Well, we have found a port that will allow us to still enjoy Spain, but reside in a non-Schengen Treaty territory. Gibraltar! Just across the border from Spain, and to the south, Morocco. We are looking forward to our new adventure. Join us as we leave Lagos, Portugal to sail along the shores of The Iberian coastline, to our new winter port in Gibraltar. we have included 44 photos, so click on "Older" when you get down to the bottom of this page.
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After almost three months exploring the Algarve Coast and parts of the interior, our transmission was repaired. We tossed off our dock lines, and headed out to explore some of the Iberian coastline. Our final destination would be Gibraltar, where we will spend the winter. We will miss Portugal, and hope to return for some more of that wonderful seafood, wine, and Potruguese hospitality!
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Vilamoura is a "purpose-built" golfing-yachting village, kind of an "instant"vacation destination. Everything, including the harbor was buit in the 1980's with the hopes of attracting tourists to its three golf courses, its yacht basin lined with high priced bars, cafes and restaurants, and "designer" shops. Too contrived for us! Plastic boats, plastic chairs and plastic souvenirs!
Maybe we weren't as fond of this harbor as others, since we were visited by an immigration officer, who noted that our jig was up regarding the time we had left to be a non-EU resident in the EU. Anyway, we headed off to Mazagon, Spain.
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Mazagon, Spain is a non-touristy local harbor, shared by locals and families coming down to enjoy the beaches and fishing. We enjoyed watching the fishermen with their extra long poles and bait buckets negotiate the huge rocks on the breakwater, and to review their catch up on the dock later in the day.
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A very small boat in the harbor brought in this very large black marlin.
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We haven't seen a whole lot of birdlife on this trip, just the usual gulls, shearwaters, and cormorants. However, we have seen an occasional stork, and in Mazagon, a little brightly colored kingfisher joined us for about twenty minutes while he fished off our boat.
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El Picacho Lighthouse stands just behind the marina and flashes over Europe's longest seawall that stretches out to sea for seven miles! It also strafed the portlight in our cabin each night...1 one thousand, 2 one thousand, 3 one thousand...... it was comforting, however, when we were out at sea to see it flashing its brains out.
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From Mazagon we sailed to Rota.
Rota was a pleasant surprise, with its position at the north end of the Bahia de Cadiz. We enjoyed the old town with its medieval walls, 14th century castle, 6th century church, and narrow walking streets.
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While we washed the salt off SoBella's decks and coiled our lines, the commercial fishermen , who we share the harbor with, unloaded their fish and mended their nets.
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Where else would you sip beer, overlooking the beach and Atlantic Ocean, but in a Cerveceria!
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There were quite a few of these bike chairs along the beach promenade. Do you suppose if they put wheels on them they would go faster?
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Every afternoon we would see los senors intent on either playing cards or sitting on the sidelines and providing colorful commentary. Do you suppose they could multi-task, and play cards while sitting in those bike chairs?
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Now here are the real multi-taskers! Every day, the grannies would stake out their position under this beach awning and gossip, knit , sew, AND provide a running commentary on the beach goers passing by.
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Rota has some great walking streets with no car traffic. In the evening, everyone comes out for ice cream, beer or a glass of wine and to socialize.
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Or, was the performance really that bad? The Roman ruins in Cadiz included an amphitheater, and a vomitorium. Ok, I don't know why, but it was on the lower level, just inside this tunnel. It's a Roman thing.
While berthed in Rota, we took a ferry over to Cadiz and spent a day wandering though its' various neighborhoods...Roman,Medieval, Moorish....a whole history unwrapped before our eyes.
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We love the tile work in Moorish Spain and Portugal. This was a fountain in one of the parks in Cadiz.
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Captain Vasco do Gragg standing next to a huge tree in one of Cadiz's parks. Wandering around Cadiz, you are never far from the sea. Something the Captain was very pleased about.
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Instead of pit stops, it is far more pleasant to have a Sangria Stop!
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Jutting out into the Bay of Cadiz, this city is thought to be Europe's oldest.The old town is full of narrow passages, open squares, noisy small fish and vegetable markets, all alive with the haggling of vendors and their customers.
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What better way to while the afternoon away than sitting in the sun at a sidewalk cafe, drinking wine, and listening to this fellow really into his music while he played flamenco. Talk about atmospheric! Waiter, more wine, por favor!
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From Rota, we sailed to Barbate, "Tuna Capital of World". Sadly, much of this area has been fished out. Fortunately, the area hasn't yet been overdeveloped for the tourist trade, and we found the beaches along this stretch natural and beautiful.
Cape Trafalgar marks the spot, offshore, of one of Britain's most famous and decisive battles. It was here that Admiral Lord Nelson and his outnumbered British fleet, defeated the combined fleets of the French and the Spanish. Nelson lost his life during the battle, and he was shipped home in a cask of spirits! What a way to go!
From here, we thought we would have to wait for a "weather window" to round the cape at Tarifa and enter the Straits of Gibraltar, but the weather and tide conditions were great, and we left the next day.
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Tarifa is considered the windiest point in Europe. Note the windmills in the background dotting the hillside. Just across the Straits is Africa! We rounded this point with our sails down, anticipating a real blow, but it was a non-event, and we enjoyed the scenery...Tarifa on our port side, Africa on our starboard, and Gibraltar dead ahead!
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