Stuff happens when you aren't at work!

I was just saying to Greg yesterday, ‘I can’t believe all of these mad things that keep happening; is it just a matter of coincidence that we happen to be here?’ …..and then on further reflection I realised that I have spent 41 years of my life at work, mainly indoors, mainly in the same buildings with the same people for years at a time and when unusual ‘events’ tended to happen they have been mainly on the way to work and back on places like the M25 or sometimes at weekends.  In other words more things definitely happen when you are out and about…… and we are permanently ‘out and about’ at the moment.

So there have been a few more moments of drama since our last blog.

In the end after falling down the stairs again I had to go to the hospital.  I had three massive bruises on the bottom three ribs on my back and the muscles were in spasm.  I couldn’t laugh, breathe in, sigh (an essential function when sharing a small space 24/7!), sit or stand up without aid or turn over in bed.  It was agony and I thought they were probably cracked.  The problem with being on a boat with just two of us means you still have to function and it’s very physical, so I was really struggling. 

The hospital experience was interesting.  I left Greg on the boat and got a taxi to the Santa Lucia Hospital in Cartagena.  No-one spoke English on reception but they found someone who took my E111 card and passport and after filling in a short form I got given a ticket with a number on it and told to watch for it on the screen in the waiting area.  I wasn’t holding out much hope because there were crowds of people in there, so I got out my book and prepared for a long wait.  

I had only read one page when my number came up! Off to triage.  No one spoke English but luckily I had got out the Spanish-English dictionary before I went and had written down a list of words in Spanish…fall, ribs, cracked? muscle spasms, pain, bruising etc… and I took a picture on my phone of the steps and the wooden frame that I had hit. In retrospect this really helped to ensure they were clear about what had happened.

I was moved into the next waiting area to see the doctor. Even more people in here so I got my book out again.  Observing the screen I realised that there were 21 consulting rooms!  The numbers came up thick and fast and within a few minutes I was in with the doctor.  Back into the waiting area and within minutes I was called to Xray and then back to the doctor for the good news - no fractures, just massive bruising and torn muscles.  Prescription for 2 types of pain killers, muscle relaxant tablets and cream dispensed for less than 7 Euros. 

The whole experience was well staffed, smooth, fast, high-tech and very different to anything I have previously experienced at Wexham Park A&E in Slough!  Presumably all of this will be very different after Brexit.....

We loved Cartagena.  We went for the cheaper marina which didn’t have any security but did mean that we were moored alongside the promenade right in the centre of the town.  We only had one incident, when some clubbers on their way home at 7am decided it would be nice to have a photo on our boat! You can probably understand why they screamed and ran when Greg suddenly shot his head out of our bedroom hatch shouting ‘Get off my boat!’ 

We made a tour of the Underwater Archeology Museum and discovered that the history of Cartagena was fascinating, dating back to pre-Roman times.

A historical anchor seen in the Underwater Archaeology Museum in Cartagena....good muscles required then!

Some of the recovered treasures display in the museum

Whilst we were visiting the Roman remains in Cartagena we spotted the massive racing yacht Rambler 88 arriving into port.  It turned out it was on its way from the Fastnet to its next race in Malta.  It is a beast of a boat and Greg hotfooted it down to see it moor alongside the promenade near to us. It drew quite a crowd for the rest of the evening.

Rambler 88 arriving in Cartagena

The Roman coliseum and bull-ring

Our next stop was Alicante.  We had hoped to anchor because the marina charges in August are eye-watering and seem to be increasing.  In the end it was not really possible so we asked for a berth in the sailing club which was a mere €60 per night compared to the €86 in the commercial marina.  This turned out to be a good decision because we got to use all of the club's very posh facilities.

A glass of wine in Alicante Yacht Club

Alicante night-life,....it's 2.00 in the morning!

Great tiles, but a bit disconcerting after a few drinks!

Moving further north the marina charges have become ridiculous…over €90 in Marina Greenwich, so out search for safe anchorage intensified.  

We passed Benidorm which interestingly seems to be reinventing itself as a place not only with massive overdevelopment of apartment blocks but by adding really interesting shaped skyscrapers giving it the look of a futuristic city as we approached from the sea.

21st Century cityscape in Benidorm

A scene from Bladerunner!

After rejecting a few rocky and jellyfish riddled anchorages, luckily we have found a brilliant spot in Calpe just outside the marina, but protected by the mole and surrounding rocks and buildings. 

Not a good spot for swimming, this one looks painful!

We have been here for three days and can recommend this as a good spot. We would return to here. The town is pleasant, there are plenty of shops and restaurants and we managed the challenging climb up and down the rock!

