6th Feb
We left Ayamonte after watching the carnaval parades the previous days, we didn’t want to stay any longer and miss the weather window for moving further East. The finale of the festivities was the ‘Burial of the Sardine’ and some fireworks – but if we stayed a day longer we would have to stay at least a week longer for the weather. Time to be moving!
So we arrived in Mazagon after six & half hours motor sailing and were ready to take in some of the Christopher Columbus (or Cristobal Colon – as he is known to the locals) history from the area.
7th Feb
Dress Ship and dinner out.
8 – 11th
Mazagon area appears to be quite a poor area with a lot of fruit (strawberries in particular) production under polythene tunnels (as far as the eye can see). Travelling by bus to Huelva and the other places it seemed to be a massive blot on the landscape. And obviously with that amount of fruit production there would need to be the labour force to support the industry – it looks like they’re from the neighbouring continent to the south.
We didn’t feel that Huelva had much to offer and didn’t spend much time in the city but the exhibition at La Rabida with life sized replicas of Columbus’s ships (etc) were very good. Palos, nearby to La Rabida is actually where they left from and is now land-locked but looks like a town of character; we didn’t get off the bus there but will explore there on the way back from the Med.
The wind instrument has not been registering the lighter winds, so with Jaap’s help, I was up the main-mast to check out the old Stowe detector head. It looks like one of the bearing sets inside are beyond serviceable life and will need replacing – in the mean-time the direction works OK and the speed probably reads 5 knt low.
Mon 11th Feb
We left Mazagon to Chipiona and had a good sail for all the way except for the last hour or 2 when the wind had died away and then turned and strengthened. We had put the engine on to help keep the speed up after the wind dropped to about 5 Knt but within about 15 minutes it was up to 20 knt and ‘on the nose’. The wind continued to blow strong and had increased to about 27 knt until we got in and stayed that way for the next few days. It was a bonus that the firing range was not operating so we could take a more direct sail.
11th – 15th
In Chipiona – quite an interesting town with an impressive lighthouse but as in most of the towns there is a bad problem with graffiti and broken glass. No empty pontoon for Balchis; I think it was because the spaces were taken by local boats that had been moved out of their area due to repair works – so we remained on the visiting pontoon for the duration of the stay.
Wednesday we had a fantastic meal in one of the 2 bar / restaurants that are at the marina (to celebrate Jaap’s birthday – [ Sshhhh ! ] )
15th Feb
Chipiona to Cadiz – only a small distance of about 19 miles but Cadiz is a very impressive old town, a lot of history and good connections to get to Seville; so a better place to wait out the bad weather than Chipiona.
A light-winds motor-sail for all but the last hour and a bit – then the wind picked-up in the Bay of Cadiz which was very busy with a couple of Assault-Ships unloading ; loads of landing craft and a few helicopters; and another 3 or 4 war-ships coming out of the river. There had been an exercise further east and south of Cadiz that was finishing on the 15th so we hadn’t expected to see this much activity in the bay.
We had a walk into Cadiz in the evening to get some information on the city and timetables to get to Seville.
16th was spent walking through the city and taking in most of the sights in the old part of town. It’s a shame that Cadiz is reputed to be one of the most under visited cities in Spain (other than during it’s Carnaval) – it has a lot of impressive sights and history to see. However, the weather overnight was wild with 45 – 50 knt winds and the boat bouncing around a bit (even though we are close behind the wall). So - extra ropes and not too much sleep….
It’s now 17th and raining so the walk into town (about 800 metre) and to see the inside of the Cathedral is postponed but the winds have eased to about 24 knt. We will be here ‘til the weather improves and we have been to Seville. Pictures from Ayamonte carnaval to here will be in the next post.
1st Feb 2008
1st Feb 2008
Well here we are – back again – the story continues !
We had some time-out from the travels to visit back home over the Christmas & New Year, and got back here to Spain 17th Jan. Trevor is still hanging onto the remnants of a cold / flu that started on 3rd Jan which has proved to be very difficult to shift. However – hopefully the blue skies will speed up the recovery and get rid of the remaining cough….
