Equinox2018

This has been a superb day! I was delighted to be leaving Gibraltar. I’m sorry, but I don’t like it there; not helped this time by the marina staff being very unfriendly and unhelpful; a bit of a shock after our recent times in Spain. The fuel dock was opposite our berth and we went to top up on fuel because it’s a good price there; not that we needed masses. We’ve used very little fuel this year. After that we dodged past the parking lot of ships at anchor in the bay and around Egypt Point, then we were away on the first close hauled, up wind sailing we’ve had for ages, in the Easterly wind. Whereas in more northern latitudes, this would mean layering up with warm clothes, today we could enjoy being cool in breeze, away from the mid 30 degree land temperature. It was flat water and so just fab. We arrived in Estepona mid afternoon, edging our way into the shallow entrance very slowly. Once docked on the reception pontoon, the mariner took us, on a golf buggy, t...

We set off early again, as dictated by the tides, our path well away from the tuna fisheries today.   Timing was not going to be such a problem as we knew that we could arrive in Gibraltar at any time, and we were soon flying down the coast, pushed by the tide and a fair wind. It was glorious.   Very rapidly we were able to see the coast of north Africa as well as the Spanish side, the Straits of Gibraltar are only 6 or 7 miles wide at the narrowest point. The straits are very busy with vessels of all shapes and sizes and we could hear continuous chatter on the radio from Spain (Algeciras), Gibraltar and Morocco (Tangiers), with each having a major port and traffic management schemes to monitor. For those that have been there, it was like a combination of the Straits of Dover for the intensity of shipping, and the Hurst Narrows at the Needles end of the Solent for the flow rate and characteristics of the water. We also heard radio reports of life jackets and inflatable boa...

We made an early start from Cadiz to ensure that we had enough tide for leaving the marina. As ever, the draft of the boat makes some of the decisions for us.   As Cadiz is almost an island, we had to go round one end and then right down the long side, and it felt as if we were not making much progress. Know that there are some headlands to pass and that the Straits of Gibraltar have a major impact on the wind, we had chosen a day with little or no wind forecast.   As a result, we had no wind initially and had to motor. Eventually the wind did arrive, and as it was from behind we had the spinnaker up for quite a while and made much faster progress.   The downside of this was that we also could only access the next port, Barbate, at the right phase of the tide, and we were making progress too rapidly. With a heavy heart, we reduced sail to slow down. The most significant place that we past today was Cabo Trafalgar, the scene of Nelson’s famous victory against the nav...

Our plan is to leave Cadiz tomorrow, once the winds have passed through, so today our preparations went up a gear.   It has been great having a couple of lazy days, resting and recuperating. We have also had time to plan the next week or so of our trip, and pass these plans on to our next guest, who is arriving at the weekend. We have socialised with folks from a couple of other boats, some Swedes who we have bumped into a few times and an American couple who are now heading back to their home in Oregon.   They have quite a long way to go.   We have also experienced the various delights of “Port Theatre”, including watching the various levels of skill exhibited by other boat owners in their parking activities, both good and not so good, and I ended up getting sprayed by the skipper of the boat next door who was obliviously hosing down his decks. The weather today is completely different from what we have experienced previously here.   As we walked to the shops ...

Two quiet days while we wait for the weather to round Cape Trafalgar, then Tarifa, both notorious headlands, on the way to Gibraltar.. It’s not a pretty view from the marina, but we are loving Cadiz. The narrow streets hold delights in every turn; interesting shops, cafes or street stalls. Chores done, we found the city is just waking up at 7pm. We see the sense in having siesta time when it’s hot in the afternoon, but it’s difficult for us to adapt to it when we know we’ll need a whole day up at sea. Consequently we struggle to keep going long into the night, as the locals do. We’re expecting high winds to come in overnight and tomorrow so we took down the large awning, which gives us sunshade. In honour of Barry Chuckle, we have done the folding in the manner of: "to me, to you, to me, to you." Distance covered today 0  nautical miles Trip distance covered  1372  nautical miles Distance covered...

Cadiz The weather was suitable for us to move on today, but we decided to stay longer so we could explore Cadiz more. My initial impression, from the small amount we had seen so far was that I like it a lot. I suspect that is because it is smaller and there is even less traffic than in Seville. It has a calmness to it, despite being a large port. Again the old town, where the shops are, has narrow streets, along which only a small car can pass. Consequently there are few cars in this network of cobbled alleyways. The small supermarket was well stocked. The other array of general stores are pristine and people are smartly dressed. In one of the squares, roadies were setting up for a jazz festival going on this weekend. In the early evening folks were promenading along the sea front or shopping. Ancient fortifications on the headland Giant trees abound, originally brought back on the voyages of discovery based in Cadiz Statue of Gades - the roman name for Cadiz We ...

Seville It was a change to spend the night in a stationary bed, and have limitless water available for showers and no long route march to get there.   Ironically, we were told that the hotel’s water supply had been cleaned that day, and we should not drink the tap water until well into the evening.   This did not cause us any particular problem. When we were collected yesterday, the driver had asked us which sites we had visited, and was surprised that we hadn’t been to the Plaza de Espana, so we made this a priority today.   We were dropped off at the same place as yesterday and wandered through the pedestrianised lanes in search of somewhere for breakfast.   We are not big fans of hotel breakfasts and wanted something more authentic.   Eventually we found a place and sat at a table on the pavement, eating warm pastries and drinking coffee.   The Plaza de Espana was built for the Ibero-American Exposition World's Fair in 1929. The en...

