Islantilla

We planned to set sail to Ayamonte at 07:30 in the morning. Naturally, we left around 08:00/08:15. With outgoing tide we motored back to the entrance where we weren't met by fishermen this time, just some eddies (waves against current). It was a bit of a bumpy ride, we made it out just fine. We had a beautiful sail ahead of us. Forecasted 8-15 knots broad wind, which turned out to be half wind going up to 20 knots. As we started off with barely any wind we did some motor sailing at first. The wind picked up and we were able to turn off the engine. It was the beginning of December and we were sailing in just a sweater, some jeans while the sun was shining and there were barely any clouds in the sky. It still amazes us.

In the distance we saw some bigger clouds forming and the wind started to pick up more and more. We put in a reef in the main to stabilize the boat. Not much later we put in a reef in the genua as well. We weren't just cruising ⛵🏎️, we were flying ⛵🛩️. Since our destination was Ayamonte along the river that separates Portugal from Spain, we couldn't just arrive whenever we wanted. We had to make sure we wouldn't arrive too close to low water in order to be able to safely enter the river. Going at the speed we were going, we would arrive way too early. For the first time ever, we put in one more and a bit later another reef in the genua to slow down our Nimrod because we were going too fast😂 Well that was a first.

The first couple of days we spend in Ayamonte 🇪🇦. Staying in the marina gave us the chance to do some laundry, fully reload our batteries and take a couple of hot showers. Plus we could go up in the mast to meausre our height to make sure we would fit underneath the bridge. After we were treated by Surf Song and Beautje with tapas and drinks ♥️, we crossed the border, the river together to Villa Real Santo Antonio 🇵🇹. A low of wind was coming our way and since the strong current from the river against wind can make things very uncomfortable, we decided to stay in the marina a bit longer. This is where we really started to get into the Christmas vibe. In the centre of the town Santa Clause had set up shop in a true Christmas village. Bart was very strict and told me I should let the kids get their pictured with Santa instead of me 😪. Two of the activities was a 10k run and 5k walk. Since we are not in shape we didn't sign up for either. We did however follow the 5k walk, just behind the bombeiros🔥, for a bit to find out if we would discover some new parts of town. We were even cheered on by several spectators and a girl from the Conservatorium played some tunes. We were inspired by the walk and one of the following days we walked through a forest to the beach. The forest made us feel like we were back in the Netherlands again for a bit. Except for the sunny skies and warm weather in December 🌞😉. We had some lovely dinners with and at Surf Song and Beautje before we hosted a final dinner as the following day we would all continue on our own journeys. Surf Song would go to their winter spot Huelva, Beautje would start their trip to Sevilla and we would, finally, go under the bridge and up the river.Read more