Rota and Cadiz

The passage to Rota was a modest 15 miles and for once we managed to sail most of the way before the wind died down in the afternoon which is unusual, as it is normally breathless in the mornings and brisk as the day goes on.

 

Rota is situated in the bay of Cadiz and there were a number of marinas available to us. We chose Rota as the ferry to Cadiz runs from inside the marina and we planned on a visit to this famous city.

The entrance to Rota marina has a bit of a dog leg and was very busy when we made our approach. Despite a few attempts at calling up the marina on the radio we gave up and phoned them. All the ports in the area used channel 09 so when they are busy it is hard to get a word in edge ways. Although the berthing instructions were a little confusing we moored up and went to the office to book in for two nights.

 

Scarlet in Rota

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We did wander into town but forgot to take the camera, so no snaps to show. It was pretty enough with Moorish influenced stone archways, and like Jerez and probably many other Spanish cities, many narrow, cobbled streets. The beachfront looked excellent and was still busy well into the evening and it would have been easy to stay here for longer and explore some more.

The next day we caught the 0830 ferry to Cadiz at just over 9 Euros each way for the two of us.

Cadiz is one of those places that you have often heard about but are not really sure why. In its hey day, it was one of, if not the most important cities in the world, as it was a major port of trade with the New World. This led to great wealth and prosperity which can be seen in many of the public and private buildings, many of which date back to the 18h century.

 

View from Castillo de Santa Catalina

 

 

Cadiz is also famous for witnessing the first liberal constitution of Spain, Europe and Latin America. Laws were passed in 1812 on the freedom of the press, abolition of torture and proposing the same for slavery. This year they are celebrating the 200^th anniversary of this constitution. There is so much history to Cadiz we felt we should really have done some background research to appreciate it but we are sure we will go back one day.

 

 

Cadiz street

 

We strolled along the promenade enjoying the Atlantic breeze and the Magnolia trees in Alameda Apodaca, which were supposedly brought back to Spain by Columbus from the New World.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From there we headed into town and found a place called Tavira Tower. For 5 Euros each we enjoyed the panoramic views from the top and visited the camera obscura. This camera projects a brilliant moving image of the surroundings at that very precise moment.  It did actually seem like spying on the city as we saw people walking around the streets, cars driving past and people hanging out their washing on their balconies, all blissfully unaware that they were being watched.  From the roof it was possible to see many of the watch towers that merchants would have used to observe trading ships coming from the West Indies. If you go to Cadiz this place is well worth a visit.

 

Amazing rooftop views

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the remainder of the day, we managed about as much sightseeing as our new blisters would allow and caught the evening ferry back to Rota. Then it was time to plan for the next leg, to Barbate which would be our last stop before the push through the infamous Straits and on to Gibraltar.

 

 

 

Steve and Lynne x

Chipiona and Jerez

We enjoyed a few nights alongside the pontoon at Alcoutim and, at only 10 euros a night including electric and water, it would have been tempting to stay a little longer, but we had promised ourselves to head even further up the river.

We left on a rising tide to clear a few shallow areas and with our tender in tow headed up river towards Pomarao. On the way, we passed the fortified village of Puerto de la Laja.

Puerto de la Laja

Our intended anchorage was near a tributary, Rio Vascao, next to a large eucalyptus tree. When we arrived, only one other yacht was at anchor. We found a suitable spot to anchor and settled into our normal routine of taking bearings and popping the anchor alarm on. We like to experience both tides before we are entirely happy so don't usually think about nipping off in the tender for the first day.

The tranquillity of the place is intoxicating and for anyone liking the idea of peace and quiet this is the place to come.

Simply stunning

That evening we saw many more shooting stars and also heard some strange noises coming from the nearby riverbank! Huge swathes of bamboo also ride the currents and some of these tend to get caught round the anchor chain, requiring the use of the boat hook to dislodge them.

After a few days of peaceful bliss we decided it was time to move on again and head back to Ayamonte. We had to time our departure just right as the sand bar at Sanlucar meant we had to approach at highwater or soon after. This would also provide a useful couple of knots of current to take us downriver.

Not sure if anyone lives on this ?

We made really good progress, so good that we arrived at the suspension bridge about an hour earlier than we would have liked. So, we dropped the hook and waited for low water so we would have enough clearance to pass under.

Once on the other side, we decided not to go into the marina and anchored just north of the ferry terminal. We stayed here for a few days, just popping into the marina once by tender to nip ashore to the local supermarket.

We had two options for our next port of call. The first one would have been Mazagon which was about 28 miles east, or to head across the gulf of Cadiz to Chipiona, which was over 65 miles away. In the end we opted to go direct to Chipiona, but it meant leaving at 6am in the morning to get enough tide to clear the sand bar just outside the entrance of the river. Fortunately, all went well and by the time we got out into the open sea, dawn was upon us which was just as well as Lynne ended up front on the bow calling out lobster pots as they appeared in the murky half light. We had toyed with the idea of a night passage to Chipiona and were very relieved that we didn't. Of all the cruising we had done so far this was the most number of lobster pots we had seen.

The cruise to Chipiona threw in a mixed bag of conditions from no wind to a brief sail and then motor sailing the rest of the way.

Once we arrived at Chipiona we headed for the waiting dock and paid a visit to the office to check in and find out which berth we would be allocated. Chipiona is also part of the Agencia Publica de Puertos de Andalucia so the prices are the same for each one, in our case about 35 euros.

Scarlet on hammerhead in Chipiona

We had a relaxing evening strolling along the sea front and caught up on a few emails as the marina bar had free wifi.

Part of Chipiona seafront

Beach at Chipiona

The next day we walked a little further and found the bus depot and a small supermarket, ideal on two counts, as by now we were low on provisions and we wanted to take the bus to Jerez, about an hour away.

We decided to go to Jerez the following day and caught the 0815 bus to Jerez de la Frontera. The fare worked out at about 5 euros return each.

Jerez is famous for Sherry and many, if not all of the sherry houses (bodegas), do guided tours... unless you happen to go on a Saturday which was the day we went! Oh well, it was still good to look around the town and the huge indoor produce and fish market was truly amazing.

I'll have a kilo of langostinos please

In keeping with most places, the restaurants offer a menu del dia or meal of the day at a cost of between 8 and 10 euro's. This includes a drink (sherry of course but you could have a beer or soft drink) a starter, main and small pudding, plus coffee.  We found a lovely restaurant in a square overlooking the fountain below.  Lynne had a paella starter and mixed seafood for the main course and was a very happy girl indeed.

Some views of Jerez

Back in Chipiona we cleaned the boat, topped up the water tanks and sat down to do our passage planning to our next port, Rota.

Steve and Lynne x