After our day trip to Morocco, we need to take a bit of time to recover – from all the different experiences and from walking through the old town of Tangier. So Sunday gets off to a very quiet start. Breakfast with eggs is, of course, a given! I’m writing up our experiences and sorting through the photos. Axel is looking after his back and trying out the new argan oil with arnica. It actually seems to work quite well for an hour. After that, the effect wears off and you have to reapply it. As a single drop is enough, the bottle we bought should last quite a while. Lucky is delighted to have company again today and not to have to share the salmon for dinner with any stray kittens we might have brought back. After all, he is the undisputed king on board! He studiously ignores our earnest reminders that he, too, once lived on the streets, neglected and undernourished, and demands his food. Well, we obey. In the afternoon, with the sun beating down, we once again hoist our sun awning over the foredeck. This allows us to sit comfortably in the partial shade of the well-ventilated forward cockpit, enjoying almond cake and a glass of cava whilst taking in the spectacle. First, quite unspectacularly, an open wooden boat rounds the corner of the marina. What is more spectacular, however, is that it is towing a significantly larger motorboat. However, the spectacle only really comes into its own with the third boat in the tow – a second motor yacht submerged in the water right up to its roof. The whole thing looks relaxed, though it’s not without a certain touch of tragicomedy. At the very least, nobody seems to have been injured as the boat sank, as neither a lifeboat nor the police are accompanying the operation. Incidentally, a short video of the towing operation quickly becomes my most successful post on Instagram to date. Sensational stories always sell, after all! We sit in the cockpit, still in awe, only to see the almost deserted Legend of the Seas sail backwards past us and out of the harbour a little later. A quick search reveals that this Icon-class cruise ship was only completed in June 2026 and its maiden voyage isn’t due to take place until July. Apparently, they’re still rehearsing and testing at the moment to make sure everything works. We prepare a lovely salmon, avocado and mango poke bowl for dinner and wait for more entertainment in the harbour. In vain! So we move to the aft cockpit and read a little there until it’s time to turn in.
Monday starts off grey and hazy. At least it’s already pleasantly warm at 23°C this morning, so I can sit comfortably in the cockpit. My post from yesterday about the half-sunken motorboat has now been viewed over 15k times. It’s quite astonishing how something like that can take off. For Instagram pros, that’s of course a rather laughable figure. But my other posts usually get around 500–1,000 views. After a bit of morning exercise, checking the weather and reading the news, it’s time to plan our next trip. As the weather won’t allow us to carry on to Gibraltar in the next few days, we’ve hired a car again from tomorrow. So we need to plan some day trips in the surrounding area for the next three days. No problem, as the Costa da Luz has plenty to offer. Although we travelled around the region quite a bit last year, there’s still something new to discover. As we’re expecting strong winds from the east and south-east over the next few days, Axel also asks at the marina office if we can move our boat from our very exposed berth at the harbour entrance a little further inwards into the harbour. We can, and we do so straight away. Meanwhile, the sun has come out and is beating down from above, with what feels like 95 per cent humidity. Thanks to the lack of wind, moving La Ola a few berths further in is a straightforward affair. Securing the lines properly and in a storm-proof manner, however, turns into a sauna-like ordeal. Soaked through with sweat, we treat ourselves to a delicious non-alcoholic wheat beer in the cockpit. Then it’s time to hook up the hose again and give La Ola a good wash. The harbour stirs up a lot of dust in the air, which ends up on the deck and needs to be removed urgently. And since we’re in the mood for a spot of cleaning, we carry on straight away. We defrost our cockpit fridge and give it a good clean. Then it’s the ice cube maker’s turn. Out with the old water, dried out and wiped down. New water in and switched on. That way, we can enjoy an ice-cold glass of wine in the forward cockpit in the late afternoon. Paul and Julia pop round with their dogs, Piper and Trixie, and tell us about their boat projects. The lively Piper jumps back and forth and eventually ends up in front of Lucky, who growls at her fiercely and chases her away from his chair. Fortunately, that’s as far as it goes, as little Piper would certainly have come off worse. In the evening, we have pasta with pre-cooked Bolognese sauce, followed by a bit of football later on. Germany versus Paraguay. It turns into a long evening with extra time and a penalty shoot-out. In the end, unfortunately, it’s a defeat for Germany. But now we can simply keep our fingers crossed for our current host country, Spain!
