We had a very pleasant week in Barcelona with Tony and Rosemary, during which time Tony serviced Lace’s Engines and other equipment, thanks to Tony, Lace was now ready for the next part of our trip.

We planned to leave Port Forum Barcelona on Thursday 20th April, heading for Sitges. For the programme for this trip

Leaving Port Forum at 11.30am on the 20th April we past Port Olympic, Port Vell and the entrance to Barcelona Commercial Port where we met this dredger.

 

 

 

As Anne and Michael know there is an anchorage off Barcelona, on our last visit the waves were much higher, but the ships are just as big. As you can see we needed radar as the mist reduced visability to around 1.5 miles.

 

 

 

This one is just a little smaller.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived at Sitges at 2.30pm on the 20th April after a calm voyage past Barcelona Airport and Port Ginesta.

 

 

 

 

This street leads to many designer shops, Valerie loves Sitges.

 

 

 

 

 

Back at the beach, after depositing a coin we got this photo of George and the dragon.

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful Sitges.

 

 

 

 

 

This is the beach west of Sitges Marina, on Valerie’s closer examination she reported to me that it appears to be the local naturist beach.

 

 

 

 

 

Sitges to Cambrills
We set off from Sitges at 11.45am on the 22nd April after refueling, the weather was cloudy with some sun with a North West following Wind Force 3-4 so quite comfortable. We progressed well passing Puerto de Vilanova at 11.15am and Puerto del Foix at 11.45am and Puerto de Segur at 12 Noon.

By the time we reached Puerto de Coma Ruga at 12.25 the wind had increased slightly to Force 4 and remained the same when we arrived at Puerto Daurat, as we rounded the headland and changed course to bearing 239 the wind rose to Force 5 but still comfortable except the direction of the waves were making it differcult to stay on course and we were closing with the shore. Up to this point we had been making 9 knots and we decided to reduce speed and head to deeper water which meant turning into wind and waves.

We were now once again on course and passed the headland at Puerto de Torredembarra at 1.15pm and passed Punta de la Mara at 1.30pm at which point the wind increased to Force 5 – 6 and we were headed for Tarragona rather than Caba Salou. At this point we made the decision to take advantage of the following sea and continue to Tarragona, rather than battle around Cabo Salou. We arrived at Port Espotiou (Tarragona) at 2.10pm having covered 25 Nautical Miles. Cambrills will have to wait.

The Marina at Port Espotiou

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taeeagona

On arrival at Tarragona we found our Bilge pump had packed up, the drive bearing had worn away. No problem the pump Tony Mace had overhauled was installed by “Livio” an Italian who spoke English. The next day the water pump packed up and the Chandlers could not provide a service kit, but a replacement was available for 990 Euros’. I ordered a kit from England for £60. Livio installed a Flojet pump for 150 Euros’.

We thought this was a rather novel use of the Fountain by the Pigeon

 

 

 

 

 

The Roman Ampitheatre at Tarragona.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cathedral, close by with had an exceptional meal at ‘La Cuca Fera’ phone 977 242007, the following day we had another good meal at their sister restaurant ‘Pulvinar’ Phone 977 235631 www.pulvinar.net

 

 

 

It’s St Georges Day and the Catalan’s are celebrating by walking the Rambla, the Men buy their partners a Red Rose and the Wives buy a book, I got a book on Galdi, its lovely.

 

 

 

 

Yes that’s Val with her red rose. ah.

 

 

 

 

 

We were hoping to see the famous Human Towers but had to satisfy ourselves with the Statue in The Rambla.

 

 

 

 

A street scene near the Rambla.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back at Lace

We appeared to have water accumulating in our bilge so we spent the day looking for a leak checking all the sea cocks and water system, could find nothing. Foolishly I forgot to open the raw water sea cocks. Next morning we left Tarragona and after 1/2 mile all the alarms went off I shut down immediately and discovered what I had done!!!!

Livio once again came to our rescue, checked the port impeller which was fine and pumping cold water, unfortunately the starboard one had disintegrated, so we limped back to port on one engine. Livio managed to remove bits of impeller from the starboard heat exchanger and all was well, Valerie is buying me a rope to hang round my neck and a post-it note pad!!!

