From when the Girls left. It's BOYS time!

So, Donna and Sarah left for the airport on Friday 3rd Sept around tea time. There was an air of peace and tranquility along with the excitement of some boys time at last.

After the first 2 beers, the phone rang and we both looked startled. Our concerns were confirmed by Sarah stating that her passport had disappeared and that she would likely be re-joining us within a couple of hours. Kettle went on and the beer time ended swiftly.
Sarah indeed joined us after her passport was not immediately found and her 2130 flight had taken off. Typically these things are guaranteed to happen on a Friday when nothing can then be done until working hours, meaning it would not be looked into until at least Monday.

Sunday 4th September:

We left Benalmadena at 1145, making as much distance as possible whilst there was no wind. At 1244 the main sail was raised to steady the rocking. Marina Del Este was our target. It was small and very nice and as we had not booked there was no room at the inn. We tried anchoring off the beach which due to the shingle we could not get a good hold, which was probably a good thing as it turned out to be a nudist beach. We found a good anchorage further up the coast at Almuncar. Although during the day it looked ugly, due to the dated flats, at night it looked quite pretty.

Monday 5th:

We left for Almerimar at 0755. This coast is where the winter produce is grown for Europe and it's covered in white plastic to protect it from the heat of the sun.
At 1159 there was a loud thud under the boat and Pete realised we had picked something up on the prop. Pete picked the short (only) straw, so jumped overboard to see what the issue was. A plastic bag had wrapped itself around the prop and stopped it from doing its job. See the picture taken of Pete in the water with the bag; just look at the colour of the water!! There was no swell and it was very calm and we all wished we had managed a quick dip before moving on as the water was apparently extremely warm. This did give Pete the chance to have a wee. At 1550 we were 2 miles from a special beacon, an hour and a half later we were on our approach, arriving at 1710. The Capitaniere was a beautiful old converted windmill but the service was still the typical manana style and it took about 45 minutes to sign in.
We had a berth on the NW side of the town square part of the marina, which was lovely until the wind died and it became unbelievably stiffling. Pete cooked on board as we had planned a romantic meal for two but we were happy to share with Sarah. I think we played it well as Sarah obviously felt a bit of a gooseberry and even suggested we go out for a beer, which we took advantage of, as we could not remember the last time this happened, if it ever had at all.
Sarah completed an online form for an emergency passport with the British Embassy in Spain, under strict supervision from the captain and his first mate, to ensure there was no further problems with Sarah getting home a.s.a.p. We were unsure as to timescales but the Gov site suggested 2 working days but we could not book flights, Covid tests, passenger locator forms etc. until we were sure we could get Sarah her required passport. The plan was that we would let Sarah stay on the boat to Almeria and from there she could get a flight either on Thursday or Saturday, depending on when the passport was ready.

Monday 6th:

We had the engines on at 0930 and headed off. The sails went up by 1100. We did not have far to go to Almeria and the sails were down again at 1355. We had moored by 1430, having fuelled up.
The plan was to stay here to ensure Sarah's second departure was more successful than the first. We paid our dues and went for beer and really nice tapas. We realised the address we had provided to the Embassy for the delivery of the passport was incorrect and actually two addresses in one, one of which was not open and the other which was private. This added to the tension, and we wondered whether we would ever get Sarah back to Blighty. The girls in the marina were great and made a few calls to try and help. It was now a sit and wait, crossing fingers, toes arms and legs.

