Sailing along the Southern Coast of Spain

June 2020

We initially set sail heading for the Balearic Islands knowing that we either do a 2-3 overnight sail or stop off along the Spanish coast and we are so glad that we decided to anchor in a few fishing ports along the way.

Our approach the first night in Fuengirola was fabulous.  We were overlooked by the Sohail Castle on the hill.  The night was a bit rolly due to having no protection from the open sea but it was fairly late when we arrived so once we had dinner we were ready for bed.


We rose early the following morning knowing that we had another full days sail heading for Ensenada de los Berenguelos.  After a lazy sail we arrived.  The bay hooked around the headline so was fairly sheltered. This was the first of the stunning anchorages that we visited.  It had a small beach with houses nestled into the hills with overhanging foliage all overlooking the anchorage.  The whole area looked superbly clean.  We were accompanied by 2 other boats in the bay but there was plenty of room for us all.  You could see clear to the seabed in 6mtrs of water.  It was superb.

We sailed on from here to Roquetas de Mar.  Navily, an app we use for anchorages and marinas, did not have particularly good reviews for this one.  However, we stayed here several days as we were able to anchor just outside the marina wall and leave our dinghy against the harbour wall in the fishing port next to the marina.  There were supermarkets and launderettes within 5mins of the port and the anchorage overlooked a super long beach.  We had a lovely time here both relaxing, working and provisioning.

On from here we had seen that Genaveses was a stunning anchorage set in a national park so this was our next port of call.  There were a number of boats here already when we turned up and following us a few more yachts arrived.  It is quite a large horseshoe bay and we could see from the deck of Cordelia that we could go ashore at the beach and take ourselves off on one of the many walks around the park.  However, the wind had other ideas.  During the early hours of the night an easterly wind blew up directly into the bay and we rolled and rolled and rolled.  Although we were never in any danger both of us didn't sleep a wink all night so at 6am we up'd anchor and set sail for Calabardina.

Calabardina was a lovely small fishing village that protected us against the east winds that were still about.  We'd had a great sail and were ready for a good nights sleep having had no sleep last night.  The following day we went ashore to have a look around.  It consists of a couple of small hotels and what look like holiday homes.  It has a lovely a beach with a couple of great hippie beach bars, which we stopped at for a much needed cold drink.  We stayed on another night just to get a good nights rest again.  We are in no rush and quite happy to slowly sail along the coast.

Our next stop was La Azohia, opposite Mazarron.  Again this was a stunning setting to one end of a large bay.  Overlooked by hills and a long beach.  The water was crystal clear, even in 5mtrs.  The fishing port was only small but had a quay that the local children spent hours jumping off.  There were no shops in the village, although there was a Spar at the other end of the beach.  We were sheltered from the winds in calm, clear blue waters with fish swimming around the boat.  We head heard that there was a FoodCo supermarket in Mazarron that sold British food so took the dinghy across the 4.5mile bay to buy gas and food.  We found both very easily and the fact we were able to leave the dinghy tied up a railing at the western end of the beach was ideal.  La Azohia is what we had come to the Med for.  It was idyllic and we ended up staying for 6 nights.

Our last stop was just outside the Mar Manor lagoon in an anchorage called Cuna overlooked by the Faro Cabl de Palos lighthouse.  It's impressive height towered over the anchorage, which was a pretty little cove to the southern end of the Mar Manor.  Currently the local government have stopped all leisure boating in the Mar Manor as they are trying to sort the environmental issue out.  The lagoon is nothing more than stagnant green water at the moment.

It's been a fantastic start to our 2020 summer cruising journey.  Next stop is Formentera in the Balearic Islands............

Sailing out of Gibraltar to start cruising in 2020

June 2020

We are ready to leave Alcaidesa Marina on 1st June 2020.  We have spent 8 months here in the marina and whilst the community spirit has been great and we have felt very safe, we are eager to start cruising again.

We don't go far initially, just 50yrds into La Linea bay to make sure that all the work Steve had done over the winter period to the water-maker, electronics, plumbing etc. was okay.  It was lovely just to be at anchor.

Whilst at anchor we were woken wondering if someone was trying to get on the boat but to our to amazement we found live fish on the boat and the water surrounding us was alive with fish jumping out of the water at least a metre, it was amazing.

Gibraltar Bay has great holding and although there are not a lot of places to leave your dinghy, if you can find somewhere there are plenty of supermarkets and a great local market in La Linea.


