Departing Gibraltar

Restowing the Lazaret (aka garage)

Finally the winter maintenance tasks are completed the spare parts have arrived, all gear is stowed and we are now ready for departure. Our first stop is only a short passage of 130NM up the coast to Almerimar in Spain.  This will (hopefully) be a short stop over to have some minor stainless steel (anchor pin) and fibreglass repair jobs (no we haven't hit anything - yet!) completed.  All going well we will then be off on our first passage in the Med to Palma in the Baleares Islands.  After three months in the marina we are very keen to get underway sailing again.   
 

 

Puente Nuevo

Filling our 6 kg propane gas cylinder was not possible in Gibraltar and required a 45min trip up the coast to Estepona in Spain. While possible to catch a local bus, we decided to hire a car stopping at Estepona and then visiting Rhonda, about a 2hr drive from Gibraltar. Established in the 9th century Rhonda is one of the most ancient cities in Spain and is high in the mountains. Rhonda is spectacular location with a rich history, dating back to Islamic times with  the Moorish city walls and mosques still evident along with a Roman theatre carved out of rock.
 



The Puente Nuevo (New Bridge) is the "newest" bridge & largest of three bridges that span the 120mtr chasm of the Guadalevin River.The bridge was started in 1751 and took 42 years to build. The chamber above the central arch was used for a variety of purposes, including a prison.  Allegedly some prisoners were killed by being thrown from the windows during the Spanish Civil War.

   


We visited the bullring in Rhonda which is recognised as the first purpose built space for fighting bulls. At 66 meter diameter it is the largest, and most dangerous bullring with seating for 5,000.  After six years of building, the first bull fight occurred in 1758. The bull fighting museum provided an excellent history of bullfighting, the matadors and customs. We learned about the infamous Pedro Romero who retired from the art of bullfighting after killing 5,000 bulls without suffering any personal injury. 

Over the last few weeks we have been studying the weather forecasts in anticipation of departing. Over the next two months we need to get to Greece - basically heading east for roughly 2,000 NM. Below is last week's forecast, we are hoping we don't see too many like this in the next few months - gale force winds from the east for most of the Med.

Below are some photo's from Rhonda.

 

 

A missed calling possibly?