Guadiana River

Sailing to The Guadiana River

For those who don't already know, the Guadiana River is one of our all time favourite places, especially the small village of Alcoutim.
This has been our third visit, although also our shortest, as we need to make progress towards Madeira.

We left the anchorage in Rota (in the Bay of Cadiz) very early in the morning, the log book shows an entry at 0300hrs. Why so early, well two reasons. The first is the length of the passage and it is always helpful to arrive in daylight if at all possible, the next was to arrive at the Sand Bar at the seaward entrance to the river at high tide. This would ensure we had plenty of clearance under the keel.

Having run a weather routing model the previous day, it looked like we would spend the first part of the sail heading adjacent to our destination close hauled. This turned out to be true and also true as it turned out was the change in wind direction later that day, which allowed us to sail to our destination.

More by luck than anything else, we tacked early. Without the new sails Azzy is not pointing as close to the wind as she could, and by daybreak our course was dropping below the line. We had intended to tack, head to the waypoint and motor until the wind changed. As luck would have it, no sooner than we tacked, the wind did change! Although not allowing us to head directly to the river entrance, it was at least taking us somewhere in the right direction. Throughout the afternoon the wind backed a little and before too long we were skimming along heading directly to our waypoint, so much so we acually had to take some sail in to slow down or risk arriving too early!

Below is a screen shot of our track from Vessel Finder to give you an idea of our course.

We started in the bottom right hand corner and if you follow the line along you can see that before we made the tack, our course was heading slightly South. If you follow the tack up you can see the effect on our course as the wind direction backed

On arrival at the river entrance we headed a few miles North to an anchorage we had used before, just to the North of the ferry terminal. We spent the evening and next morning here, waiting for midday when the tide was low to enable us to pass under the suspension bridge.

For anyone that has never passed under a bridge on a yacht, it is hard to convey how close the top of the mast looks. Photographs do not do it justice so we put together a short video clip. Trust me, you had to be there!

We had a pleasant meander up the river for several hours, and as it was a flood tide we went in on, the current helped us along. Before too long we had anchored just North of Alcoutim, very happy to be back.

As the current flows strongly, we waited until we had been on board for two tide directions before making the assumption it would be safe to leave Azzy and go ashore.


Our time literally flew by here, especially for Ian and Stephanie who, being fearless, went on the zip wire across the river. Ian actually went on it twice!

It is the only zip wire in the World where you can cross from one country to another and go back in time (Portugal is an hour behind Spain).

We also went to one of the weekly music festivals in the town square, and it was lovely to see it so well attended.

One day we happened to pass a few off-road buggies in the car park and upon investigation, an enterprising firm had set up an off-roading experience in these crazy things. Always on the look out for a new adventure (that does not involve heights) we booked them up.

Our time slot in the late afternoon meant the sun was beginning to drop, and the lack of rainfall for months meant it was hard going to see much in front!

Judge for yourselves from the clip below. It was great fun and lasted about three quarters of an hour. By the time we got back we were caked in dust.

Sad though it was our stay here was just a short one. We did have time to view a property we had hoped to buy over the winter. The owner was very hospitable, and a deal maybe possible in the future. Fate will decide...

And so onwards. Our next scheduled stop will be the large and often noisey anchorage in Portimao opposite Praia da Rocha, where we will hold up for a while and do another provisiong shop before heading a little further down the coast to our jumping off point to Madeira.

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.

Portimao to the River Guadiana

Leaving Portimao

And so the time came to leave Portimao. It is a great anchorage and lovely beaches nearby, but we had waxed lyrical to Phill about the delights of the Guadiana river, and he had taken the trouble and expense of booking a collection to take him to Faro airport from Alcoutim.

Our leaving time was dictated by the need to access the mouth of the river at high tide, to ensure we cleared the sand bar. Sadly for us all, the day we left the wind was absent, so we ended up motoring for a good ten hours in an uncomfortable swell. Passing Faro we noticed a strange brownish bloom in the water that appeared to stretch for miles. We never did discover what is was.

Brown sludge, and not from our holding tanks!

More sludge

 
It was early evening when we arrived at our anchorage just North of Ayamonte. We had been here two years ago and the holding was good. It is handy now we are re-tracing our journey to refer to our old log books.

We settled in for the evening and admired the sunset, whilst pointing out to Phill the suspension bridge that we would need to pass under the next day to continue up the river.

Sunset and the bridge

We had a relaxing start to the next day, as we had to wait until low tide in order to pass safely under the bridge. Scarlet Lady actually had a taller mast so we knew we should be fine, but did not want to take any chances all the same.