The view from the top!

The climb wasn't easy.....

In spite of the bad back!

Returning to my original theme of events happening when you are out and about….as we came down the rock we could see a boat being dashed on the rocks below with people on it. It was very distressing.  We watched the rescue and saw the badly shaken crew as they sadly made their way off the rocks into the town whilst their boat was towed away behind the lifeboat. A reminder that things can go wrong very quickly at sea even on a sunny and apparently benign day! 

How did they get there?

The lifeboat finally towed them free.....

We are now looking forward to meeting up with our son Ed and his friend in Ibiza.  Greg rang ahead to check the marina charges €350 per night!!!!!!!!!  We will be seeking anchorages there for sure. 

Everything works!

We haven't moved very far since our last post, we are now in Cartagena which is only about 120 miles from Almerimar. We ended up staying just over 2 weeks in Almerimar, which is the longest we have stayed anywhere but as Jan explained in our last post, the duration of our stay wasn't because of the attractions of the resort. 

At first we were waiting for some spares for our water maker to be sent over from the UK, then after the parts had arrived and we were planning to leave the weather forecast was for strong winds from the East - and since we were planning to head East and banging into 25 knot headwinds is a long way from being fun, we decided to delay departure until the forecast was a little more favourable.  We left on Tuesday morning and the forecast was for light Southerly winds so we were expecting to motor all the way in flat seas, but as it transpired the forecast was completely wrong and we ended up with 20 knot Easterlies. I have to say that the 60 mile passage was not enjoyable, but nothing broke and we arrived at Garrucha in the end that evening.

One benefit of our extended stay in Almerimar was that we made a trip to Almeria. We didn't know anything about it before we arrived but we paid a visit to the castle and discovered that it had been used as a set for Game of Thrones and a number of other movies. Jan is a bit of a GoT fan so as you can imagine she was ecstatic!

Some GoT scenery

The pond at Highgarden

From Garrucha we made our way here to Cartagena and this time the forecast was a little more accurate. The winds were light and the sea was calm so we decided to try flying our asymmetric spinnaker. We inherited 2 spinnakers with the boat, they are very useful when going downwind in light airs - and we had previously tried the conventional spinnaker but not the asymmetric, so it was good to be able to test it out in fairly benign conditions. The benefit of the asymmetric spinnaker is that it is much easier to use because you don't need to use the spinnaker pole and this was quite important because we had a complication in that Jan was unable to assist me. Whilst we were in Almerimar Jan suffered an injury. She fell down the stairs in the saloon - I think some alcohol may have been involved, and hurt her ribs very badly; we feared they might be broken. Well I'm pleased to report that after a precautionary visit to the hospital we discovered that Jan's ribs weren't broken but only badly bruised. I'm also pleased to report that there were no problems with the spinnaker (and we discovered that it is very big!). 

  

Although we waited a week for parts for the water maker in Almerimar the engineer there still had not managed to get it working. He was talking about ordering some more parts for it and we decided that we couldn't bear to wait there any longer and needed to move on.  Cartagena is a nice city and has the added benefit that we have discovered Juan-Pedro, who is a wonderful engineer. We asked him to fix the water-maker for us, which he did in about an hour and without requiring any extra parts. Whilst he was doing that he casually and without being requested tightened up our engine fan belt so we decided to ask him to look at some of the other problems that had been plaguing us. Well he has now replaced our automatic bilge pump, fixed the washing machine that we had thought required replacement, improved the efficiency of the fridge and mended the cabin lights. For the first time since we have owned the boat absolutely everything works, and if you know anything about boats you will know how rare that is! I am sure it won't last for long, but we have kept Juan-Pedro's phone number and e-mail and we will be making a special trip back here in a few months specifically to meet him and get the next batch of repairs done. Until then we are enjoying chilling in Cartagena - happy days!

    

Holed up in Almerimar

What a difference a few days can make.  Last week we were relaxing, wining and dining at glamorous Nikki Beach Marbella with my brother Andrew and sister-in-law Wendy; now we are holed up in a ‘post-apocalyptic’ holiday resort waiting for spare parts for the water-maker and the air-conditioning to arrive from the UK. 

Greg captures all the best sights at Nikki Beach

I’m thinking of sending in a review of Almerimar to Trip Advisor informing them that the top place to visit in this resort is the Mercadona Supermarket. It has an excellent fresh fish counter, lots of different products in the freezer providing me with hours of interesting browsing....and ferocious air conditioning. Given that the temperature outside has been in the high 30s all week with punishing sunshine, you can probably see why it’s an attractive option; particularly as there is not much else to do unless you want to fry on a very gravelly beach.

