3/13/23 Ensenada de Morron, Spain

We were awaken by the gentle slosh from a passing fishing boat in time to enjoy a gorgeous sunrise. The water was as calm as we have experienced so far, light breeze and clear. Easy departure from the anchorage and glassy seas. We motored until about lunch time. After lunch the wind had picked up so we rolled out the sails and enjoyed the tranquility of sailing on a flat ocean.

The shoreline was less inhabited, but still covered in white tarps for the farming in between the rocky out crops. We motored into the harbor at Aquila, Spain and drop the hook in about 5 m of clear water tucked in behind the break wall. Another boat, Molly, pulled in next to us. We had seen Molly at the previous anchorage. A German fellow single handing a Sun Odyssey 37 that looked very similar to Rascal (our California boat). The wind picked up off of the land and was eerily warm. It blew 15 + all night long making for a noisy night, but calm and protected.

3/14/23 Aquila, Spain

The morning was calm as the wind had settled down by about 0400. Our chain had wrapped an old mooring block, but we extricated ourselves pretty easily and we were off. The breeze was from behind, but light as we headed NE to Cartegena, Spain. The swell was building again so there must be wind somewhere.  Cartegena is a pretty large port with shipping, oil refinery, navy base and two yacht basins.

Of course, the wind picked up about the time we were going to our birth, but we managed to dock with a little help from our new friends on the dock. The Marineros was super helpful and full of great information. Suzette quickly sorted out the directions to the grocery store while I situated the boat.

As usual the first order of business was a grocery run. We found a great market, Super Dumbo, and continued our stocking of the boat. It is amazing what you find in the different stores; they had a loaf of bread with the crust already cut off…go figure. We want to be over stocked when we leave for the Balearic Islands as we anticipate that things will be more expensive there and we have plenty of room. I have not even turned on the second refrigerator yet.

The water front is beautiful and the old city is right here with the old wall just across the street. The walk to the store is beautifully paved in tiles made from the local stone. It was after 1400 so the restaurants were bustling. As we made our way back with our wagon full of groceries Suzette managed to find a shoe store and buy another pair of shoes; “these will go perfectly with that dress I brought!”.

After stowing our goodies, we went for a walk to seek out another American boat that the Marineros had told us about. Low and behold they were out of Long Beach! Hearts of Gold, a Lagoon 46 Cat. No one was on board so I left a boat card.

3/15/23 Cartegena, Spain

Today was a tourist day, an opportunity to see some sights. While Suzette was getting ready, I walked back to Hearts of Gold and met Hope and Walt who actually live in Menifee, but he built houses in Naples Island, CA, thus the Long Beach connection. They took delivery of their Lagoon in Les Sables d’Olonne, France about a month after we had taken delivery of Raffaellesco. They had been here now for about 4 months so they had the lay of the land.

Suzette and I headed off into the city to find the Roman Amphitheatre, we walked the wall past the University of the Wall, an engineering school. There was a bull ring that was being restored that also dated back to Roman times. The views from the wall were fabulous as we made our way along the east side. We found the beautifully preserved Roman amphitheater; they were continuing the archeological digging adjacent to it. This city has done an incredible job of integrating the new with the old and preserving to ancient structures. There were numerous projects where the façade was preserved and a modern structure was being built behind it.

From here we made our way to the Castllo de Conception, situated on the highest hill close to the water. We took a glass elevator up to the base of the castle where we had an astounding view. From this vantage point we had a great view of the harbor where we saw a submarine heading out from the navy base. Evidently, they do submarine maneuvers off of this coast. The Castle housed a lot of ancient artifacts and told the story of the history of the Castle and Cartegena. This was another well-preserved piece of their history. After the castle we walked the south wall and back to the main street in search of Gelato and we found the most delicious example. Back in the shopping area we did some more cloths shopping, we brought lots of cold weather clothes, but the weather was warm so we needed to pick up some warm weather things.

Back to the boat for dinner and a great visit from our new friends on Hearts of Gold. I always learn something new and useful when talking to other cruisers.

