Tuesday 20^th May – Estapona – Caleta de Valez

36:44.852N 4:04.020W

Today we headed east along the Costa del Sol coast to Caleta de Valez. 

We came out of Estapona marina, pulled out the genoa and had a fabulous run downwind.  In the morning the wind was around F4, but then in the afternoon it reached F6 and we were surfing along on the 1-2m swell behind us and travelling at 8 knots, not bad for one sail; it was a very comfortable sail too. 

We sailed past the popular tourist haunts of Marbella, Fuengirola and Malaga and whilst they themselves looked quite built up, the mountains behind gave a lovely view to enjoyed as went along.

The entrance to Caleta de Valez was a little challenging as the wind chose that time to pipe up to F7 and the swell came on to the beam as I turned so we rocked around a bit; getting alongside the waiting pontoon in 20 knots of wind was interesting but we made it.  It is only a short waiting pontoon and so Moonshadow came alongside us. 

The staff at the marina said we could stay until the wind eased before moving to our berth but by then it was late so we decided to stay on the waiting pontoon; we had had a late sundowner, a later shower, and an even later dinner.