It was really great to see everyone over the holiday period ( but there were a few that we just couldn't manage to get to see ) but the weather, while we were at home, showed us why we had chosen to travel south – it was generally miserable. But since we have been back there has been no rain, the skies have been blue and the daytime temperature about 18 – 20c (night time drops to about 8 – 10c).
We are still in Ayamonte and since arriving back have been out on the bikes a couple of times (once to Isla Canela & once to Castro Marim). The bikes certainly at least double the area that can be visited easily, but a rest day is needed after the longer rides. Other than the normal daily things like shopping, cooking, laundry etc; we have also done a few more boaty jobs, been to some of the places that we had not seen yet around the town and been watching some of the Carnaval activities and visited Fran & Richard a couple of times. We are waiting until the climax of the carnaval with the street parades and fireworks before moving further along the coast, probably after the 6th. Most of the Spanish towns along this part of the coast have Carnavals (now re-instated since being banned by Franco during his time) leading up to Lent. The biggest and most famous carnaval is in Cadiz and most are finished by the 10th although Algeciras finishes theirs on the 20th Feb.
It was difficult to decide whether to move along to Cadiz to try to catch some of their fiestas but we also want to see some of the Columbus history in and around Huelva. So, we stay here for the fiestas and move to Mazagon for a few days to visit Huelva by bus.
Jaap & Diana (on Kiara) are also now in Ayamonte after wintering in Lagos and it was good to catch up with their news and see them again.
Well here we are – back again – the story continues !
We had some time-out from the travels to visit back home over the Christmas & New Year, and got back here to Spain 17th Jan. Trevor is still hanging onto the remnants of a cold / flu that started on 3rd Jan which has proved to be very difficult to shift. However – hopefully the blue skies will speed up the recovery and get rid of the remaining cough….
It was really great to see everyone over the holiday period ( but there were a few that we just couldn't manage to get to see ) but the weather, while we were at home, showed us why we had chosen to travel south – it was generally miserable. But since we have been back there has been no rain, the skies have been blue and the daytime temperature about 18 – 20c (night time drops to about 8 – 10c).
We are still in Ayamonte and since arriving back have been out on the bikes a couple of times (once to Isla Canela & once to Castro Marim). The bikes certainly at least double the area that can be visited easily, but a rest day is needed after the longer rides. Other than the normal daily things like shopping, cooking, laundry etc; we have also done a few more boaty jobs, been to some of the places that we had not seen yet around the town and been watching some of the Carnaval activities and visited Fran & Richard a couple of times. We are waiting until the climax of the carnaval with the street parades and fireworks before moving further along the coast, probably after the 6th. Most of the Spanish towns along this part of the coast have Carnavals (now re-instated since being banned by Franco during his time) leading up to Lent. The biggest and most famous carnaval is in Cadiz and most are finished by the 10th although Algeciras finishes theirs on the 20th Feb.
It was difficult to decide whether to move along to Cadiz to try to catch some of their fiestas but we also want to see some of the Columbus history in and around Huelva. So, we stay here for the fiestas and move to Mazagon for a few days to visit Huelva by bus.
Jaap & Diana (on Kiara) are also now in Ayamonte after wintering in Lagos and it was good to catch up with their news and see them again.
Update 10th December 2007
17th – 30th Nov
Had a few days at Francy and Richard’s enjoying the luxury of baths and a full size bed! We also had a lovely evening trip in the car to see the fabulous Christmas lights on the Portugal side of the river. The Portuguese side appears to ‘be into’ Christmas lights much more than on the Spanish side and although there are Christmas decorations and lights on the Spanish side they are not switched on ‘til 6th Dec and the displays are not as big (as on the Portuguese side).
We then had a lovely day out with Diana and Jaap going first to Castro Marim Castle and then driving up to Alcoutim where Nocturne and Seawalk were anchored. They were just about to ‘up anchor’ when we arrived so they came alongside the pontoon while we all chatted for short while and sheltered from the rain. After the boats left we had a lovely lunch in the small local restaurant and then went a drive through the country and arrived back through torrential rain. We saw Nocturne & Seawalk later as they spent a few days here in the marina before heading off towards Cadiz and Gibraltar. Vicky & Darren had spent a good bit of their time up the river compiling their website which can seen at http://www.freewebs.com/yachtnocturne/ .