The next morning, we’re up early. Unexpectedly, the wind has picked up and our sun awning is flapping wildly back and forth. So we quickly take it down again. Then there’s a clatter and our Spanish host country flag is lying on deck. We just manage to save the flag, but the end of the line is hanging under the spreader. That’ll probably require a trip up the mast. But not today. After a light breakfast, we walk half an hour to the station, where we collect our hire car. Then we set off straight away. Over the spectacular suspension bridge and on to Jerez de la Frontera. We were here last year, but at the time we only visited the fortress and the Bodega Gonzalez Byass. We’d postponed our visit to the old town because of the heat back then. But not this time! It’s hot again this time too, but we’re out early so it’s still reasonably bearable. We park once more at the Alcázar de Jerez de la Frontera and walk along the fortress walls. At the Plaza del Arenal, we stop for a quick breakfast break and enjoy coffee and ham rolls. Refreshed, we carry on. The town is only just coming to life and the shops are opening for the day. In the numerous cafés, however, things are already in full swing. We make a detour to the market hall, which, alongside a lovely mix of modern stalls and historic buildings, also boasts a fantastic selection of fish. We carry on through the alleyways. A small plaza is hidden around almost every corner. Charming boutiques and numerous tabancos line the shaded streets. Unfortunately, the tabancos aren’t open yet, but they represent a great tradition in the city of Jerez. These are Andalusian wine and tapas bars where sherry is sold and enjoyed on tap. We resist the temptation to go shopping and, after a lovely circular walk, return to our car park. We carry on to the historic village of Medina-Sidonia. The town is strategically situated on a hilltop from which one can overlook the entire region. It was founded by the Phoenicians. Later, it became an important Roman colony before serving as a Visigothic capital. In the 8th century, Medina-Sidonia was then conquered by the Moors. Finally, in 1440, as part of the Reconquista, it became the seat of a Christian duchy. Medina-Sidonia boasts historical sights from all these eras and a beautiful, Moorish-influenced town centre. Here, too, we wander through the narrow streets on foot and climb the hill to the Church of Santa María la Mayor la Coronada, which features Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architectural styles and was built between the 14th and 17th centuries. Today it looks very dilapidated and is closed. Although there’s a lovely breeze in Medina-Sidonia, it has got quite hot by now and we’re thoroughly sweaty. So, without visiting the castle or the Roman ruins, we head back to the car. We drive through the countryside via Los Naveros towards the sea, first enjoying the long stretches of sunflower fields and the beautiful, hilly landscape. As we drive parallel to the Atlantic coast, the landscape becomes flatter, more monotonous and very touristy. There are more beautiful spots in Andalusia. We join the motorway and drive back to Cádiz. On the way, we stop at Lidl and buy a few treats. Much to Lucky’s delight, we have a few prawns with baguette on board, and of course he manages to snatch a few for himself. We spend the rest of the day recovering from all the walking and having a siesta. It’s lovely in the shaded cockpit thanks to a nice little breeze. Otherwise, today’s temperatures of up to 37°C would be quite exhausting.
