We are almost at the end of our trip along the Costa del Sol;
we left Gibraltar on the 3rd September the skies were clear blue and
very little cloud; however it was a bit windy with gusts up to approximately 25
knots. As soon as we were out of the marina and in Gibraltar bay we put the sails
up, keeping a reef in the sails, the wind seemed to be coming in all directions
and at one point we were on a starboard tack and another sail yacht sailing
parallel to us was on a port tack. As we rounded Europa point wouldn’t you know
it the wind was now on the nose which meant tacking most of the way to our
destination, not only that we had an westerly current when it’s usually a easterly
one, this meant we were actually going backwards, so down came the sails and on
went the motor.
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| Europa Point Gibraltar |
Another challenge was the number of tankers at anchor that
we needed to navigate around and keep a watchful eye on in case any off them
decided to make way, there must have been over thirty.
Coupled with that we had to take action to avoid the
numerous drift nets that had been set along our course, especially as they were
difficult to see, the only clue was that there was usually a fishing boat at
the start of the net, but this was not always the case. Each time we had to
alter course we had to go quite a way to get around them, the whole journey
from Gibraltar to Puerto de la Duqueasa which is just under twenty miles took
six hours and forty minutes, we usually travel that distance in about three and
a half to four hours, so it could be said that the whole trip was both
challenging and frustrating.
The pilot book, which provides information on the various marinas
in to aid us in making our decision on which marinas to go to did not give
Puerto de la Duqueasa a very good write up but we thought the place was lovely.
The following day we were going to head off to Marina de
Bajadilla, which is just east of Marbella, but when we arrived Marbella seems
to merge both marinas so we decided to give it a miss and head of to the next
marina along the coast which was Puerto Cabo Pino. The guide book stated the
entrance was shallow but that a boat with a draft of two metres should make it
through the entrance okay. When we radioed ahead to check we were informed that
the entrance was only one point five meter and so it was on to the next marina
at Puerto de Fuengirola. The marina looked as if it was in need of a lot of
love and attention, there was no assistance provided with mooring and so this
was our first attempt at mooring stern to on our own and I have to say we did a
pretty good job, however we were packed very tightly between two other boats.
We decided to stay here for two nights as we had time to
spare, and so I got to go shopping, have to say Kevin was very patient, while I
browsed around usually he walks off. After a while I got to purchase two
dresses which met with Kevin’s approval, so all in all a good days outing.
Shopping done it was back to the boat and chores; I did the washing and
cleaning whilst Kevin mended the Head (toilet) pipe and fitted non slip surface
our plank so that it was no longer slippy.
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| High Tech boarding plank! |
Although the marina staff were lovely we decided to only
stay one night in this very run down marina, the following day we got up fairly
early had breakfast and then started to prepare the boat for casting of. When I
popped my head outside the cockpit wouldn’t you know it the whole of the starboard
side was covered in seagull poo and so Kevin had to give the boat a good wash
before we could set sail.
Our next port of call was Marina del Este, a privately run
marina which was absolutely beautiful, our mooring although tight between two
other boats was right in front of two Restaurants.
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| Steps from the boat to the restaurants |
At night the marina was lit up and it had a very romantic
feel to it. Whilst there we met another couple making their way to the Med,
Dave and Julie, they left England only a few days after us but apparently had
awful weather for most of the way down France and across North Spain, so I
think we obviously chose the right time to leave. Surprisingly when they
arrived in La Rochelle they moored next to Joe and Yvonne, the Irish couple we
met in La Rochelle.
We stayed in Marina del Este for three nights and spent one
of the nights with Dave and Julie, the evening started at 19:00. Dave and Julie weren’t able to gain access to their
boat as they had been using the chap’s next doors dingy to get on their boat, and
he had taken his boat out for the day, and so Kevin invited them on board for a
drink. By 2200 we still hadn’t eaten so it was off the boat to one of the restaurants
for a Pizza. At one point one of the waiters came to inform us that the
restaurant was closing but we could stay at the table as long as we wanted, it
was one o’clock before we went to bed, one of the latest nights we have had.
After Marina del Este we set of for Almerimar, where we had
arranged for Kevin’s daughter Rachel and family to join us. The pilot book
gives the place a good write up, and we were contemplating staying here for
winter. However when we arrived the whole marina felt dead, most shops were shut or empty and there didn’t seem to be
much of a live-a-board community as described in the pilot book. When we looked
at the beaches they didn’t look very nice and we felt were unsuitable for very
small children, so we decided to stay for just three nights and move on to the
next marina at Puerto Aguadulce to see if that was any better.
Dave and Julie had also headed down to Almirimar and on the
night before we left we were invited on to their boat for drinks, this time it
was a more respectable 23:30 when we left for bed.
We are now in Puerto Aguadulce, which we feel is better
suited for two small children, yesterday we took the local bus into Almeria so
that we could suss out the best way of getting Rachel Mike and the kids back to
the marina.
When we arrived at the bus station in Almeria we asked at
the information counter where we would need to catch the bus for the airport, we
were informed we needed to catch a number 20 bus in Central Square and was pointed
in the direction we needed to go. Well we couldn’t find where to catch the bus
so decided to locate the tourist information office, that in itself was a feat
and a half, the sign posts were sending us in all directions so in the end we
asked at a hotel. It was a good job we did or we would never have found it, it
took us nearly an hour to locate the tourist information office where they
provided us with a map and indicated where we would be able to catch the bus to
the airport. When we found the bus stop it was only a few hundred yards from the
bus station so we had clearly been sent in totally the wrong direction.
After locating the bus stop we headed off for lunch and
ended up at an American restaurant that served huge burgers, we settled for the
medium sized one but even that was filling. After lunch Kevin agreed to look
round the shops, I thought this was very amenable off him until I realised they
were nearly all shut. So it was back to the marina where we spent the remainder
of the day on the beach.
Today has been spent getting the boat ready for Rachel’s
arrival tomorrow, it will be the first time on this trip that we have had more
than one person staying with us for a week. This has meant both of us
condensing our wardrobe down even further and looking for further places to
stow various items.
This evening we plan to spend quietly on the boat in
anticipation of early mornings, excited children and potential chaos, but were
looking forward to it.
Distance travelled to date: 2129 nautical miles
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