In Mazagon
Blue Note
Marco M.
Wed 26 Jun 2013 15:28
Position 37:08.046N 06:49.9W
Sailed distance = 114 NM
Average = 4.76 kts
We left Lagos on Tuesday after a nice lunch at a very inexpensive restaurant near the fishing-boats section of the Lagos marina. Our original intention was to sail to Cadiz, however the winds were from the east and forced us to keep a port tack south of the rhumb line.
Passed Faro that pushed us south of the gulf of Cadiz and into the "open" water.
There was a gale warning for Cadiz region and rough sea. Indeed around 2am the wind grew to 25-30 kts
and the sea was high with big swell.
We tacked to starboard and start to head into the gulf of Cadiz. Just two hours later the wind had decreased and eventually also the sea subsidized.
To continue towards Cadiz would have meant an arrival after sunset, therefore we decided to go for Mazagon.
The marina is very big and near empty. The service is not quite of the standards of Lagos and there is no town or village to speak off. We inquired about renting a car for visiting Sevilla but since there is no rental car office here the fee for having a car delivered would have made the cost too high.
The plan is to continue tomorrow for Cadiz and rent a car there.
The weather forecast for the Metarea "Cadiz" are still not good for even thinking about going to Gibraltar any time soon.
-----
CADIZ, GIBRALTAR STRAIT.
CONTINUING TO 27/12 UTC AT LEAST.
EAST 8 OR 9 IN AND LEEWARD STRAIT. SEVERE GUSTS.
Rough or very rough.
-----
So it looks like we might be in Cadiz for a while. The long term grib file forecast shows that wind will start to decrease after July 1st.
So there is a chance that after many days in Cadiz we might be forced to skip a stop in Gibraltar and go straight for Benalmadena
where Flavio will need to catch a train from Malaga to Valencia on for then flying back to Trieste.
Blue Note route from Lagos to Magazon