08/24/2009
We arrived in Estepona on Friday 24th of July after a very short trip of about 5 hours from Gibraltar, the winds were very light so we had to motor all the way. Just as we were approaching the marina the winds started to increase quite rapidly, like always we called the marina and they advised us where our berth would be and that also someone would assist us with our berthing as in the Med they use lazy lines and its always advisable to have some assistance when using this method of berthing. By the time we were ready to reverse into our space the wind had got up to around 25 knots and we knew at this time that this procedure was not going to be easy in these conditions. I took a very long run up for the approach and decided to do this under speed to compensate for the wind. As soon as I got the stern in place the wind was already taking hold of the bow, the member of marine staff who that assisting us was too slow in handing us the lazy line and fastening the stern to the pontoon, so this led to the wind catching Ashby Girls bow and swinging her round so that we ended up side-to on the pontoon with a gap each end of only a few inches. By this time the member of staff was frantically running up and down the pontoon waving his arms up and down saying that we can not leave the boat like this, so for the next hour he tried every way possible to get Ashby Girl in the correct position without any success, 25 knots of wind blowing onto Ashby Girls side meant that she was there to stay. We made Ashby Girl as tight as possible before going to the office to carry out the formalities; the office staff had seen everything from their many security cameras in the office and then presented us with a bottle of wine saying that out of 444 boats we were the only boat berthed side-to. It took me and Young Debs two hours once the winds had dropped off to get Ashby Girl in the correct space. When we were in Gib, we had a boat hit us and knock off our Kedge anchor bracket, Phil who was with us at the time had been diving and asked his instructor if he could dive down and retrieve our bracket that we had lost, which he did and I refitted it in Gib. Well what do you think is the only thing that got damaged when attempting to berth in Estepona, that right our Kedge anchor container, but this time we have all the parts as nothing fell off.
We enjoyed our time in Estepona, we were here about 5 years ago on holiday, although in that time things have changed considerably. There are lots of English boats moored here and it looks like that they have quite a few livaboards here to. The marina is nice and is surrounded by shops, bars and restaurants; also there was a good Sunday market at the marina.
We left Estepona on Monday 27th July at lunchtime for our next destination which was Almerimar, the trip took about 21 hours and throughout the trip we saw loads of dolphins which seemed to be with us for most of the trip the last time we saw dolphins was in Portugal so this was a very pleasant sight. Out of 21 hours we motored for 18 of them, the wind increased in the middle of the night other than that it was fairly calm until we arrived at the marina and then the wind got up to 18 knots, so after our last episode we were thinking the worst. Upon entering we were waved onto a waiting pontoon, which was not easy as the wind was blowing us off, we managed to get the bow tied on and the stern was blown completely round in the opposite direction but we did manage to get the stern tied on, although we approached the pontoon in one direction we ended up facing the complete opposite direction, but this wasn't too bad. We carried out all the formalities and then we were given our berth and told someone would be there to assist us with the dreaded lazy line. On the way to our berth we were both in a cold sweat, this time however it wasn't too bad I had one attempt of trying to reverse in stern-to then quickly gave up on that idea due to the wind and decided on the easy option of going in bows-to which was no problem.
We both liked the marina in Almerimar, it's really spread out and there are shops, restaurants, bars, all literally at the back of the boat, so going in bow-to turned out to be a good choice otherwise everyone would have been watching us when we were relaxing on the back or when eating our dinner. There is a beach close by, which is not the greatest beach as it's a bit shingly, but its was a lovely long walk along it as it went on for miles, they must of recently built a promenade all the way along the beach and me and Debs seemed the only people to use it. One of the best things about being here is that the sea is now warm, its great just being able to run in the sea without the worry of freezing your bits off, everywhere else we have been to its been like swimming at Brighton, freezing.