It’s our second day with our hire car and we’re off early again. We’re heading south to visit Tarifa once more. On our trip to Morocco, we didn’t really get to enjoy the little town, and on our visit last year we couldn’t find a parking space. This time we’re better prepared and find a lovely spot for our hire car straight away. We start by strolling through the charming town centre for a while, then walk past the harbour towards Isla de Tarifa. According to the information board, this is the southernmost point of mainland Europe. So we’ve ticked that off our list once again. Although, not quite, really, as the entrance to Isla de Tarifa is unfortunately locked. So we make do with standing on the narrow causeway to Isla de Tarifa, right between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. So we’ve now ticked off this tourist highlight on two continents – Africa and Europe. You can’t get any better than that! To enjoy the experience, though, we really have to put up with quite a bit! The strong wind is whipping sand from the beach across the path at high speed. We’re sandblasted with pain like needle pricks. As I’d slathered myself in sun cream before setting off, the sand also sticks to me like a thin coating. I’m still picking grains of sand out of my ears days later. We walk back along the city walls, pass through the medieval Puerta de Jerez and finally find ourselves back at our car. We carry on along the coast, making short stops in Zahara de los Atunes and Barbate to see if the tuna nets are still out. Unfortunately, they are. In the little village of Los Caños de Meca, we stop for lunch and end up at the Restaurante Jardín de Madreselva. In a lovely setting, we sit in the shade and enjoy mango gazpacho (I’ll have to try making this at home!), hummus, tuna skewers and chicken tagine, as well as a filo pastry filled with chicken and raisins, seasoned with a blend of Middle Eastern spices. Delicious! Finally, feeling well and fully satisfied, we head back to Cádiz and quickly pick up a few breakfast rolls. Then we make ourselves comfortable in the front cockpit for the rest of the day, where, in the lovely shade and with a fresh breeze, we don’t have to suffer too much from the summer heat.
We’re using our third day with the hire car for another shopping trip. First, we head to Jerez de la Frontera, where we buy some clothes and battery-powered lights for our bikes at Decathlon. We also pop into Desigual briefly, but unfortunately don’t find anything we like this time. Then we head to Al Campo, the Spanish subsidiary of the French supermarket chain Auchan. Our shopping trolley is quickly filled and we’re on our way back to the ship. With temperatures just under 35°C, we need to get the chilled items into the fridge as quickly as possible. Our insulated rucksack, working in tandem with four ice packs, does the job perfectly. After a short breather, we set off again, this time to Aldi in Cádiz. We pick up a few bits and bobs for ourselves, and pack some water, wine and ginger chocolate for our neighbours on the Spisea. Back on board, everything is delivered, handed out and stowed away. Surprisingly, it’s already evening by then and all we have left to do is put our feet up. Quite a tiring day’s shopping! The Levante has picked up considerably in the meantime and is whistling through the rigging with dry, hot air. We open the hatches to create a draught and manage to dispel some of the heat. Poor Lucky the cat probably wishes he could shed his thick coat and is just lying limply on the floor. Unfortunately, he doesn’t realise he’d be better off lying on his cooling mat. Whilst we’re all sweating away together, there’s suddenly a loud bang in the cockpit. A quick search reveals an exploded wheat beer bottle to be the culprit. I suppose it didn’t like the heat either. As it exploded in the drinks cupboard, there was fortunately no risk of injury. But now we have to give all the tins and bottles a quick rinse with water and clear away the glass shards – something we hadn’t planned on doing. Otherwise, the evening passes quietly and, thankfully, it cools down a bit after sunset. The air conditioning in the owner’s cabin also helps ensure that we can drift off to sleep feeling reasonably cool.
