Friday 19 April 2019

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 models of ships through the ages, with cutaway sections so that you can see in the interior. There are also maps dating from the time of Columbus, and I for one, would not relish trying to use them, to discover a route to the East Indies, even knowing now that America was in the way. 

Cartagena is also the birthplace of Isaac Peral, who was the naval officer who invented the first electrically powered submarine.  This was conceived in 1884 then built and successfully tested, both as a submarine, and also as a means of launching torpedoes. The project was however abandoned after what appears to be political pressure from opponents.  The submarine has been preserved and now occupies its own hall with various documents and the life history of Peral.

The marina where we are staying was originally built to accommodate super yachts, and although it has not flourished in this market, it still attracts some. By today 3 have arrived, and one is parked right behind us.  It is so big (55 metres) that I can't get it all in one picture from our boat. Anyway, it is very beautiful and a dramatic improvement on the cruise ships that are sometimes parked on the other side of the breakwater. Apparently it can accommodate 12 guests and has a crew of 11.  Although we are of comparable size to most of the other boats around us, we are dwarfed by this one.

Our mast second on the right of Persues3 in the background, is less than half the height

By late afternoon our son Chris arrived to spend the Easter weekend with us.  He seems to be cursed with bad weather whenever he is with us on the boat at Easter, last year it was snow! At least his flights were on time this year.

We went into town to see the evening procession, but were somewhat perplexed to see little in the way of action. Eventually we discovered that it had been cancelled because of the weather.  The processions are obviously like cricket matches, rain stopped play.

Distance covered today	0	nautical miles
Trip distance covered	99	nautical miles
Distance covered 2019	99	nautical miles
Steve (and Tricia)