Almerimar to the Mar Menor

Early April saw the return of Neil and Hilary off Plane Magic. It was great to see them again and Lynne was very touched by a present given to her by Hilary. She was presented with a home made 'quillow', which is a combination of a quilt and pillow in one. Lynne has already used it on a number of occasions and loves the colour. If you are interested in knowing how to make your own quillow, there is lots of information on the internet.

Lynne in her new Quillow

 










It is always nice to receive visitors and it was great to see friends Tim Fuller and Tina Scowling again. Last time they flew out to visit was in September last year when we had an action packed week of sightseeing in and around Gibraltar. This time we had promised them a more relaxed break as it had all been a bit much for Tina. We started the week off with a game of boules. It is a great game, and we keep a set on-board now. Organised games are played in the Marina on a Tuesday afternoon, but this was a friendly, gentle game, well maybe!

A serious game!

Steve is a big fan of the 'Hollywood' restaurant in the Gran Plaza in Roquetas de Mar.

During their visit, we also got the dinghy out of the locker and were keen to try the outboard motor after its service in March. Tim took Tina out for a tour of the marina and reported that the outboard was running just fine.




Outboard gets an outing

The last few days in Almerimar were hectic. A rigging check and tune, provisioning, a visit to nearby El Ejido to watch the San Marcos celebrations and a rather emotional farewell to the many friends we have made over the last six months.

A couple of weeks before we left Almerimar, Lynne got in touch via Facebook, with an old colleague from her days on the Airline.  Carla and her husband Andy left the UK in their own boat in 2007 and sailed around the Med. It turns out their yacht No Limits is now in Almerimar too! What a small world. Lynne enjoyed catching up with Carla and Steve and Andy had a good chat about the places we are travelling to and picked up many hints and useful tips! It turned out that Andy was also a Selden trained rigger (Selden are a Swedish company and one of the world's largest manufacturers of masts) and an appointment was booked for a full rig check.

The rigging check did pick up that a washer had been incorrectly fitted on the forestay, and the foil inside our mast was too slack and required adjustment. On Scarlet Lady we have in-mast furling. A system whereby the sail is rolled up inside the mast, and suits us as everything is led back to the cockpit. So far the sail appears to be going in and out much better than before.

The San Marcos 'Swing into Spring' fiesta is a family tradition and there are 4 days of activities. We went to El Ejido on the last day of the festival to see the carnival procession. Many of the locals turned out in costume, with the ladies wearing elaborate flamenco dresses. It was just a shame it turned out to be a cold and wet day. It didn't seem to dampen the party spirit though.

Fiesta in El Ejido

The liveaboard community in Almerimar really made our first overseas wintering experience an an enjoyable one, but it was also good to be moving on. Saying our goodbyes was much harder than we had any idea it would be. Whilst some of our friends will also be heading east this season, we wish fellow 2012 'Ralliers' Chris and Frances on Usquabae of Fife all the very best as they head slowly west to make their way across the Atlantic later in the year. 

We had planned to leave here on the last day of April as the weather forecast was finally good enough, after weeks of high winds. But, just as our alarm was due to go off we were awoken by a huge clap of thunder and spent the next 30 minutes in the centre of a terrific thunderstorm. On looking out of the window it was black skies everywhere and torrential rain. It didn't take much for us to decide to stay snug and warm under our duvet!

On the first day of May the weather was much better, and we finally slipped the umbilical lines of the marina and headed to our first anchorage of San Jose, close to Cabo de Gata. It felt strange to leave the safe haven that had been a good home to us. As it was still early in the morning the heat from the sun was only just taking the chill from the air. We opted to start with a couple of layers and long trousers. As we rounded the lighthouse/marina office on the way out we waved goodbye to the marineros and headed out to sea.The sea state was calm, and the wind light so for the first few hours we had the engine on before finally being able to switch it off, hoist the sails, and enjoy the peace and quiet. As is so often the case, the horizon was dotted with little fishing boats, which had probably been out all night.
The coastline vista was an uninspiring cloak of poly tunnels stretching for miles, but at least the snow capped mountains looked fabulous. We soon passed Roquetas de Mar and spotted Almeria in the distance. 

The views that we get from sailing along coastlines have always captivated us. Yes, the ones of high rise, over developed towns, are not our favourite ones, but the rock structures we get to see, are. We both wish we had paid more attention to geology at school! Our biggest landmark on this passage would be Cabo de Gata, home to a large nature reserve and a natural border between the Costa del Sol and our new coastline of the Costa Blanca. Our course took us a way offshore to head across the bay of Almeria. It really felt good to be on the move again and we both settled into our 'cruising routines' quickly. 

Leaving Almerimar

Cabo de Gata

The Costa Blanca (white coast) derives its name from large chunks of white limestone rock which can clearly be seen from the water.

Costa Blanca

As with most capes, the wind strength does pick up and this one was no exception. Not enough to give cause for concern that day, but in our case a welcome opportunity to un-furl the sails and turn the engine off.