We sadly left Almerimar on Friday 31st July for our next destination which was Torrevieja, the trip took about 32hours. When we say sadly left Almerimer it was one of those places where it was ideal place to stop for a while this was due to the fact that everything there was ok or good and it was very reasonable in price. The trip from Almerimar to Torrevieja was a bit of an eventful one to say the least, It was one of those nights which was pitch black as the clouds were covering the moon and stars, there wasn't that much wind so it was quite a still and eerie night. I just relieved Young Debs and started my watch at 2am and was still half asleep when I heard this loud roaring noise, I was looking up thinking a jet aircraft was about to land on top of us and then all of a sudden a big search light lit Ashby Girl and the surrounding area up. I could just make out a very big motor boat literally a few metres from the back of our boat, at that time I thought we were going to be rammed. I quickly took control from Wilson thinking that this could be pirates and we are about to be robbed. I quickly started the engine, put her into full revs turned her around and with all the sails flapping and the boom swinging wildly I made a run for it, well obviously this was a complete waste of time. I quickly called Deb up who was downstairs asleep; we both looked over at the motor cruiser which was by now along side us and we could see 5 guys on board. By now they were shouting at us but we could not make out what they actually required from us, they seemed to want me to slow the boat down and hold a steady course. Now there boat was right along side of us and we were actually touching, at least 2 of the guys were ready to jump off onto Ashby Girl. All kinds of things were going through our minds at this time and if it was pirates we both thought it would be best to let them have what they wanted and that hopefully that would be the end of it. Two men boarded Ashby Girl and approached us, me and Debbie both held hands and I said to her don't worry we will be alright, then one of the men spoke for the first time in broken English. He said we are Spanish Customs is this your first time? We wish to see your boat papers and passports. We were shocked to say the least but also relieved, at no time did they say they were customs until they had boarded us, they spent about half an hour going through our papers and when satisfied then left. Their boat was showing no lights whatsoever and they were not detectable on our radar. When they left they turned their search lights out and although they were just at the back of our boat they could no longer be seen, then we heard a roar and they were gone.
We arrived at Torrevieja a bit earlier than expected after a sleepless night due to all the activity and we now had the dreaded Lazy Lines to tackle. Well mooring was straight forward and we encountered no problems although the space between the pontoons was very small, when you pick a Lazy Line up from the bottom of the sea it is absolutely filthy, you, your clothes and the boat all need washing once you are moored up. The marina Torrevieja is very nice with bars, restaurants and shops surrounding the pontoons, everything seemed clean and very well run, but outside the marina is a bit of a let down, scruffy, very dirty, graffiti everywhere and I don't believe they have heard of a poop scoop. We went to a big beach party on the first night we were here; it was a big annual charity event with groups, dancers, comedians and lots of drunken people, but all fun and again no trouble, one of the highlights for us was the Blues Brothers which we managed to miss.
We left Torrevieja on the 3rd August after a two night stay for our next destination which was Villajoyosa, this was just a short days sail. When we arrived at Villajoyosa there was only space for one night and they spoke a very small amount of English, we were unable to understand them and visa versa so
As we had no idea where to go and we were unable to find somewhere to leave the boat we gave up and left. We contacted all the other marinas close by and we were able to get into Altea. When close to our destination we passed a small Spanish traditional town called Benidorm, well we could not believe it and we knew we had to go and spend a day there, so the day after we arrived at Altea, we jumped on a bus and spent a day at Benidorm. It's an absolutely crazy place, but probably not what you would expect. The Brits are mostly away from the beach area within the big hotels, the beach and most of the flats along the beach are jammed packed with Spanish, and there are literally hundreds of shops which cater for the minority which are the Brits. The place is not that bad, when we were there although it was packed it was clean, the beach was good and that was also kept clean and there wasn't loads of people going round trying to get you to buy something.
