necessities, wine water and beer. The woman at the checkout asked if she could come to the fiesta! The waterline is now about two inches lower but I’m sure by the time they leave it will have risen again.

We thought we would do some sightseeing while they were here but to be honest, it was really too hot for that so we just “chilled” , ate out each night and generally had a good laugh with good friends.

It was great to see the guys and it was our opportunity to have a wee “holiday” as well.

 

Wind! Great, we had full sail up and were heading out to clear Cabo de Gata, all the time the wind was freshening and when we tried tacking back in it was still bringing us too close to Cabo de Gata, to add to this we had a major diesel leak spilling out from the fuel tank gauge not helped by all the slamming to windward. Continued sailing for a while but it was a terrible slog so after Gordon had his head down the bilges and mopping out diesel we eventually gave up and put the engine on. We had managed 5 hours good sailing, albeit we didn’t get the benefit of the long tack due to a wind shift but hey ho. It was going to be a long enough passage without battling on with the wind on our nose, and to be honest we were still feeling the effects of the past couple of weeks and were pretty knackered.

Cabo de Gata fine on the port bow

We arrived in Cartagena the next morning, went for a well-earned sleep for a few hours before getting the boat gutted, bunks changed, spick and span bilges rid of the last remnants of diesel and a great meal out that night. Best pizza and pasta ever tasted.

Harry and Diane are now back home so we have decided to stay here a while. Dave and Iain are coming out on the 1^st August for a few days and it will give us a chance to recharge our batteries again before they come out and drain them. It’s always a boisterous event but great fun, really looking forward to seeing them. My only reservation is how the four of us will be on this wee boat with the heat………..it is absolutely sweltering and extremely humid, everything feels damp and uncomfortable. Seemingly, it’s been an unusually hot summer; even the Spanish are struggling with the heat. Lucky white heather, welcome to the Med!

On the Saturday Louise heard music in the distance so we followed our ears and we ended up at a street party organised to regenerate funds for the area, the music was great and the people thoroughly enjoying themselves. It was like being downtown Partick in the sun.

A couple of drinks cost you two euros and you got a plate of sardines free.

On returning to the marina one night we discovered Magic , an ARC boat we had been on in Lagos had arrived. The next day Gordon helped them unravel a halliard wrap and after which we we all went out for dinner.

The next day was more subdued, Louise got on with some alfresco ironing as the cruise ships no doubt looked on in wonder.

That’s us under the space blanket!

Off to get some shopping now in preparation for the arrival of our first Mediterranean guests.

Catch you after. . . .

 

We left Malaga and made our way to Aguadulce, a nineteen hour motor sail overnight.

Dinner prep before settling down to overnight watch system

We had two nights here. This was in fact a place we had considered spending last winter. Friends we met on the way down last year, Keith and Carole stayed here and their boat was moored three places away from us. Unfortunately, they weren’t on it, they were at home with their new grandchild and won’t be out till September. It would have been lovely to meet up with them again but it wasn’t to be.

Aguadulce Marina

Sea front passeo

We had some lovely tapas in a wee restaurant at the marina, the type when you have a drink they bring a dish out to you which you are not charged for. This hasn’t happened since Northern Spain, I think the more touristy places cash in on it and charge you for any food, so it was a nice surprise when our four drinks each and eight plates of delicious tapas came in at 20 euros and we were stuffed.

With our batteries re charged it was off on another 24 hr sail, still on a mission to get nearer to Diane and Harry who at this point are still in Denia albeit, Harry seems much better but still not tip top. So like Malaga we didn’t get to see any of the place as it’s more important we move on just now.

 

Malaga harbour, for some reason doesn’t allow foreign flagged boats into it but we did manage to get into a new Real Club Mediterranean sailing club just outside the Malaga breakwater. Not a cheap place but a very welcoming, small quiet marina with finger pontoons. Unfortunately there is a maximum 7 night stay rule. This was to be Gordon’s home for the week while I left the next morning at 5.30am for the bus station for the 11 hour trip up to Denia Hospital.

The walk into town from the marina

The main harbour that doesn’t allow foreign boats

En route at one point Diane thought Harry might be discharged but then took another turn for the worse. He ended up being in hospital for nearly two weeks. The hospital was very good in letting both Diane and I stay with Harry. The first night I stayed with him and let Diane go back to try to get a good sleep in the apartment but she didn’t sleep well so the three of us slept in Harry’s room for the rest of the time I was there.

On one of Harry’s better nights we had a pyjama party, well not quite pyjama but blue gown party, only to be caught by one of the nurses coming in to change Harry’s drip. Her face was a picture, I’m sure she had to think twice about who was the patient when confronted by the three blue gowns. Sometimes you’ve just got to laugh or you would cry and they say laughter is good medicine.

I arrived with them on the Tuesday but had to leave again on the Sunday to get back to Malaga to help Gordon move the boat. Our plan was to try and get as close to Denia as possible in case we were needed but Harry was eventually discharged and he and Diane made their way home for Harry to be treated there. A very trying time for Diane as they were travelling by car and ferry and would take them a few days to get back. They did manage to have a couple of nice days with their friends Lynn and Gerry who had been very kind to them in Denia before going home.