3/16/23 Cartegena, Spain

We awoke to fog so we waited for it to lift before heading to Santa Palo. Easy departure on yet another beautiful sunny day. With a light wind on our nose, we motored NNE to the anchorage. As we left the harbor we had a sendoff by the fire rescue boat, all water cannons blasting. As we rounded Cabo de Palos we had yet another nod from a couple of jets doing a low fly by. We had a little airshow, jets flying in formation and doing barrel roles, perhaps practicing.

The predicted wind and swell would have the anchorage well protected, but that did not happen. We were anchored in 3.5 m of water protected from NW to E, but the wind stayed light from the NE, the swell was SE and we rolled all night. The good news was that everything was well secured and did not make a lot of noise as we rolled and it stayed in its place.

3/17/23 Santa Palo, Spain

 At about 0430 the fishing fleet was heading out adding to the roll. We finally got about 0500 and pulled out of the anchorage. Our route took us through an area between Punta del Espato and Isla de Tabarca where there were shoals to navigate in the dark. We cleared the shallows as the sun was coming up and set our heading for Calpe, this would be our jumping off point for the Beleric Islands.

The wind was light, we seemed to stay in a light wind area that moved with us. There was wind to the north and to the south according to Windy. We had several dolphin sightings, but none of them wanted to play with us. The shore was an endless stream of high-rise condos and apartments. Passing the city of Benidorm we could see a huge city with ultramodern buildings and very unique architecture like you might see in Dubai.

The entry into Calpe was easy to find as it sits below Penon de Ifach, a huge rock that juts up from nowhere. Stopped at the fuel dock and filled up with 245 ltrs of fuel. The marinarios waved us over to our birth, Club Real Nautico Calpe Marina. The water was incredibly clear for a marina. We managed our med moor and situated the boat. Next the lengthy process of checking in, the down side to being in a marina. Then a well-deserved nap in the cockpit under the warm sun.

Feeling revived we did a bit of boat cleanup. The chain counter had been on the blink since our return, it was not reading the sensor at the windlass. Dismantling the windlass, I found the sensor was clogged with mud. A cleanup of the windlass and a recalibration of the chain counter appears to have fixed the problem. Looks like I need to do a better job of rinsing the windlass after anchoring.

In an effort to over stock the boat we headed to the grocery store. We were sure that things would be more expensive in the islands so we wanted to have as much of the none perishables as we could stow.

It was a 20-minute walk with the wagon in tow through what appeared to be a beach community that was somewhat closed for the winter. There were two great grocery stores to take advantage of. It was after 1900 when we returned and it was getting dark. It felt good to be comfortably tied to the dock for a good night’s rest.

3/17/23 Calpe, Spain

Saint Patty’s day! But you would not know that here.

From our home yacht club, we were notified that we had been awarded two trophies; the Get it Done Trophy for getting a lot of work done at the club and the Dave Wildman Deep Water Trophy that I think is for being social!?

It was a day to get some things done on the computer as it was cloudy and cold. The WIFI was WIFI no WIFI as is typical at every marina so I slugged along on my hot spot. Got some Bills paid and sent out some inquiries for other business.

The sun came out around 1130 so we rallied and walked the promenade along the beach and up into a neighborhood of beautiful private homes along the shore. It was Saturday so a fair number of people were out walking with kids and dogs along the beach. As we made our way back it began to sprinkle so we stopped at one of the many seaside restaurants for a bite and a cocktail. French fries with two kinds of cheese, bacon and tomato jam, what a combination. Round two was Panko battered shrimp and a hot sweet sauce, yummy. The vie was great as we watched the people pass by and the surface break in the little bay.

Back at the boat there was time for one more chore, a run up the mast to inspect the rig and clean the mast and rigging. Suzette managed the electric winch and I ascended the mast, seems backward to me. Shouldn’t the lightest person go up the mast?

Sundowners, home made soup and route planning for our trip to the Islands in the morning.