Altea is not a bad place, the beaches are pebbles, the marina is nice but for the money we were charged there it is totally overpriced, we stayed there three nights to relax and get the boat fully stocked and prepared for our next destination which will be the Balearic Islands. The Balearic Islands are very busy and very expensive to stay in marinas, that's if you can even get in, so we have no plans for these Islands, it will be a case of finding somewhere to anchor and if this spot is good and safe we will stay longer. Well saying that we stayed for three nights we actually stayed for four nights because as we were about to leave the marina one of the staff called us back saying we are not allowed to leave and to go to the office. The office staff informed us that because we had not left by 12 noon we would have to pay for one more night, we of cause argued this but was told that the marina is like a hotel you must be out by 12 noon. We would definitely not recommend this hotel; they don't even make your bed for you. So rather than waste the money we stayed the extra night and left at 11-30am the following morning and found a nice anchorage within an secluded bay where we spent a enjoyable afternoon before setting off for how next destination.
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07/26/2009
We arrived at Cadiz on Saturday 11th July at about 12 noon after a pretty good night's sail which took about 22 hours. The winds here are still a bit unpredictable and during the night we seemed to have not enough wind or too much wind. When we first laid eyes on Cadiz we were not too impressed, there was large cranes everywhere, very large ships and ferries going backwards and forwards, but once in the marina things was not too bad. We spent a bit of time sightseeing in the town, which was ok we wasn't too impressed although Lord Byron declared Cadiz to be the most beautiful town he has ever seen, so its probably us not appreciating the finer points. One thing we are finding hard is that shops etc seem to always close when you need them. Here for instance, shops closed on Saturday afternoon and do not reopen until Monday morning. This has meant that for the last 10 days we have not seen a proper large supermarket and we have had to rely on our back up of reserved food, so some nights we have had to experiment and come up with some interesting recipes.
We left Cadiz for Barbate on Monday 13th July, this is an unscheduled stop as we initially were planning to do an overnighter and go straight to Gibraltar. The only reason we were going straight there was to hit the Gibraltar Straights at the correct time for the tidal stream and that would have been first thing in the morning, but now we have decided that perhaps they are not quite as bad as first thought so getting there at any time should still be ok. We were not over keen on Barbate but it did serve its purpose as a stopover and we were able to find a decent supermarket where we stocked up with food etc.
We stayed in Barbate for 2 nights and left there on Wednesday 15th July for our next destination which was Gibraltar. We had to motor all the way to Gibraltar due to light winds, but saying that, we must have had at least 3 knots of tide with us all the way as we averaged 8 knots, which with no wind is pretty good going. Coming down the Gibraltar Straights is a great sight and we were both quite excited what with Africa on our right and Gibraltar ahead of us. As we were approaching the marina we had to give way to an aircraft which was about to land, this is because the marina is right next to the runway but luckily for us there are only about 5 flights a day. We were also looking forward to spending just over a week in Gibraltar and having our friend Phil pop over from the UK to spend 5 nights with us.
After settling down in the marina, and completing all formalities we went to check out the sights and to see what laid ahead of us for the next week or so.
Just before Phil arrived on Friday the 17th July, our neighbour in the boat next to us was leaving his berth when he caught our boat and knocked our anchor off and the bracket holding the anchor became dislodged and disappeared into the water, and once again, after yet another incident where Ashby Girl has been slightly damaged I informed the other boat owner that he should not worry about the slight damage he had done to our boat. We then went off and met Phil at the airport, we went back to Ashby Girl to let Phil unpack and have a cold beer before hitting the sights of Gibraltar. Throughout the time Phil was with us we must have seen most of the sights, like a trip up the rock to see the caves, siege tunnels and not forgetting the famous monkeys, the museums, the beaches and so on. There was a large festival taking place just over the border so on the Sunday we thought we would nip over and check this out, We had already been pre warned not to wear any decent clothing as when you walk through the streets you will be covered with sangria. We went over and eventually found the main party, we must have got there just as the parade was finishing because the streets were actually drenched with sangria we were sticking to the pavements as they were so sticky. There were thousands of people there eating, drinking, dancing to the very loud music, everyone was dressed in traditional costume and there was a brilliant atmosphere, it was very family orientated and although everyone was merry there was no trouble to be seen, not like if this happened in the UK. Phil went diving one morning and he asked his instructor if he would dive down and retrieve our anchor bracket. So the next day when the instructor was diving in our area he dived next to our boat and in a few seconds he resurfaced with our bracket. We dined out in the evening in lots of nice bars and restaurants, but there was one bar in particular that Phil used to drag us into most days, we believe this may be due to the girl behind the bar. Another great thing about Gibraltar is that there is a Morrison's supermarket there that has a bar and also somewhere where you could lock your shopping away still in the trolley while you have a nice cool beer. Sadly Phil left us on Wednesday 22nd July after 5 great days, we saw him off at the airport then went back to Ashby Girl and got our Union Jack flags out and waved him off as his plane went passed. Phil on seeing us took a photo of this and there was an American boat next door to us who also took a photo of a couple of mad English people waving Union Jacks at a Monarch aeroplane. We spent the next day getting all the laundry sorted and Ashby Girl back to normal sailing conditions and then on Friday 24th July we left Gibraltar after our 9 day stay for our next destination which was Estepona in Southern Spain.