It’s a very restless night, as the Levante is now blowing at force 7–8, right into the harbour. We’re glad we’re no longer moored directly at the harbour entrance and were able to move berths! But despite having shock absorbers on the mooring lines and being situated right in the middle of the berth, it’s incredibly restless and noisy. The wind is howling, the jetties are creaking and the halyards are rattling. But today, too, it’s back to an early start. We have to return the hire car and then walk back through the town together. In the morning, the temperatures are still reasonably bearable and the alleys in the old town are lovely and shady. We pop into Café de Ana for breakfast and are served Eggs Benedict and fresh orange juice in an interesting retro setting. Afterwards, we have a bit of a stroll through the shady alleyways. There’s absolutely no sign of the wind here. For the last part of the walk, we have to cross the open causeway back to the marina and get thoroughly buffeted by the wind. Back on board, we check the weather forecast once again. Now that we’ve finished our sightseeing and our on-board supplies are well stocked again, we’re keen to set off on our next leg of the journey. However, with the current Levante blowing from the south-east – exactly the direction we want to head in – continuing our journey is out of the question given the current wind conditions. So we’ll wait to see when the wind eases off or even shifts to a westerly direction. Even though the tuna nets are still out, we now consider the risk of encountering orcas to be quite low. The aggressive orcas seem to have moved north and are now causing trouble in the area north of Lisbon. In the region from Cádiz to Gibraltar, no orcas have been sighted and no attacks have been recorded for over 14 days. And, according to reports from other sailors, the number of nets has already been significantly reduced, meaning we no longer have to sail quite so far into the orcas’ hunting grounds. It’s unlikely to happen before Tuesday or Wednesday, though. Until then, we’ll just have to put up with the Levante gale. The wind has now formed small sand dunes on deck. The whole boat is covered in a light layer of dust. Unfortunately, the inside is too. So we’ve decided to keep all the hatches shut, even if it means we’re starting to swelter inside. But Axel has already made provisions for situations like this. He’s connected a large ventilation hose to the air-conditioning unit in the owner’s cabin, which cools the saloon down nicely. Now Lucky can breathe a little easier, and we can also cool off inside every now and then at 29°C. In the evening, Paul and Julia pop round for Pizza Friday and we spend another lovely evening together. Axel has also 3D-printed replacement parts for the broken hinge on their cool box, much to their delight. What on earth did we ever do without a 3D printer?!
It’s finally the weekend! A lie-in, breakfast, and then a bit of tidying up. The pizza oven is stowed away again, and the washing-up is done. Fortunately, the wind is now blowing a little more from the east, so we’re not getting quite as much sand and dust from the harbour. However, the howling in the rigging and the motion of the water remain. We’re taking it easy today, checking the weather forecast, planning our route and making the all-important decision about what to have for dinner. According to the forecast, our departure is being pushed back yet again. Instead of Wednesday or Thursday, Saturday or Sunday now look like good days to set sail. We’ll see when the time comes. Planning the trip isn’t any easier either. Should we stop off at Sancti Petri, Barbate or Bolonia before Gibraltar? Shall we drop anchor or head into the marina at Barbate? And which marina in Gibraltar should we choose? Gibraltar itself offers various marinas, and in neighbouring La Línea de la Concepción there’s also a marina on the Spanish side. Pros and cons for one marina or the other? Hard to say. If you want to pop over to Gibraltar frequently to explore, it’s probably worth staying in Gibraltar, as that way you only have to go through customs and passport control once. On the other hand, the marina in La Línea is significantly cheaper. And, in fact, border controls are also due to be abolished from 15 July 2026 as part of a Schengen Agreement. But will that really happen? In any case, we’ll enquire at Queensway Marina in Gibraltar to see if they have a berth for us at all. They do, and they’ve sent us information on registration and entry straight away. Now we just need the weather to play along! Otherwise, we’ll spend the day without doing much of anything. The wind is howling and it’s hot. You’d think it was a force 3 gale. That makes it hard to even think about a bike ride or a walk into town. But reading is quite nice for a change. In the evening, we barbecue some chicken breasts and make a salad to go with them. Just the thing for this sort of weather.
