Costa del Sol to the Costa Blanca

We journey eastward passing Benalmadena, Torremolinos and Malaga. These names are so familiar to me, yet their geographical location is only dawning on me as we sail along the Costa del Sol. We stop in at a little port we have never heard of called Puerto Caleta de Vélez as we hope to meet up with a friend from home. Unfortunately our little rendez-vous doesn’t work out and we go for a meal and a walk around. The consensus is that our evening here is are quite unremarkable.
We leave the marina in the early morning to go east and then north to the Costa Blanca. As we sail out into the rising sun I wonder if we have been unfair in our judgement of this place. Our lack of enthusiasm might have very little to do with the town - whose name we have already forgotten. It might instead be a symptom of travel weariness.
Our next port of call is Cartagena which is where will be spending the winter. We are looking forward to seeing it as we have heard nothing but good things about the city and it’s marina.

30 hours at sea should get us there. We are in touch with the crew of Yacht Allegrini who are also in transit to Cartagena and it’s no coincidence. The wind is forecast to pick up later today which should make for good sailing. Tomorrow evening when both Regal and Allegrini should be safely tied up at Yacht Port Cartagena, a strong northerly wind is due to blow.

Steve and Helen started this journey from a marina further east so they have a 40 mile head start. For the moment neither boat has any wind as we motor along on a flat sea.
Ahead of us we see some fins very close to each other moving in circles - we think it might be two blue sharks so we motor closer to get a better look. It is a big sunfish over a meter in diameter. He is swimming in circles lying on his side - That is why we could see several fins. I hope he is just having a good time in the sunshine, Colm and Ruby, who listen to every word their Auntie Clare, the vet says, determine that the unusual circling behaviour is due to an inner ear infection.
We see some flying fish skimming the water and as the day goes on it becomes very hot in this October sunshine. We use the shower at the back of Regal to cool down.
A WhatsApp message from Steve says their wind has filled in and shortly we feel it and roll out the headsail. It doesn’t last long and soon we roll it in again as the sail is only flapping about. We roll it in and out several times during the day, the wind that is forecast seems to be delayed or maybe it won’t show up at all.
We see several ships to our starboard as we motor between the coast and the traffic separation zone at Cabo de Gata. When day turns to night we are a lot closer to land than we are used to. It is disconcerting as there are so many lights visible on the coast to our port and there are lights from shipping to our starboard. There are red, green, white and yellow dots shining or flashing in the darkness. It is hard to figure out what everything is and when you are heading towards these lights it is important to know what they are. The AIS and chart-plotter are a great help but there are some unidentified dots. We have a father Ted moment when we can’t tell if a white flashing light is small or just far away. We alter course to avoid it and now think it might have been a small light on a big tuna net.

There is also light from phosphorescence. The normal water disturbance from the propeller turns into something magical as great big green bubbles belch out from our stern. Dolphins come and as they shot past towards the bow they have ribbons of green phosphorescence trailing behind them.

When Ronan is on watch he hears a little thud on the side deck. It is a flying fish, who has inadvertently landed onboard Regal. Ronan throws him back in the sea. Things don’t go as smoothly for me when a flying fish flies out of the dark and in through our open spray hood window. I catch him but he slips out of my hand onto the sliding hatch. I catch him again and he shoots out of my hand down the stairs . I run down after him and eventually catch him in Colm’s room. I throw him back into the water a little worse for wear.

The wind comes with the sunrise and we motor sail for the morning. The swell is increasing as well as the wind and we are impressed to meet Lasers as we approach the bay of Cartagena. When we arrive at our berth in Yacht Port, Helen and Steve are there with the Marinero to take our lines.
The wind continues to increase and when halyards are whopping around marina it is a comforting sound. We are glad to be tied up safely with friends close by in this lovely place.Read more