ALICANTE TO GARRUCHA

what a welcome

a perfect anchorage hornillowow a statue for the people


















Well I couldn't get away from Alicante quick enough, and at 9am I was on my way, the weather was ok and it looked like a brisk motor sail to get down to Torrievieja where I was to be joined by a young lad called Thomas for a week. Thomas works in a boatyard back in the UK at South Ferriby, and wants the chance to get to learn to sail a bit. Luckily, he missed the first few days, where he may have been put off for life. Anyway the trip down was uneventful and i arrived and got checked in to the marina where the staff were a bit more friendly, I also caught up with some old friends Didier and Carol, and we enjoyed a beer or two whilst discussing the best way to collect Thomas from the airport at Alicante for not too many Euros! The job fell to Bob but he stuck to his fee despite me pleading poverty. Thomas duly arrived the next day and I settled him in showed him his bunk and mentioned once or twice the importance of being tidy on such a small boat. He only had a small rucksack so there wasn't much stuff to be untidy, and for the duration of the trip he was as good as gold. I do remember one night we had steak and potatoes and my pot of English mustard has not been seen since. THOMAS!!!!!!!! WHERE IS IT?

Anyway after Thomas had settled in we decided the next day to just go out and have a practice leaning curve sail just around the bay and than we would come back and anchor for the night pump up the dingy and row ashore for a couple of jars of the amber nectar, or in Thomas's case the magners cider, with ice, all went great it was force 3/4 and a nice gentile start. Next day we decided to go down the coast and into the Mar Menor a great big inland lagoon that generally has about 5 metres of water, we had a good sail in a force 4, only trouble was it was right on the nose and we had to tack all the way down to the entrance at a place called Thomas Maestri , you have to go under a bridge and it only opens every two hours, you guessed it we missed it by a few minutes and ended up anchoring in the approach till 6pm when the bridge duly opened for us and we motered through and as soon as we were in the lagoon we hoisted the main and motor sailed the 5 miles or so to the other side where we planned to anchor for the night, the wind had piped up a bit and was probably a force 5 by now on the beam the sun was low and in our eyes and this combination did not help when Thomas shouted that he had seen a couple of lobster pots, i glinted through the sun and steered hard to starboard , (oh by the way we had the engine on as well)and suddenly I felt something in our prop and imediatltly put the engine into neutral,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, to late whatever it was we were caught and it was firmly round us, I quickly got the main down and in no time at all we had drifted fifty yards and could see a large floated net being towed along in our wake, It was now starting to get dark and I didn't fancy being stuck there when some hairy arsed Spanish fisherman came along to retrieve his nets,Admirably Thomas said he would go over and cut it free I didn't argue , but told him where the wet suit goggles and flippers were, in no time at all we had him over board with a big knife and he proceeded to cut it away , whilst i scanned the middle distance for fishermen , it seemed like an hour and finally Thomas said he had sorted it , seemed he swallowed the mouth piece of the snorkel because when he came up it was missing , i helped him of with the suit and fired up the Beta and we were on out way arriving at our destination about 9 pm we anchored and the wind died down and we had a peasant evening , In the morning, we had run clean out of water and again the young volunteer went rowing ashore to find a place to fill out plastic container , job done and we were on our way again to exit the bridge and we gave a big wide berth to the place where the nets attacked us , we saw fishermen working the area , but luckily ,,,, .

The day dawned wonderful with the sun soon up and not a breath of wind we passed through the bridge ok except for a German guy on a catamaran acting like Michael Shumacher when we tried to overtake , but just like Damon we got past him , but with the fiercest look on his face he got past and was never seen again .
We decided to troll some fishing gear and we had a rod each with a selection of lures , no don't worry nothing exciting and no tale to tell, we caught nothing and it was so hot i decided to dig out the garden parasol and give the cockpit some shelter. We rounded the cape and headed almost due west to Cartagena our next destination, a beautiful old naval town that I had visited a couple of years ago with Jackie , we motor'd probably until the last couple of hours when a fresh easterly piped up and we sailed along pretty quick and fairly close in to, we passed load's fish farms and were tempted to go close and dip our rods , ( only joking) eventually we turned the corner and passed a massive cable laying rig, almost the size of a small village before heading for the marina where we tied up without event packed the sails away and went exploring.We had a nice pasta mix for dinner that night, a couple of pints and then bed.Thomas was going to be flying home on Tuesday and so we decided to stay in Cartagena because it would be easier to get transport to the airport , the weather forecast was not to good anyway , so on Saturday we just chilled out and decided we would just go for a sail into the bay on Sunday morning , Sunday dawned and the seemed to be quite a bit of wind and it looked like the local racing fleet was getting itself prepared for the weekly race round the cans , We went out through the breakwater just before the racer cruisers and although we had full main and number one stay sail we needed it to get through the huge swell on the outside , we had a fantastic sail almost around the same course as the racing fleet and whilst we could not live with them upwind , once we had put the flying head sail up we were more than a match with everything drawing and surfing down some big swells all very exciting stuff , we loved every minute of it ..


That night we went out exploring and walked along the edge of the naval barracks , we passed a massive house that said capitanary , and we assumed it must be for the admiral , and just above our heads in the bushes were armed combat troops guarding the perimeter ,one was a gal and i asked her if she spoke english ,,,, she ignored me , Well all to soon Thomas's time was up and we got him on a bus to the airport.
I am pretty sure he enjoyed himself , he has promised to learn Spanish and come back in two years time to do something that ,,, well it escapes my mind, but by jove there are some pretty senoritas out there that might just be eighteen in a couple of years time , good luck my boy .

I had decided to leave on the Tuesday and once again had set my goal for a place called Garrucha some 45 miles away but with two or three get outs there was still a big swell running and I started out with full mail and number 1 stay sail I had left at about 10 am and it was a beat , the wind coming from the south, I am not that keen on a beat , but the sun was shining and we were doing 4/5 knots even in the swell as the morning progressed it looked as though the wind was backing and enabling me to lay my course , and by 2pm we were getting a bit over pressed and so i decided to put a few rolls in the main , eventually I put in half a dozen and this takes it almost down to the first reef , we were now back to comfort again and continued thru till late afternoon when the wind died considerably and it was shake out the rolls and within an hour i had to put the engine on the give us some power to get through the swells , Garrucha was out , it would be dark but the time I got there, but I found a great little place that looked completely sheltered from most conditions, it was called Hornillo. I arrived about 8 pm and felt my way in and went into the sheltered corner and dropped the hook in 6/7 metres tidied up and got some food on the go. In the bay there was an old iron work structure about 80 foot high and it was obvious that ships used to come alongside and the train cart would come along the structure and dump there loads from up high into the ships holds , as it got dark it became quite Erie looking at this rusty old structure that was now used by people for fishing.
I got a great nights sleep and the next morning up with the anchor and motor sail the 18 odd miles to Gurrucha where luckily i didn't call on the radio for a place ,,, else he would have told me NO ROOM HERE I rounded the heads and there was a massive ship docked and i eventually moored up to the fuel dock and waited for the reception committee, eventually all the paperwork was sorted and I got to meet the real capitenair , and he said you can stay on the fuel dock for a couple of nights,
A DECISION I ALMOST CAME TO REGRET , SO WATCH THIS SPACE

BENICARLO TO ALICANTE

After a very pleasant stay in Benicarlo, we got a good forecast to enable us to put some miles down and get south. The plan was to get down to Torrevieja in one hit, about 150 miles I think, so we could do it in 36 hours. Again with confidence still on the dull side, I opted to go round the coast, like about ten miles off, just in case !!!!!!!! You know what I mean.

We started off really well, and had the kind of sailing that one loves, wind just aft of the beam about 15 knots, and hardly any waves, fantastic! I had left at about 8am, and guessed I would be off Valencia just as it would be getting dark. About lunch time I decided to do a really nice salad, you know, the works, with the fresh bread I had got first thing this morning. It was a mixture of tinned sardines and chorizo, not the best mix, but with lettuce tomatoes, cucumber, onions and peppers, and a dash of Jackie's home made dressing it was going to be top dollar, and so it was. I had just finished and was just sitting there minding my own business, (I am quite conscientious, and safety is always part of the single handers' itinery. so my lifejacket and harness are with me 24/7 ish!)when, with a pop and a whoosh the whole lot in the corner of the cockpit goes off automatically, and self inflates! I've got to say it was a shock, and when I plucked up the courage to pick it up and inspect it, I realised that if I had been in it, it would probably have strangled me, or at the very least made it difficult to move about. It was rock hard, and of course I had to deflate it and contemplate my next move. Quick, take a picture of it, and when I get the chance, email Len and Amanda to see if they have got any charge kits for them. It was one of those expensive Halberg Rassey types that they had very kindly given to me, along with loads of other stuff. Muchas gracias!

Anyway we wiled our way down the coast, the wind went a little on the light side, and to maintain a decent speed, I fired up Beta and we cruised along at 5 knots without a care in the world. I decided to get the evening meal prepared a.s.a.p. so there would be no messing about when darkness fell. A few squally looking clouds were building over the land, but we were ten miles off and the sky was a wonderful blue, long may it remain, I suppose the wind strength was about ten knots true and still behind us, so if I smoked, it would be going vertical, almost. (I don’t, packed up three years ago and hate all smokers now, well, perhaps not all.)

