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.