Leisurely breakfast in idyllic anchorage

Guadiana River

It was about midday when we lifted the anchor and headed over. The view from the deck looking up is daunting, but in the end we passed under with room to spare.

No way we will go under!

Time to close the eyes!

No going back now!

 
We flew both Spanish and Portuguese courtesy flags, as the river is a border between the two countries. It was a hot day but we did have a little wind, so for some of the passage we unfurled the genoa and gybed around the river banks. Phill did a good job on the helm and kept a watchful eye on the depths. The lowest we saw was 0.9m under the keel, but even close in to the river bank it could be as deep as 10 metres in places.

Made it under the bridge!

The river banks are dotted with ruins, but there are also some lovely properties nestled in the countryside with the most glorious views.

We want one!

Phill at the helm

Gliding up the river

It is so relaxing that it is little wonder some yotties come up here and never leave!

In what seemed next to no time we anchored about a mile North of the towns of Sanlucar (Spanish), and Alcoutim (Portuguese). These two towns have very different characters, as both have different time zones! Both towns look very pretty from the river, and the houses in Sanlucar are all painted white and the owners are obliged to repaint them every year to keep up appearances.

Sanlucar, very pretty and note the castle on the hill

Aztec at anchor in the river

For the remainder of Phill's vacation we did very little. We would spot shooting stars at night, and go ashore during the day to explore both towns. We even bumped into a yottie couple we met 2 years ago who have only moved about 500 yards! 

One evening we set up the pushpit barbecue, which the previous owners had left on board. Sadly it needs a non-stick tray to cook properly, so we will keep our eyes open for a suitable sized one. No worries as we finished the meal off in the oven.

New barbecue 

Probably just as Phill was settling in it was time for him to return to the UK, but he is flying out to Spain in late September and again at Christmas time, so we will see him again soon.

During the summer months a weekly music festival is hosted in Alcoutim. We went along for a night of Portuguese rock. It was brilliant and very well attended.

Very entertaining for the crowd, but we could not understand!

Talented guitarist

A brilliant night

We also discovered that the liveaboards also have a weekly open mike night on Thursdays at the local tavern, so we popped along to that. No photos as we forgot to take the camera.

We met a couple who played regularly at the music sessions in Almerimar that we recognised, and introduced ourselves to others. We even met another Steve and Lynne!

It is fair to say that we are settling into life up the river. We can get free water from the pontoon in Alcoutim, so our tanks are nearly always full. Both towns have little supermarkets, and there is a market in Alcoutim on Saturdays.

So why are we here and not sailing? Well, a few reasons. Firstly we fell in love with the place when we last visited, secondly we had hardly unpacked since picking Aztec up in Plymouth, and thirdly it is free to anchor so we are saving on marina costs. The latter is important to us for now as we have some big expenditure coming up on preventative maintenance, including new standing rigging and skin fittings which will cost many thousands.

We have written out a two page list of small jobs we can do now, and try to tackle one a day. Sometimes this means setting the alarm early as it gets too hot to work by midday.

One of the first tasks was to replace the furling line which was badly worn, and had jumped off the helicoil unit. We had been having trouble furling the main in and out, and figured this was the cause of our problems. Firstly to get at the unit we had to take the mainsail down, and release it from shackles inside the mast. Not an easy job as the inspection covers are tiny, and don't leave much room to get a pair of pliers in.

All is not well with this

Helicoil unit

In the end it took us nearly four hours to complete the works. However, the last two bolts that secure the helicoil unit to the mast would not tighten and lock into place. After emailing the manufacturer it appears that a backing plate that the bolts thread into must have fallen off during re-assembly, so we now have to go through the whole process again to fish it out from the bottom of the mast, doh! Despite the bolts lack of grip, we did test it and are pleased to report that all the stiction is gone and the sail came out by hand, whereas we had to winch it before.

Anyway, now we have unpacked we can find things again, and it has been a godsend to have the third cabin which is now officially our storage shed! The generator has also been of great use, as has the lifting strop for the rib. The engine weighs a lot, so we can't use the Davits when it is on the rib. We use the strop and pop it on the side. Really handy and secure, and wish we had thought of doing the same when we had Scarlet Lady.

Strop doing its job, so handy this way

Well that is about it for now, another update on river life just before we leave.

We will be heading to Chipiona, Rota, Barbate, Gibraltar, and possibly Ceuta before arriving at our winter berth in Almerimar in October. Lynne is looking at the bus timetable from Chipiona as we would both like to take a trip to Seville, something that we didn't get the chance to do last time round.

If any of our readers would like a short break, we will be here until the end of August and you are very welcome to join us.