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

The best laid plans of mice and men...

Puerto Genoves, Cabo de Gata

With our marina contract ending in May our departure date was getting closer and we couldn't put off the big decision as to which way to turn any longer. After much deliberation it was finally settled. We decided to turn right, leave the Med and enjoy a summer cruising the Algarve coast of Portugal. We bought an up to date Atlantic pilot and started reading up about pastures new. As the saying goes, "gentlemen never sail to windward". We try not to either, particularly if the wind is strong as invariably much of our home ends up on the saloon floor in the process and it puts unnecessary stresses on the boat. We therefore waited patiently for easterly, or thereabouts, winds to puff us on our way. Our patience was growing thin and a ten day forecast showed nothing but gale force westerly winds. We changed our minds and turned left instead!

La Manga from seaward

Thankfully the bridge begins to open...

Mar Menor from the Chiringuito

We thought about cruising up the coast of Spain but it is very exposed, not a great cruising ground and notorious for swell so our other option was to head back to the Balearic islands. Our time there a couple of years ago had been cut short due to engine troubles so there was still more to explore. We decided on leisurely day hops up the coast before crossing to Ibiza. It was blowing a force 7 gale when we set off and the seas were huge but we found shelter for the night in the lee of the notorious Cabo de Gata in a lovely sandy bay. It was nice to be at anchor again despite constantly swirling around in the incessant wind. After a couple of long day sails up the coast with only the jib powering us along we dropped anchor outside the Mar Menor, Europe's biggest salt water lagoon. The 170km² of warm water is separated from the sea by a 22km heavily built on sandy spit known as La Manga. Access to the lagoon is only at certain times via a narrow, shallow channel and a lifting bridge. We didn't trust our pilot so scoured the internet for the bridge

View across the Mar Menor to La Manga

opening times. They were all different so we set off to catch the 10am (hopefully) opening somewhat nervously. We had read about boats hitting the bridge, boats running aground and the bridge not opening on time. It only opens for a short period so timing was important. We arrived at the channel bang on 10am with the bridge still firmly closed. We were now committed with limited maneuverability. We inched closer willing the cars to stop crossing and some sign that the bridge was about to open. Much to our relief the bridge very slowly started to lift and we motored on through and out into the flat waters of the inland sea. We anchored at the southern end off a sandy beach and looked forward to some peaceful nights. We went ashore, stretched our legs and enjoyed a lovely lunch in a local chiringuito bar on the beach. All very bizarre with a view of the overdeveloped sandy spit in the distance.

At anchor off the beach in the Mar Menor

Safely back through...

Rejuvenated we set off early to be ready and waiting for the first bridge opening at 8am. There were a couple of other boats milling around so we felt confident that we had the opening time right. We continued on up the coast passing Greenwich marina. At this longitude we changed from zero degrees west to zero degrees east. Oops! A quick change to our next gps waypoint saw us back on track to Calpe where we anchored in the lee of the huge limestone headland for the night before setting off at dawn for the 60 mile crossing to Ibiza.

Leaving Calpe behind at dawn