Thursday - 30 August 2018

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, to the marina office, where we were greeted with lovely friendly staff, who couldn’t have been more helpful. We were given a bottle of wine as part of our welcome.

We then had to make our first, with Equinox, reverse in, lazy line parking, Med style. It all went very well, helped by squeezing in a gap between two boats, so they hold you in place. Two Mariners took the stern lines and handed us the lazy line to attach to the bow. We had been concerned about the depth, the chart indicating we would have to go over a patch shallower than our draft to get into our slot, but we were reassured there was enough water. The lady from the office then came down, once we were in, to check all was well. Such good care and service. I am delighted to be back in Spain.

The showers are the best yet, too, this year, so Estepona is getting a star rating from us.

Having washed the deck and cleaned up, we sat on the foredeck with some fizz, to celebrate our arrival in the Med.

Distance covered today	28	nautical miles
Trip distance covered	1475	nautical miles
Distance covered 2018	2195	nautical miles
Tricia (and Steve)