Onward to Estepona

30th March 2013. Left Sotogrande marina at 11:40 with dolphin escort. I helmed. A WSW wind 17- 20knots, sometimes gusting 25 knots. Two reefs in Main, half Genoa and Mizzen up making 6.5 knots, trip took two hours marina to marina.

View en route.

Me at the helm - note to self -  Wear a cap or cut hair!

Easter gift to us from Marina staff - and very nice it was too.
 

In convoy with the Conway's

We've had an amazing week with the Conway's. Here they are after their flight from a frozen UK standing on the 'Live' runway at Gibraltar:

 

 

A selection of photos taken during the week:

Jonothan

All best wishes to you and Mary for your wedding!

And Lawrence

We're hoping you get your dream job with the dolphins!


Next, Tom:

I love your hat!

Thought about stealing it!

Will the Pillars of Hercules inspire you to travel the Mediterranean?

 

 

Sebastian on deck in Cueta

 

Still on deck! Come and join us anytime Seb!

Jo with glass of fizz on Kantara

 

The sea air knocks you out.  Jo napping on Lerryn Lady.

Robert:  'I see no ships'

 

Robert and Jo in the fish market Cueta

Buy your boat and sailaway :O)

Sorry we missed Matthew, another time!

  

SY Kantara moored at Smir 

 

Smir to Sotogrande

28th March 2013 we crossed the Straits south to north again, Rob Conway on the helm. We couldn't find the bread shop in Smir so  I made a roast vegetable and chickpea casserole for lunch. I planned to re-heat this three hours into the 6 hour crossing. Well I tried to reheat the food, then gave up. The West wind had other ideas for us today.  At around lunchtime we were flying along in a steady Force 6.  Casserole went into the oven, I was prepping cous cous on the hob, when the wind increased to Force 8. We stayed on a broad reach for the next two hours at times touching 9 knots over ground (at one point 9.2 knots) which is definitely the fastest we have ever traveled on this boat :O) We ate bananas, chocolate and tangerines instead. Just as soon as we hit Sotogrande I restarted the lunch - we were all more than ready for it! Afterwards we went to the Hairy Lemon pub and had our last drinks with the Conway's who are off to Gibraltar tomorrow.

Rob Conway on the helm blowing all those workaday cobwebs away!

Smir - Morocco

From Cueta, Greg and I sailed South to Smir by ourselves, the Conway's had a full day of sailing instruction on the boat they'd chartered. This meant I had the helm again after the Winter layover. After rounding Punta Almina. (East of Cueta) we were close-hauled in 15-25k wnw wind, it's a straight forward sail to Smir. A distinctive conical hill, directly behind Smir, and in-line with the entrance to the marina helped direct us. The approach at night can be dodgy though as there are unlit musselbeds/platforms! Smir port is beautiful. Here's the view from our mooring, which was alongside, an absolute luxury after stern-to all Winter :

The white building on the left is the reporting office. There is a tour guide here called Ahmed - everyone in Gibraltar seems to know him. He arranged a taxi for the Conway's and took them all on a whistlestop night tour of the old capital Tetouan. They ended up in a Spice bazaar ( Cumin, saffron and neck massages) and inevitably a carpet shop where they bought their son a wedding gift. They enjoyed themselves. Greg and I chilled out onboard listening to the night birds on the water. March is quiet here but I imagine Smir harbour could get pretty noisy in the Summer as the waterfront is lined with bars and restaurants - closed for refurbishment whilst we were there.

Close-up of the reporting office - passports, boat papers etc. behind the building the shower blocks. To the right by the car is a cute guard dog tied up with a kennel. Talk about bites and barks - when approached he tries to runaway :O)
 

Cueta - A Spanish exclave on the Moroccan coast.

We wandered around inside this fortress and stared down at the moat which is still navigable by boat - not sure if there's enough water for Lerryn lady though!

Here we are moored stern-to in Cueta marina.

 

The hill is Monte Hacho. Morocco is on the other side. Cueta is named as one of the Pillars of Hercules ( the other being the Rock of Gibraltar). According to legend, Hercules pushed apart the two mountains and created a link between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic - very nice of him!

