Monster from the deep!

Rounding the Cabo de Gata

It was wonderful to finally leave the boatyard behind. We'd made headway on the jobs but still the list keeps growing. Ride of a Lifetime is an old lady now and a constant financial drain. The new spray hood we promised ourselves will have to wait until next year as we'd depleted the boat pot this winter... Our first stop was the lovely anchorage just round Cabo de Gata, a five hour sail away.

Playa de los Genoveses, Cabo de Gata

The mauve stinger

As soon as we had dropped the anchor we leapt into the inviting turquoise water. Within seconds Tim let out an almighty scream and panic soon set in as he clutched his chest, the site of sudden searing pain. He made it back to the boat and I went in search of the cause. No sign of any ominous black dorsal fins but one single jellyfish hovered in

Ouch!

the water below. We soon established that the culprit was the infamous "mauve stinger" or Pelagia Noctiluca . It has stinging cells with a very active toxin that produces a burning sensation, intense pain, inflammation and red rashes. The sting typically results in hives, blisters and scabs... Dr Google suggested all sorts of remedies and we chose to douse the wound in vinegar followed by an ice pack on the affected areas. Not a good start to our summer - our first swim on the first day!

La Azohia, Mazarron

Anchored off the beach, Mazarron

We continued making use of the southerly winds and made the long hike up to the laid back resort of La Azohia, Mazarron. More inviting turquoise water, a beach bar, rubbish bins and a nearby supermarket! All these facilities are much appreciated by cruisers. We made use of all this small place had to offer for a few relaxing days including dipping are toes nervously into the water. Not surprisingly neither of us were very happy about swimming again, just yet. 

Mar de Cristal beach bar, Mar Menor

Beach front, Mar de Cristal

At anchor in the Mar Menor

With some very strong winds forecast we decided to head straight for the relative safety of the Mar Menor inland sea. With a couple of hours to kill before the next bridge opening we picked up a mooring buoy off a nearby island marine reserve and enjoyed one last swim before entering the lagoon. We made the 18.00 opening, filled up with diesel and found a nice spot to ride out the storm at Mar de Cristal. We anchored in 3 metres of weedy, muddy waters and laid out masses of chain. Another British boat joined us but not for long. The winds duly increased to a strong gale with constant gusts of over 40 knots. The boat was laid flat a couple of times but our anchor held in the mud. Our neighbour was not so lucky. We watched as they careered off into the darkness. We hollered, whistled and blew every horn we had on board but couldn't rouse them. We survived the night and celebrated with a delicious meal of freshly caught sardines at the beach bar in front of us. We stocked up with provisions and then moved the boat to the other side of the lagoon to shelter from the next storm. Definitely not the usual settled summer weather we have  become accustomed to. Instead of a couple of nights we ended up staying put for a few days waiting for the bad weather to pass. 

Rooftop, Mar de Cristal

Dinghy on the beach at Mar de Cristal

The cloudy weather and being stationary for a few days alerted us to new problems. The fridge was struggling to stay on overnight and the lights were dimmer than usual. Our batteries, having last been renewed five years ago, were not holding their charge and were clearly running on borrowed time. We decided it would be easier to replace the batteries whilst based in a marina but this would be prohibitively expensive in the Balearics. We decided that our best option was to head for the nearby town of Torrevieja, a three hour sail away.

Leaving the Mar Menor at dawn