On The Other Side of The World

Well we are now in the Eastern hemisphere having crossed the Greenwich Meridian on our way to Ibiza, so not really that far away – it sounds good though!!!

Last time we were stuck in Roquetas de Mar waiting for the wind to ease and shift to a more favourable direction, after three days the wind looked better and we set off for a short hop of 20nm across the Bay to the headland of Cabo de Gata. Strong winds are pretty common here but we had timed it well and we anchored in an almost deserted bay under the lighthouse, just a few houses and a cafe ashore with spectacular scenery to spend the night with.  We found good holding in 3 – 5m with a sandy bottom with good shelter from the East, the other side of the headland seemed to offer good anchorage opportunities for Westerly winds.

The forecast for the next few days was for favourable winds F4 to F5 so we decided that we should make some miles towards the Balearics, especially since there were some F7 – F9 Westerly's heading NE towards us. We managed to keep ahead of them although we did get plenty of wind at times!!!

From Cabo de Gata we had a 50nm trip to Aguilas with forecast winds of SW F3-4,  it did not quite live up to expectations and we only managed 2 1/2 hrs of sailing the whole day.  We anchored just inside Aguilas harbour on the East side close to the beach and behind the fishing nets, normally a good place but there was enough swell rolling in to make it unpleasant. We did find a good open WiFi signal so we managed to get the latest weather and emails. The swell did not relent so we had to move further into the harbour where we found enough room to anchor just off the marina entrance buoys, but only about 2.5m of water – it was a good job we were only staying one night.

Off again the next day at 0730 for another 50nm trip to Tomas Maestre at the entrance to the huge inland sea of Mar Menor.  Again the wind had not listened to the forecast and we hardly managed any sailing, it is a good job we filled up with duty free diesel in Gibraltar.  The wind did pick up to 25knts late in the day just to make anchoring a bit more fun.  There is a well sheltered anchorage inside the first low rocky breakwater at Tomas Maestre where work started years ago on a new marina so there are a lot of steel piling walls in place but the project has been abandoned.  Just follow the channel buoys into the outer harbour and then turn east along the inside of the rocky breakwater, pass through a narrow gap between the breakwater and a line of pilings and into a perfectly sheltered anchorage, depth was at least 4m all the way in but it does shallow towards the east of the anchorage area, we anchored about 100m of the east shore in 2.5m. Unfortunately we did not have time to explore the Mar Menor itself so will have to save that for another time.

Seafront Parade at Roquetas	It’s Not Supposed to be That Shape!

Only 40nm the next day (Sunday 20th) so we had a lie-in and set of at 0800!!!  The forecast was NW F4-5 but once again it was wrong, this time we had F5-7 and spent most of the day with 2 reefs in main and Jib, but at least we made good progress at 7.5knts in some lumpy seas towards Alicante.  Eventually we rounded the Eastern corner of Alicante harbour and anchored in the lee of some hotels in a perfectly calm spot about 150m off the beach, 4m deep and good sandy bottom. 

We thought we would have a comfortable night but after a couple of hours a horrible swell built up from the South rolling straight in to the beach – not part of the plan especially seeing as the wind had been WSW all day. We decided to move up the coast to hide behind the next headland at San Juan, however when we got the anchor up Sue shouts that “Its Bent” – as you can see from the photo she wasn’t joking!!!  The anchor must have been so well buried in the sand that when the swell turned us across the shank must have bent before the anchor itself twisted in the sea bed.  This anchor has performed really well for over 4 years and put up with all sorts of winds and waves with no problems at all so the bend was even more surprising. Good job we carry a spare anchor (2 actually) so we could change over as soon as we got a chance.  Have to see about straightening the shank over the winter so we can keep the original as a back up. The replacement has a thicker shank so we are hopeful that it will not suffer the same fate!!!

Javea Harbour and Anchorage	Gardening on Nimrod

Another 50nm trip next day and another early start with NW F5 wind seeing us making good progress towards Javia, our last stop on mainland Spain before crossing to the Balearics. The wind gave up after about an hour and did anything but what the forecast said so we had all sorts of sail plans trying to make some progress but had to resort to duty free diesel again. The wind returned with a vengeance about midday and went up and down between 10 and 35knts for the rest of the trip, meaning lots of sail reefing and un reefing, at least the wind was off shore so the sea was not too bad.  We rounded the headland towards Javea where the wind veered so it was right on the nose for the last 5nm towards Javea.  The Pilot Book says anchoring is prohibited off the harbour entrance so we were planning to anchor to the East of the harbour but as we neared the harbour we could see a few other boats anchored and moored outside the harbour so we headed over for a look.  It was a great spot with plenty of room well inshore of the harbour entrance in 3 – 8m of clean sand, we found a spot about 150m off the beach in calm water, much appreciated after a hard days sailing.