Livio turned out to be a godsend and for fellow boaters who find themselves in this area he can be contacted on 660 987256 or 977 457871 or nauticservice@msn.com

Tarragona to L´Ámpolla

We left Tarragona on the 27^th April at 0930 and enjoyed a fault free cruise to Puerto L’Ampolla near the delta of the River Ebro. We passed Tarragona commercial port passing this dredger, the little boat behind it was moored but had a wisp of smoke coming from its funnel so we kept a close watch on it.

We passed Cabo de Salou in perfect conditions, we took the offshore route passing Cambrills at which point the wind started to rise and by the time we were level \with Puerto De Hospitalet de L’Infant it had reached force 4-5 from the SE so we reduced speed from 8.5Kts to 7.5Kts and passed Puerto Calafat, by the time we were off Peurto de L’Ametlla de Mar the home of Livio the wind had decreased to F 3-4 so we increased speed to 8.5Kts.

Skirting fish farms we arrived at Puerto L’Ampolla at 13.45 in once again perfect conditions having covered 32.81 nautical miles

On the evening of the 27^th April we enjoyed a good meal in the marina at The Club Nautic recommended by a delightful Irish couple Michael and Helen whose Sealine boat Jeannie is currently moored here.

Also on their recommendation we enjoyed an exceptional meal at Chez Anny, the Fillet Steak comes highly recommended phone 977 593240 www.chezanny.com Anny originally comes from Austria and her partner from Switzerland with whom we had an enjoyable evening. So good was the food that we returned the following evening with our Irish friends Michael and Helen and Charlie and Beryl

L’Ampolla to Puerto de les Fuente

We said fare well to Michael and Helen and left at 0930 on the 30th April, the trip up to Cape Tortosa was with a following wind steadily increasing to Force 6, as we approached the River Ebre the water depth went down to 4m from 10m but the sea started to calm and by the time we rounded the cape we were in calmer conditions, with winds of between force 1-3 and now southerly so very pleasant.

We arrived off Peniscola with its castle at 14.15. EL CID was filmed here

Having covered 52 Nautical miles we arrived at Puerto De Les Fuente at 15.10 a very good voyage. It was great to see finger pontoons.

 

 

We found a Resturant come Bar called ‘Cheers’ an enjoyed our first Sunday Roast since leaving England on the 3rd April and watched Totenham beat Bolton 1 – 0, one up for Antony. Val realy enjoyed eating English food again

The forecast for tomorrow the 1st May looks good and as the forecast for the rest of the week is bad we are moving on in the morning to take advantage of the good weather, our objective is Puerto De Farnals Pobla Marina

We left Puerto de les Fuente at 0900 on the 1^st May bound for Puerto de Farnals in perfect weather conditions F 1-2 and a flat sea and had a comfortable ride at 8.5Kts. We passed Toreeblanca, Torrenostra, Puerto Oropesa and offshore of Benicasim and Castellon.

At Castellon there is a large commercial port with an offshore oil line to which this tanker was moored. The chart indicated an area around it of no navigation so we made a seaward detour.

Still in perfect conditions we continued towards the artificial commercial harbour at Sagunto some 20 miles distant. The first indication was what looked like a huge block of flats on the horizon as we came nearer it was two oil Tanks behind the Harbour.

We arrived at Puerto de Farnals having completed on best day in the Med as far as weather conditions at 1500hrs having covered 49 miles

We left Puerto de Farnals at 1030 on the 2nd May bound for Puerto Cullera in perfect weather conditions F 1-2 but with rollers, I understand that this suggests bad weather is on the way and in fact was in line with the forecast for the next few days.

At 7.5Kts we  approached Valencia arriving in the anchorage area

We passed MSC Leanne at anchor registered Panama

This Sideranha from Napoli, the sailor on the aft deck waved as we went by

MSC Mia Summer

We also passed this ship making its way to Valancia Harbour

The wind remained force 2-3 but the rollers were increasing in size even though the water depth was 25m. we increased speed to 9.1kts after hearing the latest forecast advise that winds in our area were set to increase in the next few hours

We passed offshore of Puerto el Perello at 1235 and went round Cabo de Cullera at 1316.