Tuesday to Thursday - 7th/8th/9th:

The next 3 nights we stayed in Almeria, for 2 reasons. The first to await Sarah's passport and the second was that Friday looked the best weather to round Cabo de Gata. We all went shopping to provision the boat for when Sarah had left, so we topped up with beer. Sarah did get some fabulous Iberico ham, manchego cheese and bread which made a fabulous light meal back on board in the heat of the afternoon.
About 3.30pm we had a knock on the boat; it was DPD, asking for a signature! The passport had arrived, less than 2 working days from completing the form, It had been produced at the Embassy in Madrid and delivered to the yacht in Almeria, via Valencia, within 48 hours, fair play, very impressed. This allowed flights to be booked and tests to be completed, ready to fly back. The Saturday flight booked was not now needed as we got Sarah on the Thursday flight back to Gatwick. Sarah caught a taxi at 7am for Almeria airport, which was supervised by myself, so I know she did actually go. Later that day we caught up with the washing. Captain Cariss had decided to take the trip round the notorious Cabo de Gato on Friday which then meant we had a day to finally have our boys time, but this time we waited a few hours just in case we had another phone call due to a delayed / cancelled flight. Sarah confirmed she had arrived home around 4pm, safe and sound. We were so pleased for her we opened a beer to celebrate.
Friday we were up at 0730, washed, breakfasted and set off. At 0755 we reached the south cardinal, 6 short flashes and 1 long meaning we were in safe water and would avoid the reef. The wind was variable at around 5 knots which is not enough to sail. The weather was so calm at 1005, we rounded Cabo de Gata under engine and wondered what all the fuss was about.
Our destination was San Jose but this being a popular spot and a small marina they did not have any space for us, so we carried on to an anchorage, arriving at 1240 at Ensenada de Rodalquildar, a beautiful bay, with clear water, where you could see the anchor on the bottom at 6m. It had a lovely beach, quite busy with lots of kayaks investigating the many coves, caves and interesting coastline. It was a lovely calm anchorage. We had a swim and showered off the back of the boat. We sat and watched the sun go down and the stars come out and as there was no light polution, we could see the nebular gasses around the planets; fantastic! Just before the sun set, a rescue helicopter came over, searching the rocks for something and hovering so low over the sea you could see the sea being dispersed by the rotor blades. It stayed for a good 20 minutes, occasionally putting its spot light over the area.

Saturday 11th:

After a lovely calm night, I was rudely awaken by thieves, not on our boat but a rib being closely followed by the coastguard rib. The thieves decided the only way to escape was to beach the rib, which they did in such a way that they left the rib pointing almost 90 degrees skywards on the beach, having kept the engine on as they went up the beach. The two men in the rib then ran away. A very large Guardia boat turned up to help. Captain Pete slept through it all. An hour later, Captain Pete awoke, then again the large Guardia police boat returned, chasing another rib, together with the smaller coastguard rib. They took no prisoners, the massive Guardia boat completely rammed the small rib and dived on the rib and did not hold back with the batons. Within half an hour there was once again silence as all the other boats in the anchorage had decided to leave too. It was obviously a popular spot for people trafficking from North Africa, only 85 miles away.
We departed at 1030 and the wind was variable so the sails were up and down as often as a whore's drawers. By 1500 hours the sails were up the engine was off. Eventually the wind died and the sails came down and we had arrived in Aguilas at 1825. Again they did not have any space which meant we had to go alongside in the fishing port. We had no electricity or water but it was free and we had chance to go ashore and enjoy a glass at the nearest hostelry. This was a pop up bar on the quayside, brilliantly positioned. Aguilas was not a pretty place but you could feel the energy and love for life.
There were plenty of eating and drinking venues and the place came alive when the sun set.

Sunday 12th:

We had another early start, leaving at 0735, again having a mixed bag of sailing and motoring. We had spotted a potential anchorage just before Cartagena which looked fascinating and that was our first call. We did have a plan B, as it was a very small cove which we did not think we could get into depending on what we found when we got there. We arrived at Playa calla Caerrada at 1150 and there was one of two buoys free, which was a bonus and very lucky, as it turned out that boats and kayaks were in and out all day, particularly as it was the weekend. We managed to beat a catamaran in but only because Captain Pete was so eager to get in that he gave the orders to raise the revs in order to close in without it looking too obvious. As the sun set, all other boats and rafts left, leaving only us to enjoy the small bay to ourselves. Again no light pollution, we played some music and relaxed with some tapas, wine and beer.

