Sabbaticus Travel Log: A week in Almerimar, Spain

Nuclear Sub in Gib

After 89 days (no - not counting but reading the marina invoice) in Gibraltar we finally slipped the mooring lines and departed. While we will miss seeing the Rock from the salon windows we were ready to start sailing again. Unfortunately during the pre-departure system checks we found a leak in the hot water cylinder - very frustrating. However, this did not delay our departure as we decided to work out how to fix at our next location in Almerimar, Spain.

Passing Europa Point

It was a picture perfect day leaving Gib with clear blue skies. Motoring out of the marina we passed a Brit nuclear sub at the military docks. Once we rounded Europa Point, at the southern point of Gib, the wind started to fill in and become a strong breeze which meant we had reefs in both the main and genoa for the entire trip. About this time a pod of dolphins visited and played in the bow waves lifting our spirits even higher watching their fast torpedo like approach on the bow which seemed a fitting farewell from Gib. We had a good, fast passage with an average of 25-30kts wind behind us making the 130NM trip an easy sail and good way to ease back into it. As expected there was lots of commercial shipping to avoid with these massive ships (800-1,000ft) steaming past us in both directions at 20 kts.

Foggy approach into Almerimar

Just before sunset we reefed even further to slow the boat down to enable us to arrive in daylight hours, and for a more comfortable motion, with Sabbaticus still doing 7 kts with small amounts of sail out. The engine went on at 0600hrs, the sails dropped and we motored the last hour as the fog rolled in reducing visibility to less than 100mtrs. Even though we had radar up motoring through fog is not relaxing especially approaching an unknown port – thankfully we did not see any local fishing boats. Although we arrived at the marina reception dock at 0730hrs the office did not open until 0900hrs! Si, we were back in Spain with siesta and late opening hours.

Almerimar is a large marina with 1,100 berths and 850 boats currently in situ with a large liveaboard community. The marina is built around four main piers surrounded by apartment blocks which are popular in summer but empty in winter. The marina is well supported with three chandlers, a boat yard and a huge supermarket, bars and cafes but not much else. The liveaboard community is active with daily radio schedules and a range of social activities from coffee groups, quizz nights, thai chai in the park, charity nights and sunday walks. This was the one disappointment about wintering in Gib there was no liveaboard community in either marina. Most people winter in Spain as it is cheaper while this would have been our preference it was not feasible as our NZ visa constraints limits our time spent in EU countries.

The daily challenge & exercise

We enjoyed our week in Almerimar and the opportunity to meet some cruising folks and hear about their travel experiences - it keeps us inspired. During this stopover we had our stainless work on the bow completed allowing us to secure the anchor and also fix the passarelle to the bow (in the interim this required a very large step to get off/on the boat being bow in), new cupboards installed in the galley and numerous emails/calls again with Sam from the Oyster Customer Support Team who is now organising for a replacement water heater and spares to be sent to the Oyster office at Palma in the Balearic Islands.

About the only main area of interest in the local area is the massive greenhouses that are evident for approx 50kms along the coast. The horticulture industry is huge and supplies vegetables to Northern Europe in winter with (apparently) 600 trucks leaving each day.