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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Part of Chipiona seafront |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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
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