Equinox_2019

There was not too much to say about Monday. We knew that it would be our last day on mainland Europe for a while, and so much of the day was taken with chores and shopping. It was a Bank Holiday here, and there is another on Wednesday, so there was a distinctly sleepy feel about the place. Denia has gone up in our estimation, not least because of the launderette we found in the marina.   We were fearing that we would have to make trips back and forth to the town, and were relieved to find a well-appointed launderette actually in the marina. This also proved to be the cheapest (well, least expensive) that we have seen in years. We were first to arrive, so no queuing and the whole process was completed by about 10:30. We were also impressed by the lovely beach which is to the north of the town for a considerable distance, which we ran along. In the afternoon I tried without success to recommission the outboard motor for the tender. A helpful chap from another boat suggested ...

It was great to get up to see the sunrise over the cliffs in peace and seclusion. Only two other yachts had stayed on buoys overnight and no one else was up. The sea was calm. I love that part of the day, especially when everyone else still sleeps. We slipped our mooring mid morning, when a nice breeze had come in and enjoyed good up-wind sailing, with the boat so beautifully balanced, you almost didn’t need to steer, under a clear blue sky. Equinox is an absolute joy to sail. As we approached Denia, there were lots of day-sailing yachts out in the bay in these perfect conditions: sunshine and flat water with a F3 breeze. The navigation up this coast is super easy, as is entry into the port of Denia. None of the marinas since Cartagena have lived up to their level of service. We have trouble getting them to respond on the VHF, often resorting to telephoning, despite having a booking and being told to just hail them on the VHF when we are at the marina entrance. It’s...

In the previous years we have covered quite long distances between places, but this year we are making a determined effort to have shorter trips where feasible and today was to be one of the shortest. As a result, we were in no rush to get up and started, so we spent a good amount of time this morning planning where we would stay and trying to sorting out bookings for the most critical days, when we have crew changes and where we plan to leave the boat in the summer. We worked our way through the research and fired off emails, some of which were replied to by later in the day. We left in not much wind and although we sailed a bit, the wind completely died on us and I eventually got tired of looking at the same bubbles in our ”wake” so put on the engine. This, as is often then case, caused the wind to start again, and before too long we were able to resume sailing in peace, without the engine noise. Dramatic scenery The last few days have seen dramatic changes in the weat...

We planned to spend the next couple of nights at anchor, so it was vital to get some exercise today even though we had a reasonable distance to cover. I am not normally one who enjoys early morning exercise, but the suggestion that we went to what the marina guy had described as the more “famous” bakery, was enough to get me moving. Although it was about 8:00 we were able to run through near deserted pavements on our way. We armed ourselves with croissants and pane au chocolate (they only sold them in fours, so we had to get four), and then ran back to the boat. We showered etc before leaving but were able to enjoy breakfast on the move. While slipping out of Alicante we passed a squared rigged ship that was obviously having refurbishment done. During the night the top of one of the masts had broken and was being suspended at a strange angle by the remaining rigging. There is now even more work to be done on the ship. Our route took us across a large bay, and for m...

The ladies in the marina office had told us that they open at 9.00 am. If we wanted to leave before then, we should let them know the night before, then call the marinaros when we were ready in the morning and they would come to the boat to take back the electricity adaptor and refund the rather steep 100 euro deposit. That sounded like a good reason to leave before 9.00 am, so saving us the time involved in going to the office. As it happened we wanted to leave well before then anyway, so as to get to Alicante before the wind got too much in the afternoon. As were traversed across the harbour, we had to slalom round the in coming fishing boats, several skulling boats and some two metre day boats, with guys fishing amongst all the traffic. We had a superb sail, the whole way, even better than yesterday. These two days have made the waiting to go worthwhile. It was again downwind sailing. The speed didn’t drop much below 7 knots and for a good deal of the time we were stonking alo...

The alarm was on for 6:30 so that we could make an early exit, but long before this we were disturbed by the noise of a ship very close by.   A vessel was coming into the commercial docks and was making a U turn before docking. The conditions and the size of the ship were such that he seemed to feel the need to reverse almost into the yacht marina.   We were treated to both his noise and wash, which was not appreciated. Having been disturbed we were able to get up and doing in super quick time, just a few minutes slower than our personal best.   We knew that the weather was good in the morning but that the wind would get up in the early afternoon, and we wanted to be safely tucked in by then. We had a fairly major headland to round and these always channel the wind and increase its strength, as well as making the water more choppy.   A period of motoring when there was insufficient wind was followed by a lovely breeze from a good direction, and we were soon eat...