It was a delight to enter the River Jucar at Cullera

We arrived at Puerto Cullera at 1400 having covered 27 miles. We planned to stay here for 3days to avoid forecast storms of Force 7, they duly arrived next morning,

We planned to leave on Friday 5^th May for Denia, but adverse weather conditions kept us in port. We left the protection of the River Jucar on Saturday 6th May at 0920. Our Meteo France forecast predicted Winds Force 2-3 rising to Force 4 in the afternoon. We started in smooth seas with gentle 1m rollers the aftermath of the F7 Storm of the last 3 days.

We past 6 miles offshore of Puerto Gandia at 1100, Playa de Oliva at 1145, Vergel at 1215 in force 2 winds. We enjoyed Sun and temperatures of 25C, on autopilot we could enjoy watch from the front deck.

Cruising at 7.5kts we arrived off Punta del Molino at 1225. As we approached Denia water depth was down to 3-5 metres, offshore we saw a high speed ferry starting its approach, checking the chart we noticed deep water was the other side of the entrance, at 12 kts we headed for this point and turned our bow ready to take the bow wave of the ferry. Our action was spot on when we evidenced the ferries bow wave turning into raging surf as it hit the shallower water. Our experience of a Seacat entering Calais when in convoy with Roy Newing had proved to be valuable experience.

We followed the High Speed Ferry into Denia at 1300. At this point the Force 4 winds arrived making our mooring a little more demanding especially as the space was little wider than Lace and I had to reverse in missing the underwater mooring lines with our propellers. Mission accomplished.

 We planned to leave for Moraira on the morning of the 9th May and  left Denia at 10:00 hrs and although the wind was Force 2-3 NW, we encountered rollers about 1m, we progressed at just 6 kts as we were approaching Cabo San Antonio with cliffs that looked about 1000 feet the rollers steadily increased to 2m. It was now 11:00 and an alarm went off in the boat. I immediately shut down and checked all dials and all was OK. It was then that I realised that the alarm was emanating from the DSC VHF set which indicating we were receiving a relayed distress call. We always monitor channel 16 and soon the Spanish Coastguard was issuing an All Ships request to look out for a leisure boat in the Almeria area that had put out a distress call.

As sea conditions were proving uncomfortable we decided to make for our nearest port of refuge which was Javea and only a mile distant, en route we received another all ships report to say that the leisure boat that was reported in distress had in fact radioed in to say that they were safe.

We arrived at Javea at 11.15 and after some discussion with the marina by VHF we were allocated a berth. While in port the rollers continued to hammer the coastline and continued until dark.

Next morning the sun was out and the rollers were now just gentle waves. The Meteo and Navtex forecasts were both good so we set off for Puerto Altea at 0915 on the 10^th May. Here we see Cabo San Antonio behind us and a completely different sea from yesterday.

We past Punta de St Martin at 0940 and Punta del sel Emporado at 0950 doing a steady 7.5kts

The magnificent Cabo De La Nao at 1000

Our objective of the previous day Puerto Moraya was now in sight and we duly passed the Punta at 1041

We were now in view of Punto de Ijoth often seen on postcards of Calpe were we duly arrived at 1115 coming in the opposite direction was a British Sail Boat you can just see in the picture.

Leaving Calpe behind us 6.3 miles in the distance courtesy of our chart plotter was Puerto Altea.

Approaching Altea

Here we have Val putting out the fenders as we approach Puerto Altea

We arrived at Puerto Altea at 1215 having covered 23.1 miles for those interested we refuelled and found at 7.5 kts we were using just 3 gallons of diesel an hour. The price in Altea was £4.59 per gallon (no red diesel in Spain)

We left Puerto Altea at 10:00 in good conditions bound for Alicante but the size of the rollers once again slowly increase even though the wind was Force 2-3 NE, here we are approaching Punta del Abir which we past at 10:20

We passed Isleta Medianna O’Mt Jana at 10:40 and Punta de la  Escolets at 10:50 conditions were becoming uncomfortable.

We decided to change course to head towards Puerto Villajoysa in case we wanted a port of refuge. In doing so we passed on the inside of Isleta Benidorm at 11:10

We had travelled by Bus the previous day from Altea to Benidorm for the afternoon for the princely sum of 4 euros, yes, for both of us return. Now we were seeing Benidorm from the sea, it’s much nicer that way although it was good to see English life in all its facets

Although conditions were now reasonable the next port was 9 miles further so we decided to call into Puerto Villayoysa, we arrived at 12 Noon, The Marineers were very helpful with mooring and were very impressed with the bathing ladder adaptor (we have nicknamed it Stig) that Lawrence Newing had made to attach our Gangplank to. This item has proven to be a godsend as we have encountered many different levels of pontoon and stig has always worked.

