Mar Menor - 37:42:02N 0:46:09W
Red Skies
David Alexander
Tue 15 Sep 2009 13:50
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On Sunday 13th Sept, following a leisurely
start that included a pre-breakfast swim, we left the anchorage at Aguilas and
sailed North-East to a beautiful cove, Cala de la Salitrona, about 5 miles from
Cartegena, where we anchored for the night. After more swimming we continued
along the coast and rounded Cabo de Palos with the intention of entering into
the shallow inland sea, Mar Menor. Unfortunately, our pilot book had the wrong
times for the lifting bridge and when we phoned them we found that we had just
missed a slot and had to wait for 2 hours for the next. We thought we would
anchor off an offshore island (Isla Grosa), as the wind was getting gusty, but
were warned off by a chap in a rib who we think was a marine pretection officer,
but he could have been just having a bit of fun. Anyway, we just sailed up and
down until the appointed hour and then made our way round to the bridge in
company with 2 other yachts. We moored in the lea of Isla Mayor and swum down to
check the anchor as the wind was rising again.
Just as dusk as fell, the wind really got up and
came from 180 degree diiferent angle. Mar Menor is shallow all over but
this change caused us to move closer than we wished to the island and, having
seen the rocky outcrops while snorkling, we decided we had to move when the
depth below the keel was less than a foot. Having retrieved the anchor, plus a
garden of vegitation from the chain, we motored across to find some shelter from
what was now a full blown Force 6 verging on 7 (28 knots). This proved to be
difficult as no real lea could be found anywhere and impossible for a suitable shelter to cope with 180 degree
variations. Eventually, we tried to get out of the worst of the waves by the
Isla Perdiguera, but made sure we were not too near the island in case the wind
veered again. The sky had become threatheningly dark and the stars were obscured
from a large section. Soon the lightning could be seen and we set up an anchor
watch rota to ensure we could react quickly if we started to drag. In the event,
the Spade anchor held firm and we rotated about it by 180 degrees when the wind
changed back to its original direction. Despite the thunder and lightning seen
and heard, we had no rain - just severe wind shifts.
On Tuesday morning (15th Sept), having checked the
time of the lifting bridge opening with the control tower at Tomas Maestre, we
left Mar Menor and motored North (against a now North wind) to Torrevieja where
we are now tied up in the marina. The thunderstorms are still rattling around
and as, I type, we have had our first rain since Bayona way back in early
June.
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