Conejera Isl, Ibiza – Anchorage and Dinghy Landing	Conejera Lizard

Yet another early start with over 50nm to cover to get to Ibiza, this would be our 6th consecutive days sailing since leaving Roquetas so we were looking forward to a rest when we got to the Islands. Good progress to start with as the wind started out at over 30knts before settling to a more sensible 20knts for the rest of the morning.  The wind dropped off in the afternoon so we motorsailed and then motored the final 2hrs towards Ibiza.  We anchored in a deserted bay off Conejera Island across the bay from San Antonio, good shelter and a nice sandy bottom meant we had a nice calm spot to relax for a couple of days.  The island itself has no buildings apart from the lighthouse and is home to a large population of lizards that are easily seen when walking ashore, there is a good path from the little landing spot all the way up to the lighthouse and it is well worth the walk, even though the seagulls do get a bit close at one point!!  There is also plenty of opportunity to walk around the rest of the island.

Portinatx Anchorage	Portinatx at Night

A couple of days rest and recuperation at Conejera was great but we now needed to find a bit of civilisation to get some supplies and catch up with emails and weather.  We had a leisurely trip along the North coast of Ibiza to Portinatx, apparently parts of “South Pacific” were filmed here.  It is indeed a lovely spot with plenty of room to anchor as long as you find a sandy spot rather than weed, depths were around 5-10m with good holding in the sand. The only downside was the speedboat with inflatable rings running around the anchorage with screaming kids – it was fairly infrequent when we were there but I am sure it would be much worse in the peak holiday season.  However it all calmed down after about 6pm and peace was restored albeit you could still hear a couple of the hotel discos. There are also a couple of much quieter bays to the west where you could anchor in total peace.

Calm Anchorage, Santa Ponsa	Santa Ponsa Shoreline

The weather forecast looked good for heading to Mallorca on Saturday with a nice SSW F4 forecast for most of the day to see us steadily on our way to Port Andraitx, 53nm away. For once the wind was pretty much as promised and after a calm start until we got away from the lee of Ibiza we had full sail out for almost the whole passage across.  We headed in to Port Andraitx that looked very inviting as we approached and looked for a nice spot to anchor, unfortunately all the anchorage area has been filled with mooring buoys and the few possible places left were all a bit deep with 10-15m of water meaning we would need an awful lot of chain out and not really enough swinging room.  We headed down the coast to Cala Blanca and Cala Camp de Mar, as it was Saturday this was pretty full of motor yachts and day trippers but we found plenty of space.  Nearly everybody had left by 7pm but, again, we had an annoying swell rolling us around for most of the night, we even tried setting our stern anchor to hold us bows into the swell but we gave up after a couple of failed attempts in the near dark.

Next day we left early to head the few miles south to Santa Ponsa, the early start meaning we would be in the anchorage before all the day boats escaped from their marinas.  The anchorage is great with plenty of space in 3-10m of water and plenty of sandy areas between the weed, the water is crystal clear so you can watch the anchor all the way down to the sea bed. It is a busy place with bars and restaurants everywhere, the beach is also packed in the day.  With so many places ashore the prices seemed to have forced down by the competition with lots of places offering 3 courses for 8 – 10 Euros and local beer at around E2  a pint. Probably absolutely hectic in summer but at the moment it is a lovely place.  We are staying here until Caroline and Richard join us on Friday, then we will have to study the weather again and decide where we might visit before we have to drop them off in Sardinia 3 weeks later.

Hi all Sue here

Well it seems to have been go go go since the last blog! At last though we are staying put for a few days in Santa Ponsa and I can catch up with all the washing, in my lovely yellow buckets of course, and getting the boat ready for Caroline and Richards stay with us

You should have seen Chris’s face when I told him the anchor was bent. He gave me one of his looks and said “What do you mean the Anchors bent Sue!!” I said it is definitely bent. Off he stomped to the front of the boat for a look and came back and said “Well it was alright this morning when I pulled it up” Obviously my fault, been doing my Uri Gellar tricks again!! Ah well never mind it’s all sorted now because as you would expect Chris had a spare one.