We left Puerto Villajoysa on the 13^th May at 10:00 once again in good conditions the wind was still in the NE and yes the little rollers were still in place, we progressed at 7.3Kts and with a following sea we enjoyed a comfortable ride.

As we approached Cabo de las Heuetas at 12:00 our course change from 224 to 249 meant we now had our nose to the sea in order to gain sufficient sea room to navigate the Cabo, it` was a little more challenging, we followed a Guardia Civil Patrol boat which made it easy to decide when to change course to 232 for our approach to Alicante and we once again had a following sea even though the wind was freshening it was more comfortable

On arrival at Puerto Alicante it was 13:00 and we had plenty of company including this freighter from Gibralter and this Spanish Warship.

Alicante Marina had no 10 or 11 metre berths so we were invited to stay on the waiting Quay for our 2 day visit

We found the waiting Quay very hospitable and were soon being shown around Ricky and Susan’s Catamaran ‘FreeTime’. We also met Tony who confirmed that Almerimar our Summer Port Objective was a good choice, he also recommend we go to the Santa Barbara Castle which overlooks Alicante some 166 metre’s above Alicante. He saw our surprise and added that there was a lift to the top, it was great and he was right, it certainly is worth a visit.

We left Alicante in perfect conditions on the 15^th May at 0940 we enjoyed passing The Isleta de Tobarca at 1110, the island was occupied initially to keep pirates at bay, today its frequented by tourist trip boats from Benidorm, Alicante and Torrevieja.

We passed offshore of Torrevieja at 1255 arriving at San Pedro at 1408

We met the owner of Tola Anthony at Rheims France early in 2005 heading for San Pedro in his boat. Here is Tola, so he made it. We did not meet him and was eagerly hoping to swap experiences maybe later

As there was few facilitities at San Pedro we left at 10:00 on the 16th May we had a force 3-4 with rollers broadside to our route, which meant we had to zig zag down to Isla Grossa off the Men Menor at just 6.5kts we arrived at 11:15 where we met this fishing boat

Conditions started to improve and we arrived at Cabo de Palos at 12:15.

It was a real surprise Puerto de Cabo de Palos, It was like a cornish cove, we arrived at 12:30 and tied up at the Town Quay no mooring fees and we did a deal with a quayside cafe for 2 days electricity for 5 Euro’s.

We left Puerto de Cabo de Palos at 10:50 on the 18^th May for Port Cartagena, we had delayed leaving because of sea mist, as the sun gained strength visibility improved and we past Punta Negra at 11:05 with Cabo Negreta coming out of the mist some 5 miles distant which we duly passed at 11:55.

We had a south westerly force 4 on the nose but with no swell we cut straight through the waves, so a comfortable ride.

At 12:36 we arrived at Cabo del Agua and the wind fell away to Force 2 we arrived at Cartagena at 13:00 having covered 16.5 miles in little over 2 hours a good trip.

Cartagena has developed into a thriving City over the last 15 years, we enjoyed a trip up to the Castle, a tour in the City Tour bus and just walking the town the way the Spanish do

Here the first submarine dating from 1888 has pride of place on the Marina Esplanade, we enjoyed our two days at Cartagena

Well I had to get in on the act

Here’s an up to date model returning to port

On leaving Cartaghena on the 20th May we past this ship from Napoli at anchor

We arrived on the 20^th May at Puerto deportivo Mazzarron, mooring fees just 8.77 euro’s. We enjoyed a lunch of Prawns and salad and spent a lazy afternoon on the beach and even Val went for a swim. Our meal at the Club Nautico was splendid by candle light, we had a power failure.

We left Puerto Mazzarron at 10:36 in perfect conditions and arrived at Cala Blanca at 12:16 and anchored at position 37deg 28’ 659N 001deg 27’ 931W, I enjoyed a trip ashore in the dingy, snorkelling and swimming around the boat, I was also able to clean the waterline with a brush. We weighed anchor at 15:21 and arrived at Aguilas at 17:00 on the 21st May having covered 18 miles

 

The Marina was full!! But after a little discussion a berth was found, we spent an enjoyable evening in Aguilas, watching from the Chinese restaurant on the front the locals parading on a Sunday night by foot, scooter and car causing a continuous traffic jam, but it was fun to see and the Restaurant can be recommended.