 

It was a great feeling rounding Europa Point, this was us officially in the Mediterranean which I suppose was our ultimate goal, albeit, we still have some distance to go to reach Greece.

Rounding Europa point towards Catalan bay

Approaching the firing range!

Typically of the Med, it was a motor sail, we did know that the wind is either all or nothing in the Med and today it was a nothing day. We did have a bit of excitement going round Europa Point though – the firing range which you pass decided to start practicing their aim. Thankfully they need a whole lot more practice, we got through safely and reached Estepona five hours later. If only we knew the firing range was safer than Estepona turned out to be.

We were helped into our berth in the marina and managed our first Med style mooring without too much trouble. We chose to go in bow to until we get a bit of practice at picking up the lazy lines and getting lines ashore without hitting the quay. All fine when you have someone on the quay taking the lines but I’m not sure how it will go if there’s no one there, Mmmm!

Initial impression of Estepona wasn’t great, the marina was a bit tired and a bit smelly but we decided we would head out that night and give it a once over before jumping to conclusions. Our trip out that evening was put paid to following an altercation with one of the Costa del Sol thugs, who I naively thought were all a bit of a myth. He came in on his wee speed boat at a rate of knots causing the moored boats to violently surge towards the quay. He was half cut and trying to impress some young ladies on the quay side. I took him to task about his speed and he took umbrage making some noise about sinking the boat during the night. Just to be sure, we didn’t head out that night and sure enough he reappeared at 1 am demanding an apology which obviously wasn’t given and proceeded to threaten to cut off certain bits of Gordon’s anatomy or worse still, kill him and sink the boat in the middle of the night. As you can imagine, it didn’t lead to a peaceful night’s sleep as Gordon slept with his bolt cutters! lol.

We left Estepona the next morning as planned but the one thing which wasn’t planned was the thick fog all day. Not a good sail, especially after such a restless night before, we also got news that Harry was taken into hospital pretty ill in Denia so very worried about him as well. Now trying to get somewhere central where I can get transport up to Denia to be with Diane and Harry, the next obvious place is Malaga. All in all, not a good start to our Mediterranean cruise.

 

After seeing the marinas on the Gibraltar side we were pleased with our decision to stay in La Linea. The Gibraltar marinas were small, claustrophobic and right in the biz of Gibraltar; La Linea was out of the biz, very spacious and reasonably priced, and yet you could still walk across in 10 minutes or so.

Gibraltar is a bit of a mixed bag, there is building work going on everywhere and to be honest it’s sometimes hard to see where else they could possibly build, not pleasing to the eye at all. However, the Rock is well worth a visit, as is going out to Europa Point. We got the all-day bus ticket for £2.25 each which is great value; you can hop on and off all day if you like. But be warned; don’t get the No 3 local bus. Wow, can the Spanish talk and loudly at that, similar to a Sunday on a Spanish beach. We also had a wander through the Botanical Garden which provided some respite from the searing heat, it’s also nice to see greenery and flowers when you spend so much time on the water.

Tomorrow it’s into the Mediterranean around Europa point – Fab! But not before going to say goodbye to Jim who also came round to Gibraltar with us, he is on his way to Ceuta so we won’t be bumping into him again, this trip anyway.

The famous runway

Europa Point

Jim

Cable car trip to top

Catalan bay

Africa in the distance Mediterranean in the distance

Me holding on for dear life!

Ocean Village Marina

See later Estepona …… maybe our pal got his boats mixed-up!

 

From Cadiz we made our way to Barbate, not a huge amount to say about this place other than it’s a good place to stop before making your way around Tarifa, notorious for strong winds, and then through the Straits to Gibraltar

Cape Trafalgar. Doesn’t look much does it? However I’m sure I saw the red duster smarten itself up of its own accord.

We caught up with a nice Irishman Jim that we had originally met in Ayamonte and then again in Rota. He sails his Sadler 29 on his own and is from the Dublin area. Quite a character.

We had an amazing sail from Barbate to La Linea which is on the Spanish side of Gibraltar. One of our best sails yet, aided by the tides which run up to 3 knots and easterly currents of 1-2 knots on top of that that help push you through the Straits of Gibraltar.

Sails away and 1^st sighting of the rock

With Spain on one side of you and North Africa on the other, a mere 7.7 nautical miles at its narrowest it’s believed that Tarifa was the 1^st point of invasion from the Moors on their conquest of Andalucía.

Between 5 and 6 million years ago the African continent pushed into Europe and caused the Strait of Gibraltar to close up. The newly enclosed Mediterranean almost completely evaporated. Around 5 million years ago, more earthquakes caused the Strait to reopen dramatically and for several decades the early Rock of Gibraltar bore witness to the largest waterfall the world has ever known, as the waters of the Atlantic cascaded into the dried up sea bed of the Mediterranean.

The view from our marina Alcaidesa