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"There's always a plan, but unexpected things happen and we just go with the flow. Though I do believe that fate and destiny often play their part"
sailing blog
After two rather hot n' sticky weeks enjoying the absolute delights of Cartagena, we decided it really was time to move on again. Untying our ropes was tinged with a little sadness, but Ibiza is firmly in our sights. To get there still requires a few long sails along the Spanish coast, before the long crossing over to the island itself.
The journey yesterday was plotted as an eight hour sail to Torrevieja, with a forecast predicting breezy North Easterly winds. Not ideal for our planned route as unfortunately this would give us wind bang on the nose for the first half of the journey. Of bigger concern was the sea state. Winds from an easterly direction can mean "choppy". My word choppy is what we got. Thank you very much Mr Neptune. The first couple of hours to Pta de la Espada, a major headland where we turned north east, was very rolly-poly. From there to Cabo de Palos was like being at Alton Towers, the sea was that rough. Both Nicki and Comino coped extremely well despite the fact that waves frequently came over the decks. Once round the cape, we headed due north with the wind now on our starboard bow, meaning the sails could go up in all their glory. We flew to Torrevieja, averaging 6.5 knots and with this spurt of speed our journey time was cut down to under seven hours. It was extremely hot when we arrived late afternoon at Marina Salinas in Torrevieja. To our delight, what do you think was the first thing we saw when we tied up on the waiting pontoon? - a swimming pool!! After completing the check-in paperwork at the office, I asked if our fee included use of the pool - "Yes sir" came the reply. To be honest, we were a bit too cream crackered to take a dip straight away, but the decision to stay for the weekend was made there and then. Sun-loungers and speedos here we come. That evening we took a stroll into the town for a quick nosey and to get a few essential supplies (a bottle of vino). OMG...me thinks this place is like no other. An upmarket Blackpool would be one way to describe it, only three times the size. Tonight (Saturday) we're going to put on our best glad rags and go exploring some more. What I can tell you already is that because this is a Spanish holiday resort, they don't have endless fish and chip shops...oh no...they have endless kebab shops instead. I think I'm going to like this place! However, before I post pictures of Torrevieja-On-Sea, as I call it, enjoy a few more shots of our previous home in Cartegena. I fear the next picture gallery will be somewhat more wacky.
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I said in my last post that I thought Torrevieja might be a slightly wacky place. Actually, having spent the weekend here, it would be more accurate to say that it offers plenty of variety which, in my opinion, is the spice of life. During our first venture into the town, it became clear that any comparison to Blackpool would be grossly unfair. This is simply a very busy Spanish holiday resort full of all the good things Spain has to offer. For example, we enjoyed an enormous buffet restaurant featuring over a hundred freshly cooked dishes for just €7.95 a head, plus €3 for a bottle of perfectly drinkable wine. Fish in abundance, mountains of different grilled meats, traditional stews, platters, sumptuous salads and many, many deserts. It's called a bottomless lunch and we did our best to sample as much as we could. As we ate, the crowded beach emptied itself as hundreds of Spanish tourists joined us to tuck into this gastronomic extravaganza. By mid afternoon the beach was crowded again - but everyone was asleep now!. Below, a pic of the main beach, but it is the weekend after all. Actually, I think the hustle and bustle of Torrevieja is what gives it an energetic, vibrant feel, with plenty of Spanish authenticity. In this case, busy does not mean tacky. Being accosted by a giant prawn in broad daylight, as we meandered around the town, was certainly a bit wacky. It was advertising a fish market would you believe, which meant only one thing. We came home with a few giant prawns to be fried with a little garlic and white wine later that evening. We're nothing but predictable. The marina area is very cool with beautifully furnished chill-out lounges and uber trendy bars, the best of which is called Niki Beach. In a blatant breach of The Trades Description Act, there's no beach anywhere to be seen, but the pool more than makes up for it. We decided it would be