We have actually re started our travels and have arrived at San Antonio in Ibiza. We were the fourth couple to leave Cartagena after having said farewell to John and Sally, Marcel and Helen and Charlie and Alison.
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| Helen & Marcel leaving Cartagena |
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| Charlie & Alison leaving Cartagena |
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| Mar Menor lift bridge |
We stayed in the Mar Menor for two nights, however we changed our anchorage site to ensure we had maximum shelter form the winds, although on the first night the sea state picked up and it was like being on a bucking bronco for several hours until it calmed down again. The following day the weather conditions were favourable for a good sail to our next anchorage, we set off navigating ourselves through the deeper areas of water as it can get quite shallow in some parts of the Mar Menor. However this did not stop us from running aground, the chart clearly showed we should have had four meters below us, but obviously the sands had shifted and we went from four meters to nothing in a matter of seconds. Kevin used the wind to heel the boat over thus lifting the keel enabling us to sail away to our next anchorage for the night.
The next day we set off to make our way to Torrevieja where the boat was to be lifted out of the water on the 15th for anti-fouling and change of sea cocks (valves). Within 30 minutes of setting off we were in thick fog, thank God for radar and a Fog Horn, as we came across several Spanish sailing vessels that did not have radar and were totally unaware we were in the vicinity until Kevin sounded the Fog Horn. The fog lifted just as approached the channel to exit the Mar Menor plus our timing was spot on for going under the bridge as it lifted at 1200hrs.
Again the weather conditions were favourable and we were able to sail all the way to Torrevieja and anchor just inside the harbour.
We spent two nights at anchor and then took the boat round to the marina be taken out of the water at 0900hrs as instructed, however it was 12:30 before we were actually lifted onto the hard standing. As we were not able to stay on the boat while the work was undertaken we had booked ourselves into a hotel for the week. The hotel was very clean and in a great position for us to be able to check on the work on the boat on a daily basis and was within easy reach of the seaside café bars and restaurants.
Torrevieja itself is a big tourist town and was obviously favourable with the Brits as we came across several, it also has a large population who get about on “Madge Mobiles” (reference to the TV programme Benidorm). You can sit in a café and buy nearly anything as the street sellers come peddling their wares. Whilst there we came across a really good restaurant where we ate most nights as the food was freshly prepared, the service was excellent and the price was very reasonable, we became very friendly with the waiters.
The town also staged a Ruta del a Tapas whilst we were there, you can sample a special tapas and have a drink for two euros, it’s a great way to eat and cheap too, after you have sampled the various Tapas bars you can then vote for your favourite one. By participating we came across some really good tapas bars along the back streets which we would not have tried otherwise, I think it will certainly make us more adventurous in trying out different places in the future.
Unfortunately we ended up staying in Torrevieja longer than expected as the work on the boat was not completed until almost a week later than envisaged. The day the boat was lifted back into the water it rained all day, and as it was not due to be lifted until 1600hrs we had to find somewhere to shelter as we had had to check out of the hotel. The sea state was very rough and the waves were crashing over the sea wall.
I just hoped it would have calmed down sufficiently for us to make our way to Alicante the following day.
The boat was eventually lifted back into the water at 1700hrs, and although we were pleased with the work undertaken we were disappointed in that we had to make daily checks to ensure they were actually doing what we had been quoted for.
Once in the water we then made our way back to the harbour anchorage where we had stayed on our arrival. That night it rained all night and there was lightening all around us, I just hoped we would be ok as we were the only boat at anchor, and we had a great lightening conductor with our 17.5 meter mast.
The following day we set off for Alicante, the sun was shining, the wind was in the right direction and the sea state had calmed somewhat, the waves now only being 1.5 to 2 meters high, which meant we had a great sail all the way to Alicante. Whilst there we bumped into Anita and Cliff another couple who had wintered in Cartagena and so they joined us for drinks on our boat and we had a great time catching up on what everybody had been doing.
The next day after checking the weather forecast Kevin thought it would be best if we made our way to Marina Greenwich where we had arranged for the delivery of a part for the oven as I had somehow managed to blow it up just before leaving Cartegena. We started out in fairly good conditions but about two hours into the journey the wind picked up considerably reaching 33 knots apparent at times which did not make for pleasant sailing, and required us to pull out the full wet weather gear.
The boat felt as if it was being tossed about all over the place as the waves were coming at us from all different directions, as the wind direction was bang on the nose Kevin decided to take in the Genoa and reef the main sail and motor sail the remainder of the journey whilst I was hung on for grim death.
We arrived in Greenwich marina, so named as it sits directly on the Greenwich Meridian line, at about 1600hrs, the winds were still quite strong and so we tied up to the fuel pontoon in the hope that they would eventually die down so that we could take up ore allocated berth. Unfortunately this was not the case and so at about 1730hrs with the help of the Marianaros we moored the boat bow to in a very tight space. This meant in order to get off the boat we had to climb over the guard rail onto the anchor and jump back onto the pontoon, this is something that should not be attempted after one too many alcoholic drinks, or without shoes which Kevin demonstrated on our last day. Taking into consideration that Kevin is very health and safety conscious he was attempting to get off the boat without shoes slipped lost his footing and ended up hanging off the bow holding on to the push pit rails, I don’t think I will ever forget his facial expression which said oh s….t now what, however he managed to pull himself up and so did not end up with an earlier than expected dip in the water.
Although the marina was expensive the staff could not do enough for you, they even gave us a lift to the supermarket and were willing to wait for us whilst we did our shopping but we told them we would walk back. On the Sunday they arranged for a taxi to take us into Altea where we spent the day, we strolled along the front and took a walk up to the old town which has fantastic views across to Benidorm.
We left Greenwich Marina on the 30th April and made our way across to San Antonio in Ibiza, a journey that would take approximately eleven to twelve hours. We woke up to no strong winds, a first for several days, and it seemed eerily quiet. As there was no wind at first we had to motor for the first two hours, then the wind picked up and were able to hoist the sails, the wind was just off our starboard stern quarter, and with the waves at approximately two meters pushing from behind we had a cracking several ours sailing until about 1600hrs when the wind died and we had to motor again. We were also fortunate to have a large pod of dolphins swim alongside us for about 30 minutes which was very entertaining and a first since coming into the Med.
We arrived in San Antonio at just gone six pm and found a good anchorage position, Helen and Marcel were still there and after making radio contact we were invited onto Dakini for dinner which was great as the thought of cooking after a long journey was not at all appealing to say the least.
Distance Travelled 2013: 197 Nm
Total Distance Travelled: 2668 Nm
Present Location: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=38.979195,1.306086&hl=en&sll=38.977277,1.304283&sspn=0.006255,0.009484&mra=mift&mrsp=0&sz=17&t=m&z=17
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