Sailing at last!

By late afternoon we approached Cala Higuera, our intended anchorage close to the small marina of San Jose. The 37nm passage took us about 7 hours and we arrived just after 4pm. One of our last minute purchases was a new 25kg Rocna anchor. We dropped our new Rocna anchor in 3.8 metres of water and played out a 6 to 1 scope of chain just to be on the safe side.

We had found out that the marina chandlers, Alamar, in Almerimar, were one of the cheapest suppliers in Europe. For anyone who already has an opinion on the best anchor, they will have at least heard of a Rocna. Time will tell if it proves to be a good purchase. Anchor, chain, warp etc is collectively known as ground tackle. We have 75 metres of grade 40, 10mm galvanised chain and 30 metres of warp (nylon rope spliced to the chain). As we intend to anchor a fair amount, it seemed sensible to invest in good quality ground tackle. It is a huge subject and often leads to a heated debate amongst fellow 'yotties'. We will try and relate our experiences in more detail as the season un-folds.

New 25kg Rocna anchor

Our anchorage was well protected from the forecast winds, but it was a little rolly during the night with the swell.

The next day we set off early, which happened to coincide with a yacht we knew from Almerimar Adamas which is sailed single-handed by a lovely Dutch chap called Peter. We got close enough to take a photo and bid a cheery wave.

Yacht Adamas

We continued on up the coast, thankfully with enough wind to sail until we called in to Garrucha to check out a potential anchorage for the night. Whilst it looked OK it was exposed to winds from the North East, which it looked likely to come from for the next few days, so we decided to press on. This proved to be a good decision as our next choice was a small bay or 'Cala' as they are known, under Mount Cope. Cala Bardina offered us good protection and we anchored in sand in 3 metres of crystal clear water not far from the beach.



Cala Bardina

After taking a fix and setting the anchor alarm on the plotter, we took the tender off the deck and rowed ashore that evening. Although only a small town, we discovered that a fiesta was scheduled for the next two days so we decided to stay for a few nights. It is strange how some places appeal straight away whilst others leave no impression at all. This place was warm and friendly. It also had a small supermarket. We sat on the seafront with an ice cream and looked out to Scarlet at anchor. What a great location. On the Saturday night, we were treated to free barbecued sardines and on the Sunday, there was a procession where a statue of the Virgin Mary was carried through the streets and along the seafront. They also cooked a giant paella.

The whole village came out for barbecued sardines

Festival the next day

Giant Paella!

Most cruisers at this point on the passage would be putting in a waypoint for Cartagena, which should not be missed. However, as we had already visited many times before, we decided to give it a miss this time. Our next anchorage was Cala de la Salitrona where we anchored in 8m near to the North beach.





Peace and quiet

From this anchorage we could see huge ships at anchor and the flames from the nearby refinery close to Cartagena harbour.

The next day we had an early start, 4.00am. Ouch! This would enable us to get an early bridge opening to go into the Mar Menor. We enjoy night sailing and this was no exception. Of course, it was a little chilly and we had very little wind on the day. Going past Cartagena gave us an opportunity to identify various navigation lights and lights on the huge ships. Not long after 6.30am the sun started to light up the sky in front of us rising majestically from the sea. Time for breakfast and a log update.




Sunrise near Cartagena

 
















At the South West corner of the mainland is Cabo de Palos, which has a small yacht and fishing harbour. The coast was much the same as we could see when the sun came up, rugged, hilly, some steep rocky cliffs and a few sandy beaches. The distinctive lighthouse marks the corner and once round you can see miles and miles of high rise flats and hotels on the narrow strip of sand that separates the sea from the Mar Menor on the 'inside'.

Our next waypoint was the canal entrance. Here the entrance was not only very narrow, but also very shallow. Even before we reached the first red and green, port and starboard marks, our shallow depth alarm was going off. We did gently touch the sandy bottom at one point and followed the channel as it kinked Northwest and we passed under the lifting bridge. In summer the bridge opens every 2 hours from 8am. We think the last lifting time is 6pm. We had been warned that the bridge would close should an emergency vehicle need to use the bridge road so it is always worth keeping an eye on it, just in case.




Lifting road bridge near entrance to Mar Menor

Once through the bridge the marina of Thomas Maestre can be found but not for us this day. We carried on for a further half mile up the canal and continued straight into the Mar Menor. Even when we got into the Mar Menor it was very shallow around the canal entrance. The inland sea carries depths of 5 to 6 metres in most places but is very shallow near the sides. It contains 5 islands and we headed to Isla Perdiguera to meet up with friends Linda and Graham of Obsession of Poole. We anchored just off the island in 3 metres of water and soaked in the view.



Scarlet and Obsession anchored in the Mar Menor

In the next few days, Neil and Hilary off Plane Magic will join us and we will hatch a plan to sail in a small group to the Balearic Islands.


Until then

Steve and Lynne xx