We have now arrived in Cartagena on the Costa Brava (The
White Coast), so called because of its white cliffs, and have decided that this
is where we will stay for the winter.
Our last week on the Costa del Sol was spent in Aguadulce
with Kevin’s daughter Rachel, husband Mike and the two granddaughters Summer
and Taylor. They arrived on the 15th September and we met them at
the airport which meant an early start for us, which of late we are not used
to. After their plane arrived it seemed ages before they appeared through the
arrivals gate with both girls rushing to greet Kevin.
During their stay with us we took them out sailing on three
occasions, with both girls having a go at the helm, whilst summer seemed to
enjoy it Taylor was not so impressed and soon gave up.
On our first outing we anchored of a bay so that they could
jump in the sea off the back of the boat, it didn’t appear to bother either Summer
or Taylor that their feet could not touch the bottom.
Unfortunately on the other two occasions we took them out it
was to choppy for them to jump off the back of the boat so we took them out to
see if we could see any flying fish or dolphins, we did manage to see some
flying fish and a turtle but both girls were asleep and so missed them both.
The other days were spent on the beach; making sandcastles
or in Taylors case knocking them down, again both Summer and Taylor enjoyed
playing in the sea either on the surf
board or jumping the waves.
Again it didn’t seem to faze either of them when a wave
knocked them over and they went under the water they just came up laughing each
time.
During their stay, each
morning we were woken up with two smiley faces appearing around our cabin door
insisting it was time to get up, however on the day they were to go home it was
us insisting they got up, much to their dismay. When the taxi arrived to take
them to the airport Taylor flatly refused to get in and was eventually picked
up by Rachel screaming and kicking and plonked in the back of the taxi.
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| peace & quite |
It was so quiet after they had gone it seemed really
strange, but we couldn’t dwell on this too much as we had jobs to get sorted
before moving on the following day to our first port of call on the Costa
Blanca.
We left Aguadulce on the 23 September and headed for a place
called San Jose, the pilot book described it as an attractive small harbour,
with an attractive village nearby with walks into the country side. What it
didn’t indicate was that once you were in the harbour you would not get out
without difficulty if there was any wind.
As there was quite a lot of wind on the 24th we were stuck
there for at least another day, and wished that we had anchored in the next
bay.
The harbour fees were also one of the most costly
considering the few facilities offered and Kevin nicknamed the place Costa Lot,
and so would advise anybody going there to anchor in the next bay.
Form San Jose we headed to Aguilas, again the pilot book was
misleading on its information in relation to anchoring in the marina as it was
full of private mooring buoys, leaving very little room to anchor, especially
as the wind and swell were quite high there was nowhere that provided any
shelter. We made the decision to try anchoring in the next bay, by now the
swell was high and the boat was being tossed about quite a bit so I was
grateful when we entered the next bay, however our challenge wasn’t over as we
had to maneuverer between fishing nets and lobster pots to actually get into
the area where we could anchor with sufficient shelter from the wind and the
swell.
When we first arrived in Aguilas or first impression was
that it wasn’t up to much, but after going ashore the following day we were
both pleasantly surprised on how nice it really is, just goes to show you
should not base your opinion on first impressions.
As the weather forecast was predicting high winds with a
great deal of rain on the Friday we decided to only stay in Aguilas for two
nights before heading off to find safety in a marina. We initially intended to
head for Mazzaron but as we made good time we headed straight to Cartagena
which is a big commercial harbour and yacht marina offering good shelter no
matter what the wind direction.
At the time of arriving at the marina there was no wind,
however this all changed when we started to make our way to our mooring,
typical, and as the bow of our boat is light it is easily blown off, we had to
have a couple of attempts as we had to park it between two other boats, and
there was very little room manoeuvre.
Once we arrived we were informed that it was festival week
where the people of Cartagena were celebrating the Carthagineses versus the
Roman invasion, when we headed into town we observed lots of men, women and
children dressed up either as Carthagineans or Romans, and were also well
placed at the restaurant we were eating in to observe the march through the
main street depicting Hannibal’s march to Rome.
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| One regiment of the many marching Romans |
Whilst sitting at the restaurant it started to rain and so
we decided to head back to the boat before it got to heavy, it rained all
through the night and the winds were quite strong so neither of us got much
sleep. The following day as predicted the rain got heavier, we did attempt to
go out at one point and got absolutely soaked. By lunch time it seemed to ease
but that was just the lull before the storm, then the real downpour arrived
along with the thunder and lightning and so we were confined to the boat for
the rest of the day. We did at one point try to watch a DVD but noise of the
rain on the boat made it impossible to hear anything.
The festivities were apparently to run to the Sunday and so
we took a stroll to the festive camp on the final day, but there was not much
to see there other than numerous make shift bars, we suspected that by the end
of the night there would not be many sober people within the camp.
At 1800hrs there was to be the re-enactment of the great
battle, and as we sat at a bar by the harbour we watched the Roman army land
and march towards the battle ground, we did not go to watch. We did however watch
the victory march of the Romans later that night, the atmosphere was fantastic,
with everyone dressed up in the uniform of the different Roman regiments, and
the sound of the bands marching behind each one.
Cartagena is a lovely city with a lot of history and well
preserved old buildings, however some are just a façade as there is nothing
behind the front wall, buts it’s still all very picturesque and vibrant and one
of the reasons we have decided to moor our boat here for the winter.
Whilst here we took a train into Murcia, again a lovely old
town with a lot of history, Kevin scored several brownie points as he
accompanied me into the various shops without moaning or walking off once.
In a few days’ time however we will be moving north to
Alicante to meet up with Kevin’s son David who is coming out to join us for a
week before we make our final preparations to winterise the boat.
Distance travelled to date: 2286 Nm = 2630.6 Statute miles
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