Wednesday 24 April 2019

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 eating up the miles.

At one point we were aware of something falling into the water next to us, and we realised that it was our Spanish courtesy flag.  The wind of the last few days had been too much for it. We have seen many ensigns and courtesy flags in a poor state having been flown for protracted periods.  Ours had been new last year, but now has a watery resting place, we could not stop to pick it up, and by the time we had turned we would be very unlikely to have located it. We have to get a new one as soon as possible. It is not the done thing to be in a foreign country and not fly a version of their flag.

The headland was passed and the wind built a little.  After our turn it was coming from an even better angle, and we were able to show our best speeds of the year so far. 

Soon enough we arrived at our destination, Torrevieja.  This was clearly a holiday destination developed in the 70’s and 80’s.  The shoreline is packed with high rise tower block hotels. We went for the newest marina, and were allocated a space.  By the time we were ready to berth the wind had increased more and this made the docking tricky.  However, a helpful marinaro was there and we were soon squeezed between two other boats. They seem to house the visitors at the farthest point from the marina office and the town.  We had a considerable walk around the marina to get to the office to complete the formalities.  These were time consuming even by the standards that we have endured recently, although probably made longer because a new member of staff was being instructed though the process, and was having to understand what to look for in UK documents. As ever, every possible piece of information was taken, we even ended up showing the boats makers certificate to fill in some of the data needs, plus the inevitable photo copies of passports, ships registration and insurance documents. When all the was (eventually) done, we walked on into town to find a chandler to replace our flag.

The charming backdrop of high rise buildings

We were glad to have been in early, because the forecast wind was soon howling again,  it would have been fairly unpleasant to still be out, and even more difficult to “park”.

While this may not be the place we would be most likely to rush back to, I can speak highly of the showers. In Cartagena you played several games with the showers.  The temperature regulator was on a kind of hair trigger, so that the tiniest movement resulted in you either being frozen or scalded. Plus there was the push button, time control of the flow of water. Somehow it always seems to stop when you don’t want it to.  However much you prepare yourself for the water to stop, it never seems to when you are ready, and then you have to press it again for more.  In Torrevieja, there was a simple control that turned the water on and off, and allowed you to have the water at whatever temperature you wanted. Bliss

Distance covered today	42	nautical miles
Trip distance covered	141	nautical miles
Distance covered 2019	141	nautical miles
Steve (and Tricia)