Our walk up to the Lighthouse on Conejera Island was interesting with the seagulls attacking us, with Chris being taller they got closer to him than me so it does pay to be small sometimes. It was a very welcome stop though in a lovely peaceful bay.

After we left our friends Francis and Erica in Fuengerola  they had their dinghy pinched of the beach while they were walking Dodgy. The Marina and local authorities were most unhelpful and they ended up having to swim back to their boat at midnight. Poor Dodgy doesn’t like the sea but he very bravely swam all the way back to his boat!! They have managed to replace their dinghy in Almerimar so Dodgy’s walks can resume. That is the only problem with dinghies there isn’t many places you can lock them up.

Portinatx was really pretty and apparently it’s where they filmed South Pacific. Water is getting warmer now we even managed a swim and went out on the Kayak.

I believe the Olympic Torch is passing through our home town of Oswestry today ( Wednesday) so I imagine everyone will be out watching the memorable occasion. Hope you all have a good day.

Getting really excited now waiting for Caroline and Richard to arrive, it will be really great having them with us for nearly 3 weeks. Look out for pictures on next blog!!

 

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Back to England (Gibraltar) and Into The Med

The Southerly winds finally relented and moved round to the NW so after 4 nights anchored in Sancti Petri we had an early morning start to catch the ebb tide to send us on our way to Tarifa.  We managed a few hours sailing but it was mostly motorsailing as the wind was not quite enough to make the 45nm trip in a decent time.  The tides and current towards the Straits of Gibraltar also seemed to be about an hour later than the Pilot Book indicated but we did have up to 3knts pushing us on our way as we neared Tarifa. We rounded the Island and anchored just outside the harbour in a nice calm bay, the anchor dug in straight away and the water was clear enough to see the anchor land on the sand 5m down.  The bay is not very big with room for about 6 or 8 boats to anchor in up to 6m of water, great protection from the West but you do get a bit of wash from the fishing boats and ferries, although there was very little activity overnight.

A Quiet Park in Tarifa	Calm Anchorage at Tarifa

Next day we were heading to Gibraltar and La Linea, but not until late afternoon so we had time for a good exploration of Tarifa, plenty of bars and restaurants but only small supermarkets for supplies.

We set off for the 17nm trip to La Linea at 1600hrs to make the most of the strong tides through the Straits, we had 2 to 3 knts all the way until we turned into Gibralatar Bay. We also managed to sail all but the last mile, the Bay was full of anchored cargo boats and tankers as well as regular ferry traffic so we had to keep our wits about us as we sailed across to La Linea at the top of the Bay.  We anchored inside the La Linea breakwater, great protection and good holding in about 5m of water. The rumours about the Guardia Civil moving boats from this anchorage seem unfounded, we saw plenty of police activity but they never bothered us or anyone else anchored there – maybe it is different in the Summer!!!

Gibraltar Seen From La Linea	Sunset in Alcaidesa Marina, La Linea

Next day we moved into Alcaidesa Marina for a couple of nights so we could do the shopping and go and explore Gibraltar. Although the anchorage inside the breakwater is great there is nowhere very handy for landing the dinghy, the only place seemed to be on the town beach just West of the Club Nautico and this did not seem the safest place to leave a dinghy for any length of time.  Alcaidesa is a new marina and facilities where fine, however it is large and it means lots of walking to get anywhere – a bike would be very handy if staying for any length of time. Mercadona was about 20 mins walk from our berth, the border with Gib was about 15 mins and the centre of Gib a further 15 mins walk.

The first day we set off with our folding sack truck for a major shopping session at Mercadona, the truck was great as it would have been a very long way back if we had had to carry all the bags!!! Awake were also staying in the Marina and Jimmy & Lynn from Lagos also came in while we were there. Next day we went and explored Gibraltar, climbed to the top of The Rock and stocked up on English Essentials from Morrissons – Sue can tell you all about it!!!

Gibraltar Runway and La Linea From The Top Of The Rock	As Close as Sue Would Get To The Apes!!!

We moved back to the anchorage for one more night to save a bit on marina fees, Alcaidesa was costing us €34 per night because of the 50% extra for catamarans and also the high season charges start 1st May rather than 1st June as in much of the rest of the Med.  We also took advantage of the duty free fuel prices in Gibraltar to fill up the diesel tanks and the petrol can for the dinghy, diesel was 88.5p per litre.