The next morning, the wind has died down further, though there are still occasional strong gusts sweeping through the marina. Whilst other boat owners are already hard at work washing their yachts, I start by tackling the dust inside the cabin. Everything – and I mean absolutely everything – is covered in a sticky layer of dust. Not a pretty sight! After a couple of hours, everything is sparkling clean again. Meanwhile, Axel tackles the outside and clears La Ola of greasy mounds of sand. At one point, there’s a rather loud thud! Axel has, rather involuntarily, made the descent from the upper deck to the side deck a bit too quickly. Fortunately, nothing happened and both Axel and the bike, which cushioned his fall, are still unscathed. But it’s probably best not to repeat that stunt! By late afternoon, we’ve finished all the cleaning and treat ourselves to an ice cream from the freezer. Pure luxury! We treat poor Lucky to some chilled cat food, which unfortunately only refreshes him briefly. Our attempt to cool him down with a fan also goes wrong, sadly. It’s far too eerie for him to lie still in front of it. So he continues to lie listlessly on the saloon floor, lifting an eyelid only now and then to check whether we’re still there. We, on the other hand, are more than happy to sit in front of the fan and let the breeze blow over us. Fortunately, it cools down a little in the evening and the wind finally dies down considerably. We have our dinner – a tuna salad – in the forward cockpit. Shady with a gentle breeze. Long may it stay this way! The air has cleared considerably and you can see the mountains in the hinterland along the mainland coast clearly and distinctly. Overall, the humidity has dropped significantly over the last few days. Instead of 80 per cent, it’s now down to just 30 per cent. Much more bearable, as the body has a chance to cool down a little through evaporation.
As predicted, the wind died down on Monday morning and things are calmer again in the marina. The heat has lingered, so we roll up our cockpit cover to let in a bit more fresh air and a draught. Afterwards, Axel hoists me up the mast in our bosun’s chair. Not because I’ve been talking too much again! In the strong wind, our Spanish guest flag came loose and one end of the flag line is now caught under the first spreader. So off we go in the ‘lift’ to the first floor. Thanks to the electric winch, it’s a quick ride. I grab the end of the line and am already on my way back down. Unfortunately, just before reaching the ground floor, I grab hold of my line to steady myself as I move from a sitting to a standing position. At that very moment, Axel lets go of the line and, under my own weight, I pull my little finger into the pulley of the spinnaker halyard. Ouch!!! Axel quickly fetches the wine-cooling sleeve to ease the pain, but my finger is bleeding and swelling rapidly. A quick self-check reveals: nothing’s broken, nothing’s torn, and all the joints are still moving freely. So it’s nothing too serious – I’ll survive – but still very annoying and painful (a few words of sympathy would be welcome right now!!!). Whilst I’m allowed to recover from the shock in the cockpit, Axel runs to the local boat supplier and buys a new Spanish host country flag. The fastening for the old flag had torn, which was the reason for today’s whole escapade. Perhaps not entirely without reason, as the Spanish guest flag dates back to our days on the ‘Hello World’ and is therefore likely to be about 20 years old. Axel also buys a guest flag for Gibraltar. That’s still missing from our collection and will probably be needed soon. If – yes, if – the weather plays along. At the moment, the weather forecast is doing a complete U-turn from morning to evening. One moment it looks like perfect weather for continuing our journey, the next it looks like we’ll be stuck in Cádiz for another week. Well, that sounds rather familiar to us. Admittedly, with a bit of good will and an early start, the passage to Gibraltar can be managed in a single day. But sailing through the Strait of Gibraltar is no walk in the park either. We need to watch out for currents, gusting winds, orcas and shipping traffic. And unfortunately, orcas were spotted again yesterday right here in the region. Blimey! We’re staying defiant and are planning to set off at the weekend anyway. Otherwise, we’ll just put our feet up for the rest of the day. It’s too hot to do any activities on land! In the evening, Axel cooks us some delicious octopus with potatoes and a crunchy olive topping. Absolutely delicious and quick to prepare. We spend the rest of the evening in the air-conditioned front cockpit, watching the countless fishermen set out to sea. There’s bound to be some delicious fish at the market the next day!
