Almerimar
Vasco da Gama
Ian Strathcarron
Sat 2 Aug 2008 18:56
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We are enjoying the passage between Malaga and
Almeria, motor sailing as yesterday there was no wind but it was so hot we had
the sails up to make some shade, and today was quite windy, although coming in
the wrong direction so it slowed us down and made the sea quite choppy.
Our friends Peter and Missie Graves joined us in Malaga. Peter is
going to help us sail to the Balearics. He has taken over the helm and I
have reverted to being a first class passenger, reclining in my cabin looking
out at the Costa Plastica and reading The Art of Dining, although the only
dining we have done today is of shortbread biscuits as it was too rough to work
in the galley and anyway shortbread biscuits taste delicious at
sea.
Ian and Peter spend many happy hours talking about
something called 'the luff, the leach and the clew' and other incomprehensible
(to me) subjects; then they tinker around with the lines (ropes) and study
the pilot's manual for hours. They found 2 great places for
overnighting : last night anchored in a bay called Fondeadero de
Castell de Ferro, where I dived into the sea as it was so clean and inviting,
and the night before in a charming fishing harbour called Puerto Caleta de
Velez. We had dinner with our friends Siggy and Blue Weaver who
live nearby in a finca in the Alpujarras. This afternoon we moored at this very attractive new
marina. It's huge, but has a very sleepy Spanish atmosphere, so unlike the
resorts to the west of Malaga which are brash, crowded and expensive and best
avoided by any sane person during the summer. The best thing about staying
in Puerto Banus was seeing all our mates who live in the mountain village of
Istan where we used to live. Tomorrow we are taking a taxi to Almeria to
drop Missie at the airport and take a look around the town, then leaving
for a 24 hour sail to Cartagena and after a short pit stop, about 30
hours to Formentera. It's very comfortable on board, we have
plenty of hot water for showers, the chest fridge is excellent and keeps the
beers and wine cold. It would be perfect to also have a washing
machine, and I would even quite like an iron. I can see us becoming
more and more domesticated and eventually getting the pot plants, the pet dog
and the bicycles!
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