A few of our neighbours.

 

 

 

Greg's working on it.

Since leaving Gibraltar the base stations on Marine traffic dot com have not been picking us up properly. For instance  you would not have seen us arriving in Cueta, leaving Cueta, arriving in Smir or leaving Smir. Yesterday you may have noticed that we suddenly 'appeared' mid-Straits and I think you may see us currently in Sotogrande. Greg is working on this as far as our own upload is concerned but has no control on anything outside of this. He says, bear with us as we are suffering from lack of base station coverage at the moment.

Cueta fish market this morning

There was a definite sense of being ' watched' at the market this morning :O)

We haven't sunk!

It may look like we only made it half way across the Straits ( if you were following us on marine traffic) but we are safely moored in Cueta. The AIS Base Stations did not pick us up more than halfway across the Straits.  However, a large Pod of dolphins did pick us up and escorted us out from Gibraltar and  across Algeceiras Bay. Jo Conway lay on the foredeck vidoeing them for fifteen minutes, and we all agreed it was a delight ( and felt like a good omen) to have the dolphins with us.The forecast winds mentioned yesterday were slightly 'under' forecast because today we had 23 -25 knots veering westsouthwest and as a result averaged 6 knots at times touching 7 -  we were close-hauled with one reef in the main. Despite the strong current pushing us eastward we managed to hold our course in a shallow 's' track to make Cueta without needing to tack. Four hours from berth to berth :O) Rob Conway did a sterling job on the helm and the weather improved as we crossed to north Africa - temperature currently 22 degrees at 11pm ! Tonight the locals had their Semana Santa (Holy Week) procession - video to come soon. Buenos noches!
 

And we're off :O)

At long last, time to cast off and set sail - it's been a long Winter overlay and we're eager to get going again. Just a few last minute checks and tweaks today. The plan: Leave Gibraltar tomorrow morning ( Tuesday 26th March) and sail across the Straits to Cueta, hopefully in time for lunchtime Tapas. We have light westerlies 6-10 knots with possible ( read likely) gusts up to 15 knots, wave height 1.5m. No rain expected, air pressure 1014 and air temperatures 18 degrees. It's a short trip - three, three and half hours max to a little bit of Spanish territory on the north African coast.

This is the best way to travel!  We have stowaways with us tomorrow, Jo and Robert Conway, will be good to have their company :O)   Anyone interested in joining us for a leg on our trip to Turkey get in touch - Hey Mark, get your butt over here :O) Follow us on marinetraffic.com! Lots of Love xxx

Vejer de la Frontera

 Another Cracking Andalucian town :O)

 

This is the courtyard inside a 'Patio' house, the design no doubt borrowed from the Moorish Riads and Roman Atriums.

Durmiendo ( sleeping) en el sol...

 

Bluer than blue, blue! 

 

Arches

and another one...

 

Lanterns sorted!

At last problem sorted. Software discrepancies apparently, sadly that means nothing to me. Thank goodness for my onboard computer nerd :O) Thanks Greg!

Medina Sidonia

Like most wonderful things that happen in life, Medina Sidonia wasn't planned. It was quite literally a pin on a map job and a decision to just go and see. We loved it so much we stayed for three nights on the very top of the town. From the balcony, we could see Africa to the south and the Atlantic ocean and Cadiz way out on the western horizon, where amazing sky 'light' shows appear at sunset!

View from our balcony - just let the little peek of swimming pool slip in there on the left :O) Midway on the horizon is Cadiz and the Atlantic.

Greg in Alcazar Calle ( Street)

The Belen Arch - 15th Century - known as the Gate of the Gypsies.

 

 All the old boys wear these berets and toothy grins :O)

Olivo Calle looking West

The sun starting to set over Medina -  and how about this last shot for a 'sky show'?

 

Up in them thar hills of Andalucia!

A few days in a different terrain has been most refreshing. The pueblos blancos ( white villages) are charming, as are the friendly people, dogs, goats, horses and shy cats we met along the way.

Following all taken in Jimena de la Frontera:

 

Street oranges...

Jimena:

 

Greg under orange trees:

Lane in Jimena:

They love their flowers: