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

Guadiana River

The Rio Guadiana is a very important river as it is the border between Portugal and Spain. The river is navigable for yachts to Pomarao and possibly a little further although, most choose to head up as far as the pretty towns of Alcoutim (Portuguese) and opposite, Sanlucar (Spanish), about 20 miles up the river. 

It took us a good few hours to get to our anchorage just north of these towns and we left Ayamonte marina just before the half flood tide to nip over to the fuel pontoon on the other side of the river at Villa Real de Santo Antonio. Situated just next to the ferry terminal, this is the only place we found to get fuel on the river.  

Just prior to leaving Ayamonte, we met a lovely couple on the yacht next to us, who kindly gave us some produce from their farm (or Finca as they are known in Spain). It turned out that about the time we would be returning from the fuel pontoon, they would also be heading up river. Just north of Ayamonte there is a suspension bridge that spans the river. As this other couple’s boat was longer than ours and the mast of similar height, we took some comfort in following them under the bridge. The air draft of Scarlet is about 19.5 metres and depending on which source of information you care to examine, the height of the bridge is either a couple of metres more or at least 1 metre lower!

Guadiana bridge

It was a heart stopping moment passing underneath as it is almost impossible to tell what clearance, if any, you will have. As it happened, we passed under without issue and relaxed once again to enjoy the fabulous scenery.

Sailing up a river was a unique experience for us and made a pleasant change from being at sea. The depths in the river are good, but care was needed not to pass too close to the mouths of any tributaries as these tend to silt up. Also, the depth was not so good on the inside of bends, but the river is wide enough not to have to worry, even with boats coming the other way. Our chartplotter showed us as being on land which was a bit worrying, but we later discovered this is because the electronic chart does not cover the river much beyond Ayamonte. However, our Pilot Book proved a useful source of information and we were able to identify various places on our way up.

Looking down river from our anchorage

Our good friends from Moonstream had been up the river the week before and kindly told us that the anchorage between Alcoutim and Sanlucar was mainly gravel, and as a result the holding was poor.  They had chosen instead to anchor just south of the towns. As this was crowded when we arrived, we found a spot to the north and weighed the anchor in about 13 metres of water. As we settled down for the night it was strange to think that one end of the boat was in Portugal and the other in Spain. Even odder was the fact that Spain are an hour ahead of Portugal, so we had to decide which time zone we wanted to stick to. As we will be continuing further into Spain in the coming months, we left the clock on Spanish time to acclimatise.

Scarlet at anchor, note we are flying both Portuguese and Spanish courtesy flags

The next day we launched the tender and used the crane to lower the outboard on. The current in the river can flow at 3 knots so not much point trying to row against that.

View of Alcoutim from Sanlucar

Like Alcoutim, Sanlucar could not be described as a huge town but it was full of charm and had two shops and a cash dispenser. It would be easy to be heading for the Med, stop up the river at either of these places and decide not to leave, as it is so idyllic.  This is actually what happens in some cases!

Both towns have a castle on top of a hill but the one at Sanlucar appeared to be under renovation and was also very high up.  In the heat of the midday sun, this would not have been an enjoyable hike.

We left Sanlucar and nipped over to Alcoutim, gained an hour with the time difference, and had an ice cold beer in the quaint village square.  After a gentle wander, we returned to the boat to soak up the scenery and unique ambiance of being at anchor in a river. 

Sanlucar across the river seen from Alcoutim

The temperature has really increased whilst we have been up the river and it is challenging to stay cool. 

40 C inside the boat early evening

However, Lynne did find a solution.  In the late afternoon, she sat in the dinghy which was tied alongside the boat in the shade, to read, whilst gently bobbing up and down. 

Great place to sit and read!

That evening, we both sat outside looking up at the moonlit sky and were lucky enough to see several shooting stars.  The only sounds we could hear were the sounds of the birds, crickets and the odd wolf! 

Every Wednesday in Alcoutim during July and August, they have some form of entertainment in the village square in the evening. We got to see ‘Big Band Night’. The entertainment was fantastic and totally free of charge. The whole town seems to come out and support the acts. There were a couple of female singers who sang with the band and the finale was a fantastic rendition of Rolling on a River.

Big band night in Alcoutim

We decided to move from the anchorage to a space on the village pontoon in Alcoutim. However, as we were lifting our anchor, we found our anchor chain had become tangled up around a discarded rusty old fishing anchor and some ropes!  It was a real mess, so we had to launch the dinghy, and armed with a knife, set about cutting away all the rope and then untangle our chain from the anchor, all the time making sure that our boat wasn’t heading for the river bank.

Not what you want to see

We brought the abandoned anchor and all the rope back onto the boat, to dispose of once we were ashore, as we didn’t want any other boat to suffer the same fate as us. The whole process of untangling the anchor took us about 45 minutes, so by the time we arrived at the pontoon, it was low water and we only had a few inches under the keel! 

Scarlet on the village pontoon at Alcoutim, 10 Euros a night

We have discovered that there is WiFi in Alcoutim but the signal is not quite strong enough to get on the pontoon, so we took ourselves off to the library, where we could sit in comfort in the air conditioning and catch up on emails etc.  The library also doubles up as an art gallery and is worth checking out.  The staff all speak excellent English and are very friendly.  It is best to take your own laptop in though as the two PC's in the library are often booked up.


In the evening we sat in the cockpit for our meal, amused that at every hour, on the hour, we heard the church bells in Alcoutim chime, denoting the time.  This was swiftly followed by the church bells in Sanlucar on the opposite river bank, with an extra ring as they are an hour ahead!

We have both found we are enjoying the village life at Alcoutim.  Every Saturday morning there is a produce market between 10am and midday (go over the bridge and turn right).  Here you will find a meat van, a fish van, a bread van and fruit and vegetables.  You can also do your laundry at the Youth Hostel, for just 3 Euros a wash.  Whilst you are waiting for the washing, you can make use of the hostel swimming pool. 

Alcoutim is rightly proud of its Praia Fluvial (river beach) If you go over the bridge and turn left, you will come to a purpose built beach on the river tributary, children's play area and even a volleyball court.  At the weekends, this is the place where the locals come with their families to relax.

Purpose built beach area

Whilst staying here, we decided to take the bus to the city of Mertola which is a 50 minute journey up the river (not accessible to most yachts). 
Mertola is a small walled city with a Castle and several museums.  You can catch the bus on Mondays and Fridays from Alcoutim at 10.10am, returning from Mertola at 3pm. The cost is 4 Euros each way and the transport is a comfortable air conditioned coach. We chose to go on a Monday, which was a shame as this is the only day the castle and museums are closed! 

Mertola

We still enjoyed a pleasant walk around the steep cobbled streets and had a long lunch for the bargain price of 6 Euros. This included a main meal, dessert and a drink.

Mertola looking back from nearby the castle



This place was full of character

Until our next installment...

Lynne & Steve