Picture: Half empty marina at Ayamonte. A sign of the times?

I stayed for a week in the Marina Alcaidesa at La linea, it was a convenient base for visiting Gibraltar and the wind had gone around to the west so transiting the Strait against it would have been difficult. I was content to stay and become a tourist.
To cross the border was easy, I just showed my passport, walked through and crossed the airport runway into what was for me a reminder of UK. I even had a chicken tikka masala one lunchtime and paid using Pounds Sterling.
I walked the length of Main Street noting all the familiar shops from any UK high street. Fish and chips were for sale in the central square but for me that would have been a ‘meal too far’
I toured the new marina complex and checked on the price of the duty free diesel, an inviting 70 pence per litre.
Of course a tour of the Rock had to be made even if it was just to visit my cousins the Barbary Apes. I went to the top in the cable car, admired the views and walked down. On the way I toured the Siege Tunnels and the World War 2 Tunnels, both very interesting and well worth the visit.
After some days the wind, once more, went back to the east, so I took the first opportunity to leave the marina and head west through the Strait. Unfortunately the tidal timings were such that I had to leave before dawn and did not have the chance to refuel ’Salara’ at the dock in Gibraltar.
‘Salara’ made a slow passage under engine and genoa as despite my careful passage planning she had a current of anything of between 1 and 3 knots against her until she rounded Tarifa and headed north on course for Barbate were she arrived in the mid afternoon. I booked her in just overnight (27 euros) fully intending the leave in the morning.
‘Salara’ was once again back in the North Atlantic and after spending four years in the virtually tideless Mediterranean it was quite a novelty for me to see the marks of high and low water on the marina quay wall.
When I awoke the next day the wind was blowing from the north exactly what I did not want so I resigned myself to another day in the almost empty marina at Barbate. However by noon it had veered once more to the east so I quickly checked out and ’Salara’ left harbour on her way to Cadiz. As she headed on a course to round Cabo Trafalgar the wind swiftly increased to south easterly F5/6 and I decided at that point not to head north over the shallow banks off the cape but to stay in deep water and head west to go around them. It was soon blowing a full gale with nasty seas so my decision was justified. A better one would have been to stay in Barbate.
It was a rough trip but ’Salara’ coped with it well under just the headsail often surfing down the larger waves. Later as she approached Cadiz the wind and sea conditions had improved and I was able to hoist the mizzen.
She entered Cadiz Bay in darkness and motored against the wind down the main buoyed channel until turning to port and heading the short distance to drop anchor between Porto Sherry Marina and the long breakwater of Porto Santa Maria. Once the anchor was well dug in I heaved a sigh of relief at our safe arrival and the fact that ’Salara’ is an excellent sea boat. Maybe I should think a little more before I leave harbour in future.
‘Salara’ stayed at anchor all the next day as the wind whipped across the anchorage at F5/6 and I was reluctant to have another ‘exciting’ day sailing.
The following day I took ’Salara’ into Porto Sherry Marina and booked her in for one night, she needed refuelling anyway. Moored on the marina reception pontoon was a large ketch with it’s sails hanging in tatters apparently it was a recently arrested drugs boat.
That evening I took the opportunity of walking into the town of Santa Maria a mile or so from the marina. An old sherry trading port, quite pleasant and well worth the stroll there and back along the sandy beach.
Over the next three days ‘Salara’ continued her passage along the coast stopping at Chipiona and Mazadon before heading for the entrance to the Rio Guadiana which marks the border between Spain and Portugal. ‘Salara’ had sailed briskly from Mazadon and arrived at her waypoint off the entrance to the Rio Guadiana an hour early. Ideally she needed to enter at half flood but as it was neap tides I took her straight in under mainsail only pushed along by kind south easterly breeze. As ‘Salara’ crossed the bar I did not see any depths less than 3.5 metres and she continued under sail until I anchored her on the Portuguese side of the river opposite the Spanish town of Ayamonte.
I did not forget fly the Portuguese courtesy flag either.
That night the wind continued to blow from the south up the river and when the tide turned and opposed it ‘Salara’ started to yaw about so I went to bed with one ear listening for problems.
The following morning there was an increase in the wind speed and the rain arrived so I took her into the Ayamonte Marina and booked in for two nights. ‘Salara’ had over wintered here in 2008 so it was familiar ground to me.
The wind increased further in the afternoon and evening and was accompanied by a thunder storm and torrential rain. It was the first heavy rain that I had seen since my first attempt to transit the Strait of Messina earlier in the year.
To my surprise the marina was over half empty, when I was here before it was full of over wintering yachts but maybe they will all rush back in when the berthing fees are reduced by half in October.