See photographs titled (h) PHOTOS - Spain, Portugal & Gibraltar.
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07/12/2009
We Finally left Bayona at 6-45am on Thursday 25th June and once again headed down the coast to our next destination that was Leixoes in Portugal. The trip down was again a hard slog with the wind directly on our nose; this did get better by the afternoon when the wind changed direction and finally we managed to have a good sail. Throughout our trip we have seen many dolphins but on this particular passage and at one particular time our boat was absolutely surrounded by them, we have never seen so many dolphins in one place at one time, what a sight. When we finally arrived at Leixoes we were both quite tide after a long trip and when Young Debs tried to jump from the boat to the very short pontoon she missed the pontoon but managed to still hang onto the shrouds with her feet dangling in the water, she was ok but with some nasty bruising. Leixoes is a large commercial port and not very attractive but the beaches all along this coast are spectacular and Leixoes is no exception. Leixoes is quite near Porto so we decided to get the Metro to Porto and spend the day sightseeing. Our last night in Leixoes saw winds get up to 35 knots and although this is a well protected harbour we still felt like we were on a rollercoaster and it also felt like our little pontoon would not hold us. The boat that was moored next to us was out during the day training would be skippers. When he returned to his berth that evening, he managed to hit our boat with an almighty bang, this caused our flagpole to snap in half but we don't think this caused any other damage. The skipper was an English lad so although he was willing to pay for any damage we shook hands, had a drink and forgot about it.
We left Leixoes on Sunday 28th June at 1pm for our next destination Nazare, is about 100 mile down the coast so the trip took about 20 hours and on this trip we travelled through the night. We both love travelling at night but travelling alone the coast with hundreds of fishing nets and fisherman who do not understand the give way rule makes night travelling a bit hazardous to say the least. It seems to be getting a hobby of ours to drag fisherman's nets from one town to another. Nazare is a very small marina within a commercial port, there's not too much there but a small shop come bar that sells very little in the way of groceries. There is a great local chap who runs it and loved practicing his limited amount of English on us. Within the town there is a great open market where the produce is very fresh and good but even better it's so cheap. Like most other places we have been to along this coast the beach is outstanding and we did manage to spend a day enjoying it.
We left Nazare very early on Tuesday morning for our next destination which was Cascais, the trip took about 13 hours and we managed to sail about half of the way which is not bad considering we normally have had to motor most of the way. Cascais is a more upmarket marina, very expensive with lots of bars and restaurants, but it has a lovely town with many nice buildings so was worth paying the extra marina fees, we only stayed here for 2 nights although we did enjoy it there.