Our very loose plan is to sail the Southern Coast of Spain, head over to the Balearic Islands, visit Sardinia and Corsica and then winter in Sicily. However, as I said this is a very loose plan as with Covid-19 still quite a problem in a lot of countries, we will do whatever is needed to keep safe and within easy'ish access to an airport.

After a week we fuelled up in Gibraltar as the fuel is tax free (217ltrs for £93)!! and went on our way.  The weather was looking fair with winds of up to 10knts but that suited us.  However, once we were out of the bay the winds pickup up to 15-20kts, which is what we needed and we had a fantastic sail to Fuengirola, our first stop.

Sailing UK to Gibraltar - Our first 6 months

May 2020

It has been 12 months since we let the lines go and friends waved us off in Southampton, UK.  We were tired from all the prep work, excited for what was to come, anxious about the unknown and scared of what we did know.  But this was the start of our dream, to sail the world for as long as we both wanted and were able to.

Our first 6 weeks were spent winding down in Swanage, Brixham, Dittisham & Dartmouth, UK.  The weather was good to us with hot, long summer days.  There is nothing on earth like the UK in good weather, it is truly a stunning country.  Unfortunately, dry warm days are rare in the UK and it is this reason that has led us to wanting to sail off in search of good weather and new places.

Having completed a few odd jobs and a visit from Katrina, Stu, Zed & Zach and Paul, David and Jess (friends of ours) we were ready to cross the English Channel.  This would be our first crossing and our first time in France in Cordelia, we were excited.  An overnight passage on one tack from Dartmouth to L'Aber Wrach at an average of 5knots with dolphins swimming off the bow, was more than we could ever have dreamt for.

We loved Northern France.  Friends had asked us before whey we hadn't at least sailed there for our summer holiday's in the past, we now ask ourselves that same thing.  Brittany is beautiful and the coast round entering the Atlantic was just as stunning.

We moved on crossing The Bay of Biscay.  This again was a truly amazing passage, with no wind it took us over 3 days.  We witnessed the most beautiful and restful sunrises & dolphins swimming in luminescence with no moon, the beauty of them gliding through the ocean that was as black at tar but with sparkling streams of blue & green behind them was something from a Disney movie, just magical.

We arrived in Gijon, Northern Spain and again we loved it.  Our special place was the Spanish Rias.  These are 3 Rias that you enter from the Atlantic and must not be missed on your way to the Mediterranean or Caribbean.  There are so many beaches and fishing villages you could easily spend months there.

From the Rias we headed towards Portugal.  We were in for a surprise.  We didn't realise how stunning areas of Portugal are.  We spent time Caiscais visiting Lisbon and a couple of anchorages along the Atlantic coast heading towards The Algarve.  We had been told not to miss Ilha da Culatra and we are so pleased we didn't.  We actually spent a few weeks here.  It was safe, calm & beautiful.  The little island had no roads or cars.  All buildings are no more than 2 story houses, the paths are forever covered in sand and groceries can be bought from 2 small shops.  Apparently 3000 people on this sliver of land and all supplies are bought over by boat from mainland Portugal.  This is place we would love to visit again.

Cadiz came next, where we met Sue & Robbie who spent a week visiting at the same time (although they were in a hotel).  Cadiz is a special place, full of very old buildings that have not been damaged by world wars.  Entering the bay Cadiz city is enclosed within a wall with turrets from buildings in the distance.  If you've never spent time in Cadiz, then try to.  It's narrow lanes with beautiful towering buildings each side makes it a city never to be forgotten.

Leaving Cadiz we knew our next main stop would be in the Gibraltar Bay.  We had decided that having had such a brilliant time since we left the UK, why hurry to go across the Atlantic and miss out on spending some time the Mediterranean so we booked a winter berth in Alcaidesa Marina in La Linea Spain.  

We have sailed in 4 countries, visited 29 anchorages or marinas and travelled 1618 nautical miles in 6 months.  We've met some amazing people, eaten some scrumptious food and seen some fantastic places - what a first year!!!!

Community spirit supporting our local businesses under Covid-19 lockdown

April 2020

Life feels surreal at the moment.  We wake up, look out the hatch and the sun is still shining or the rain is still pouring, the wind is still howling through the rigging and for a split second all seems normal and the world is just having a quiet moment because you can't hear the traffic, people chatting, kids playing in the park or the planes overhead.  Then you remember life is so very very different living under Covid-19 lockdown.