The No.1 place to visit in Almerimar!

Almerimar suffers from two major problems as far as we can see.  Firstly the port has not fulfilled its potential. It was designed in an attractive layout with numerous waterside apartment blocks overlooking the three basin marina. One basin is quite lively, with more businesses and open restaurants making it more attractive. 

The busier basin

Sadly it appears the timing of the building in the central basin was affected badly by the crash and not a single apartment seems to have been sold and only one commercial unit is let.  The area is becoming neglected and littered.  

Not a single apartment or retail unit is let in this marina side development

Secondly the whole surrounding area is covered in plastic polytunnels.  Look at this picture from google earth. 

Google Earth picture of Almerimar and surrounding area

We cycled into the plastic zone. It is surreal.  There are no people to be seen for miles and miles.  On the days when the wind blows from the land to the sea, there is a strong "eau de fertiliser" in the air and when it blows from the sea to the land, everything is dusted in red desert sand from Africa. 

Approaching Almerimar from the sea, the plastic seemed endless..

The beaches are a bit quiet

The plastic doesn't enhance the view of the landscape!

Staying here for a few days has led us to observe with interest how the economy and individual businesses are trying to survive. Many restaurants and shops have closed down and the beaches are very sparsely occupied compared to everywhere else we have been to so far.  The surviving restaurants in the port seem to have entered into a scheme which we are marvelling at - and speculating on its potential for longevity. Basically, if you buy a drink ……you get a free meal.  

It’s called ‘beer and tapas’ but we have assumed that whoever started giving free tapas to gain customers, started a trend and the only way to retain customers was then to increase the size of the tapas.  So you go in and order your drinks……..lets say a beer and a cider…….then  you choose your tapas from an extensive free menu.  It includes typical things like battered squid rings and salad but also a full plate of hamburger and chips!  No-one is ordering any food they need to pay for and after a couple of drinks there is no need to eat anything else anywhere else! Then repeat the next day! The one restaurant not doing it hasn’t had a single customer since we got here.

Good tapas portions at El Tunel attracts a crowd

They haven't seen a customer all week

We cycled the whole length of the very long esplanade and noticed that one or two beachside restaurants were absolutely packed and others were empty. We tried to get a table at La Tita but it was only possible with a booking so we booked for the next day and decided to try the very empty Michaelangelo.  Having experienced both it was clear that the Michaelangelo is in dire need of a visit from Gordon Ramsay. With that view, location and size it should have been packed.  Sadly neither the food or service would make us return. They even forgot to charge us for our bottle of wine.  Greg pointed it out to the waiter...it was probably their entire profits for the day in the peak week of the season!

Empty for a reason......

Finally got a table in this popular restaurant for our Wedding Anniversary

The council is trying to woo people back here.  This week there has been a Pirate theme.  This has included a Pirate Market which involved about 10 very sad stalls in a back street, selling not a lot and nothing very piratical.   Greg tried to help the economy when he spotted a pirate bandana and tried it on - but sadly it was for a baby (or a dog) and looked ridiculous! 

Then there was the Pirate Event and Parade. Cars were warned not to park and many were towed away.  Our expectations were high….possibly not on the scale of Notting Hill Carnival but certainly we hoped for more than 12 people dressed as pirates with a few people playing in a band behind them.  They stopped at various points during the ‘parade’ and 2 girls danced about with some golden material, two boys did a few somersaults (only one was actually any good) and then there was some half-hearted play fighting by two men dressed as pirates.

 Hoards of people had turned out from far and wide to attend the event and for a while the place seemed as packed out as other resorts.  Most people looked very bemused and rather bored, but clearly it was all being filmed for a promotional video which will doubtless look exciting if carefully edited. 

The good news about being stuck here is that Greg has had a chance to observe the weather and finally the conditions have been suitable for him to get his paramotor out of the front cabin and take to the skies.  As the unskilled member of the team, I get to carry heavy things round to the beach and wait around in the heat to make sure the bags don’t get stolen until he lands again.  

It was all going swimmingly to start with…..

but sadly yesterday disaster fell which proved to be both painful and expensive! 

Apologies in advance for the bad language..... 

Fortunately Greg wasn't too badly hurt and although his paramotor was damaged, apparently he anticipated this so has enough spares to rebuild it. However his wing is not flyable at the moment so no more lugging kit for quite a while it appears….  

Hopefully the parts for the air-con and water-maker will arrive on time and Frank the miracle-working engineer will do the repairs tomorrow and we will be off again.  We are eternally optimistic! ☺ 

Drug boats, super yachts and little old us

Its hard to believe so much has happened in only a week since we left Gibraltar.  

