Tomorrow we sail! I pulled out my ship’s log and see that we arrived in Marina Almerimar on Saturday, September 14th. At the time, I was expecting a visit of 10 days that could reasonably stretch into 2 weeks. If you had told me then that we would be here 4 weeks, I would have laughed at you.
Almerimar is an interesting town and marina in that the two are integrated. While most marinas consist of piers or pontoons that stretch out into protected water (like a dock into a lake), Almerimar also has canals like you’d see in Florida that work their way through the town. It makes for a nice atmosphere when strolling through the town to walk along the canals with all the moored yachts.
Given the quiet canals, reasonable marina rates, proximity to airports, and milder winters than the rest of the Mediterranean, the marina and town are popular for sailors to winter-over in the water. They’ll often go “home” for a month or so to visit family but their real home is on the boat. With that being said, I’ve been here long enough this autumn and made enough friends that they’re starting to ask if I’m planning to winter on HJ here. I reply, “Nope, just passin’ through.” I’ve said it enough that I’ve started to think about what I’ve said and have realized that that’s all that any of us are doing on this spinning globe.
I like my girl when she’s loaded with food, her water and fuel tanks are full, sail covers off, and she’s tugging at her bow lines telling me she’s ready. That’s what she’s doing now as the sun sets this Saturday night and we’re preparing to sail before sunrise on Sunday morning.
Our next destination is Alcadesia Marina in Spain, very close to Gibraltar. It’s about 130 miles and if we catch a fair breeze should be there Monday or Tuesday (knock on wooed and full prostrations to Poseidon on that projection). From there, my professional weather routing team is telling me that a promising weather window to start my 650 mile sail to the islands of Madeira looks to be opening Thursday or Friday of this week. That would be ideal to give us a couple days to rest up and sort out any unforeseen problems with Hazel’s new equipment and rigging changes that made over the past month. I’ll start making daily updates to the satellite tracker on our home page tomorrow (Sunday, October 12th).
Fair winds and following seas.
Safe travels! Always love keeping up with your musings. Thanks for sharing!
Bon voyage and wishing you exactly the right amount of adventure that provides a challenge, a few stories, and a safe arrival after your journey across the ocean!
Thanks Carolyn. I like the “right amount of adventure” idea. I’m going to work with that!
Bon Voyage! Best wishes on your first leg of the crossing, Dan. Sounds like you and Hazel are stocked and ready. She looks excellent with the new paint job.
Safe travels Dan! Love reading about your journeys.