 We left Aguilas on the 22nd May at 10:25 with a forecast of Force 1-2 rising to F4 in the afternoon, we passed Punta Parda at 10:56 and Isla de la Terreros at 11:20 in perfect conditions doing a detour around a fishing boat laying nets. Wind remained F1-2 so we decided to slow to 1-2 Kts and see if we could catch some fish, no luck.

We arrived off the fishing village of Villaricos a favourite haunt of my father’s at 12:40, and tried some more fishing, again no luck.

Here we are arriving off Puerto Garrucha at 13:40, where we managed after some negotiation to secure a berth for 2 nights.

We met our friends Bob and Patricia and enjoyed a meal at The Neptune Mojacar Playa and with Bobs help secured another nights berth.

The next day the 24^th May we hired a car and visited the local Anglican Church above Macenas Beach where my Mother and Father are remembered.

This picture for the benefit of my Sister Doreen and myself

Macenas Beach was an area of outstanding natural beauty but is now being developed into a Beach and Golf Resort, my parents would not recognise it if they had lived. On a positive note the Spanish government have stepped in to stop a similar development at Carboneras and the development that had already commenced is now being demolished.

We also visited EL Pinar where my mother lived, once again subject to substantial development, which appears so far to be having a more positive effect on the area and providing positive infrastructure for El Pinar.

During the day the maritime weather deteriorated and the Capitanne has given us another day in port. On our pontoon we met John Talliss (big John) President Sante Irene Club De Vela Sailing Club Mojacar, duly assisted by Little John and Terry, who were busy getting their sailing boat ready for service the next day, it was thirsty work so they joined us on board Lace for some light refreshment. For details of the club www.sailrway.com, they were a great team.

On the 26^th May we were joined in Garrucha by Chris and Fiona aboard Nell a Dutch motor sailor, bad weather kept us at Garrucha until 28^th May when we left for Carboneras at 10am

Las Ventinicas

At Macenas they are building a Golf Complex complete with beachside hotel and Residential Complex, we believe building has stopped as the Hotel is too close to the beach and does not comply with regulations

This bay where they fimed Long John Silver remains unspoilt

Approaching Carboneras this Hotel’s construction has been stopped by the Spanish Government following a protest from Green Peace as the provincial government had wrongly given permission to build in an area of outstanding natural beauty, the Hotel is to be demolished.

We were in convoy with Chris and Fiona onboard Nell, Chris here in the cockpit

Nell approaching Carboneras, which we arrived at 12.20, we moored at the fuel berth and had a pleasant afternoon in the still very Spanish Village

Nell left Carboneras at 7am and we followed at 08:10 heading for San Jose, passing Agua Amarga

We caught up with her just before San Jose where we stopped at 10:20, Nell continued in good conditions to Almeria via Cabo de Gata. We spent the afternoon resting on the beach and enjoyed an Evening meal at a quayside restaurant.

Leaving San Jose

This superb anchorage was in the next bay from San Jose

We left San Jose in good conditions off Cabo Negra the rollers increased to 2 metres and the wind went up to Force 4 as we approached apprehensively the infamous Cabo de Gata conditions improved much to our satisfaction

The Gods were with us and in a most unusual sea it progressively flattened as we navigated close into the Cabo de Gata at 09:00 avoiding the notorious over falls just offshore. The pilot warns either 1 mile offshore or close to the shore.

Cruising at 7.5 Knots we arrived at Punta del Rio at 10:54 in the approach to Puerto Almeria

We arrived at Almeria at 11.30 just as this warship was leaving Port.

We explored Almeria old town and because of a worsening Weather forecast we left Almeria on the 31^st May in poor visibility at 09:35, passing a Fish Farm and arriving at Aguadulce with the Lifeboat, I hasten to add just a coincidence.