Monday 13th:

A drizzly day today, not many boats came in as it was a weekday, only a few dive boats came in to share the cove with us for an hour or two. It was a great chance to totally chill as we had no signal, no electric, no water. We were away from the norm of life as we know it and it was bliss. A swim here and a swim there with some nibbles throughout the day. Pete set his scuba gear up and went over the side to scrub his girls bottom; how romantic. Another night of watching the stars. We intended to stay for 3 nights and although we were coping with no water, electric and no text messages from our other halves, we had run out of beer, tragedy!

Tuesday 14th:

Left this wonderful haven of peace at 0950. We had been cocooned in isolation but felt free at the same time. We had just got outside the mouth of this wonderful spot when the engine warning for overheating sounded loudly. We were still close to the rocks of the coast line so Captain Pete stepped in and guided the recovery of the engine and the safety of the valuable crew member, without hesitation. During this excitement the wind increased sufficiently to get the sails up and we made our way to Cartagena, arriving at 1330 or so we thought! We had actually arrived at a very swanky private yacht club, with a fab bar on a balcony, looking over the marina, looking very posh indeed. Fortunately we had decided to put our shirts back on before entering the marina, lol. After investigation we were politely asked to leave with immediate effect as our shirts were not of the required quality which the club would expect from their professional sailors. We eventually found our rightful place back in the standard marina, adjacent to the club. We showered, provisioned and settled down for the night. They wanted us out by 12pm or they would charge another night's fee. Not particularly sailing friendly if weather or tides were against you and you had to wait for an afternoon window to move onwards.

Wednesday 15th:

We left at 1045, mainsail went up with 2 reefs together with the foresail. We goose winged (one sail out on one side and the other out on the other with the wind directly behind us). At 1524 we realised we only had 35 minutes to get to the bridge in time for it to open which only happened on every even hour. Missing it by 5 minutes would mean waiting for 2 hours for the next opening time. We decided the pull down the sails and motor from this point, as tacking was losing us time. This proved to be the right decision as the bridge arrival was perfectly timed 1550 ready for the 1600 opening. We did have a laugh as the French sail boat Grace Elizabeth, who charged in by dropping sails early and motoring ended up having to forward and reverse for 40 minutes as they were too early. Again Captain Cariss had done his calculations and got it spot on. The bridge opened and we motored through into the Mar Menor (Ba baah ba bah ba, mar menor, da dah da dah...... mar menor....) and motored to the north side of one of the islands to avoid the southerly winds and anchored in about 4 metres of water. The night was surreal, as we had a few showers on our journey and the night settled into an incredible vision.
For the first time in a long time we were sitting in the middle of a lake approximately 10 miles long by 4.5 miles wide. We had a 360 degree view of la Manga and the surrounding towns and villages, that lit up the shoreline throughout. We had clear sky directly above us but around the land was covered by cumulus nimbus (anvil/storm clouds) and for around 3 hours we sat on the back of the boat listening to classics from John Williams and Hans Zimmer along with war of the worlds whilst watching the sky filled with lightning, rainbows and a little thunder, before retiring to our berths.

Thursday 16th:

We left at 1010.... (cowboy time), heading towards Marina los Nietos but we could not make ourselves understood, so we headed to our final destination, Mar de Cristal. We arrived at 1115.
Both the captain and I were impressed with the choice for the 6 month Winter stay. It feels like we have hit the jackpot. Really friendly people, beautifully kept marina, lovely bar and a Sunday afternoon atmosphere.

Friday 17th:

We caught up with the washing; it was a 1.6 mile cycle ride to the next village. We did the shopping and then I had to do my Antigen test, book a taxi to the airport (we had to call Donna to assist with that), complete my passenger locator form and check in for my flight. All that done, we decided to try the wonderful bar at the club.

Saturday 18th:

My time to leave came around, as always too soon. My taxi was booked for 1450 so we had a couple of beers and some nice food to send me on my way. Pete can now relax on his own with his girl. I know he has a few jobs he must do before he flies home on Monday the 27th.