Costa Tropical, Andalucia, Gibraltar and Morocco (Afloat in the Med)

CARTEGENA
Tues-Wed 10-11th August

25nm, 5hrs 20mins. We leave very early, into flat seas, but on rounding Cabo de Palos we find we’re heading into 15-20kts wind and 2.5m waves. Ruth helms superbly for 4hrs in testing conditions, then we enter the shelter of the large inlet at Cartagena and finally, the excellent marina. The town (port) is ancient, very rich in history and visual attraction. We stay 2 nights, exploring and vowing to return as soon as possible. A really lovely place.

AGUILAS
Thurs 12th August

30nm, 5hrs 20mins. Very little wind, so after having filled up before leaving harbour, we’re motoring all day. At 11:00 we glimpse dolphins in the distance and at 16:00 we enter the attractive little harbour at Aguilas and anchor.

SAN JOSÉ
Fri 13th August

44nm, 8hrs 15mins. A passage memorable for its duration but more particularly for the complete absence of wind or wave for the entire time. A millpond sea – very eerie . . and we get to the very pretty small bay and village at San José. The water is blue and crystal-clear – we can see the anchor setting 5m down! Another place to return to.

AGUADULCE
Sat 14th August

26nm, 5hrs 15mins. Some reasonable sailing today as we round the prominent Cabo de Gata headland and cross the wide bay towards Almeria. We stop for a while at the marina there, then press on to nearby Aguadulce for the night. We’re now thinking about possible winter season moorings and both these are on our ‘potential list’.

Sun-Tues 15-17th Aug
ALMERIMAR

17nm, 3hrs 30mins. Motoring again – what wind there is (not much) being ‘on the nose’. We stop in at Roquetas for a look-see (looks nice, looks small) before arriving at Almerimar – a very large marina and a well-known wintering place. It’s better than some people have said and we stay a few nights (a) to check it out and (b) because on one day there are force 7-8 conditions outside that we’d much rather avoid.

Wed 18th Aug
MOTRIL

36nm, 7hrs. The West wind gusts up to 25kts, dead on the nose, and we motor into moderate seas. Ruth is not feeling too good at times but the anchorage inside Motril‘s large harbour is at least safe and pleasant.

Thurs-Fri 19-20th Aug
CALETA DE VELEZ

29nm, 5hrs 30mins. Not good. Motoring all day and Ruth is nauseous, dizzy and has a bad headache. When we arrive at Caleta de Velez (nice small marina) some action needs to be taken. We visit a first-class Danish optician (maybe her contact lenses are the cause?) and the following day take the bus to Nerja to a similarly good South African doctor. It appears highly likely that sinusitis is to blame.

Sat-Sun 20-21st Aug
BENALMADENA

23nm, 4hrs 50mins. Ruth takes the bus via Malaga and the skipper sails alone across the bay to Benalmadena‘s large marina development. Being Saturday, the place is really jumping with all sorts of boats coming and going, tourists, shops and (lots of) restaurants. We meet up for supper with our friends John and Jennifer (on holiday here), then the following day sister Trish and nephew Giles arrive.

Mon 23rd-Tues 31st Aug
FUENGIROLA + CABO PINO

A holiday week of short passages up and down the coast, anchoring to swim off the boat, mooring-up to lie on various beaches, driving to explore the inland attractions of the area, visiting Ruth’s aunt and uncle in La Cala, and eating out! Great to see Trish and Giles, and we have a lovely time with them. The weather’s interesting – misty in the mornings but really hotting up by midday. One morning we actually switch the radar on, visibility’s so poor.

Wed-Thurs 1st-2nd Sept
MARBELLA

15nm, 3hrs. We want to see what Marbella’s really like, so we sail down the coast to Bajadilla, the least known of Marbella’s three marinas. It’s small and very well kept, unlike the supposedly glitzy and definitely over-priced Puerto Banus. We’d like to stay for the winter, but “no spaces” (the perennial cry in this part of the world). We add our names to the waiting list anyway.

Friday 3rd Sept
SOTOGRANDE

24nm, 3hrs 55mins. Continuing our exploration of south Andalucian marinas, we travel over another glassy sea to Sotogrande. A large marina, we think there might be places there, but that it’s reputation is “isolated”. It is very well looked after – the marina, the surrounding developments and the various restaurants that look out over the boats. Food shops? not really. This is a beautiful monied ghetto of lovely waterside apartment blocks, near to a world class golf course and polo ground. But miles from anything else of slightly more practical everyday utility.

Sat-Mon 4th-6th Sept
GIBRALTAR

15nm, 3hrs. Ever since we left Bajadilla we could see The Rock (and the Moroccan coast) on the horizon and we just have to travel that bit further, to Europe’s southern tip. Gibraltar – of course many have sailed there before us, but it’s a personal achievement nevertheless. The trip includes avoiding numbers of fishing boats and their lines of floating nets and rounding the rock – Europa Point – where even on this calm day the seas and winds are lively. Then we weave a path through the many anchored ships to the Customs Quay – Gibraltar is outside the E.U and we must dig out our yellow “Q” flag and seek Pratique. Next, a surprise – all three marinas are full and we must anchor up next to the airport runway. We’re disappointed, our plans for exploring and shopping at Safeways thwarted, but every cloud has a silver lining. We are treated to two hours of aerial acrobatics courtesy of the R.A.F. Noisy but exciting. The following day we phone up early and grab a marina berth at Queensway, the closest to central Gib (and Safeways!). Like all three marinas, Queensway is rolly at times, but also very pleasant and very friendly. (No chance of a winter berth there, either)

29th September
ESTEPONA – MARBELLA

From Gibraltar we travelled back, to Estepona, which we liked a lot and where we stayed for some days, thinking we would probably return for the winter, because there was a good chance of a berth. But we returned to Bajadilla, it being slightly more convenient for some things we had to do and organise.

Once again, we like Bajadilla a lot – it’s small-ish, quiet, not as expensive as some hereabouts, good clean facilities and a nice walk into Marbella along the sea-front (beach-front).

7th April
GIBRALTAR

48nm, 12hrs. We decide to move Grehan to Gibraltar for the long-term. The skipper and good friend Colin Stanford sail and motor, in the teeth of no-wind and then contrary wind down to Europa Point and just manage to get ’round before patience runs thin . . .

Gib is obviously very different from Spain – and yet not. The locals speak both Spanish and English, usually in the same sentence. There is a lot of building work going on – Spanish contractors – and the skipper gets a job installing lots of smart Italian wardrobes into a big new multi-storey apartment block.

30 Sept – 4 October
MARINA SMIR – MOROCCO

28nm, 4.5hrs (each way). Marina Smir, across the Straits on the eastern Moroccan coast, has a good reputation. So that’s where the skipper and Colin, together with Julie+Chas on their Southerly 105 “Noosa”, take Grehan for a long-overdue lift-out, scrub-down and bottom-paint. The marina is modern, quiet and the staff are friendly and very professional. A good decision.