Due to the virus all ports over the world have closed.  There are varying levels of closure in countries from total closure for all recreational boating and commercial shipping to being allowed to anchor but not being allowed ashore with food deliveries being made to the boats, being allowed to anchor and only going ashore for the supermarket or medical reasons, being allowed to stay in marina's but not leaving, the list of varying levels of closure goes on and on.  We are in Alcaidesa Marina.  We are not allowed to leave unless we are travelling back to our home country.  We have extended our berthing until 31st May as we were due to leave for the Balearic Islands on April 7th.



One of the berth holders Debbie started up a Facebook Group called the Alcaidesa Marina Amigos to help bring everyone together in a bid to help keep the virus out by sharing information.


Paul another berth holder arranged for local businesses to supply and deliver to the marina, these included green grocer, butcher, baker, fishmonger, pharmacy and gas can also be organised so the need to go to a supermarket is almost non-existent.


This has created a lot of media interest and the marina has been on television and in the newspaper.

We talk to family in the UK and Canada and they are under similar restrictions but lucky for them not total lockdown as Spain is.

30th April 2020 - The death toll in Spain reached a high of over 900 and for several days over 850 people, the total as of today is over 24,543 deaths with 213k confirmed cases but the good news is over 113k are fully recovered.  Worldwide 220k have died with over 3.2million confirmed cases but again 986k have recovered.

We wonder now how different life may be when this is all over.  We doubt it will ever be the same again.  Airlines are already reporting that it will be years before their full fleet are airborne again and have started to make mass redundancies.  Supermarkets are set to keep the 2mtr social distance rule while some countries are said to be introducing perspex domes for beaches.  They are saying it will the 'New Normal'.  Life is going on but it's like something out of a movie.

Meanwhile, washing still needs to be done and we still need to eat - Dorade fish from the fishmonger baked in garlic, lemon & olive oil...yum yum!

We spend the time trying to finish all then jobs that we were going to do on route to the Mediterranean and Caribbean.  This should at least mean we can just carry out maintenance on Cordelia and enjoy the non-sailing days just relaxing.

 

Shingles & Under lockdown in Spain, Alcaidesa Marina - Covid-19

March 2020

We had planned to spend 6 months in Alcaidesa Marina, Spain getting ready for a fabulous summer season 2020 in the Mediterranean.  We've been back to the UK twice, once pre-organised and once due to an sick parent.  Our daughter Katrina and family visited in December and we were lucky enough to have Suzie & Robbie staying in Estipona only 30mins away so we stayed with them 3 times.  So all in all we have had quite a busy winter.

Then............

We returned from a stay with family in February to start prepping the boat for our summer cruise.  Then we started to hear about a virus that had started in China and people were dying, very quickly and it was spreading rapidly.  Then the media started to report Italy & Korea had also been hit with it.  China went under lockdown and the world was shocked but very rapidly Italy followed suit.

The world over had started to listen and act, albeit slowly.  We had been advised to wash our hands as often as possible.  Also the Chinese had been seen wearing facial respirator masks.  Within a couple of days stocks of hand sanitiser, face masks & toilets rolls has disappeared.  Panic buying had set in. People were going berserk buying all and any kind of cleaning fluid and toiletries.


 On Saturday 14th March Spain went into lockdown.  It was quick and swift.  We knew it was imminent and the Spanish government decreed that the country was in a state of alert.

Thank goodness for social media. We were able to find out what exactly 'state of alert' meant and how it would affect us.  The basis of it is that all social and recreational places such as cafes, restaurants, parks, clubs, pubs, retail shops will close immediately.  No two people are allowed out together, no more than one person is allowed per car.  The only exceptions to this are children with parents and dog walkers but this was also restricted.

Supermarkets were open but restricted to 10 people at a time.  Customers queued outside waiting their turn with guards at the door.  There is plenty of food but it's basics like veg, bread, milk etc.  No sweets or chocolate - I was not a happy person :(

The Spanish government have authorised the police to hand out 'on-the-spot' fines of €600 to people that are caught on the street unnecessarily.  If you need to go out you must have a very good reason i.e. doctors, supermarket, hospital or to visit an elderly person.  All of these reasons you must provide evidence if asked.

Is it possible that you can shut down a country as big as Spain in just a couple of days.  The answer is YES.

We are now over a week into lockdown.  The streets are empty of people, quiet of bustling shoppers and families enjoying their social coffee time.  The roads are clear with the exception of a few people going to work.  The parks are cordoned off with tape.  We have been advised to keep at least 2mtrs between you and another person if you happen to see someone.  Businesses have closed their offices and are trying to work from home and this includes the marina.

