Punta de la Mona

Marina del Este with its rocky outcrop

Tuesday 18^th September. We arrived Marina del Este today after an overnight stop in Benalmedina. The setting is spectacular and feels more Caribbean than Spanish – no wonder this area is called the Tropical Coast. The port is tucked between the pineclad headland of Punta de la Mona and the rocky outcrop of Penon de las Cabellas.



La Herradura bay

Wednesday 19^th September. We walked over the headland to the town of La Herradura today and bought fresh fish and vegetables in the market. It was a long, steep and hot walk but we were rewarded with some spectacular views. When we returned we were able to cool off with a swim in the crystal clear waters off the marina beach - we agreed it was the best swim we’ve had this year.

Friday 21st September. We had planned to move on yesterday, but the weather Gods are against us. The wind has increased, the waves are crashing against the rocks outside and Sandpiper is doing an ungainly dance in the water. We’re hoping the winds will ease tomorrow so that we can sail on to Almerimar.

La Duquesa and Estepona




Enjoying life at La Duquesa

Sunday 9^th September. We sailed to La Duquesa today. When we checked the weather this morning the forecast was for mild winds, which was great, as Mum sometimes suffers from motion sickness and we weren’t sure how she would cope in the boat. As we sailed out of the marina we had 8 knots of wind. Five minutes later, out in the bay, the wind had accelerated to 22 knots, head on, and the sea had a nasty chop that sent spray arching over the boat!  Forecasts are all very well, but they don’t allow for the ‘Gibraltar’ effect – the Rock produces its very own microclimate.

As I wrestled with the helm Cliff dashed below to find some waterproofs to give to Mum. I wondered whether we should turn back, but then I looked at Mum, and saw she was grinning from ear to ear -  she was clearly enjoying it! Once we had rounded the Rock the wind backed and dropped to around 12 knots, enough to give us a gentle downwind sail for the rest of our passage. The only disappointment was not seeing dolphins. Mum has never seen them in the wild and we were hopeful of a sighting as we had been told they are often seen in Gibraltar bay.

 

Mum at the helm

Monday 10^th September. La Duquesa is a small, quiet marina built as part of a tourist development and named after the local castle. It’s a pleasant place to spend a couple of days; it’s architecture  blends well with the scenery and there are good sandy beaches on either side of it.

With Mum on the seafront

 

 It was good to see Maggie and Nigel again

Tuesday 11^th September.  Our friends Maggie and Nigel (neighbours from home) drove up from their holiday villa near Cadiz to visit us today. It was great to see them again and catch up with their news. Cliff cooked a BBQ on the back of the boat then after lunch we walked down to visit Castillo de la Duquesa – a small castle built in 1767 that now houses a museum of fencing and the local archaeological museum.

 

Castille de La Duquesa

 

 

Maggie and Nigel at the castle

 

Wednesday 12^th September. Mum said she would like another sail before she went home, so we decided to travel five miles up the coast to Estepona today. There was very little wind but we raised the sails anyway and drifted along at 2-3 knots, hoping that we might spot some dolphins. Then, as if to order, a large pod appeared and swam past the boat, gracefully jumping and diving through the water!

Thursday 13^th September. Mum flew home today. We all took the bus back to Gibraltar to see her off.  I was sad to see her go. It’s been great having her over and we have been amazed by how easily she adapted to life on the boat.







Estepona seafront

 

The clock tower in the old town

 

Friday 14^th September. Estepona is a town of two halves – the seafront is typical of many Spanish resorts, a long sandy beach backed by modern high rise hotels and apartments.  But behind this is an old town that has retained its character, with narrow cobbled streets, whitewashed houses and shaded paved squares. Today we walked to the old town and spent a lazy morning in a café in Plaza de las Flores, sipping coffee, admiring the houses with their ornate balconies and simply watching the world go by.