We moored with our friends Chris and Fiona on Nell and attended the English run Quiz night, our team Lace and Nell came in last and against stiff local competition. The winning team led by Michael and Gertrude from the Yacht Fortuna had a reputation to defend, they turned out to be great fun

Our Mooring fees in Aquadulce were 14 Euros’ the fist night and 49 Euros’ the second, june 1^st had arrived and the start of high season, once again we had a worsening forecast so we left Aqualdulce on the 2^nd June at 11:42 heading for Roquestas.

We arrived at Roquestas to be greeted by those familiar becoming words ‘Complete’. The port was full. The area in front of the fuel berth was charted as 1.4 metres but I was on the mud, we managed to turn around and headed for the Harbour exit at 12:17 and Almrimar

Passing  Punta Elena at 12:55 were we fished for 20 minutes, and caught nothing, Punta Sabinas at 13:29, Punta de la Enturas at 13:57 and for this trip our final destination Almerimar at 14:12

We left Barcelona on the 20^th April and arrived in Almerimar on the 2^nd June having covered 483 miles in 80 engine hours consuming an average of  2.59 litres a mile or 15.55 litres an hour or 3.43 gallons an hour. We were booked to be lifted out of the water on the 19^th June for Lace’s Annual Hull Maintenance, so now for a rest.

We met up again with Michael and Gertrude in Amerimar who kindly agreed to take us in their German Opel, I think it was a Bat Mobile I am sure we took to Aguadulce for the weekly Quiz night. Our team was Chris and Fiona, Michael of the hair and driver of the Bat Mobile, Val and Myself otherwise known as the Dunnoes came in 3rd an improvement thanks to our Leader Michael.

 We returned to the UK at the end of June 2006 and came back to Almerimar on the 11th September 2006. During July and August, we had arranged for the Yard where Lace had been stored out of the water, to carry out some routine maintenance including:

Rubbing Strake overhauled, Log paddle replaced, Minor Gel coat repairs, Hull Anodes replaced, Stop Cocks checked and maintained, Shaft Stuffing boxes repacked, Propellers and Shafts cleaned and polished, Starboard bathing platform repaired, Hull anti fouled with International anti foul, Bathing platform, outboard motor platform and gang plank treated with teak oil, Three sets of windscreen wiper units upgraded, air vent to waste tank upgraded, Hull washed, polished and sealed with ‘A’ Glaze

Lace returned to the water on Tuesday 12th September 2006 and during the following week the upper parts were washed, polished and sealed with ‘A’ Glaze.

Almerimar

By Tuesday 19th September we were ready to cruise to Adra and beyond. We arrived at Adra on the 19th September to discover I had left the ships papers in England, my Son Paul faxed copies and then brought them out to us in Spain, we returned to Almerimar to meet Paul and his Co-Driver Stevie, spending a most enjoyable day and Evening together, they managed the trip in 18 hours each way! On our return to Almerimar, our bilge pump was pumping out every ten minutes, so our return to Almerimar was a blessing in disguise, after some searching we established that the port stainless steel exhaust outlet was perforated at the waterline, we came out of the water again, the unit was removed repaired and reinstalled, thanks to Ian Knight at Almerimar and by Friday we were ready to go back in the water. Our lift in was on Monday 25th September and we left Almerimar at 9.30 am, initial destination Marina del este, Almunicar.

We encountered a 2 metre swell and winds at time around 20 knots but the highlight was seeing Dolphins swimming East 3 miles off Adra, at one point we had 3 Dolphins swim at 45 degrees under the boat, what a spectacle and so graceful

Arriving at Marina Del Este

We arrived at Almunicar (Marina Del Este) at 3pm. On arrival our Bilge pump had packed up and I used the manual pump to pump out.

Marina Del Este

Next morning we had no more water in the bilge, so our previous problems appear solved.

We set to work on the automatic Bilge pump to find that the bilge pump filters and hose from the bilge were blocked, after disconnecting both filters and cleaning them out we installed a new filter gauze in the bilge filter, cleaned the pipe out with a hand pump and hey presto the automatic bilge pump is working again, this enabled us to pump out the bilge properly.

We enjoyed two days at Marina Del Este eating at the Atmosphera Restaurant, although we understand from Bob and Patricia Forrester that their favourite restaurant is aptly named ‘David’ and was opposite to our mooring in this picture taken from the front deck of Lace

Marina Del Este

We left Marina Del Este, delayed by dense sea mist at 12 Noon, about 3 miles out, visibility reduced to 200 yards, we switched on our automatic fog horn and I got a quick lesson in the practical use of Radar, on a 3/4 mile setting it was perfect, as each target was first located on radar and then sighted as we past safely, after 6 miles we arrived off Nerja at 1300 and the fog suddenly cleared. Sea conditions flat calm.