Seville We had booked a hotel and train tickets yesterday so had to make sure that we were on the train in time. For all of the rail services that we have used, you book a specific train and have a seat allocated.   I don’t think that you can just get on and find a seat on these trains. Thinking that the station was quite a way away and carrying overnight bags, we went to the marina office and asked if they could order a taxi for us. “Can’t you walk? What time is the train?” we were asked.   It transpired that the station was not as far as we had expected and we did have time to get there on foot.   “I don’t go to Seville in summer, it’s too hot” the marina lady said. The 55 km journey was uneventful and we were soon dropping off our bags at the hotel. This proved to be rather further out of town than we had thought, but fortunately provided a shuttle service into the tourist areas that we booked spots for.   We were given a list of must see sites and went fir...

Chipiona to Cadiz We have now started to become aware of, and be effected by, the special weather characteristics that apply to the area surrounding the Straits of Gibraltar. There are very strong winds that blow most frequently from the east, but sometimes from the west, at 35+ knots and last for days at a time.  I haven’t yet got an understanding of why this happens, but knowing that it does has started to impact our short-term planning.  Over the last few days we have also seen little wind in the morning followed by quite a lot fairly quickly in the afternoon. Knowing that the same was forecast for today, we wanted to be prepared to leave as soon as the tide was high enough for us to get out of the marina, at about 10:00, and this we did. We experienced the pattern expected as we went for the relatively short hop down the coast to Cadiz. No wind to start with, but around 20 knots for the last hour before we arrived. It was remarkable in that for almost the entire j...

Chipiona is a pleasant holiday town, at the mouth of the Rio Guadalquivir, the river which winds it’s way 55 miles inland to Seville. The holiday-makers seemed to us to all be Spanish. We didn’t hear any other languages spoken. We found it a delightful place. There are several golden sandy beaches, all spotlessly clean. Along the sea front in the centre of the town is a paved promenade, which we ran along, past the Moorish style church and Punta del Perro lighthouse. The latter was built of stone in 1867 and is also clean; no sign of air pollution here. The main street was buzzing with activity and, once past the tourist shops, we found the municipal market, selling meat, fish, fruit and vegetables, and a bakery. Here the residential buildings are low rise, four stories at most, quite different to other places we have been recently. After siesta time and it was starting to cool down a bit,Steve went up the mast to retrieve the spinnaker halliard, which had flown loose and nea...

Vila Real de Santo Antonio – Chipiona We wanted to be leaving Vila Real as soon as the tide was high enough for us to get over the bar, but some of our communication with the marina staff was obviously lost in translation. We had asked the office for someone to come to return our deposit and collect the key, but at the appointed time no one came, so we radioed and asked them to come, which they agreed to.   After another 10 minutes I walked up to the hut that they hang out in, and asked to return the key.   They had made no attempt to even start the process, so I had to wait while they opened the office, found the details of the deposit and the exact 20 euro note that I had given them, before making me sign a receipt that I had got it back.   I’m obviously an uptight north European. By the time we actually left there was more height of tide over the bar.   We had to motor all day as the wind was initially no- existent and then weak and from directly on the ...

♫ Sea Breams are made of this,  who am I to disagree… ♫ It is to be our last day in Portugal, and I still haven't bought a towel with a picture of Cristiano Ronaldo on it, they are for sale everywhere in the tourist shops. Well, maybe I will pass on the opportunity, the pictures don’t look exactly like him.   We have also seen Juventus shirts for sale in the same places, he is a superstar here. Portugal on the left, Spain on the right We ran this morning, as ever on a day where we will be in port, and I think it was the hottest conditions I have ever run in.  Even though we deliberately ran in the morning, the sun was beating down and there was no wind at all.  We went along the sea front promenade, then through an industrial area, and then out along the sea wall.  There were wetlands on the landward side and then a beautiful beach, while the other side was lined with guys fishing.  We found the municipal market and bought sea bream an...

Albufeira toVila Real de Santo Antonio We left Albufeira about 7.30, when the harbour was blissfully quiet. Only one or two of the tourist ribs were refuelling. There was little wind in the morning, but at lunchtime we were able to start sailing and had a fabulous spinnaker run for a few hours until we reached the outer approaches of the Rio Guadiana, which forms part of the border between Portugal and Spain. The Algarve cliffs, which looked stunning from the sea, gave way to a coastal plain around Faro. We were heading for Vila Real de Santo Antonio, on the Portuguese side. There is wide flat land either side of the river mouth, which is very shallow, with numerous sand banks, so we were aware we had to time our entry carefully. The tide rips strongly up and down the river, but nothing more than we have been used to in the Hamble river. We couldn’t be too early and spent part of the day deliberately keeping our speed down, as high water was 8:00 pm and we judged we would...

We have had several great holidays in the Algarve and have friends who are regular visitors here, but I suspect that the marina at Albufeira as not representative of the locations we have chosen.   During the day the marina is home to a steady flow of boats taking day trippers to nearby caves and secluded beaches, holiday makers for jet boat and paragliding trips, diving, etc. etc.   There are a line of bars and cafes along the quayside, offering full English breakfasts, and other typically non Portuguese foods.   There is also a crane for people to bungy jump from, and at fairly regular intervals, the guy manning the platform from which the jumps are made, will blow his vuvuzela, check everyone is watching and then give a 3 - 2 – 1 countdown for the person to jump.   The heavier folks just get their arms into the water, the lighter ones bounce around 5 – 10 metres in the air before the crane lowers them back to the ground and they get ready for the next one. ...