We left Cascais again quite early and headed further down the coast to our next destination which was Sines, the trip was about 10 hours and we motored most of the way as the wind never got up until we were close to our destination. It was a beautiful trip as the sun was shining the sea was like a mirror and it was very hot. We were lying back enjoying the trip and we kept hearing this message over the VHF radio from the Portuguese authorities asking listeners to turn to another channel for more information regarding a warning message. At first we took no notice as you get a lot of these messages, they are normally to warn you that a certain navigational buoy has been moved, so as normal we took little notice and were just lying about on the boat sun bathing with the CD blaring away and then we noticed this Portuguese warship sort of following us at a distance. After some time we thought we better listen to the message as this warship did not seem to want to leave us. The message was that the Portuguese military were having firing practice and letting off live missiles from their warships in a certain area and at a certain time, it just so happens that we would be passing this area very close, so I suppose the warship was making sure we did not enter the restricted area. From now on we are determined to listen to all messages on the VHF radio. When we arrived at Sines the wind was picking up and we were glad to get moored up and have a beer. Over the next 5 days it was very interesting watching the boats come and go trying to battle the heavy winds in the marina. We spent 5 good days in Sines, done a bit of sightseeing here and relaxing on the lovely beaches. There was a festival going on all the time we were there with processions and music all along the promenade, they had bands playing the loudest music ever, there was stalls each side of the road selling all different types of food and drinks and the centre of the road was completely full of tables and chairs where you could sit down and enjoy your meal. There is a lovely traditional town in Sines with lots of interesting shops and restaurants scattered along the narrow cobbled streets. Most people here must be into fishing as there are so many tackle shops.
We left Sines on Wednesday the 8th July for our next destination which was Portimao in the Algarve. The trip took about 13 hours and we experienced some very high seas on the way, but as these were mostly behind us it caused us little problems. When we arrived we decided to anchor for the night in s bay just outside the marina. It was an absolutely beautiful spot with a traditional little Portuguese restaurant opposite on a small beach and some other beaches to one side. We sat on deck with some cool beers just admiring the view and thinking how lucky we are. The next day we went into the marina as we needed some supplies, it was a very nice large marina but also very expensive. Throughout this trip whenever we have gone into a marina we have perhaps met one or two English yachts, however here I though I was back at Brighton it was full of English. Once we had finished with the formalities of filling out paperwork and restocking the boat we headed for the beaches. Once again we were amazed by their beauty, the beaches were backed by different coloured rocks and were full of caves, some of these caves you actually walk through and this then brings you out to the next part of the beach. That night we decided to splash out on a meal in the beautiful surroundings and the next day we was up nice and early and back down the beach again before our departure. That day we left about 2pm for our next destination which is Cadiz SW Spain and this was an overnighter. We had some really good times in Portugal and we have visited some amazing places and after Portimao we are quit sorry to be leaving, we both know that there will be more adventures and more beautiful places to visit on the way.
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We left La Coruna on Wednesday 17th June after a 3 night stay. We headed down the coast to Camarinas. When we arrived the wind was picking up and over the following day this increased to 30 knots + in the marina. This meant that we could not get off our pontoon, so our stay in Camarinas was a bit longer then we had anticipated. Camarinas is very much a small fishing port with some shops and a few bars and restaurants. There are a few picturesque bays where you can anchor and this is an ideal and inexpensive place for a stopover, or even to spend a bit of time at anchor within a picturesque bay.
We left Camarinas on Monday 22nd June to head further down the coast to Bayona. The sail down was a bit rough with the wind directly on our nose, the scenery on the way was outstanding, a lot of people we have met say that this area is the best sailing area that they have ever sailed. Bayona marina is superb, the view from our berth is outstanding, the staff are very helpful and everything is here that is needed, this is a great place for a stopover and we are both a bit sad to be leaving but the weather is a bit unsettled at the moment so we have decided to go while we can. We spent two nights in the marina and the third night at anchor just outside the marina in the bay. We were both a bit apprehensive at first about anchoring overnight but once into it we both really enjoyed the experience and we will be anchoring whenever possible. When leaving in the morning Young Debs managed to get the electric cable for the remote control that operates the anchor completely tangled within the windless, this was corrected but only after causing more damage to an already shredded the cable. We are now leaving North Spain and heading for our next port which is Leixoes in Portugal.
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We have done it.