Monday was a quiet day. Steve had been ill in the night, with very little sleep and still not feeling good all morning. We suspected food poisoning, but we had all eaten the same, with nothing suspicious, and Chris and I were fine. The guy on the boat next door told us that there were people on other boats in the marina who were ill, so it may have been a bug. We’ll probably never know. Chris had a walk along the seafront promenade. I did a very short run. It had stopped raining, was overcast, but we were able to have lunch on deck. In the afternoon we said farewell to Chris, did a small amount of shopping and retired early. On Tuesday, Steve was starting to feel better. I did the laundry early, before the usual queue had built up for the machines. We bought bread and fish, then generally prepared the boat for leaving tomorrow. In the afternoon, the wind got up to gale force again and we were getting bounced around a lot, so we put some extra lines out for extra security. ...

We were blessed with another rainy day. And as a result, the major Easter Sunday procession was cancelled. We assumed that this would be the case, but went to the procession route to be sure.   There was a crowd outside the church that was the start point for many of the processions, and people were coming and going from inside.   On the suggestion of the policeman who confirmed that the procession was off, we ventured inside. There was a large crush of people all looking at the various floats that have been made ready. The flowers, which are a notable feature of the floats here were incredible, and made the floats even more beautiful and dramatic. It was great to be able to see them close up.   With no other Easter specific activities scheduled, we set to seeing the remaining Roman sites. This is the most Roman orientated place I have been to, outside of Rome itself. We visited the Forum area, where they have been excavating the public buildings, includ...

A gale howled and rain pounded on the deck over night, but it had just gone through when we got up and we left Chris to have a lie in, while we ran out along the running path, past the fishing harbour and the container port to the end of the breakwater with a different view across the harbour. It was great to run on this especially laid surface with a bit of bounce. On the way back we detoured off to the small shops for fresh supplies. We were delighted one stall in the fish market was open, as was the bakery, whose staff know we always want intergrale (wholewheat) bread. We could almost just say “the usual please”. We also found the little shops, almost like in a souk, selling meat, fruit and vegetables. After breakfast we visited first the Museo del Teatro Romano. This is where you see the Roman theatre in all it’s glory. It was built in the late first century BC, seated 7000 but only discovered in 1985 and with excavations made between 1990 and 2003. It was built into the side...

While we have seen headlines forecasting that Britain will bask in record temperatures over the Bank Holiday weekend, here we have just the opposite. It is cool and overcast at best and otherwise we have heavy rain and strong winds. The pavements are awash with puddles. We chose something indoor for our cultural activity of the day and went to the Naval Museum. Cartagena is regarded as the finest natural port in the Mediterranean (by the locals at least) and has been central to the Navy for hundreds of years. There were, and still are shipbuilding facilities for the Navy here and these predate the time that Britain had a professional Navy. In many ways it is a little like being in a smaller version of Portsmouth, with naval heritage everywhere. The Museum is small but very well laid out and has themed displays tracing such subjects as the ships themselves, naval navigation, uniforms, weaponry, and the Marine Corps, which is also based here. There are large and beautiful m...

Today’s culture was a visit to the Castillo dela Concepcion. This castle was built in the 13th century by King Alfonso X, because it was on a strategic vantage point over the city. It was used until the 18th century, when it was abandoned. Being high on a hill, it has panoramic views of the city and the visitor centre offers some incite into the city’s history. There was a great deal about Queen Isabella, who came to the throne, age 23, because her brother died. She was the first and only female monarch in Europe at that time. She set up the Spanish Inquisition, founding the religious brotherhoods, to drive out Jewish and Muslim practices. She was also the sponsor of Christopher Columbus. There is an exhibition of the clothes that she and the courtiers wore, all very elaborately embroidered. It is easy to see where the traditions of the costumes of the paraders come from. In the early evening there was a march of a Roman garrison outside the main church with the trono being...

No day ever seems completely routine, there always seem to be new things to discover. Belying this, we spent the morning employed with basic chores of cleaning and laundry, before heading off to the supermarket for another large order of food. We are expecting that things will become more expensive when we move away from here, especially in the Balearics, where “island pricing” will become a factor. So, having previously checked that it was possible, we arranged for our supplies to be delivered to the boat. Again, this entailed a major performance, passports to be shown and the exact name of the boat and position in the marina to be recorded. It seems that every larger transaction has to have your Spanish Social Security number recorded against it. Our passports do not conform to the expected numbering layout, so the woman serving us said she would make up a letter to go at the end of the number. The food arrived at the appointed hour and so, other than adding perishable items, we will...