Paradise Bay

El Portet

We first came here in 2013 with Scarlet Lady. It is one of those anchorages that just has a special something about it, well in calm conditions, but more on that later.

On the way we passed a little water fall, and crossed the Greenwich Meridian.

Barren landscape and then we spot this!

West becomes East

Imagine water so clear you can look over the side of the boat and see every detail on the sandy bottom, and lots of fish darting here and there. Just magical.

This would be our first visit to Paradise Bay this year, but we also stopped here on the way back.

Some photos below, but they just don't do it justice...

Stephanie, Ian and Lynne (L to R)

The hike up to the fort

Best done early in the morning

Path runs close to the edge

Paradise Bay from the fort

Des Res? Anyway it was for sale at 2.8m euros

Just as pretty from the boat

We also did some snorkelling and took the GoPro underwater with us. Not sure we have mastered the settings yet and the clip is a little shaky, but it was amazing all the same.

It is adjacent to the beautiful town of Moraira, which just happened to be holding the Moors and Christians festival and Medieval market. We decided to stay for a while and take a gander. The market was very good, especially the chocolate stall!

Ian searching out the Fruit and Nut

Toffee Apples! Childhood memories of a trip to the dentist!

We could be here a while!

Slightly healthier

Not for eating!

You might need to turn the volume down for the clip below, it was seriously loud in the flesh!

Paradise Bay does have a darker side though. For the most part in settled conditions it is hard to imagine a nicer place to spend time in. However, when the wind and swell comes in, the character can change completely. 

We were having a really bad night at anchor with the swell coming straight in and making life on board very uncomfortable, and borderline dangerous as we would have been swept onto a lee shore in seconds. Ian made a very good call to up anchor and seek shelter in the nearby marina. The only place that was available was the fuel pontoon, and even though we arrived very late at night we still had to pay the daily rate, and were asked to vacate early the next morning as the fuel pontoon would then be opening. Oh well at least we were safe and the shower facilities on shore were nice.

The next morning we edged back out into reasonably calm conditions and re-anchored. However it was not to be, as the swell came back with vengeance.

The next part of the story is a sobering tale of what can go wrong, and witness the sad end of a yacht. Conditions deteriorated as you can see in the picture below,

Azzy the see-saw

A singlehanded yachtsman appeared and circled around us as we were attempting to leave. By now our bow had been unceremoniously dumped under the water a few times, and Lynne did a great job of recovering the anchor. To our utter amazement the little yacht that had circled us was showing signs of trying to anchor. We thought he must be crazy, could he not see why we were leaving?

As it turns out Stephanie had her camera at hand thinking the same as us, and took what must be the last picture of the yacht intact.

Azzy about to leave, too dangerous to stay

We motored around the corner and out of sight. Our plan was to head around Denia, which would be in the lee of the wind and swell, to find a settled anchorage for the night.

It was a little while later that friends of Nautilus had contacted them with these sobering pictures.

On the rocks

It transpires the owner had gone below to sleep, although we are amazed how he could even contemplate it, when the anchor chain snapped and seconds later the yacht was swept onto the rocks. The continuous pounding of the keel on the rocks ripped it off. Thankfully the skipper made it to safety. His 14 years cruising the Med at an untimely end. 

Later that week the yacht was recovered and most likely scrapped. 

A sad sight

We could speculate as to why the experienced skipper did what he did. Perhaps the most plausible reason is he was fatigued by lack of sleep. 

Looking at the picture above, Paradise Bay had probably returned to peace and tranquillity. Mother Nature can never be underestimated.

We stopped for a couple of days and anchored off the beach at Gandia, on route to Valencia.

As we only had a brief visit ashore to top up the dongle and get some provisions, we did not take the camera. 

When it came to leave the anchorage, the skies where very grey and there was even a chill in the air. Then the unthinkable happened, it started to rain! Time to dig out our wet weather gear which had been well and truly packed away in the back of the storage cabin.

Cold enough for a thermal hat!

Lynne prefers the sunshine

Fortunately it did not last, and as we neared Valencia the skies cleared and the sun blazed down. We stopped briefly and let Azzy drift whilst we hoisted the rib onto the foredeck to allow us to dock stern to the pontoon.

We arrived at the visitors pontoon early afternoon and checked in. The staff could not be more helpful and the marina looked great. We were directed to a nearby berth and began the usual chores, plugging into the shore power, washing off the salt, seeking out a laundry, and topping the water tanks up. Soon it would be time to discover Valencia and we could not wait.

Azzy at rest in Valencia