There is hardly any movement in the marina. A few yachts turned up at the marina taking refuge as many marina's across the world are closed.  We have learned in the last day that we are now not allowed to leave the marina and that all recreational sailing has been banned.  The 'state of alert' was for an initial 15days and 9 days in the Spanish Government extended that to an additional 15 days.  Another berth holder set up a marina Facebook group and called it Alcaidesa Marina Prisoners Community and it's certainly helping to share information.

All during this time I have had shingles across my chest, luckily a mild bout of it and this has helped me with the isolation.

We are happy with our lot, still love life and will continue with our cruising as soon as we are allowed.  The world is coming together to beat this awful virus and hopefully we will come out of it a more sharing, kinder & wiser world.

Cruising Gibraltar via Alcaidesa Marina in La Linea, Spain

December 2019

We made the decision to winter berth in La Linea Spain, just 500mtrs from the Gibraltar boarder which has given us the opportunity to visit Gibraltar a British Overseas Territory.

It is very surreal walking through Gibraltar and hearing English being spoken so freely having been in France, Portugal and Spain for all these months.  We don't like the fish and chip shops but only because it feels so very odd to see something so British abroad, even in one of our territories.  However, they are all very busy due to the many many cruise liners that stop in Gibraltar.

Being near Gibraltar does mean that we can buy all the things we miss from the UK - pork pies, real bacon, Lurpak.  Whilst you can buy alternatives in Spain they are just not the same lol.

There are also a couple of good chandlery shops, who are also very helpful and dare I say slightly cheaper than the UK.  One of the chandleries are in Queensway Marina, which is in walking distance of Alcaidesa Marina in La Linea.

As of today's date, prior to Brexit there are never any difficulties getting in and out of Gibraltar.  Both passport control and customs are very relaxed. That is not to say that it will always be that way but I'm sure it's unlikely to change dramatically as there are 28,500 people who cross the boarder and go to school & work from Spain into Gibraltar.  It is said that 30% of people in La Line are unemployed and there are just 33 people unemployed in Gibraltar, an almost unbelievable & incredible figure.

Gibraltar is only 6.8km2, this means with the increasing population they can only build up and not out.  Therefore, when walking through the streets if can feel very claustrophobic.

When our daughter, son-in-law and grandsons came to visit we decided to to the tourist thing and go up the cable car to see the Barbary maraques, commonly known as the Barbary apes.

We had our first trial when we parked the car (we had hired a car for our family visit so that we could go and visit several places whilst they were here).  There is only one car park for the cable car and you need to know your registration plate, the metre is in Spanish and the queue was about 8 people long.  the 2nd trial was at the entrance where there were many mini-bus touters, who were
trying to sell their rock tours.  We didn't do this and waited for the cable car, some 40 minutes.  Our 3rd trial was there were different prices for the different activities, apes, skywalk and caves.  This all became quite confusing so we opted for all of it at an eye-watering cost of £169 for 4 adults and 2 children, only finally to be told it would take 3hrs to do everything and it was already 2.30pm!

The day was beautifully warm so the walk was fantastic. We saw the apes, which were amazing especially those with babies.  They were literally anywhere and everywhere, they will sit quietly whilst you pass but beware do not get near their growl and teeth are quite loud and big, as we were to find out haha! 

Only the guys went on the skywalk as this is an overhang on the eastern side of the rock, much to high and frighteningly scary for me and my daughter.

The St Michael's caves were the most amazing I have ever seen.  Part of the caves have been created into an auditorium for concerts.  It is said that there is a tunnel that runs from Morocco to Gibraltar and that this is how the apes came to be on the rock.  It is more likely they were bought to the rock via ships from Morocco. The caves are enormous and stretch for some way both up high and deep below.

                                                 There is also Windsor Suspension Bridge.  Katrina did not want to walk across, the guys were happy to run and walk across.  I hate hate hate heights but at my age was determined to get over my fear of heights by walking across it.  I had such high hopes of just gritting my teeth and walking but to my horror after some very deep breathing and lots of self-encouragement I started to walk and within 10ft started to cry hysterically.  I carried on walking because I didn't know what else to do.  All I could hear was my head which was about to explode with fear and some woman shouting encouragement from the other side. Stu, our son-in-law came to my rescue and walked me the rest of the way, even though the fear and tears would not go.  I can't say that I felt anything but exhaustion when I got to the other side, I certainly didn't feel elated as I thought I would!!!

