I am Francisco Vásquez García, and welcome to Almeria

Mandy is currently working 3 days a week and has to go into the office once a month. This defines our current routine. We have to be somewhere relatively calm for the 3 days while she works and have to be close to an airport that allows her to fly home once a month. So this month she arrived back in Gibraltar and we decided to make our way slowly back to Torrevieja where she can leave me on anchor while she next flys home in March.

So we left Gibraltar, after filling up with super cheap diesel, €1 per litre, and had a lovely 35 mile sail to Marbella, visited by a load of dolphins. We wanted to get our gas bottle refilled and there is a guy in Marbella who fills any type of bottle. (https://gasbottlerefill.com/) We dropped anchor a short row from the beach with a great view of the mountains and I went off to get the bottle filled. Job 1 done. Then the both of us went ashore after repairing a broken solar panel for a celebratory drink in the bar on the beach. Job 2 done.

Then back to the boat for a late birthday margarita, nicely illuminated.

Two peaceful nights later we left to do an overnighter to Fuengirola so Mandy could work and I could source a jet washer to cannibalise and repair the watermaker. Again we sailed most of the way and I saw the most amazing moon dog ever. The picture doesn't do it justice. The moon was full and the ring must have stretched over 50 percent of the sky.

 

Fuengirola is another lively holiday town with a massive Leroy Merlin DIY shop which stocks everything from Jet washers to solar panels. It makes B&Q look like a corner hardware store. They had the jet washer I needed, job 3 done.

We anchored in the bay just outside the marina, again a short row to the shore. For 3 days Mandy worked and I walked around town looking for bits to do jobs. I must have walked 15 miles in total. Who says your legs stop working living on a boat. Although Mandy didn't go ashore she did manage to leave the boat for a lunchtime swim each day.

Then it was on to Almerimar marina to hide from some bad weather. We did another overnighter. All the weather models said westerly winds, around 10 knots but they couldn't have been more wrong. 20 knots from the east on the nose all the way. :-( So we had to motor to outrun the weather. Good job we did because for 3 nights in Almerimar marina we had 50 knots of wind. It's a lovely cozy feeling sitting in a safe marina when it's blowing a hoolie.

There is this amazingly long promenade in Almerimar, about 3 miles long, paid for by EU funding that is deserted for most of the year. We went for a walk and felt like we were in a zombie apocalypse movie. No one around, half built hotels, boarded up restaurants, grass growing between the bricks of the promenade. Still it was a beautiful walk with crazy waves breaking on the beach because of the storm. There were even people surfing!! (I didn't know you could surf in the Med) Thought I try out a bit a naturism as there was no one about to be shocked.

The next morning Mandy went for a run and said it was a different world, loads of runners, cyclists, roller bladers, doggers. All doing their morning routines along the prom.

Then another 3 days working for Mandy and lots of jobs for me. Fit a new coolant temperature sensor to the generator, make a gimbal for our new induction cooker. We got rid of the gas, I've met 3 guys whos boats have blown up due to gas leaks, so induction cooking is the future for us. WE keep 1 gas bottle unconnected for our bbq. Also I had to fit another solar panel, get a high pressure hose made for the watermaker. This entailed travelling 20 miles to a hydraulic shop who made the hose up in 5 minutes and charged €3. And finally I needed to check, clean and paint the anchor chain shackles as they look a bit rusty. Then it was goodbye to Almerimar until September when we come back, get lifted out and get the bottom copper coated. This will mean no antifouling ever again, hopefully.

We should have waited a day for the seas to calm down after the storm but we didn't so we had a really uncomfortable overnight 110 mile sail to Cartegena. For a good 5 hours through the night we had a constant 40 knots of wind which peaked to 50 for a while. It wasn't scary, the boat can easily take it. It's just the wear and tear on the rigging and sails I hate and you can't play Jenga. We did get a visit from loads of dolphins just outside Cartegena. They did all sorts of aerobatics, looked at us and splashed us. 

Anyhow we arrived in Cartegena just in time for sunset and were tied up in a the marina ready for more mad winds. Cartegena is a really cool place, lots of history, loads of roman ruins and art.

So after a lovely few days in Cartegena it was time to move on to our favourite anchorage in the Med, Torrevieja. Why? Absolutely no swell and Mandy can fly home from Alicante and you can play Jenga. It was a great sail, flat seas and following winds. We arrived at sunset. Now Mandy goes home again and I continue with the never ending boat jobs. 

Come all you rambling boys of pleasure

And ladies of easy leisure

We must say Adiós! until we see

Almeria once again