 

Plaza de las Flores

 

 

Gibraltar

View from our mooring

 

Wednesday 29^th August. Well, we finally made it to the Med! We left Cadiz yesterday, rounded Cape Trafalgar (site of the famous battle) and spent last night in Barbate. We set off early this morning to catch the tide through the Gibraltar Straits. The narrow gap between Spain and Africa (less than 8 nautical miles at its narrowest) creates fast currents and high winds, so it’s important to choose the right weather to sail through it. The Almanac told us that the wind off Tarifa blows at 30 knots or more for 300 days each year, so we were expecting a challenging sail. 

Luckily for us, both wind and tide were in the same direction (behind us) and the wind was moderate for most of the day. But as we turned into Gibraltar Bay the windspeed doubled to 22 knots and we had an interesting time dodging the oil tankers lining up to go into Algeciras. We finally made it safely into Marina Bay, remembering to keep well clear of the airport runway that lies right next to the marina entrance.

We had a good view of the planes taking off and landing

Thursday 30^th August. Our mooring has an excellent view of the Rock…and also of the airport! The latter has turned out to be less of an issue than I expected, as there are only a handful of flights each day and none at night. The marina is popular with liveaboards and is very friendly. We walked into town today and found it strange to see BHS, M&S and other British shops in a Mediterranean environment.

Friday 31^st August. We went to Morrisons today and Cliff was in seventh heaven as he stocked up with Peanut Butter, Marmite and Cheddar Cheese! He also stopped at M&S to pick up some shorts and shirts in a smaller size – he has lost so much weight over the last three months that his clothes are falling off him.

Saturday 1 September. The ‘Levanter’ wind set in today – a strong easterly wind that also brings cloudy weather. We’re grateful for a bit of cloud after so much heat, but our mooring is exposed to the east and the boat is surging back and forth and then moving wildly from side to side – it’s a bit like being on a Bucking Bronco. We’re moored stern to with a passerelle (gangplank) from the stern to the quay. There’s a metre plus drop at low tide and the passerelle sits at an alarming angle. This and boat movement has made it interesting getting on and off the boat. At the lowest tide we decided to dispense with the passerelle altogether and opt for a wild leap to shore instead.

Sunday 2 September. We got the bikes out today to do a circuit of the Rock. The city sits on the west side of the rock and is an odd mixture of austere concrete military fortifications, modern high rise flats, multi-story  car parks and older houses with pretty shutters and ornate iron balconies. The east side is sheer rock edged by beaches – the most attractive is at Catalan Bay, a fishing village originally populated by Genoese fishermen, and with a very different feel to the rest of the area.

Monday 3 September. We’ve decided to get a few things fixed on the boat while we’re near an English speaking boatyard. The riggers were first to arrive this morning to re-rig our Lazyjacks and look at the problem with furling the genoa. They stood on the quay for some time before chancing a leap onto the boat (the wind is still blowing a hooley) and weren’t keen to go up the mast, but this is the only day they could fit us in, so it had to be done.

Later on the plumber arrived to try and solve the problem of a permanent dribble from our hot water system. He thinks he’s found the answer and is coming back tomorrow.

I’m flying back to UK tomorrow for a hospital appointment about the cataracts in my eyes (yes, I didn’t know people my age got them either). I’m back again on Friday and bringing my Mum out with me for a week’s holiday. Mum is 90 and bright as a button, but is unsteady on her feet, and we’ve been worrying about how we will be able to get her on and off the boat on this mooring. We’ve checked, and there aren’t any other moorings available in Gibraltar just now, though the situation may change by the end of the week.

Wednesday 5th September. I waited three hours at the hospital to be told what I already knew – that I need an operation on both eyes. At least I’ll be on the waiting list now. It was lovely to spend last night back in Worplesdon (thanks Tricia!) and to see Mum today.

Arriving with Mum at Gibraltar

Friday 7^th September. We flew back today. While I’ve been away Cliff has managed to find us a calmer mooring in Ocean Bay, at the more upmarket end of the marina. We are now surrounded by super-yachts! Cliff has been busy cleaning the boat inside and out, and there’s good and bad news about our plumbing. The good news is that it’s now all working properly. The bad news is that as soon as the plumber fixed the pressure problems, the pump failed, so we’ve had to replace that too.

