Into the Mediterranean

20 October 2023 – Cartagena, Spain

We are now in the Mediterranean! The wind eventually switched to blow from the west so we said goodbye to Culatra and Ria Formosa and headed to Gibraltar with a brief overnight stop in Cádiz. It was quite peaceful when we went through the Straits and as we sailed into Gibraltar, which was a relief because they are often difficult to pass through. Jonas caught a nine pound little tunny on the way in.

9 lb little tunny – off the coast of Spain

The only minor issue was the fact that the autopilot stopped working on the way there so we had to steer the boat by hand until my dad realized that the autopilot itself was fine but the cockpit control was broken and rigged up a makeshift controller from down below.

Once inside the Med, we stayed on the Spanish side and anchored off the city of La Línea. The next morning, we all walked to the border, passed through customs, and entered Gibraltar.

View of the Rock of Gibraltar – La Línea, Spain

It was pretty overwhelming in the city due to the crowds at the border and the tightly-packed streets inside. The route into the city involves crossing the airport runway, though luckily we weren’t there at the same time as any planes.

Crossing the runway – Gibraltar

My dad was on a mission to get a new autopilot control display so he and Jonas went to the marine store while my mom, Sirius, and I walked around the city. My favourite part (aside from the Ferrero Rocher milkshake I had) was buying more books than can fit on my shelf when I found a few shops selling books in English. We also went to the grocery store which had a partnership with a UK company to buy cheddar cheese and shortbread. My dad was luckily able to get the correct parts for the autopilot and it is now working perfectly. After a whole day spent walking around Gibraltar, we were exhausted.

Jonas was very lucky because his friend Gerald from Scotland sent him a bunch of presents and commissioned him a cake in Gibraltar, so he got a second birthday party. The presents were much appreciated and the cake was delicious, thank you Gerald!

Birthday cake from Gerald – La Línea, Spain

Our next goal is to get to the Balearic Islands, so we’ve spent the last bunch of days travelling along the coast of Spain towards them. After leaving Gibraltar, we sailed all day and anchored off the port of Fuengirola.

Fuengirola, Spain

We had planned to spend the night there, but we had had a nice downwind breeze all day that was forecasted to continue the next day before becoming too strong in the evening, so after walking the dog we pulled up the anchor and continued moving. The plan was to sail through the night and the next morning before going into port when the wind became too strong, but due to a slight miscalculation and a change in the weather, the strong wind began early in the afternoon and we wouldn’t reach another port until the evening. This was fine at first, but soon the wind picked up to over fifty knots from behind us. There were whitecaps, the tops of the waves were blowing through the air, and we were going ten knots on a reefed jib alone. It was the most wind we’ve ever been out sailing in, but Festina Lente handled it no problem. At around around four o’clock, we reached the town of Águilas and planned to spend the night at the marina, where we had a reservation. The waves were getting bigger and we weren’t sure if it would be safe to enter the marina, so we called them and they said that it would be fine. We turned towards the coast and headed for the marina, but there were three or four metre waves that were rolling straight into the entrance and breaking across it which we worried would hurl Festina Lente onto the rocks. My dad did a quick 180º turn at the last minute and we powered upwind away from the rocky breakwater. Then we rolled around in the waves for another ten minutes until we arrived at the bay beside it and anchored there. There was a bit of a swell and it was short on space but at least there were no breaking waves. Jonas ended up taking a line to shore and pulling us forward after we anchored so that we cleared a little powerboat moored nearby.

White doves in a giant ficus tree – Águilas, Spain

Our sail to Cartagena today was much calmer than it had been last night, although there were some residual waves. We arrived without incident except for the time that the microwave almost fell out of its locker and onto me as we rolled on a particularly large wave before I shoved it back inside. I’m not sure if we’re going to head to the Balearics tomorrow or if we’ll wait a few days but hopefully we will be there shortly.