We are now back in Cartagena after travelling up to Alicante
to spend a week with Kevin’s son David. We left Cartagena on the 7th
of October and we intended to anchor where possible on our way up the coast,
our first anchorage was Cabo de Palos, approximately 20 Miles up the coast from
Cartagena. At first there was very
little wind but as we had plenty of time to get there we decided to try and
sail all the way, in all it took six hours to sail the 22 miles, the wind was
not in the ideal direction which meant we had to tack several times. As we
rounded Cabo de Palos the wind picked up along with the swell as per usual, we
just hoped that the anchorage enabled us to tuck in behind the cliffs enough to
get sufficient shelter from the swell.
As we entered the bay there were several fishing nets that
we had to manoeuvre around before we could find our ideal spot and drop the anchor,
we were well sheltered from the wind and swell. The anchorage itself is North
East of Cabo de Palos and is at the south end of the Mar Menor which is an inland
sea some 12 miles long and 6 miles wide and is separated from the Mediterranean
by a narrow band of sand. The whole length of the strip of sand has been
heavily developed, and La Manga is its most well-known holiday resort. However
at night it looks as if most of the buildings are empty as there were no lights
on at all in many of the buildings.
The anchorage was lovely and peaceful and so we decided to
stay there for two nights, the following day we got up and rowed ashore and
took a stroll up the light house which is huge and looks as if the square
building at its base is lived in, the views from which must be fantastic.
After our two nights at Cabo de Palos we moved on to Pedro del
Pinatar which is at the top end of the Mar Menor, there is a marina there but
we decided to anchor in the bay just on its
north side. It had been a very hot day and the first thing we did once
anchored was to dive into the sea to cool down. There were a couple of other
boats also anchored in the bay but they didn’t stay the night and it was quite
obvious when they passed us that their occupants had been swimming and
sunbathing starker’s.
As we sat and ate our tea on deck we pontificated on how
peaceful it was, that was until we went to bed, when the night shift started
for a fork truck driver, all night you could hear the reversing beep of a fork
lift truck and so not much sleep was gained that night. The following day as
the wind was not supposed to pick up until the afternoon we decided to make our
way further north after lunch as we only had about 9 miles to go to our next
anchorage at Torrevieja. However as we approached Torrevieja it looked like a concrete
jungle, all you could see was miles and miles of buildings and so we decided to
give it a miss and continue further north until we found a place we liked the
look of.
Unfortunately due to the increasing swell and nowhere along
this stretch of coastline to tuck ourselves in we moved onto Puerto De Santa
Pola, it was now getting late and we hoped that the marina office was open and
that there would be someone there to help us moor up as there was no reception
birth as at other marinas.
As luck had it we were fine and by 8pm we were moored up, we
had a quick tea and then set off to have a look round. The place was much
bigger that we had anticipated, the marina looked new and well maintained and
the staff were very friendly. We found a bar near the marina and treated
ourselves to a glass of wine each which cots us just 3 euros, back in England
you wouldn’t get one glass for that price let alone two.
Whilst there we took the bikes and first cycled to see the
salt mountains, which were not much to look at. We then went in search of the
flamingos but they had obviously migrated for the winter, we cycled up to the
headland. We took a track of the main road that seemed to go on for miles,
eventually we came across a tarmacked track which looked to be going in the
right direction. When we arrived at the headland the views were spectacular and
we could see our final destination Alicante just further up the coast, and
Benidorm further in the distance.
Later that evening the clouds closed in and we had the
predicted thunderstorm along with the rain, we were just glad we were in the
marina and not at anchor.
We liked Santa Pola so much we stayed there for 4 nights
before making our way to Alicante. When we arrived the marina looked very busy,
and the reception pontoon looked full, however the marianair shouted over to us
and indicated where he wanted us to moor up on the reception pontoon. To say it
was in a tight space was saying something, plus the wind was not in our favour
and I must admit I thought we wouldn’t be able to get into such a tight spot,
plus we had an audience, however hats off to Kevin he made it look like a piece
of cake and the marianair congratulated him on a job well done.