Heading Down The Mediterranean Steps From The Top of the Rock	Europa Point As We Head Into The Med

Sat 12th May we set of at 0800 to make the most of the tide sailed down Gibraltar Bay to Europa Point and headed into the Mediterranean on our way to Fuengirola. Light winds and calm seas meant mostly motorsailing until the breeze picked up enough in the afternoon to sail the last couple of hours to the harbour.  We anchored in the outer harbour with Awake, good holding in about 5m of water but only really room for about 4 boats and very open to the East.

Sunday was another early start for a long trip of 55nm to Motril, hardly any wind so motored almost all the 11hrs it took us, at least the sea was calm and the sun was shining.  Anchored just south of Motril harbour off the beach, fine in calm weather but very open if the weather is iffy. There also looked to plenty of suitable anchoring places around the headland and at Calahonda, although most would only be useful in calm conditions, Calahonda was about the only little bay that would offer any shelter at all.

Early Morning Over Motril and Acres of Plastic Greenhouses	Entrance to Roquetas de Mar

This part of the coast is covered in acres of plastic greenhouses producing our winter fruit and veg so it is not very scenic, anyway we wanted to keep moving towards The Balearics.  We set off with the wind forecast to be less than 8knts all day so we planned a steady day motoring towards Cabo de Gata. All started  as planned until about midday when the wind started to pick up to over 20knts from the East (on the nose!!), the sea got very short and choppy and things were decidedly uncomfortable.  After a couple of hours it was pretty obvious it wasn’t getting any better and we would not make our planned destination so we changed the plan and headed into Roquetas de Mar.  A council run marina with very helpful staff and clean toilets and showers, also very cheap because high season charges do not start until June.  However the marina itself was nearly empty as the annual berth fees were increased by 33% this year so most boats have left. Still quite a large fishing fleet operating out of the harbour but surprisingly they all seem to obey the 3knts harbour speed limit so there is no wash from the comings and goings.

We have been here for three days because the easterly winds refuse to go away and the sea outside the harbour looks pretty horrible, we think we might be able to get a bit further tomorrow(Thurs) and the wind is then forecast to swing around more to the west so we should be able to make a good few miles towards the Balearics, hopefully we can get to Ibiza by the middle of next week – wait for the next update to see what happens!!!!

Hi all Sue here

Tarifa was a very pretty town to visit and the castle looked really nice from the outside but it was closed the day we were there although it said open on the notice board. We enquired at the tourist information as to why it was not open and were told it was because it was “Monuments Day” that means all the monuments have a day off from the public!! Very strange!!

Gibraltar was very busy and it seemed strange to be in this English place and staying in a Spanish Marina. We decided we had to have a day exploring the Rock and seeing the famous monkeys, tunnels and caves. There are three ways to get to the top of the Rock and most normal people choose the cable cars or taxis but Chris decided we had to walk!! It was a very hot day and we walked to the top with Francis and Erica, stopping of at various points of interest, and then descended via  the scenic route which are called the Mediterranean steps. That wasn’t the end of the day though as we also had a trip to Morrisons planned and a visit to a duty free shop to stock up on Vodka (£3.50 a litre or £7.50 a litre for Smirnoff)). We bought far too much in Morrisons and the Duty Free shop and poor Chris had to carry most of it in his rucksack (that will teach him for making me walk up the rock!!). I never thought my little legs would make it back to the boat!! We were all exhausted that night after our long day.

The wind as usual isn’t right for moving on but it is very hot here so that’s a bonus. It’s very quiet here in Roquetas de Mar and a lot of bars an restaurants are closed. Hopefully we will be able to move on tomorrow a bit further.

Into Spain Under Grey Skies

After a few days anchored in El Rompido it was soon time to move on again. We had anchored just West of the Marina in an area with no moorings, as we had motored up the channel into El Rompido we were starting to wonder where we could find room to anchor.  We had passed nearly 3nm of packed moorings on our way in, literally hundreds and hundreds of mainly small day boats, so it was a relief to see some open space behind the marina. The town itself was a typical Spanish holiday town with lots of bars and restaurants, a couple of supermarkets nearby but no easy place to land the dinghy, fortunately Dakini decided they needed a few days in the Marina so we could park the dinghy behind them in the Marina.