rude not to take a day off and relax in the comfy sofas at Niki Beach, whilst listening to the DJ playing a mix of Ibiza lounge music on what they said would be "Sundown Sunday". Our lazy day, sizzling in the sunshine, certainly didn't disappoint. I did notice some very beautiful people who paraded around us in semi-naked swimwear, although they always kept their stiletto heels on for some reason! Given the heat, we gingerly overcame our modesty and took to the pool at regular intervals to cool down. Things hotted up late afternoon when the DJ notched up the volume, prompting some of the beach babes to stand up and gyrate in tune with the music. On no account was it possible for me to take any photos now for fear of being arrested! Instead I took pics earlier in the day when the place was empty……if you want to see what I saw, you'll just have to use your imagination. Today (Monday), the forecast is for strongish easterly winds, so we've decided to stay put. Another trip to the pool might be in order. Being a weekday, it'll be quiet I suspect. No worries, we'll do a hundred lengths each to make sure we also become the beautiful people in future......although it might take a bit more than that..........speak for yourself says Nicki.........sadly she's not wrong there! The city of Cartagena has been our home for over a week now. The place is perfect for an extended stopover if you like grand marbled boulevards, authentic Spanish architecture, great bars round every corner, not to mention a huge fresh fish market. Rick Stein would go into raptures if he saw it!. Oh, and the fashion shops are a bit tasty too, says Nicki ! There's fascinating history all around you as you wander through the city.....as I do most days. Cartagena has been a major port and trading centre since Phoenician times. It was also an important Roman city, as evidenced by the many archeological sites still being excavated. The spectacular Roman theatre below is a particularly good example of how they entertained themselves. Then you get all the military history going back to the times of Spanish galleons doing battle with such dignitaries as Sir Francis Drake and Lord Nelson. Indeed, Drake rocked up here one day and stole the entire arsenal of guns and shipped them all off to Jamaica, which more than miffed the local top brass. The old Arsenal buildings are still here, but today they are part of the huge modern naval complex just over the bay. You can see warships, submarines and all manner of naval hardware coming and going on a daily basis. Is there a war on nearby that I don't know about? In more recent times Cartagena was a major stronghold of resistance against General Franco in the Spanish Civil War. He bombed the place to buggary, but the locals waived two fingers at him by building a giant air raid shelter that housed thousands of people. It's yet another site that's been preserved for all to see. Finally, you've got a whole selection of different museums to choose from. So far, I've done the Ancient Maritime Museum (preserved parts of Phoenician/Roman ships, urns galore, coins, artefacts etc.), the Military Museum (guns, tanks, missiles, uniforms, strategic maps etc.) and the Naval Museum (models of every spanish ship ever built from way back, more guns, more bits of ships, more uniforms etc.). The weather forecast is telling us that next week could be rather windy, meaning there's every chance we'll stay a while longer. It would be impossible to get bored in a place like this, so we're not at all anxious to move on. We really love the vibrant atmosphere of the city and the marina is very pleasant. I've circled our mooring in the pic below - it's the shortest walk into town and very near the showers. As I write, the Spanish National Dinghy and Windsurfing Championships are being held here, so the place is full of young surf dudes looking very cool. Cartagena is definitely a velcro port and a good deal of will power will be needed to tear ourselves away. However, we have an important date with Mark and Angie (Cygnus III) in Puerto Denia in two weeks time. We plan to sail the not inconsiderable distance to Ibiza in convoy with them.......safety in numbers and all that ! It's been a while since we had access to decent wifi hence the lack of recent updates. So, where have we been ? We arrived in Puerto de Motril on 5th June and what a jolly nice place it was I must say. On entering the large commercial port the industrial landscape looked extremely uninviting but right in the top right hand corner was a little oasis called The Club Nautico Marina. With it's manicured gardens, swaying palm trees and stewards in white coats tendering to your every