To Hell and Back
well we said good bye to Steve and hello to Gibraltar but it was no sooner we had worked out how to get Kirsty on and off the boat with Gibs unfeasibly high pontoon walls, when we had to leave to head up the Costa Del Sol to the not so quaint fishing port of Benalmedena (Torremolinos to you). We broke the journey up stopping off at Estapona, a lovely place full of Russian types in ferraris but the marina made us v welcome with a courtesy bottle of wine on arrival. (which we paid for of course but nice touch) AND..... there was a top Indian Restaurant there where I had my first proper curry in months. Oh it was amazing.....puris, chana dahl, peshawari nan bread to name but a few dishes I gorged on that night. Remember I'm from the Black Country where everything tastes better in a curry. Kirsty goes mad when it comes to my suggestions for a new evening meal! For a midlander to go without a Balti is like a German to forgoe Bratwurst or a Frenchman to forgoe something repulsive in a shell.
The next day we bid Adios to Estapona and headed for Benalmadena, Torremolinos where I spent many days as a child getting sunburnt whilst following Mom and Dad around trying to find the most English place to eat. I wasnt quite sure what to find. The marina as we entered had Goudi inspired picturesque bulidings and the marina seemed quiet on first inpesction and well thought out with boats moored fore and aft around apartment blocks. We were ushered to a gap about 3 ft wide between 2 motor boats which we had fun backing Jon jon into (oh well most the boats there seem to be left for months so whose going to see a couple of fender marks eh??) We got ourselves sorted and then headed for a walk around the marina where we realised the true nature of where we had come.
Dante must have visioned this as he wrote the Divine Comedy. 500m of waterside comprising of hoards of 2 Euro Shops, interspersed with tacky bars where you could smoke a fake hookah while watching man utd on the tele; every 5 metres somebody jumping in front of you to persuade you to part with your hard earned cash to go see Dolphins....(we saw lots but nowhere near Benal, they dont like swimming around McDonald wrappers and plastic bottles); middle aged women from newcastle with henna tatoos, who think that a too tight tshirt over disappearing bikini bottoms are suitable evening attire; Danny Dyer Walkalikies with the tattoed names of all their abandoned children written in fake arabic letters on their arms. Are you getting the picture ...it was HELL. And to cap it all from the day we arrived to the day we left the wind dropped and it became hotter than hell. With no air circulating around the boat we lived in a a sauna for 10 days. I felt like Tom Conti in Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence. And if you did mannage to drop off to sleep at night you were awoken by a bang as yet another loud midnight dolphin trip stormed past the boat.
But we had fun. We had come to spend sometime with Mom and Sister Sarah and nephew Ben, who were on holiday and they had a lovely hotel with a swimming pool and I had my first bath in months. Richard my brother in law arrived towards the end and we took him out for a dawn sail where he landed a couple of fish we had the whole Matthews /Lowe Clan on the boat in the afternoon. It gave me and Kirsty some much needed time to chill.(If that was possible in 40 deg heat). We went on a nostagia trip back to where we had our apartment as kids, (the Queen Vic pub is now closed sadly!) and watched Mo spectactularly win the 5000m in cool air con with a beer. Thanks all we had a great week.
Once the family had departed back on "Package Nightmare Airlines" we had to spend a further 2 days in Hell before the wind changed and we put an overnighter back down to Gib. Once we cleared Marbella we had dolphins and great winds untill we arrived at the Rock and sailed into a fog bank and with approx 50 ships vanishing before our eyes (but showing on the AIS and radar as one giant purple blob) we had an hour of butt clenching motoring around ships before arriving back at the marina. I was thankful for all that RYA fog training done over the years...it really works!!!!!
So what next...... well after much silent deliberation and despite making it clear that she never would, Kirsty has decided she likes long sails and Chritmas in the Carribean would be nice and so Barbados here we come. Steve is coming with us and we seek one more crew if anyone is interested leaving end of nov and arriving Barbados in time for Christmas. Its 3 weeks of fast but fun ocean sailing. We are busy importing steering systems and water makers, I have a few jobs with a sailing school and Kirsty is joining the gym (mainly for the aircon) Phillipa arrives monday and we will go off for a gentle weeks cruising. We wont be home soon!!!