At 1320 we were overflown by this flock of Flamingo’s as we were passing El Penoncillio, the first development that Kent Estate Agencies marketed in the 1980’s

We arrived off Caleta de Velez at 1400 hours and in perfect conditions changed course to Benalmadena, 26 miles across the Bay of Malaga. After 6 miles a bank of sea mist descended and we were once again steering by radar, 15 miles later we emerged into brilliant sunshine. At this point we sighted a Sun Fish, a porpoise shape fish with wings. Four miles off on Benalmadena the wind rose to around 20 knots, so no risk of sea mist just waves. we arrived at Benalmadena at 16.30.

Benalmadena is a very commercial marina with a large residential complex in Pseudo Gaudi architecture, not as good as the real thing, lots of shops and restaurants, but a choppy marina, so not so good for sleep, thankfully we were not troubled by Disco’s. Notwithstanding the choppy harbour conditions we stayed two days leaving on the 29th September for Fuengirola at 11.30

We arrived at Fuengirola at 1225 just 8 miles down the coast. Immediately we found everyone more friendly. We soon made friends with Sandy and Liz onboard there 50 foot Trader and Alan age circa 73 on his Broom 37 as Sandy said I am now surrounded by Broom’s what have I done to deserve this. Sandy also recommended the local Caribbean restaurant run by Lucky a retired Jamaican Coal Miner from Nottingham, his Jerk Chicken and Sunday Roast was great. We were also introduced to Pete also Circa 73 living on his Carver Motor Boat, both Pete and Alan knew each other when they lived in Dartmouth. We ended staying 3 days at Fuengirola so enjoyable were the people and Sandy let us plug into his Sky Dish. Valerie caught up on East Enders and Corrie.

On the 2^nd October we headed for Marbella at 1100 hours waving bye to our Fuengirola friends. We stopped for fishing and once again caught nothing, a mackerel would be nice!

Fishing on way to Marbella

Approaching Marbella

We arrived at Marbella (Bajadallin) at 13.30 in calm weather, the next day winds of Force 6 were forecast so we stayed for 2 days, giving us the chance to meet our Old Friend Lucas Mayo currently living in the Costa Del Sol, we enjoyed a pleasant meal on Orange Square, Old Town Marbella.

Lace in Marbella

The rest of the evening was spent having drinks on board Lace, with our neighbours, Michael and Suzy, from their 40’ Vancouver registered Bavaria Sailboat, who recommended we spend at least a couple of days at Puerto Duquesa and visit a Restaurant called Browns.

On the 4th October at 1030 hours, we headed for Estepona in good conditions, leaving Michael and Suzy to explore Marbella.

En route we passed the infamous Puerto Banus at 1115. we arrived at Estepona at 1216.

Gibraltar from Estepona

The following day we were on our way to Puerto Duquesa at 1056 hours arriving at 1208, we immediately fell in love with Puerto Duquesa and decided to stay 2 days, after an initial explore I enjoyed a swim on the adjacent beach.

Lace at Puerto Duquesa

 As we were leaving Lace for Dinner we met Michael and Suzy who had arrived that day. We decided to take up their recommendation and dined with them at Browns, we enjoyed a Carvery with fresh vegetables and the odd bottle of wine. We have added Browns to our recommended list.

We left Puerto Duquesa at 1116 on the 7th October and arrived at Sotogrande at 1218 after 30 minutes fishing, yes you guessed we caught nothing!

At Sotogrande we were joined by Michael and Gertrude who we first met at Aquadulce at the quiz night, they had driven down from the Portuguese border where their yacht Fortuna is moored. We drove back to Puerto Duquesa and all enjoyed a meal at Browns

Leaving Sotogrande

Calm Seas on the way to Gibraltar

 

Michael says it’s nice not to be Captain

Approaching Gibraltar

 

Shipping and Fish Farms approaching Europa Point

 

That Hannes C is Close, good he is at Anchor

The next day Michael sailed with us to Gibraltar and Gertrude drove. We left at 1113 and arrived off Europa point at 1232.