Mum and I at the top of the Rock

Saturday 8^th September. We woke to heavy cloud again but it cleared by early afternoon so we decided to take the cable car up to the top of the rock. It was worth the effort – there was a good view down over the town and across to Spain on one side and Africa on the other.

Ape with the stolen Fanta

The rock is famous for its Barbary apes which roam freely at the top. The apes are quick to spot food and drink, and when we got to the viewing platform a young ape grabbed a can of Fanta from the woman next to us, poured it onto the ground and licked it up! The adult apes generally looked listless and bored with life, but the youngsters were more lively, and we managed to video two very sweet infants playing together.

Video of baby apes playing

There’s a big concert tonight in the sports arena featuring Jessie J and UB40. As we sipped our sundowners on deck we watched a wedding party celebrating on a super-yacht opposite. Then there were yelps of excitement from the bridesmaids as another super-yacht pulled in behind them and Jessie J and her entourage appeared briefly on the back, before being whisked from the yacht to a waiting black limo.

If the weather’s good tomorrow we’ll head out of Gibraltar and up to La Duquesa on the Costa del Sol.

Chipiona and Cadiz

Chipiona old town

Friday 24^th August. We arrived in Chipiona today after spending a couple of days in the beach resort of Mazagon. We had plenty of wind for our sail here, but also plenty of swell, which made for a rolly ride. As we approached Chipiona the water got shallower and the sea became rougher, so we were glad to be going into harbour. But as we started to roll the genoa in, it jammed solid. We unfurled it and tried again, but the same thing happened.  The only solution was to drop the genoa, which meant turning the boat into the wind and waves, and Cliff going forward to wrestle the genoa down as the waves broke across him on the foredeck.

Spain's tallest lighthouse

 Saturday 25^th August. We explored Chipiona today. It’s an interesting town with lots to see – it boasts Spain’s tallest lighthouse and is home to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Regla, better known as the ‘Black Madonna’. The sanctuary is a striking building, set just above the beach. One unusual feature in the church is the font, which is made from half of a large clam shell – we imagined the priest would need to be very careful to avoid catching the baby on the sharp edges!

Sancutary of Our Lady of Regla

The clam shell font

 We were also fascinated by the Chipiona fish corrales – these are rock formations off the beach that have been enhanced since Roman times to form large natural pools. At high tide the water rises above the rock walls allowing fish to swim into the pools, and as it recedes the fish are stranded and are then caught by the fishermen using spears and other traditional tools.



Plaza de Espana in Cadiz

Monday 27^th August. We sailed to Cadiz yesterday, there was very little wind and we motored most of the way. The marina is 2km from the city centre so we got the bikes out today and cycled in. What a brilliant, fascinating city! Its heyday was in the 19^th century when it hosted the signing of first Spanish constitution and was the centre for trade across continents.  The merchants had grand houses built with watch towers on them so that they could look out over the bay and see the ships with their goods coming and going. We started our cycle tour admiring the merchants' houses near Plaza Espana then cycled along the battlements and through shaded gardens with wonderful views across the bay.  We finally wound our way down the narrow cobbled streets to the main square and the impressive cathedral.

Cadiz roofline showing the watch towers on the merchants'  houses

Cadiz cathedral

I’m not a great church lover but Cadiz cathedral is truly majestic – apparently it’s the largest church in Spain. The organist was practising as we wandered around inside the cathedral and we were treated to Toccata by Bach, which fitted perfectly with the surroundings. We also discovered a new taste at a tapas bar across the square from the cathedral – grilled goats cheese and walnuts on toasted bread spread with wine marmalade. It was so good we ordered a second round!

The other highlight in Cadiz was highest of the original watch towers - Torre Tavira - which  had a Camera Obscuring offering a bird’s eye view of the city. As the camera operator moved it around he gave us a guided tour, explaining the history of the buildings we could see.