Cartagena

The Roman theatre at Cartagena
 

3rd October We’ve finally arrived in Cartagena after a couple of overnight stops – the first at the very pretty resort of San Jose and the second at Garrucha.  The heavy rain we had last week has caused flooding all along the coast and all sorts of debris has been swept out to sea. During our passage we had to negotiate great rafts of bamboo, tree roots, branches, wooden planks, barrels and even sections of drainage pipes. Other boats saw animal carcasses but fortunately we were spared that.

Dorry and Steve leave for Majorca  in Bluebottle III

4th October As we ate breakfast on deck this morning we spotted Dorry and Steve, one of the couples we met at Almerimar, taking their boat to the fuel pontoon. Apparently they’ve been here for a couple of days and had hoped to see us. Sadly they’re leaving for the Balearics today so we won’t have a chance to catch up. Maybe next year?

 

Cartagena waterfront

Zulo, a monument by Victor Ochoa to the victims of terrorism

5th October We’ve been exploring the town over the last couple of days and really like what we’ve seen so far. It’s a fascinating mix of old and new: wide boulevards shaded with palm trees, elegant art deco buildings, amazing modern sculptures and some interesting roman and byzantine remains. On a more practical level there’s a good range of shops, including four big supermarkets and three chandlers.

Yacht Port Catagena - our marina

 

Cruise ships dwarf the yachts

Cartagena is set in a bay surrounded by hills on three sides, so our marina is well protected. There’s always something to see from our deck as Naval, commercial and fishing boats sail in and out of the harbour. There’s also a cruise ship terminal right next to the marina. So close, in fact, we spent an entertaining hour on deck today listening to their lunchtime Trivia Quiz!

We’ve decided this will make a good base for the winter, so we have now booked in here until the beginning of April. We’re hoping to do some travelling in between (on land) to see some more of Spain.

7th October We were invited to a live-aboards' BBQ in the marina today which gave us the chance to meet people from the other boats. Everyone was very friendly and we've agreed to get together for a BBQ every week, and to introduce some other regular social activities too. There seem to be a plenty of boats over-wintering here so we're hoping for a good social life.

Almerimar

Almerimar marina

22^nd September.  We’re now thinking about where we will stop for the winter. We plan to live on the boat in a marina until April next year, so we’d like to find somewhere with a good live-aboard community and plenty to do and see. We decided to come and look at Almerimar because it’s one of the cheapest marinas in southern Spain and it’s very popular with live-aboards.

The port is on a flat coastal plain backed by the Sierra Nevada mountains. The fields here are covered in acres of plastic sheeting for growing winter crops – from a distance it looks as though it has snowed!

23^rd September.  We took a walk around the port today.  There are long beaches either side backed by holiday apartments. There’s no village or town as such – the nearest is 4km away – but the port has a good selection of bars and restaurants and the best shopping facilities we’ve seen near to a marina. The area is very popular with Brits and the local entertainment is typical of what you might expect to find in a British resort – pub quizzes, karaoke nights, Elvis impersonators and a busy Sky Sports bar.

Boat buddies: Anita, Geoff, Vicky, Steve and Dorry

Everyone is friendly and we soon got to meet the couples on the boats either side of us. Vicky and Geoff on Wraith are staying for the winter before crossing the Atlantic on their way back home to Australia, while Dorry and Steve on Bluebottle III are stopping for a few nights on their way to their marina in Majorca.

Perfect weather for kite surfing, but too rough to sail

27^th September. We had only planned to stay here for a couple of days, but the weather Gods have decided otherwise. We’ve had high winds for three days and torrential rain is forecast for the next couple of days. Thank goodness there’s a good social life – we went to the local ‘pub quiz’ in a beachside restaurant last night with 18 other ‘liveaboards’. It was a good fun, especially as our team won!

29^th September. It’s still raining and so cold that we’re back to wearing macs, jeans and sweatshirts. The weather’s due to clear tomorrow so we’re hoping to sail further up the coast to look at Cartagena – another possible destination for a winter berth.