It is not very often that I can welcome such lovely ladies aboard Salara.


I had taken delivery of my new glasses from the optician in Gibraltar so I was in a happy mood when I moved Salara out of the marina berth in La Linea and into the anchorage for the night, at last we were on the move again. The next day I was up early to check the weather forecast and prepare Salara to go to sea once more. Finally I lifted the anchor and after refuelling in Gibraltar I steered Salara out of Algecirus Bay and headed her east into the Mediterranean.

Once clear of the anchored shipping Salara was able to sail under mainsail and boomed out genoa for a couple of hours before losing the breeze and having to motorsail for the rest of the trip to her destination which was Fuengirola where I anchored her just outside the marina for the night. I settled down cooked a meal and went to bed early.

In the morning I was awake at first light and was disappointed to find that the breeze was blowing from the east at between fifteen and twenty knots so it would be heading Salara. I decided to have breakfast and await developements, as for me deadlines are no longer an issue. Anyway an hour or so later the breeze had dropped and Salara was on her way heading east along the coast making for the anchorage of Herradura about forty nautical miles away which is a convenient place to stop for the night as it is halfway between Fuengirola and the marina at Almerimar. After motoring in light variable breezes all day Salara arrived during the early evening and anchored in eight metres depth just off the sandy beach along with a couple of other yachts. It had been a pleasant enough trip and after cooking a meal I sat in the cockpit and watched the sunset.

Salara was on her way before 0800hrs the next day and again she was motoring as the breeze was light and predominately from the west and southwest. It was pretty much the same as yesterday, I navigated snacked and drank tea while watching the coast slowly being covered by plastic greenhouses as we progressed towards the marina village of Almerimar where Salara would spend the next few days before rounding Cabo de Gata. There were strong northeasterly winds forecast to the east of the cape so I wanted to give them time to ease before venturing around.

Salara had arrived in Almerimar fairly early so instead of cooking I decided to eat out. It was a big mistake, the English run restaurant where I went served up one of the most awful meals I have had in a long time. After that I stuck to the old standby of beer and tapas at Spanish establishments. During the next few days I busied myself with on or two small jobs on board and also purchased a short aluminium ladder which was just the right length to use as a boarding ladder at the bows, not absolutely necessary but it will make my life a little easier.

Eventually the wind gods relented to allow Salara onward passage and early on a Sunday morning I cast off the bow lines and motored Salara astern out of the berth. I put her into ahead and pointed her down the fairway. Alas she would not go, I was perplexed, then I realised that I had not cast off the stern line. I rushed to the stern and let it go then looked around guiltily to see if anyone was watching hoping that they were all still in bed doing what people do on a Sunday morning. It just goes to show that even after all these sailing years I can still make the most stupid of mistakes.

I tried to put it all behind me as I navigated Salara over a calm sea towards Cabo de Gata
there was no breeze and once again she was motoring. However by noon a light breeze had sprung up from the southwest and Salara was motorsailing nicely under full sail. She rounded Cabo de Gata but lost all help from the breeze shortly afterwards and I motored her into the anchorage of Genoves to anchor over sand in five metres of depth. There were a collection of boats in the anchorage but mostly they were small motor boats owned by locals and of course they left in the evening leaving just a few cruising yachts at anchor.

Next morning Salara was on the move again and today she was heading along the coast towards Cartagena with the intention of anchoring for the night to the west of Cabo Tinosa and entering Cartagena the following day. Salara motored all morning but in the afternoon she was able to motorsail with the help of a light southeasterly breeze which died away as evening approached. When Salara was almost at the proposed anchorage and I had expanded the electronic chart for more detail I noticed that since I had used this anchorage last year it had been designated a Marine Reserve so no anchoring allowed. Salara would have to go elesewhere or continue to Cartagena. I decided that I would go to El Portus Anchorage to the east of Cabo Tinosa. By then it would be dark but it looked pretty straightforward from the chart. When Salara arrived I conned her in using the Navionics and the only confusing thing was seeing a mass of small winking lights which turned out to be fishermen in small rowing boats. I anchored at just before midnight and thankfully went to bed. It had been a long day.

Next morning when I awoke the battery voltage was lower than I would have expected after so much motoring yesterday so I recharged them for a couple of hours using the portable generator. I would be going into the Yachtport Marina in Cartagena later in the day so I would investigate the battery charging system there. In the meantime I had realised that I had anchored directly off a nudist beach, only I could do that.

After lunch I lifted the anchor and headed the last few miles into Cartagena where I booked Salara into rather a tight berth for three nights. I replenished my food stocks and topped up with freshwater as well as checking out the battery charging problem and in the process renewing the fanbelt all to no avail. I fear a new alternator is required.

The next port of call was Torrevieja and just by chance my daughter Mandy and some of her friends would be there the following week so I paid the marina fees and after having to be manhandled out of the very tight berth by helpful yachties Salara was once again at sea to round Cabo de Palos and enter Torrevieja harbour where I anchored with other yachts in the outer harbour. Unfortunately after a couple of nights at anchor the marine police arrived, they seemed to target only Salara. I was given a slip of paper in various languages telling me that anchoring is prohibited. So I lifted the anchor and went into the Marina Salinas which is the newest of three marinas within the harbour precincts. I needed a restuarant to take my daughter to and an address to have a new alternator despatched to. Nothing lost I would have come in here anyway. In fact I have been pleasantly surprised by how reasonable the rates are especially at this time of year.

So now here I am once more playing a waiting game, my daughter and her friends have been and gone, I sent them off full of spaghetti marinara, white wine and pilsner. It was lovely to see them and taking five lovely ladies out for lunch does wonders for an old seadog`s street cred. All I need now is an alternator and Salara can be on her way.