We had a nice meal ashore with Dakini and Awake to celebrate Sue’s Birthday, but after the cheap Portuguese places we had enjoyed recently the prices seemed a bit expensive, reports from friends ahead of us say we will have to get used to it because Spain is quite a bit dearer for eating out.

Sadly Helen and Marcel on Dakini were staying a bit longer than us so we had to say goodbye after spending a lot of time with them since there return to Lagos, no doubt we will see them again in the future.

Early Morning Departure From El Rompido	El Rompido and Some of the Hundreds of Moored Boats

Friday 27th April was a fairly early start (08:00) to catch the first of the ebb tide out of El Rompido and negotiate the shallow entrance safely, the channel is very well marked but even just after High Water we only had 1.5m beneath us at the shallowest points. We had a slow trip of about 20nm to Mazagon, light winds meant we sailed less than half the trip with the chugging of one or other diesel engine doing the rest of the work.  Mazagon is a town at the entrance to the busy commercial port of Huelva, the anchorage was a bit rolly despite being inside the harbour breakwater but holding was good and it was only for one night.

We left Mazagon on Saturday morning with a plan of heading towards Chipiona and then anchoring a bit further up the River Guadlquivir, just for a change the weather was not quite what the forecast said so after about an hour the wind had risen to over 20knts, at least it was not on the nose!!!  We decided it made more sense to head directly to Cadiz where we could anchor in a well sheltered spot to sit out the forthcoming strong SW winds. We had a pretty quick trip to Cadiz covering the 50nm in less than 7hrs, but the weather did keep us busy with reefing and changing sails fairly often as the wind increased and changed direction. At one point we had two reefs in the mainsail and two reefs in the jib with gusts well over 30knts, it is a long time since we have sailed with that number of reefs!!!

We sailed across Cadiz Bay and anchored in a shallow area to the South of the new suspension bridge that is being built across the Bay, however work seems to have ground to a halt and it seems the project has run into financial trouble. There was some work going on but the small number of workers will take decades to get the job finished.

San Juan Square and Town Hall	Merchant House, Cadiz

There was also a lot of projects evident in and around Cadiz that seemed to have ground to a halt before being finished, the Spanish economic troubles really seem to be having an impact on public spending projects. We had a stroll around Cadiz but it was a shame that all the interesting buildings seemed to be charging around 5 Euros entry, perhaps they are trying to improve the public finances by charging the tourists. The city itself is interesting with lots of old buildings, big plaza’s, narrow streets and open parks so well worth a walk around.

Santa Maria Convent, Cadiz	Plaza de la Constitution, Cadiz

We stayed three days in Cadiz and then set off for Sancti Petri, a trip of about 20nm, the forecast was for SW F3-4 but we ended up with SE F4-5, this was right in the direction we were heading!!!  We had a very uncomfortable passage with the sea state being very lumpy and mixed up – it was like being back in the Irish Sea again, we were very grateful to turn between the channel markers into Sancti Petri.  We motored through the lagoon past a surprising number of moored boats and anchored ourselves to the North of them.  The weather forecast for the next couple of days is not very encouraging so we will probably be staying here until Sunday or Monday before heading further South.  Even though we currently have winds of F5 from the South the anchorage here in Sancti Petri is pretty calm despite the lagoon entrance being wide open to the south, the twisting entrance and shallow sandbanks give very good protection.

Sue “Borrowing” Dodgie	Deserted Sancti Petri Beach

Hi all Sue here

Since we left Lagos we seem to have had strong winds with us all the way and unfortunately not always in the right direction. The forecast has quite often been for lighter winds but it doesn’t seem to happen and when they say sea state slight never believe them!! We had a very lively sail to Cadiz and a very lumpy one to Sancti Petri!!

Cadiz is well worth a visit even though a lot of work is still in progress, I’m sure many other places will be having the same financial troubles. We are still sailing with Francis and Erica off Awake and of course Dodgie the dog. Dodgie got run over by a motorbike in Cadiz but he’s ok, he’s a rescue dog and got his name after being found dodging the traffic in Portimao as a puppy. I was tempted to adopt a dog but think it’s best to just borrow Dodgie for now for my dog fix!!

Weather is still very mixed with SW F4-5 keeping us in Sancti Petri, forecast to change over the weekend when we hope to make our way to Gibraltar, only about 60nm to go so we could do that in one day if the wind and seas are good!!!  Looks like we might be stuck in Gibraltar for a few days as the wind is forecast to change to the East middle of next week!!!