We have arrived in a La Coruna N Spain on Sunday 14th June at 5pm after a 107 hour journey where we crossed the notorious and dreaded Bay of Biscay. This is the sea area that every old sailor has a tale to tell; the tale is usually about someone they know who have crossed it.
When we were planning our adventure we obviously had a lot of reading material to get through and there seems to be more on the Bay of Biscay than any other sea areas in the world. The amount of stories we have read and heard about, from other mariners will make any sane person think twice about crossing the notorious bay.
We left Falmouth at 6am on Wednesday 10th June 2009 we headed out the harbour to light winds and quite moderate sea conditions. Throughout the day we did manage to sail some but also we had to motor because the wind was directly on our nose. Around midnight we first saw the Ile D'Ouessant in France and we were able to pick up a further weather forecast for the Bay of Biscay through a text message from a couple of our good buddies. It was about this time that I started feeling quite rough and sick; obviously I don't suffer from sea seasickness so we were both a bit concerned at what was wrong with me. For the next 12 hours if I was not laying down I was being sick. Throughout the night I was trying to take my watch but was sick continuously and Young Debs eventually took pity on me and confined me to my berth. We did consider turning back and heading into Camaret so that I could recover and Young Debs could eventually get some sleep without worrying about me, but as we had a such a good weather window for the Bay of Biscay we both felt that we would struggle through this. It was gone midday that I started to feel a bit better and carry out some of my duties as skipper and let Young Debs get some well deserved sleep. We then both put this near death experience to me suffering from good old seasickness, although I still will not admit to this myself?
The winds were still very light and mostly directly on our nose, the sea state was very high swells so we had no choice but to motor, but under these conditions our progress was very slow. By late afternoon on day two the swell had calmed considerably and now the winds were still very light and the sea state was clam, this was great but we still were having to motor. By day three conditions had not changed but by now we were getting a bit concerned regarding the amount of fuel we had remaining and this meant that we had to sail as long as the boat was moving, this did not always mean that we were travelling in the direction that we wanted to go. The third night seemed longer than most with the sails constantly flapping due to lack of wind, but by the fourth day with only forty miles to go we then knew that we had enough fuel to reach La Coruna and it was full steam ahead.
Throughout the trip with had the company of a number of dolphins on a number of different occasions, this is and will always be a great sight, they sometimes stayed with for ages just following the boat, going under and around the boat. There are a number of different types of dolphins but the smaller ones seem to be the most inquisitive and friendly, there was even one dolphin feeding her young whilst darting from one side of the boat to the other side.
On the third evening we had a large sea bird called a Cormerant that kept following us, he seemed to be checking us out, then after some time of flying around the boat he decided to land on our solar panels where he stayed for some sixteen hours. At first Young Debs was a little bit scared as he was so big and just kept staring at us, then after a while he just had a wash and then slept until morning. On another occasion whilst I was sleeping and Young Debs was on watch, she is pretty sure that she saw a large whale which circled the boat.
Sailing at night can be either spectacular or even quite eerie. You get some nights when its cloudy and a bit foggy it will be completely pitch black, always very quiet and the slightest noise seems to make you jump. Other times with clear skies and maybe a moon there will be thousands of stars and you can see for miles. It's these nights that you can just lay there on the back of the boat for hours on end just looking up in amazement. It was on one of these such nights that I witnessed a shooting star and I cant remember seeing a shooting star for many a year.
We eventually arrived in La Coruna on Sunday 14th June at 5pm. The journey had taken us 107 hours. One of the first things we always do when reaching port is to crack open a cold beer which we did. We then cleaned Ashby Girl carried out some formalities had a well deserved shower and then cracked open a bottle of champagne to celebrate our safe arrival.
We will stay in La Coruna for about 3 nights just to check out some of the sights before moving onto our next port which will probably be Camarinas still in N Spain but supposed to be a very picturesque. We have met a few English Sailors here so our plans can change rapidly.
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Some of the many Dolphins we saw when crossing the Bay
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