Just past Valencia, it looked like a big storm was breaking out. I was a good ten miles off and thinking "Lets get out more, we don’t want any of that.", so we went another ten degrees to starboard, even on that course, we would not clear Cabo de Nao, the next big turning point, which is on the edge of a little town called Javea, full of ex pats, (I should know because my ex mother in law used to live there.), but very pretty all the same and it is also the closest jumping off point to get to the island of Ibiza, approximately 60 miles away.

I was expecting to arrive at the big cabo at dawn, around 7 am, so I had another nine hours before the rounding, and then head just south of west instead of south east, which I was doing then. (You bored yet?) During the night, we were motor sailing with a few knots of wind behind, and averaging about 5 knots. There was a lot of lightning around but it was too far off for me to hear the thunder, and it all looked pretty clear to seaward. I started getting some snatches of sleep using my usual programme, and was feeling quite refreshed as midnight passed.

In the early hours it was still pitch black, but the lightning seemed much more intense, still no thunder, and I was within a couple of hours of rounding Cabo Nao. I detected a slight increase in wind probably north westerly this time, as I was headed south east, but soon to be turning sharp right and heading in a south west by west direction. During the next couple of hours, the rain came and the wind increased markedly. It was still pitch black with only the lighthouse flashing to keep me company as I donned full oilies for what I feared, was going to be another hard slog, Things started to get wet, very wet. I had reefed down expectantly, and had the small jib on, so felt quite snug. As I rounded the Cabo, the wind very kindly seemed to follow me round, so it was always on the starboard quarter. I thought about my options now it was getting a bit nasty. I had Moraira, just a few miles and I could get in there no problem. The wind seemed steady, and although wet from driving rain and spray, we weren’t too uncomfortable. Moraira came and went. My next option was Calpe, which once round Penan de Elfach, would be easy to enter, but still the wind seemed steady, about 25 knots true. Because I was close in to the land, i.e. less than a mile, there were no big waves to piss me off. The rain had eased a bit, and visibility was not too bad. I ruled out Torrevieja, which was my original plan, because it would have meant going out to sea in those unpleasant waves. My next option, as I slid past Calpe, was Alicante, about 20 miles down the road. It was a tough decision, but onwards we went, and Alicante was to be the final stop for this leg.

Still keeping close to the land, we were cracking along at 6 knots over the ground, and although I was in full oilies, and a bit damp, things were all OK. I grabbed some cornflakes with lots of sugar to give me a boost and get me through the next three hours. The wind had eased a lot and with about an hour to go, about six miles, I had shook out the reef, and we were still doing 5 knots. I had taken my jacket off and was sort of dozing in the cockpit, WHEN, with a whoosh, the boat heeled hard over, and started to round up to starboard. I sprung into action, and immediately sussed that the wind had come in from a totally different direction, and with such force that I had to immediately get on deck and drop the main completely. I guessed we had about 30 knots from the south east, and although it was still behind me, it brought with it a driving rain that obliterated all the land, even though I was only half a mile off. Ahead about a mile, was a point that jutted out into the sea, and I had to be very careful, because now I couldn’t see it. Thank goodness for the chart plotter. I swiftly went below and enlarged the chart area so I could see our course and the jutting out bit, then going into the cockpit and altering course till I knew we would miss it. It did not take long for a bit of a sea to build, and we were ploughing along at 5 knots, with just the small jib up. It seemed an age before the rain eased enough for the main wall at the port of Alicante to come into view. I started to get the ropes and fenders ready, and as soon as I was round the main breakwater, things calmed down enough for me to get myself sorted out, and once again, wonder what the hell I was doing this for. I must be mad, especially when I could be watching Rugby League and Moto GP on the box in the comfort of my own home, with a nice cold beer, what is wrong with me???????

My arrival in Alicante did not stop the rain, and crowds did not come out to greet me. In fact, it was the most miserable entrance I think I have ever made. I sat on the waiting dock for three hours, while the Spanish have there little sleep, and then, after being summoned to the office with my documents, I was greeted by a lady, who for some reason or other looked down on yachties, or perhaps the world in general, and after mugging me for 22 euros (yes that’s 22 quid), she couldn’t even be bothered to tell me where the showers were. She also gave me a berth right over the other side of the marina, where since I was there in the mid eighties, they have built a fab nightclub. Yes you guessed it, not much sleep. I had formed an opinion on Alicante, and nobody was going to change my mind, I was leaving tomorrow and that was that.