18th March update, Cartagena

5th March – 18th
So, we arrived at Caleta de Velez on Tuesday 4th and were there until the 6th when we went to Motril. Velez was another of these places where an injection of cash would lift the town that extra little bit, however, it is a nice place with some tourist town developments nearby, the marina is good with good showers, laundry and helpful staff; there is also a ‘Lidl’ about 1km walk away….. At Motril we stayed in the Real Club Marina which is tucked away in a corner of an industrial port and amazingly we had to go through the paperwork the ‘old fashioned way’. We first had to go to the Guarda Civil where a couple of old codgers (with guns) were very officious….. then to the club office to pay. Security was very high which was good and the facilities were excellent – however charges were also very high and we wanted to make good progress along the coast so we only stayed the one night.

Friday 7th we moved to Almerimar and arrived just as the wind was starting to get interesting at about 25 knots. From here we visited the Alhambra in Grenada by car, with Jaap & Diana and made a tour along the coast up through the mountains to Granada and then back via the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It was a long day out but well worth it to see the Moorish history and architecture of the Alhambra and also have a look at some places in-land. The road back took us to a ‘township’ near Guadix where the people live in caves (modified to ‘modern’ standards with TV etc.) which dates back to when the Moors had been cast out of society by the Christians during the Reconquista; and also over one of the passes to Puerto la Ragua at 2000 meters. The scenery is amazing and hopefully the pictures (later) will give you some idea of what it is like.

Almerimar has a large (multi-national) live-aboard community similar to the one at Lagos where there is an active social life and well organised and helping community which discusses the day’s and future events on VHF each morning. However, there is not the same character as Lagos because Almerimar is a custom built place around the marina. While there we met Peter & Joyce (Spicy Maiden) and heard stories of great ventures up to the far north of Norway, and also went for a small trip out to a tiny village called Vicar – very narrow streets and only one bar with a few locals but obviously very typical of what Spain is really like, out in the country. We also went into the ‘Loch Ness’ bar (on the last night) in the marina and met Billy & Doreen who knew Aberfoyle very well and had been back there only a month ago.

We left for San Jose on Saturday 15th and had a good day sail (after the wind started about 10 ish) and went to anchor in one of the bays. The wind had started to pick up when we were about half an hour until the first of 2 possible bays, so we were putting some more sail away, and both too busy to take the registration of the twin engine, small aircraft that had decided to have a close look at us; because ‘close’ must have been about 15 – 20 feet; I could have thrown a bucket of water at him. Aw well; - we anchored in the second of the bays and the wind picked up to gusting 40 knots but the anchor was well dug in, it was amazing to see the wind come blasting over the hill and punch the top of the water, lifting loads of spray. The wind died away during the night and we had turned across the swell so did not sleep much what with all the rolling. The water was so clear that we could see the anchor five and a half meters down, half an hour before sunrise when we were hauling it in.

Next stop was to be Aguilas and there was also a chance to anchor there – winds were light so we had to motor-sail again. We found a quiet spot in the east bay and dropped the anchor in about 3 meters – only one person on the beach, but within 15 minutes the Gaurda Civil had been by car to have a good look followed by somebody in a canoe and then a photographer on the beach with some very fancy equipment taking lots of pictures of us. Nobody came out to visit or radioed us – so we will never know…. Nocturne arrived about 9pm and we left early for Cartagena the next day about 8 am and arrived about 2 pm after another motor-sail.

So here we are in Cartegena for a few days – there is so much to see (including a couple of submarines) and this is the Semana Santa – the holy week leading up to Easter with lots of processions and holidays.
The next post will be the photographs from the Alhambra etc ; the route on google maps has been updated (link on the top right).