Udi & Ayelet sailing on Ester: Along the Spanish coast

We say goodbye to Ruth and Dania, finish organising and continue on our way south. Just before sunset, and we are anchored in something closest to the bay along the Spanish coast. The Spanish sea strip, like the Israeli, is not sloping with bays, and therefore not really on the sailors' map. In contrast, dramatic and impressive mountains descend to the sea. I did not expect .. a wonderful surprise that makes you want to come to the area for hiking, in Pension B. Again a shaky night passed over our forces, the place only half protected. Another long day of sailing, and we are anchored at the recommended spot, in response to my query in the Facebook group of Mediterranean sailors, a water park called Cabo de Gata, The most similar place to Sinai I have met. Just before reaching the mooring point, granite cliffs, small sandy bays, everything is pristine, there are no roads, only small paths that descend steeply to the shoreline, and here and there a few tents.
Some pictures from the Spanish "Sinai":

Snacks after docking

Cabo de Gata, a nature reserve, and above it rises a lighthouse. We're right below him. The spectacle at night of a towering tower, makes me almost happy like fireworks… An evening snorkel, reveals why the place is a nature reserve. In addition to the landscape above the water, there are plenty of colorful fish, flocks of flocks, sea caves, steep rocks, soft corals, starfish, hedgehogs and "sea tomatoes" a kind of burgundy sea roses. Not Chinese but the closest I have seen in the Mediterranean! The evening experience inspires me to get up in the morning and have time to snorkel on the other side of the cove. On my way there, I come across one of the strangest and most wonderful plays I have encountered during the glorious years of diving, in different places in the world. Precisely in the sandy area, Snir taught me that he could be a super interesting, small stingray (what is called in the vernacular a kitten), hovering over the sand surface, followed by two small "soles" (for those who do not know, flattened and thin, sole-shaped fish). I have met these two before. What was surprising and new was the interaction between them. Both soles are lit after the stingray, and whenever he tries to dig in the sand with his wings, they try to push and dig in the shadow of his wings. He does not seem to have "died for it" and so the chase continues. After 5 minutes of watching I say goodbye to them. Unfortunately, there is no certificate… Nir, my diving partner (and also a former boss ..), a certified marine photographer, is not with us on the boat 😔 On a six-month cruise with the children, join us for a week, thanks to him we also have an underwater certificate, you can be impressed In the chapter devoted to him in the previous blog. Hope to find time in the crowded hazelnut to join again this time, invitation is open!
Later on, the snorkel also meets Avnon, and other colorful bands, but time is pressing and swimming back to Ester is still long…

The next evening we decided to spend in Almeria, a city and mother in the province of Andalusia, nevertheless on New Year's Eve, we deserve a meal in a good restaurant! Happy New Year to the children, family, friends, and I am free to locate the restaurant for the celebration. We are already right at the entrance to the marina, when Udi glances at the weather forecast map and turns the bow of a boat back to the sea. Expect strong winds later this week that will not allow us to continue towards Gibraltar. Bassa .. The mucus has already covered the lips, but to the one in the sky other plans. The gourmet meal made way for ravioli in tomato sauce prepared in particularly harsh sea conditions, waves, wind and a swaying stove, and without a drop of wine, this is how it is when you are at sea… If you sail and have to hold shifts, do not drink… So happy new year to readers And the wine was on your table.

On the other hand - we are heading towards Gibraltar, and hope to start the new year with a new sea, very soon.

There were no fish, but there were fishermen

The night of New Year's Eve passed in a storm, bringing with it new insights, about current winds and sea salt that washed the boat. We have narrow sails, a fairly strong wind, and the boat "flies" at a speed of 7-8 knots. This is a lot in terms of a boat, whose average speed is 5-6 knots. At some point the wind calms down, sails roll, engine starts, and as we get closer to our destination Gibraltar, a sea of ships around us, all drain in and out of the only strait that connects the Mediterranean to the big world. Aside from the abundance of ships, which require vigilance, as you progress, the boat slows down. Slowly the insight permeates, that the current known for its intensity that enters the Mediterranean, does not end in the producers but continues deep into the open sea, and is felt well even two days sailing from the strait. We have an engine at full power, which is supposed to bring us to a speed of five knots, and are advancing at a turtle rate of 2.5 knots, which means that we will spend the next year on the way to Gibraltar. Well, I exaggerated a bit, but very frustrating. While on duty, I decide to get closer to the Spanish coast, assuming there the current will be weaker. At one point Udi and I do an exercise, turn on our axis, record direction (degrees) and boat speed. There is no doubt that we are in the heart of the current directed from Gibraltar, and decide on a sharp face north, almost 90 degrees, back to shore. All of this is documented both in the note we wrote down, and on a map that follows our path. Boaz, Udi's brother, who follows (but very closely) the signal that Ester is transmitting, demands an explanation and solution to the riddle of the meaningless round he saw on his map…

I'm at the wheel, Udi resting from a not-so-simple night, and then in the distance, on the side of the mountain I notice a stain of white houses sitting on a mountain dome. We are in cellular reception range, I open a map and discover a beautiful village called Ojen, which can not be given up, the bow is tilted a little north of the point they intended to reach (the captain sleeps ..), towards Marbella's marina below the village. The plot in my head, tomorrow morning to rent a car, visit the village and a little walk in the mountain park in which the village sits, and if so also a restaurant in honor of the eve of Rosh Hashanah Monday (after all, our ancestors in exile did). So there is a plan, and a mooring place, everything looks perfect.

Again, the weather has its own plans. The crossing to the ocean is accompanied by an intensive exploration of the weather along the sailing route from Gibraltar to the Canaries. Udi in his interrogations suggests that the optimal time, leaving Gibraltar on Saturday morning, dictates also leaving the visit to the village that promises a second pension. And so the list goes on and on, ensuring that we do not get bored in the next decade 😊

And so a very final day opens on reaching a destination also called Europa Point, the largest at the mouth of the Straits of Gibraltar, with the impressive cliff towering above, the southwestern point of continental Europe. The excitement grows as we get closer, and so does the flow of photos…

We are in Gibraltar, on Rosh Hashanah, exactly one month since we left Israel!

More about Gibraltar in the next post ...