30/11/2010, Almerimar
Tuesday
It's raining. Rain like we haven't seen it since northern Spain in May. Roads are flooded and the water level in the marina itself is the highest we've seen it. This makes climbing up and down our new passarelle something of a challenge as the water level has risen taking the boat with it and making the angle much steeper. It could be a bit alarming as high winds are also forecast for tonight and tomorrow.
As we have shore power our little fan heater is working overtime but keeps the boat surprisingly snug and the condensation under control. Talking to others we all say the same thing - something along the lines of "we shouldn't complain because this is nothing compared to the weather at home". We see the pictures and feel, thankfully, a long way away. Many part time live-aboards have either already left or are soon returning home in time for Christmas so there's a lot of worry about closed airports and road conditions.
But it's wet. Very wet. It's a few minutes' walk to the shower block and we return with wet coats and shoes as well as wet towels which there's nowhere to dry. They hang about, wet, over doors and cupboards, getting in the way.
We've got used to warm, dry days and so have the ducks. They still arrive in the marina and wait for yesterday's bread. But the place has a deserted air. Nobody venturing out lingers to feed the ducks.
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Comments [2]
26/11/2010, Almerimar
Friday
We've been getting out and about this week. Vic and Christine invited us to join them on Isabelle for a day sail. I was a bit dubious about this, I must admit. It was definitely overcast and it is always colder out at sea than on land. Besides, I've sort of settled into the idea of no more sailing for a bit. Just turning Seren Môr around in the marina so that we could have some work done on the bow for the passarelle filled me with trepidation (in the end Neil and Vic did it all).
So wearing thermals and prepared for wet weather, we threw off the lines, took in the fenders and headed out to sea. I say 'we', but actually, despite making a big deal of putting on the sailing gloves, I did absolutely nothing - total passenger. It was great! I'd forgotten the feeling of sailing just for sailing's sake, going where the wind took us in the company of real sailors.
Today we headed for the hills. Vic and I had both decided against the organised Sunday walk as they never give any details on how difficult the walk is going to be. Last week Neil felt I would have been fine, this week I most definitely would not have been. Thank goodness I made the right decision in not going. But a walk in the hills of Cabo de Gata really appealed. We could go at our own speed (well, my speed actually) and decide when enough was enough. We started at the light house and walked up along the almost deserted road and back along the coastal path, with a bit of a diversion on the way. The views were impressive and the exercise not too exhausting. I did dose off in the car on the way back, though.
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26/11/2010, Almerimar
Christine and Neil went ahead on our walk in Cabo de Gata to check out the footpath.
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23/11/2010, Almerimar
Neil and Vic seemed to enjoy our afternoon out in the shopping mall!
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22/11/2010, Almerimar
Neil and Vic turned Seren Mor around so we could have the new passarelle fitted to the bow.
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20/11/2010, Almerimar
Saturday
We've been looking at the marinas and boat yards in the near locality with a view to giving Seren Môr her bottom wash and brush-up in the spring. Yesterday afternoon was the turn of Adra and Christine and Vic came along, probably with a bit of trepidation after the last excursion! My legs were still suffering big time and I don't think Vic's felt much better.
The town was nothing to write home about although it appears they are working on the marina, adding more pontoons. We'd missed the boat yard office which had naturally shut at 2pm not to open again until Monday but we did get to look around. They have a huge travel lift used to bring out the fishing boats but it didn't appear to be an obvious choice for leisure craft. We did try to ask a couple of blokes who were working there but our Spanish wasn't really up to it and their reply seemed to consist mostly of directions back to the office. Ah well.
After a slight detour to "stretch our legs" refreshment seemed to be advisable and we ventured into a bar on the seafront. The owner turned out to be a real character. I don't think he expected to do much business that afternoon and had got a sun lounger positioned in front of the t.v. to watch what appeared to be the Spanish equivalent of Jerry Springer. He managed to dig out some drinks and washed enough glasses for three of us.
He then brought fresh walnuts - no nut cracker but delighted in showing us how to crack them on the table. This was followed by a dish of pipas, the salted sunflower seeds still in their shell which appear to be a Spanish favourite particularly in the north, and finally chestnuts. He turned out to be a treasure, encouraging us to come back the following day for the market and fresh fish straight from the boats.
We gave the coastal route a try on the way home which turned out to be much less scenic than it sounds. Basically we were submerged in "plasticos" - the greenhouses made of plastic sheeting that have taken over what land is left after the tourist development of the Costa del Sol. This sheeting provides dappled shade whilst allowing the air to circulate beneath it keeping anything grown underneath from getting too hot in the baking temperatures of summer.
Now this sounds pretty useful to stop yachties turning into roast meat and has been utilised by some of the boats here. If you buy it from garden centres it's rather pricy, though. Spotting someone coming out of one of the plasticos, Neil reasoned that they wouldn't have paid garden centre prices and decided to see what he could find out. To cut a long story short we returned to the marina with a long strip of old sheeting and an armful of courgettes!
After washing down the filthy sheeting and leaving it to drain on the sugar scoop over night we've admitted defeat, however. It still looked pretty disgusting and it has been consigned to the skip. I'm looking forward to the courgettes tonight, though.
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