Ship making its way through the Straits with North Africa in the foreground

Looking back at the Rock from Europa Point

Passing Greefleet en route to Queensway Quay Gibraltar

Gibralter Bay

We pass, moored at Quensway Quay, Cruise Ship Costa Magica

We arrived at Marina Bay Gibraltar at 1258 to be greeted by this British airways jet landing just 150 yards away, here it is taking off

 Gertrude and Michael on board Lace

Lace’s neighbour at Marina Bay

Lace’s other neighbour taking off from Marina Bay Gibraltar

Lace rubbing shoulders with this beauty The Queen of Diamonds just arrived from New York

On the 12th October we bought a one day bus pass to explore Gibraltar, what good value £1.50 each, we got a 9 seater bus that took us up through the narrow streets of Gibraltar to the Moorish Castle, last rebuilt in 1333 and dominates the only Land entrance to the Rock, here we were introduced to Gibraltar Barbary Ape’s

Then there were two, in the top right background you can see The Queen of Diamonds

The No 4 Bus took us to Europa Point which we had passed in Lace. Gibraltar’s lighthouse is the only one regulated by Trinity House outside the UK. It dates back to 1841 and stands 49 metres above sea level with a range of 37KM.

North Africa from Europa Point, just 12 miles away across the Gibraltar Straits, yes that’s a Ship in the mist

David and Valerie at Europa Point

Every Saturady the Gibraltar Guard marches from The Covent, the Governers official residence to Casement Square

 

On our last day in Gibraltar this Military Plane landed

With a reasonable forecast to navigate Gibraltar Rock around Europa Point we refuelled with diesel at 40p a litre, the 437 litres should see us back to Almerimar. We left at 1128 hours, hoping to make Fuengirola and arrived off Europa Point at 1155, the easy part, at this point the wind increased to Force 5, or 19 knots, with waves bouncing off the rock it was like being in a bath tub.

We arrived off Sotogrande with winds of Force 4 Easterly, so on the nose, we were tempted to enter Port, but continued on, by the time Puerto Duquesa was in sight we decided to make for this friendly Port, where we arrived at 1355.

The next day the winds were higher, so we stayed in Port, the following day looked like a good weather window, followed by possibly 4 days of bad weather, we left Puerto Duquesa at 0955 on the 17th October and headed once again for Fuengirola in conditions that turned out to be an acceptable Force 3-4

 

We arrived off Marbella at 1215 and were rewarded when we were suddenly surrounded by a School of between 50 – 100 Dolphins, you do not know how difficult it is to photograph them, they just will not stay still

 

That’s Close

 

That one thinks its Jaws, I think!!

After a 30 minute escort by the Dolphins, they slowly disappeared and we continued to Fuengirola were we arrived at 1350.

 

The Port was technically Full, but the friendly Marina Staff, made a couple of phone calls, to make some arrangement and a berth was found for us. We once again met all our old friends and were not disappointed to be holed up for 4 days, this photograph was taken from the front of Lace capturing the Rainbow, and incidentally this was the first rain of our trip.

On the 20th the forecast for the 21st October looked promising with little wind, so we prepared and almost sadly left at 1040 for Marina Del Este, although the wind was just 8 Knots, the previous bad weather had left a strong swell of about 1.5 metres. We arrived 6 miles off Rincon de la Victoria, at which point the swell increased to 2.5 metres, we were making 10 knots and at times surfing the waves at 15 knots, so we decided to change course for Puerto Caleta Velez, When we were 3 miles offshore conditions improved and we once again set course for Marina Del Este where we arrived at 1505, having covered 46.2 miles

I enjoyed a swim in the sea, that was warmer than our last visit. We also enjoyed a good meal at Restaurant David.

 

Here you can see us leaving Marina Del Este at 1021 on the 22nd October for Almerimar in perfect conditions and Sunny. The Coast to Almerimar is very beautiful, with a number of Anchorages, often overlooked by Moorish Forts and Castles.

Passing Cabo Sacratif at 1149 hours in perfect conditions, we ednjoyed the same conditions for the rest of the trip back to Almerimar, where we arrived at 1540. We refueled, which confirmed we averaged 26.55 litres per hour over the 17.5 hours sailing from Gibraltar. We returned to our winter berth at Almerimar.