We are currently one of only three visiting yachts berthed in the port of Malaga right in the centre of the city.  Earlier this week we cycled 50km on our Bromptons from Benalmadena to Malaga and back because the pilot book said there isn't a marina in Malaga ...its a commercial port.  But when we cycled past the port we spotted a few boats...all Spanish and on what looked like permanent stern-to moorings.  Just out of interest Greg spoke to some people from a company who were selling day trips on their commercial catamaran and asked whether it was possible to moor here. The very kind man said that you have to talk to the port police....he then offered to ring them and speak in Spanish for us.  Lo and behold we managed to secure a berth for the next day, so we cycled back to Benalmadena and set out in Viridian for Malaga, hardly daring to believe they would let us in when we arrived....but hey presto, they saw us approaching on the AIS and were expecting us.... and here we are - Greg has their phone number securely in his contacts list in case we need it for the future!

Moored up in Malaga

Puerto Malaga at night

We decided to visit the castle ...along with other tourists out in the 37 degree sunshine including a half hour walk up a very steep hill! At the ticket office I noticed a sign that said concessions with the correct documentation.  So fully expecting it not to count, I got out my senior railcard which I bought on my recent trip back home; it doesn't even have my picture on it but when I showed it to the cashier, she charged me only 60 cents for the concessionary ticket and looked at Greg and then gave him the concession as well.!!! I almost laughed out loud...he was wearing a 'wife beater' and was looking quite muscular but clearly his toyboy days are well and truly over!   

The castle was worth the visit; it is very well preserved and has beautiful gardens within it.  The views are stunning and we could just see our boat looking tiny down in the harbour. 

Great view of Malaga from the top of the castle

Old folk having a rest at the top

Earlier this week we had a bit of serious excitement in Fuengirola.  

We were on deck and moored on the waiting pontoon because there wasn't any other space in the marina, when a tiny fishing boat came into the marina towing a massive black rib with three 350HP Yamaha engines on the back.  The Capitan helped him to moor it alongside us and then the excitement began.  It drew crowds of people for the next few hours on boats and on the pontoon.  You can probably see why from the pictures.  Greg did some research while we were waiting and discovered that never mind the cost of the boat, the engines alone cost £25,000 each!

Who needs 3 350HP engines and why?.....

The fisherman turned out to be quite a fragile old man, so he sat on our boat and had a drink whilst waiting for the police and to make his statement.   When the numerous  police arrived we got talking 
to them and it turns out they believed it to be an abandoned drug runners boat.  They stayed and guarded it in shifts until it was finally towed away in the dark. We then saw it being shifted by lorry the next day.

When its on the low-loader you can see how big it is!

Hopefully the fisherman will get some of the salvage value....  

Our biggest mistake this week was deciding to moor in Puerto Banus.  As we sailed past up the coast on our way to Marbella, we spotted the superyacht Yas at anchor outside Puerto Banus, presumably because it was too big to get in....apparently it is based on a naval frigate and owned by Sheik Hamdan bin Zayed (half-brother of the Emir of the UAE). At 141 metres she is the 6th largest yacht in the world!

Superyacht Yas

When we were in Marbella there were endless ferries going to Puerto Banus so we decided to go and see what all the fuss was about.  In hindsight we should have stayed in Marbella and cycled there but instead we went on Viridian and moored there at an extortionate cost. Several people had been telling us how brilliant it was, so perhaps our expectations were too high. There were a few slightly larger yachts moored up, but certainly nothing on the scale of the superyachts and glamour of the marinas in Sint Maarten or Juan-les-Pins - and there were very few sailing yachts there....they were nearly all motor boats.  

Relaxing in Puerto Banus - its much cheaper to drink on board

Yes, the shops are all designer but no-one seemed to be shopping in them; there was just an endless trail of ordinary people (us included) gawping and who had come from other resorts for the day. We saw quite a few very expensive sports cars, driven by young, tattooed males and numerous Arthur Dayley look-alikes driving Bentleys.  I couldn't get over the fact that when we had been cycling on the outskirts of Marbella we had spotted a place where you could hire a Ferrari or a Lamborghini for a day; is that where the cars were from or do the very rich really roar round the streets of Puerto Banus showing off to tourists?  Happy to stand corrected. We won't be returning to Puerto Banus.

The arrogance of the rich

Jan back

Leaving the marina in La Linea yesterday we went round to Gibraltar to fill up with duty free diesel.  Business is brisk there with a constant queue for the pumps....at 45p per litre why would anyone fill up in the adjacent Spanish ports where it is 113 Euro per litre?