need, what more could you ask for. This was a posh private members club but they made us so very welcome, even though we wore shorts and flip flops in the rather austere dinning room (for a glass of wine and some free tapas - not a gourmet meal I hasten to add). Everyone else was in "proper" attire but unfortunately I didn't pack a shirt and tie!. Next morning we set off for Almerimar. What a shock we had when we saw snow on the mountains en-route. A bit bizarre really to be sailing along in scorching heat, on a deep blue Mediterranean sea, with snow in the background. Rather awesome though don't you think? Almerimar proved to be a great stopover for five days, especially as we hooked up with Mark and Angie again. They introduced us to whole new circle of people making the stay even more social. For the record, Almerimar is a large man made town centred around a huge marina complex full of livaboards from every country you can think of. It's a sort of staging post for yachts bound for the four corners of the globe but many just tie up and never leave. On 11th June we did manage to pull ourselves away and in convoy with Mark and Angie we slipped our lines for the seven hour sail to an anchorage around the other side of Cabo de Gato. This cape divides the Costa del Sol from the Costa Blanca We arrived at the anchorage, a small sandy bay in the middle of nowhere, early evening feeling tired and hungry. Just as I was about to drop the hook a speedboat raced up to us. The guy said they were making part of an action movie overnight with helicopters, searchlights and fast powerboats. Very apologetically he advised us to move on because the chances of getting a wink of sleep were nil. So, we dutifully secured the anchor again and headed on into the sunset. Another two hours later we dropped anchor in another bay in front of a small village called Las Negras. Exhausted, we had a quick bite and retired to our cabin. Sadly, the swell persisted all night making it difficult to sleep with the constant rolling action of the boat. One good thing about being kept awake is you get to take a half decent picture of sunrise. Next morning we set sail again on the eight hour journey to Aguilas. Here we stayed overnight in a very pleasant little marina so it was refreshing to get a hot shower and some extra supplies from the local shops. On the 13th June we got underway again for another seven hour sail to Cartagena. All the way we had more spectacular mountains to gaze at - plus a bit of snow here and there.
Today is the 14th June and, after a peaceful night, I've already set about exploring this ancient city. The marina is situated right in the heart of the place, which makes it feel a bit like being in Amsterdam. More news and pics to follow shortly. Meanwhile, we're temporary members of another posh sailing club with excellent wifi, a swimming pool and sun terraces overlooking the harbour. We both feel a few days of relaxation will be most welcome after munching so many miles over the past couple of weeks. |
A FEW PICS OF COMINO Click a photo to enlarge and use side arrows to scroll through. COMINO IS CURRENTLY HEREDID SOMEONE SAY SEAFOODOn our journey from Portugal to Greece we enjoyed amazing seafood almost everywhere we stopped. Finding the local fish market was always a priority because seafood was so plentiful and so reasonably priced. And, the displays were a feast for your eyes.
Locating a market sometimes meant pounding the pavements in searing heat, but if you kept your eyes peeled, you often came across a little clue. The pic below was a rather less than subtle advert for a fish market - it was eight feet tall.
Freshly cooked onboard, a plateful of giant prawns, baked in wine and garlic, washed down with a few glasses of local vino, was like heaven. Watching the sunset on the boat eating a meal like that was the epitome of "living the dream".
Now we're in Greece we've another favourite to savour. I'm talking about fried Calamari. It's usually good, but every now and then it's off-the-scale fantastic. At Natalie's Taverna on Kontokali Beach in Corfu, it was nothing short of epic.
We're based in Lefkas now and It's been a bit of a mission to find somewhere just as good. And we have. Rakias is a mere ten minute walk from the marina and this little fish market, with its very own taverna attached, is quite sensational.
Oh...and it's also worth mentioning that, on occasions, a bit of barbequed Octopus is on the menu at some of the tavernas we frequent. Can I resist....no. SUNSETS AND DRAMATIC SKIESNo filters, or any other monkey business, have been used to enhance these images.
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