After a hot night, we’re up and out of bed early in the morning. We want to go to the market and make the most of the relative cool of the morning. Unfortunately, the market doesn’t open until 9 o’clock, which we find quite surprising given the summery temperatures. You’d have thought that the market traders, too, would want to take advantage of the cooler morning temperatures. But on the other hand, the market does stay open until midnight. We haven’t (yet) really adapted our lifestyle to Spanish customs. But will we ever be able to get used to having dinner after 10 pm? And do we even want to? We’re already very good at siestas, though! After buying fresh fruit and veg, bread and rolls, ham and fresh tuna at the market, we cycle back to the marina in no time at all. Some of our shopping is turned into juice straight away. The rest goes into the fridge. It’s already 30°C again and we’re continuing to practise our siesta skills – in other words, lazing about in the shaded cockpit. As I said, we’re already very good at that! Delicious cherries make for a refreshing snack, and for lunch we have baguette with Iberico ham. Life can be so simply delicious. In the evening, Axel ventures to try his hand at mango gazpacho. He quickly finds a recipe and, of course, skilfully refines it. We have a absolutely delicious tuna tartare to go with it. At our current favourite fishmonger’s, we get sushi-grade bluefin tuna at an extremely affordable price. However, the tuna season is slowly but surely coming to an end, so this will probably be our last gourmet tuna for this year. Life can be tough!
Goodness me, how time flies! Have we really been stuck in one spot for over two weeks now without making any headway?! We’re starting to need to be careful we don’t get stuck here for good! But the weather forecast looks good, so it’s time to set off. First, though, we need to do some shopping. This time we’re cycling to Aldi to stock up on treats for the next few days. Then it’s time to tackle La Ola once more. Axel did give it a quick rinse to wash off the worst of the dirt a few days ago, but now it’s time for a thorough clean. It never ceases to amaze me how much sand and grime accumulates on the deck! Even the mast, shrouds and railings are covered in a fine layer of dust and release a stream of dirty water when we hose them down. But after a few hours of hard work, everything looks spick and span again. The bikes are back on deck and the washing machine gets another go. Finally, we receive confirmation that there’s a berth available for us at the next marina. We’d actually prefer to anchor, but unfortunately the wind isn’t right for that. And – we’ve got a visitor coming! Axel’s sister Anja is coming to visit us in Gibraltar and will be sailing with us for a bit along the coast. I’ve already filled in the pre-arrival form online for our arrival in Gibraltar. Quite a lot of questions! Whether we have any injured, sick or deceased people on board. How much alcohol is on board. How many narcotics we’re carrying. And what animals are on board. Gibraltar isn’t part of the EU, so the bureaucratic entry formalities are correspondingly extensive. Let’s hope our details are sufficient and that Lucky’s and our paperwork are in order. Otherwise, we’ll just have to leave again! For dinner tonight, we’re having just a little tomato salad, baguette and hummus with strips of pepper and carrot.
Cádiz – Barbate 36,5 nm
The next morning greets us with grey, muggy weather. You might think it was going to rain, but according to the weather forecast, there’s no sign of rain anywhere. After breakfast, we check out of the marina and get La Ola ready to set sail. As we’re in no hurry, we take our time until 11 o’clock, when we finally cast off. By now, the sun has come out again and we sail past Cádiz out into the Atlantic. Unfortunately, the sea is completely choppy and is giving us quite a rough ride. Meanwhile, the wind is coming straight from the front, even though it was actually forecast to be much more westerly. Oh well, you just can’t trust weather forecasts. We pass the offshore Castillo de Sancti-Petri and sail south along the coast. One hotel follows another and the beaches are bustling with people. Once we’ve passed Cabo Roche, our pursuers come into view. Julia and Paul are hot on our heels in the Spisea. We pass the buoyed tuna net off Conil de la Frontera without any problems, as it’s clearly no longer in use. This means we can sail straight through the shallow water. Next, the Trafalgar lighthouse comes into view. There’s a bit of commotion and excitement when another sailing yacht ahead of us spots two orcas heading in the opposite direction. So we move even closer to the shore and sail in even shallower water. Better safe than sorry! We pass the Faro de Trafalgar quite closely and manage to take some lovely photos. We carry on close to the shore, past Punta Paloma and towards Barbate. There, too, the tuna net has already been partially hauled in, and we reach the harbour entrance without any problems. As we’ve made a reservation, we’re assigned our berth straight away via radio and, shortly afterwards, we’re moored safely in our berth. I’m greeted immediately by a little grey kitten. A miniature, faded version of Lucky. It meows heart-wrenchingly, as if it’s been waiting for us for days, and lets us stroke it willingly. It seems to have been living in the marina for some time, as our friends Corinne and Matthias from the ‘Seren Wen’ had already fed it some tuna a few weeks ago. Whilst Axel is clearing customs in the office, the kitten quickly takes over our boat. Jumping onto the deck is a piece of cake. Only Axel’s return causes it to flee briefly. We quickly put up our sun awning on the foredeck and meet up with Julia and Paul for a sundowner. After the two of them have left us again, the kitten returns too and explores the boat. Lucky remains surprisingly calm during the visit and doesn’t say a word. I wonder if he’s pleased to have company? Or does he think the kitten is his own reflection? Just a bit faded. As a precaution, though, we close all the doors and windows at night and keep Lucky inside to prevent any uncontrolled clashes.
