After the River

Leaving the Guadiana River

After some 6 weeks of what can only be described as sheer bliss at anchor in the Guadiana River, it was time to move on. Very reluctantly we raised the anchor with none of the the drama we had on Scarlet Lady two years before, and headed down river.
Instead of going all the way to Ayamonte, we stopped short outside the tiny town of Guerreiros do Rio, the purpose of which was to pay a visit to the small museum containing photographs and objects related to the history of the river. The main feature of the museum is a good sized auditorium (wonderfully air conditioned) in which they show films relating to smuggling and fishing, as well as interviews with some of the old inhabitants. Despite the fact the films were in Portuguese, we picked up the jist. Of note was the incredible lengths the men would go to to catch a fish. Putting life and limb in danger by what appeared to be almost mountaineering, just to catch the fish. As for the cooking preparation of the eel, that should have come with a PG rating, and has put us both off trying one!

Having spent a couple of hours in the museum, we had missed the tide we needed to go downstream, so stayed the night at anchor. 
The next day we raised the anchor once again, and headed downstream on the ebb. We arrived near the bridge a little early for low tide, so dropped the hook again and waited for an hour or so. As it happened we need not have worried, as once we did get going we had plenty of clearance under the bridge.

We anchored once more just North of Ayamonte, but took the rib into the marina in order to go shopping and stock up. The next day we were joined by Mike and Lynne on Mistroma, and went into town again.
Ayamonte is a pretty place and we would have liked to have stayed in the marina, however the entrance and inner basin had silted up so much that only shallow draught yachts can get in. Maybe they will dredge it at some point as it looked virtually empty, a great shame.

The next day we set off in the company of Mistroma to Chipiona, which took us a leisurely nine hours in the light breeze. We spent a rolly night at anchor, and even got up to re-set it in the early hours. Not the best nights sleep but that is how it goes sometimes.
The next morning we went into the marina and booked a berth for two nights, to allow time to go and visit Seville.

Seville

We got the early morning coach in order to spend as long as possible sightseeing, and after getting off, spent the first hour locating the tourist information office to get a map, only to find it closed and the other one just yards from the coach station, doh!

First impressions count, and Seville is a place that does not disappoint.
The place exudes an air of sophistication and history, and the architecture was breathtaking.

Below are some pictures to give you a feel, and if you have not been it would be well worth a visit. Perhaps not so during the height of summer though, as the temperatures can get silly.

It is fair to say we walked until we got blisters, and visited just about every place our day trip allowed, so it was actually nice to get back on Azzy again and relax.

Our next port of call was Rota. Instead of going into the marina, we anchored just outside, opposite the imposing naval base. Not a bad anchorage, although it did take a couple of goes to set the Delta, as the seabed must have been a mixture of rock and sand. You can easily tell when it does not set, as when we engage reverse, instead of digging in and holding us stationary, we continue backwards!

On to Gibraltar

From Rota we left early and headed to the marina at Barbate. The marina is a little out of town, and last time we visited we didn't bother going in. This time we had a moment of enthusiasm, and walked along the busy seafront to enjoy a cold drink at one of the many beach side bars. We called it a night soon after as we had an early start. Sadly our sleep was interrupted by one of the loudest discos we have ever heard, which went on until 4 am the next morning! Not great.

From Barbate we sailed up the coast towards the infamous Tarifa point. Here it is said that the wind blows greater than 30 knots for 300 days of the year, but it was kind to us, and in fact as soon as we rounded the corner, we had the most amazing downwind sail reaching over 9 knots as we came in the bay of Gibraltar. Instead of furling the genoa away, we kept it out and managed to sail almost all the way up to La Linea, just past the runway which divides Gibraltar from Spain.

We had used this marina before and liked it, plus it was not possible to get a berth in Gibraltar if you intended to stay more than just a few nights.

At La Linea we fitted a replacement solar panel on the coachroof, and had some custom dock lines made up for us as the ones the previous owners left were far from ideal.

It was here that we were joined once again by Mistroma, and caught up with Stuart and Anne from Time Bandit who were waiting for a weather window to sail to the Canaries, and then across the Atlantic towards the end of November. We enjoyed eating out and even a session of ten pin bowling, and also managed to catch up with Lee and Tanya on Yoda who are sailing instructors for Allabroad.
We also purchased a couple of nearly new folding bikes from Stuart and Anne who needed to free up some locker space.

We decided not to bother with a trip up the Rock as had done this a couple of times two years ago, but for anyone that has not been it is probably worth coming out for a short break. What struck us was the continuing development of more high rise apartments, it won't be many years before Gibraltar looks like a mini Manhattan!

We stayed for Gibraltar Day and joined in with the festivities in Casemates Square, but it was soon time to go.

Once again we opted to make the passage to Almerimar in one go, and looking at the log book it took us about 28 hours the last time, but according to the notes we had really no wind at all for the most part. This time we managed door to door in 24 hours, but we still had to motor for 18 of those.
On that passage we eventually spotted lots of dolphins, but they mostly continued on past the boat and did not stop to play.

So here we are now at our winter berth once more, back in Almerimar. Great to see some friendly faces from our last stay, and we are looking forward to the arrival of Ian and Stephanie of Nautilus, and the start of sketching out our trip across the Atlantic and beyond.

More to come on Almerimar soon, including a wonderful visit from my parents and brother Phill, news of on-going maintenance, and a special mention about the GOM Club.