12^th April     MARINA DEL ESTE

A quiet day. Had a lie in, left Caleta at 10.55, again the wind right behind us (W/SW 2-5) sea was slight, and we cruised along to Marina del Este. It’s a great little place – at first I thought there’d be nothing there, but the office is right by the fuel/reception pontoon, you walk about 10 yds! It’s a Marinas de Mediterraneas facility (same as Estepona) and the same high service levels are in evidence. Excellent English, couldn’t have been more helpful, checked out booking tickets to visit the Alhambra when I expressed an interest, quite happy to organise a hire car if we wanted one – and another bottle of wine!

They’ve incorporated this rocky outcrop into the breakwater, so the place has a slight “Fantasy Island” flavour about it. A beach adjacent, a protected wildflower zone – with great clumps of camomile. There’s a bit of a swell though, and Psyche bounced and groaned all night long. There are a couple of restaurants on the quay (more in season I guess, they said the place gets really crowded). Another 18 NM covered.

Forecast for Friday 13^th was bad – so decided to stay over.

13^th April  MARINA DEL ESTE

Had a coffee and toast in the sunshine, generally mooched about. Then Nick decided to venture the 4 km road over the hill to La Herredura, a village in a bay just to the west of the marina. I said I’d catch him. I’d been wanting an engine service and an impeller check when I could fit one in, so I wandered over to the Varaderos working by an office with a Volvo sign on it. It was 11.45.

By 14.30 the engine had been serviced, impeller cover was badly worn, it and impeller replaced – and they even sprayed the replacement cover in Volvo marine green to match the rest of the engine. Two guys, very cheerful and helpful, chatting away in broken English about work in Spain and London, holidays in Bali and so on.

Really good service.

I then set off to find Nick, who had installed himself in a bar by the beach at La Herredura. The road uphill was steep, but the sky was blue and you could smell the pines, and at the top you could just, very very faintly see Gibraltar, past Estepona. The bay was stunning, the sea green and blue – there were loads of villas – but some of them were in superb positions, really high quality.

I found Nick about to devour a plate of frittura (having already demolished another tomato and avocado salad) and having embarked on a local wine (he’ll remember the name, I forget). So I got a salad and joined in. The wind was getting up, justifying our day in port. Around our table (inside one of those plastic/glass shelters they build round cafes in Spain,) hopped a one legged sparrow, so I fed him some crumbs which he sped off with rapidly. Outside a disconsolate seagull stood, the wind ruffling his feathers, a length of fishing line about 9 inches long protruding from his mouth, which he kept trying, unsuccessfully, to swallow.

We managed to get a taxi back to the marina, and had a fairly substantial dinner at Restaurant Barco on the quayside.

14^th April   MARINA DEL ESTE

Another bad forecast, so another day in port. So now very glad of the push through to Caleta de Velez earlier in the week. I went to the marina office and asked the guy if he had any recommendations for bars/restaurants in Almunecar, the town visible to the west of the marina ( a mile or so as the crow flies, about 5 round all the houses). He suggested a bar called Los Parachitos near the Plaza del Constitucion. So we ordered a cab and got dropped at the Castillo, which dominates the old town.

I had texted Finn to let him know where I was – and he got straight back saying that Almunecar was where Laurie Lee ended up! It must have been amazing then, before the buildings…...having said that, they are generally better than most of the developments I’ve seen – and the stand alone ones, on the best sites, are magnificent, with beautiful steep gardens and views of the ocean below.

The Castillo was good (very windy!), Moorish with additions, I think the brits came along to destroy it at one point in the 19^th century. The museum was interesting – saw the oldest written language found on the Iberian peninsula, on an Egyptian urn. In the middle of town are the remains of a Roman fish salting factory.

Off to Los Parachitos – found it about 12.30, it was shut. There was a guy standing outside watching as we tried the door. “One o’clock” he said. So we came back at one. It was tiny and packed. Young people, old people, men, women popping in and out, guy behind the bar frantically handing out bottles of Estrella, each one of which came with a tapas – whitebait, chicken, prawns etc, which he remembered to give to each person who had ordered. It was heaving. A really good place.

Then back to the marina, and a meal in the restaurant next to El Barco for a change!

And so to bed, with a better forecast for Sunday, weather quietening through the day.