Friday starts off grey and cloudy once again. And with noticeably cooler temperatures. Which is actually quite pleasant for a change. I’m greeted in the morning by a loud meow. First from Lucky, then from his grey doppelgänger on the jetty. A little later, the kitten is back on board, taking a nap on deck. Then it sneaks first into the cockpit, then into the saloon. But when it makes itself comfortable by Lucky’s bowl, I decide to intervene. Otherwise, we’ll probably have a stowaway on board when we leave Barbate. Late in the morning, we get the bikes ready and set off on a short trip into the village. Julia and Paul join us on hire bikes. We cycle out of the marina and head towards Barbate. We follow the beach promenade to the Rio Barbate. The sky has cleared up by now and we can see all the way to Africa. The return journey takes us right through the centre of the village, where numerous cars are queuing up to snag the best parking space. The beach is now just as busy as you’d expect. We pop into the Taberna Barbatún and refuel with a cold beer and a selection of small dishes. The tuna on toast, tomato tartare with avocado and potato salad with tuna are absolutely delicious. The tuna on tomato with a fried egg, on the other hand, isn’t all that exciting. Afterwards, we make a quick stop at the El Jámon supermarket before heading back to the marina. On board, we’re greeted by loud meowing. Not from Lucky – he’s locked in the saloon – but from the little grey kitten. It had made itself comfortable in the cockpit whilst we were away. It isn’t bothered by our presence and joins us for a long siesta in the cockpit. Lucky eventually joins us and marvels at the feline visitor. No fuss, no aggression, just sheer bewilderment. We’d never seen him so peaceful around strange cats back at the mill across the way. Well, perhaps we were a bit too surprised. No sooner had the little grey kitten turned its back on Lucky than he pounced. A brief scuffle, screeching, meowing, tufts of fur flying through the air – and before we knew it, Lucky was back on board all by himself. Bloody beast! But of course, we couldn’t and weren’t allowed to take the little kitten with us anyway. Our next port of call is Gibraltar, and they don’t mess about when it comes to bringing animals in. Without papers, without a vaccination certificate, without being microchipped, no animal is allowed to enter there – not even a little grey kitten, however sweet and cute it may be. Perhaps it’ll find another boat to continue its journey, or perhaps it’s perfectly happy with its life just as it is. And no doubt we humans project far too many emotions and human behaviours onto animals. Be that as it may, before we set sail in the morning, we’ll definitely check to see if a little grey cat hasn’t hidden itself away somewhere after all! Dressed in that grey sailing outfit, it’s actually quite well camouflaged!