When we arrived, there were a couple of very large vessels on the pumps and a large Discovery in front of us.  We circled for about 20 minutes and then the Discovery got its turn.  We were waiting for an Oyster 82 yacht called Starry Night to finish.  It was on the dock when we arrived and would surely be full soon.  As we were circling close, the owner informed us that they wouldn't be leaving soon because their chef had gone ashore and would be at least half an hour!  So they were parking on the fuel dock while their chef went shopping and everyone else could wait for them.  Greg was apopleptic!!!!  We could see the fuel dock attendant waiting around and I put my hands up to express frustration and one of them mirrored me in a shrug that said 'what can you do!'  

After circling for another half hour they were still there, so we went close again and could see that no fuel was going into the boat but by now palms had clearly been oiled because the attendant pretended to look at the pump and said...'maybe another 20 minutes'....we could see the pipe was laying on the ground and was not on the boat.  They could easily have moved the boat back down the pontoon but clearly couldn't be bothered.

Then surprise surprise the chef returned and amazingly the 'fuelling' was finished and we were summoned in.  Greg complained and as an excuse the attendant said..well they did have 1200 litres which took a long time.  We fuelled our tanks.... with 680 litres in 11 minutes.  We rest our case. 

Apart from little frustrations like that, its really great to be back on board.  I have just returned from a week in the UK, doing a couple of days work, seeing both mums and our children. I have now realised why some of our friends who live abroad never see us when they come home. Its mad trying to fit everybody in and organise the logistics.  I really missed my car....using public transport and lugging sail bags without wheels everywhere did my frozen shoulder no good at all; so in the end I bought an old lady's shopping trolley from a charity shop in Maidenhead, wheeled my bags around on it and then abandoned it at Luton airport on the way back.  I had to dismantle it so it didn't look like a suspicious bag at the airport which may have created havoc; but it served its purpose for the duration of the trip.

Those of you who know me well will understand when I say I thought I was going to do loads of secret shopping in London without Greg there to hold me back..but guess what...I didn't buy anything apart from a tube of mosquito bite cream at the airport; I just don't need anything.....Wow never thought I would be able to say that, but its quite liberating!

While I was away, Greg was adopted by some very nice people in the marina in La Linea and they went out to dinner and for drinks together.  People are extremely friendly in the main and lots of people are discussing where they will 'over winter' because I guess there will be quite a strong sense of community when people are in one place for a while. Nigel and Terry were sailing most of the way and then their wives joined them in La Linea.  Nigel had a special burgee to hoist with the words Wife on Board for when she arrived.  Paula didn't seem upset in the slightest by the witch on a broomstick image that went with it!

'Wife on Board with Broomstick' burgee...not flying very well as there was no wind

We are now leaving Gibraltar and sailing up the coast of Spain....we are really looking forward to meeting up with my brother Andrew and his wife Wendy next week in Estepona.  It's a beautiful day, perfect wind and suddenly seems much warmer.  

Leaving Gibraltar.  

Holed up in Gibraltar

Apologies if this update is a bit dull, but we haven't done very much recently. Jan has had to go back to the UK for the week so for the past few days I have been moored in Alcaidesa Marina in La Linea. If at any time you are looking for a mooring around here I would strongly recommend it - nice facilities; good security and very reasonable prices. 

Alcaidesa Marina

One thing that is quite interesting here is the weather. Every morning there has been an incredibly thick fog - sometimes such that you can't see to the end of the pontoon, and the temperature is quite low.

Early morning

One hour later

Later in the day the fog disperses quite suddenly and the temperature rises rapidly. I've been doing a few boat chores and I have to make sure that they have been completed in the morning because come the afternoon its really too hot to do anything except sit in the shade. 

Whilst we were here we decided to explore Gibraltar and took a minibus tour to the top of Gibraltar Rock, which was very interesting. 

Apart from the fabulous views over Gibraltar Bay and the famous monkeys there is also St Michael's cave - which is huge. We also went inside the old siege tunnels which were excavated in the late 1700's and were fascinating.

St Michael's cave

The thing that has entertained me most while I have been here has been my next door neighbour. He has a Fontaine-Pajot catamaran and must have been the boat salesman's dream because his boat has more options than I have ever seen! He is very boat-proud and seems to spend most of every day washing and cleaning it, even though the boat hasn't actually been anywhere to get salty or dirty. You have to pay for water here and I would hate to see the water bill when he leaves. 

That's it for now,....looking forward to Jan getting back on Monday when we will leave and head on up the coast of Spain.