1st – 9th Dec
On Sunday we went up to Francy and Richard’s ready for the surprise trip to Gibraltar. On the Monday we went by car to Algeciras where we stayed at the Reina Christina Hotel. It was a beautiful old colonial type hotel set in lovely gardens. Being so close to Morocco and Tangier, Algeciras has a very mixed assortment of people and a strong Arab / Muslim presence which you see in the cafes and shops. The following day we got the bus to La Linea and walked across the border to Gibraltar where we caught another bus to the cable car that took us to the top of The Rock. There really were apes everywhere just as the books say! It was also very strange to be shopping in pounds Sterling again! We had a wonderful day in Gib. We drove back through Spain to Ayamonte on the Wednesday and then the four of us took a trip on Balchis up the river to Alcoutim and back on the Thursday.
Whilst at the boat we have been catching up with various jobs that we’ve been promising ourselves we’d get round to and Carolyn has even been knitting! We’ve also been exploring Ayamonte which has a lot of history and character of an old town. Carolyn is also getting good at Spanish and can now get the proper types / cuts of meat from the butcher; we even managed to get some goat to make a stew… (we may even send the recipe to Inversnaid…).
The ‘language thing’ is sometimes quite difficult, but we think especially here where we are so close to Portugal and moving backwards and forwards across the border so often. Although the languages are similar in some areas, there are enough differences to trip us up at times… then there is the mixed community in the marina where there are French, German and Dutch and it is polite to try some basic phrases (at least the greetings) in their native tongue. Good for a laugh, though..!
Had a few days at Francy and Richard’s enjoying the luxury of baths and a full size bed! We also had a lovely evening trip in the car to see the fabulous Christmas lights on the Portugal side of the river. The Portuguese side appears to ‘be into’ Christmas lights much more than on the Spanish side and although there are Christmas decorations and lights on the Spanish side they are not switched on ‘til 6th Dec and the displays are not as big (as on the Portuguese side).
We then had a lovely day out with Diana and Jaap going first to Castro Marim Castle and then driving up to Alcoutim where Nocturne and Seawalk were anchored. They were just about to ‘up anchor’ when we arrived so they came alongside the pontoon while we all chatted for short while and sheltered from the rain. After the boats left we had a lovely lunch in the small local restaurant and then went a drive through the country and arrived back through torrential rain. We saw Nocturne & Seawalk later as they spent a few days here in the marina before heading off towards Cadiz and Gibraltar. Vicky & Darren had spent a good bit of their time up the river compiling their website which can seen at http://www.freewebs.com/yachtnocturne/ .
1st – 9th Dec
On Sunday we went up to Francy and Richard’s ready for the surprise trip to Gibraltar. On the Monday we went by car to Algeciras where we stayed at the Reina Christina Hotel. It was a beautiful old colonial type hotel set in lovely gardens. Being so close to Morocco and Tangier, Algeciras has a very mixed assortment of people and a strong Arab / Muslim presence which you see in the cafes and shops. The following day we got the bus to La Linea and walked across the border to Gibraltar where we caught another bus to the cable car that took us to the top of The Rock. There really were apes everywhere just as the books say! It was also very strange to be shopping in pounds Sterling again! We had a wonderful day in Gib. We drove back through Spain to Ayamonte on the Wednesday and then the four of us took a trip on Balchis up the river to Alcoutim and back on the Thursday.
Whilst at the boat we have been catching up with various jobs that we’ve been promising ourselves we’d get round to and Carolyn has even been knitting! We’ve also been exploring Ayamonte which has a lot of history and character of an old town. Carolyn is also getting good at Spanish and can now get the proper types / cuts of meat from the butcher; we even managed to get some goat to make a stew… (we may even send the recipe to Inversnaid…).
The ‘language thing’ is sometimes quite difficult, but we think especially here where we are so close to Portugal and moving backwards and forwards across the border so often. Although the languages are similar in some areas, there are enough differences to trip us up at times… then there is the mixed community in the marina where there are French, German and Dutch and it is polite to try some basic phrases (at least the greetings) in their native tongue. Good for a laugh, though..!
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