We had previously emailed the marina to check on
availability of moorings, they had replied back that there should not be a
problem, however on the day we arrived it was the start of the Spanish holiday
week and there were very little spaces. They did however find us a mooring
which by their accounts was not in an ideal place and would try and move us the
following day if a berth became vacant. Our Mooring was against a concrete
pontoon and was high enough for us to step of the boat easily for a change. It
was also directly opposite a huge replica galleon, which looked as if it could
be a night club it was certainly some sort of bar come restaurant, and was
frequently being photographed with people posing in front of it and I mean
posing, the Spanish seem to have it off to a fine art form.
On the Monday of David’s arrival it was all hands on deck to
get the back cabin ready, bikes set up, washing and cleaning done plus the
shopping. At 7:30pm we set off to catch the bus to the airport to meet David,
to say the driver drove like a bat out of hell would be an understatement,
however we did arrive in plenty of time.
On David’s first day with us we went up to the castle, again
the views were spectacular and it was David’s job to take on the role of David
Bailey and take lots of pictures which he did with great aplomb. While he was
with us in Alicante David took every opportunity to keep fit.
On the Wednesday we sailed across to Isla De Tabarca, which
was once an old pirate base, when they were finally driven out a small
fortified village was built to prevent further occupation. The inhabitants of
the island have for generations lived a very frugal and isolated existence.
There is also a large area around the island that is a reserve where fishing and
anchoring are forbidden, however there are a couple of small reas where
anchorage is allowed.
As we aren’t allowed to use our barbeque in the marina at
Alicante, we had bought some fish the day before to barbeque whilst at anchor
just off the island which was scrumptious.
After lunch we took the dingy ashore and walked around the
island, and once again David took on the role of David Bailey taking lots of
pictures for our album.
Back at the boat it was time to have a swim, with both Kevin
and David jumping off the back of the boat; however this wasn’t fun enough for
either of them and so Kevin set to in attaching “The Plank” in such a way that
they could use it as a diving platform. The funny thing was at first Kevin got
“Plank Fright” and it took him ages before he plucked up the courage to finally
dive off.
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| David using our "Plank" diving board |
Unfortunately after David’s third day with us the weather
changed and it started to rain on and off. On one of the rainy days we went to
the Volvo yacht race museum, which I have to say was great and real good value
for money, we actually spent two hours in there. It was then off to see a real
tall ship replica which had actually travelled quite a few thousand miles,
unlike the replica positioned opposite us at the marina.
Alas David’s time with us was soon over and on 22nd
October we waved him goodbye before we ourselves made our way back to
Cartagena. As we set off the wind was in the right direction for a change and
at a speed that ensured we could get between 6.5 to 7 knots, and so would make
Cabo de Palos by 4:30pm. However the wind died just after lunch and changed
direction and so we had to motor the remainder of the trip, eventually arriving
at 6pm, unfortunately this time it was too cold to go swimming off the back of
the boat.
The following day it was up at daybreak and off to Cartagena
where we will now stay until we fly back to the UK on the 29th
November. Since arriving back here we have met several other people who are
staying in Cartagena for the winter and apparently there is a weekly barbecue
on a Sunday which we are looking forward to attending.
Unfortunately Kevin has not been feeling well it appears he
has been bitten by something which has become infected and so he had to take a
trip to the hospital to try and get some antibiotics. He was very pleased with
the treatment he received and once he had found which part of the hospital he
needed to be he was seen promptly and efficiently, he had nothing but praise
for staff and service. Glad to say he is now back to his normal self, with his
teasing and sarcky comments.
Our present position: https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=37.5973,-0.982676&hl=en&sll=37.594852,-0.985165&sspn=0.038424,0.089951&mra=mift&mrsp=0&sz=14&t=m&z=14
Total distance travelled to date: 2471 nautical miles