Barbate – Playa de El Rinconcillo 36,5 nm
We’re off again! The weather looks good, and Barbate isn’t quite so lovely that we need to stay here for weeks on end. We’ve also had reassuring news from other yachts that it’s now possible to sail round the next tuna net off Zahara de los Atunes in shallow water. So it’s a definite go for the trip to the Mediterranean! It’s not a long journey, but we want to sail through the Strait of Gibraltar with as little wind as possible. The high cliffs can really whip up the winds, quickly turning 20 knots into 40 knots. We don’t need that, even if the wind is likely to be coming from the right direction. So, after breakfast, we’ll head out of Barbate and continue southwards. Before setting sail, however, we check once more to make sure we’re not taking a little grey kitten on board as a stowaway. I’m sure it’ll eventually find a crew willing to take it on board – one that doesn’t already have a feisty cat on board! Until then, we know it’ll be well looked after by the volunteer cat carers in the harbour. Under engine power – because of the orcas – we make good progress and soon reach the tuna net off Zahara de los Atunes. As described, you can sail between the shore and the remains of the net whilst staying in shallow water. We continue along an impressive coastline dotted with magnificent villas, Roman ruins and huge dunes. Finally, we approach Tarifa, where we have to navigate round yet another tuna net. To do this, we head briefly into deeper water and keep a very close watch on the water around us. Fortunately, no orca hungry for a meal creeps up on us and we round the net without any problems. Eventually, we turn East at Isla de Tarifa, thereby leaving the Atlantic behind. The Strait of Gibraltar lies ahead of us. Europe to our left and Africa to our right. What a unique sight! We continue along the coast until the mighty Rock of Gibraltar finally comes into view. Shipping traffic increases significantly and we have to find our way through the numerous freighters and tankers in the roadstead. We pass the port facilities at Algeciras and sail all the way to the end of the Bay of Gibraltar. We drop anchor off the Dunas del Rinconcillo and are delighted to have found a beautiful stretch of nature amidst all the industrial and port facilities. The view from the cockpit towards the stern is also impressive; the entire bay, with the Rock of Gibraltar and the countless boats at anchor, lies behind us. And then a dolphin even comes by to say hello. We really hadn’t expected to see one here! Later, a whole pod of dolphins swims past. They circle closely around our boat, leaping and putting on a brilliant show in the late afternoon. Of course, once again, they’re far too quick for us to capture a decent photo. Still, it’s a brilliant anchorage! The experience is perhaps slightly marred by the jet skis and motorboats whizzing about. Not so much by the heavy shipping traffic causing the swell. And the sunset more than makes up for it! In any case, we’re glad we treated ourselves to a bit more anchoring before our next stay at a marina. What we don’t like at all, though, is that it’s cold! The water’s only 18.8°C now, down from 25°C before. In the evening we’re shivering, and instead of the air conditioning, we’re using the thick duvet. That’s not quite what we’d expected. After all, all our friends have always told us how pleasantly warm the water temperatures are. Clear water, lovely swimming. But here, the water is currently colder than in the Baltic Sea! We hope this is just a temporary effect of churning up cool deep water. Otherwise, Axel is already considering whether we’d rather head back to the Algarve after all.
Sunday morning, at anchor. The sun is shining. A few early risers are out walking on the beach. Dolphins are playing in the water. Sounds a bit cheesy, doesn’t it? It is! But it’s sooo lovely! It has to be said that this anchorage in the Bay of Gibraltar is probably the one with the most dolphin sightings in our entire sailing career. No matter when you look out onto the water, you can almost always see dolphins. It’s brilliant and very unexpected in this bustling and highly industrialised setting. But apparently it’s a good hunting ground for dolphins. In any case, we’re delighted we chose this spot. After breakfast, we try to inflate all our fenders today. Unfortunately, we only manage it after several attempts. It’s not at all easy to find the right inflation adapter. In the end, though, Axel manages it and the fenders are ready again for the next marina visit. As we’ll probably be mooring more often with the stern to the quay wall – the so-called ‘Med mooring’ – either on a mooring line or at anchor, we also inflate our two spare spherical fenders. These are actually meant to be attached to the stern when mooring in future, so we don’t dent the boat anywhere. However, we realise that one of the two fenders can’t be inflated at all and both are completely sticky. It looks like we’ll need to buy some new ones in Gibraltar. Other than that, there’s not much else for us to do today. Just relax, enjoy Sunday and spot the dolphins now and then. Oh yes, and write this blog post and put it online!
Tomorrow we’re off to Gibraltar itself! We’re looking forward to spending a few days exploring the Rock and enjoying that British atmosphere again.