Scorcio

We finally got what we left the UK for, sunshine and warm seas. It's so pleasant being on anchor and forgetting how many times you jump in the water to cool down.

 

We left the boat in the excellent, enormous and empty Valencia Mar marina for a week to go back the uk for Dan and Nina's wedding. Leaving the boat for the first time abroad was nerve wracking but our Spanish neighbour put my mind at rest by saying he'd make sure nothing happened to the boat. I switched off all systems except of course the bilge pump and the beer fridge so we could have a cold drink on our return. Did I say it was scorcio :-) 45C at one point on our thermometer.

Watching England semi final in Valencia.

The wedding was great fun, a reet Scouse affair. 

Two of my contributions to the future of humanity and a nephew.

 The dance floor is now free for fightin'

 The rest of the week was very busy seeing family and friends and doing diy in the house.

Went for a walk with Trotty, it killed me, he does it 3 times a week.

We returned to the boat with Chris and Karen and started, after a quick look around Valencia, making our way down the coast to Alicante.

Reminded me of MC Escher's Relativity.

Our first hop to Denia was cut short as Karen was a wee bit seasick so we pulled into Gandia. This was a very fortuitous find, a very Spanish resort with the longest, busiest beach I have seen in my life. We went in the sea which was the same temperature as the air and had 2 lovely nights in the marina.

Then onto Denia to another marina, there was a lot of easterly swell and this coast was very exposed so being on anchor would have been hell. Again, like lots of times sailing you have change your plans and you discover some amazing places. Denia marina had the best toilets Mandy and I have ever seen in all our years of campervaning and sailing. Individual rooms with your own shower, sink and toilet. So clean and a lovely big opening window making it very fresh. There must have been around 30 of these, all with a little red light outside to say occupied. (Or recording??) 11 out of 10. We stayed in Denia for 1 night and I had 3 showers, coz I could. 

We were determined to give Chris and Karen the on anchor experience so continued down the coast to some lovely protected, free and extremely busy mooring balls near Cala Sardinero where we stayed for 2 nights. 

 Some of us drank too much.

The cocktail boat was doing well.

During the day all 50 of these mooring balls are taken by day boats and it's chaos. (Good chaos)  Overnight only a few sailing boats so it gets very peaceful.

Lovely view of the sunset over the poo emoji.

I dropped Karen and Chris off in El Arenel with all our rubbish. If you come and visit us you have to take the rubbish when you leave. They went back to Valencia for a few more nights in a luxurious airbnb.

We stayed put on the mooring balls for a few days so Mandy could work and I could do the ubiquitous boat jobs. Then we went around the corner to an anchorage just outside Calpe again so Mandy could work and me do jobs. Calpe looks like a high rise holiday resort but is also a fishing harbour. We went out for a lovely cheap fresh fish meal, no English, really great. 

After another few days we continued to L'Abir, again to some free mooring balls. We stayed here back in January so it was good to go somewhere familiar. We picked up Gill and Sandra on the beach at midnight and had a lovely day on anchor, swimming and paddleboarding. It was a bit rolly and Sandra was not well after her flight so she took the morning to recover.

We got around to playing our favourite card game, Hearts. Gill won the first game - beginners luck.

Next day we sailed down to Alicante for a final visit before preparing for the Canaries in Almerimar. Went out for a lovely meal. The cheese and ham toasties with truffles where amazing. 

They left the next day from the marina so didn't have to take any rubbish with them.

It is so hot in marinas and you can't jump in the water to cool down. It's too dirty generally. So we got out our water capturing doggy swimming pool and sat in that to keep cool. The good thing about marinas is the unlimited supply of fresh water, the bad thing is because it's fresh water you end up looking like a prune.

Then we met up with Stuey and Sandra and went to theirs for tea and met their bird. Great night with Stuey doing his marvelously entertaining card tricks.

 

Stuey's card draw.

Of course a visit to Alicante would be sacrilegious if we didn't see Carmen. She was dead busy moving into her new flat and getting builders in to fix it up. Still we saw her new place met her fella Abel and had a great night out with them. Carmen is great company. If only we could stay with her for a few weeks, I would be fluent in Spanish.

Then it was time to leave Alicante, Mandy got all tearful as we wont be back, probably, for a very long time.

So it was back to our fully protected anchorage in Torrevieja for a week to get some supplies from Leyroy Merlin my favourite Spanish hardware store. I wanted a spare jet washer for our watermaker pump, more solar and ordered spare impellers for the engine. 

Again, coincidentally, Rob and Antoinette where in Torrevieja visiting her parents so they came over and stayed for the night. We met them last on Christmas night in Torrevieja. They spotted us sailing down the coast.

As I have said before, Rob is the only other person on this planet who understands my electrics. so we  had lots of discussions about my setup concluding that my big solar panel is duff. 

The ladies didn't seem to mind us geeking around.

So a 450W panel costs 75 euros in Leyroy Merlin, amazing bargain, it would be stupid not to get a new one. Just a little tricky getting it back to the boat.

Lovely meal out with them then it was time to leave. We left our mark in a meeting place for all the liveaboards.

We stopped in a lovely place called Cape Palos, a free mooring on the town quay, for 3 nights while Mandy worked and I did jobs. 

I have had a few things to fix recently. Fixed to anchor winch motor commutator, cleaned the calcium of the overheating generator heat exchanger, serviced the engine. The worst job on the boat, and that includes toilets is changing the impeller on the water pump. It is so difficult to get at on my engine. I  have done it 4 times now and it still took 5 hours to remove the old one in the sweaty heat. It is a bastard of a job. Other jobs were water maker lift pump failed and needed replacement and fix a really annoying squeak in one of the toilets. Good news is these are all done so not so much to do to prepare for our liftout in Almerimar on 2nd September. Also I made a groovy light out of a tequila bottle and a solar powered garden light. Never needs charging - amazing for 2 euros.

Then onwards to Almerimar, a great overnight sail with 25 knots of wind behind us. No auto pilot so it was a little tiring. (Next job.) 

So here we are in Almerimar for a month, sails down, ready to be lifted out and get the hull copper coated and prepare for our crossing to the Canary islands.