  









All in all it was a wonderful afternoon but you need more time than 3hours to really enjoy all of the actives and really appreciate all the sights.

Europa Lighthouse is also a great site to visit with fantastic views over the Gibraltar Straits and across the Morocco.  Parking is free and there is a small cafe.  We visited twice and on both occasions the winds were good so we had an excellent time looking around.  

Katrina, Stu, Zed & Zach in La Linea

Gibraltar is a fascinating place because of its size, where it is and what it has to offer.  Its a place not to missed in you are in Southern Spain.

We've blown the budget already!! Our true cost of cruising

November 2019 - The true cost of living on our boat whilst full-time cruising.

Costs for our cruise so far in our Venus 46' Ketch.  Where to start?  Our current circumstances are we sold our house, which was part of the plan and Cordelia is paid for so there is no mortgage.  We felt like we could not do it if we had a mortgage to pay on either a boat or property.

We planned that we were going to leave the employment rat race early so we needed to make sure we had an income to sustain the lifestyle that we wanted.  Our target date to set sail was April 2019.

Our income consists of a small pension and some savings.  Annette also continues to work remotely on a part-time basis in a job she loves.

We have a daily budget, which works brilliantly for us.  We write down on a daily basis every penny we spend, no matter what it is for or how small the amount.  This is then transferred to a spreadsheet each month to enable us to look at what and where we have spent our budget and more importantly where we need to pull our belts in.  I know it's anal but it works for us lol.

What we did find is that during the first 3-4 months we spent more on restaurants, which was rather strange because it was not something that we used to do.  When we looked at why we realised that it was due to our activities on the boat every day.  There were days we would work in the early morning and then go out exploring and this was always just before lunch. This meant that we were out over lunch time so we were eating out.  We have since changed that and work up until lunch and go out after lunch. This way we also use the food that we were still buying when we were eating out! Whilst most cafe's/tapas bars are reasonably cheap, it's amazing how quickly our lunchtime bill would come to €15 and when your daily budget is only €42.50 that is a large chunk of it.

We also changed our sailing plan during the summer and are now going into the Mediterranean in
2020.  This has meant a 6month stopover in a marina and whilst this is cheaper than a daily marina rate it is still 183 days in a marina that we did not budget for.  We certainly won't do this next year.

There are also days where we spend nothing.  These days we like because it means that if we want to hire a car to go sightseeing, we are able to do this.  Our non-spending days are due to the way Steve has set up the boat with a good fridge, freezer, water-maker and we make sure we provision in advance.  We overspec'd our ground tackle to keep us safe whilst anchoring as much as possible.  We also just love relaxing on the boat sitting in the sun reading a book or fishing (even though we have yet to catch anything in 6 months 🤣.

We were once told....do not try and live this life too differently than how you lived on land....what they meant was, if you eat out a couple of nights a week, try and continue to do this, if you go to the cinema once a month again try and do this or something similar.  You are who you are, do not try and change too much otherwise you may feel there are too many compromises and you don't want to regret your decision.

We've had an amazing time in our first six months.  We've visited 37 ports from May - Oct 2019 of which 6 were marina's plus our winter marina berth.

Actual Spend & Budget May - Oct 2019

Our 6-month spend & budget.  We break it down as follows:

Marina Berthing / Fuel - Diesel / Fuel - Gas / Food / Restaurants / Coffee's / Boat bits / Laundry / Mobile phones & Data / Other - includes ferries, clothing, taxis, hair cuts etc.

We did not include flights in our budget but this year we have had 2 exceptions, one being our son's wedding which included a weeks holiday stay too and also an emergency flight to the UK due to a parent falling ill.  We don't envisage having to do this again however we will include on 'other' in future.

Boat Bits below includes a 2nd hand Electric Torquedo outboard that we purchased in France and a new Victron Invertor in the UK and each was €800.

NB.  Our boat insurance is not included in our budget.  We made the decision to not include this and to pay it annually from our savings when it is due.  For reference though, our insurance is approx. £1250 per six months.

There are cruisers who have sailed on less per day and cruisers who have sailed on more per day. There is no right or wrong way, only the way that best suits you.  This is our true spend for our initial 6 months and we absolutely will spend less in the next 6 months.

We would love to hear your comments or if you have questions, fire away.  If you have any ideas on different things you would like to see please let us know or why not watch our last vlog episode 14