Since we were nearing the area of the Mediterranean Sea where recent orca attacks have occurred, we hugged the coast as much as possible and tried to stay below the 20 metre / 60 Ft recommendations from the Spanish government and the scientists involved in the research of this orca behaviour, as well as motored rather than sailed, the latter, of course, not an option in the light winds.
We did, however, have a slightly later start than we intended, primarily because we waited on a marinero, who said he’d be on the dock in “ten minutes” after we called him. He was supposed to take the access cards, refund our deposit and help us cast off. Instead, after a half an hour of hanging around and waiting, there was no sign of him, so the cards were taped to the electric and water console on the dock and we cast off ourselves. Who knows where our cash deposit will end up, although we wouldn’t be far wrong in surmising it won’t be going back into the petty cash drawer.
En route, while Roy ran the watermaker and kept watch, Elaine, besides having a nap, reviewed the orca situation by accessing the various groups and apps available to the sailing community to help monitor the situation. We weren’t altogether thrilled, though, to learn the attacks in the Mediterranean Sea had more than doubled since she last looked at the statistics before leaving the Balearic Islands.
We were also surprised to see a fair number of yachts sailing up and down the coast, most, like ourselves, keeping close inshore as much as possible.
It was lovely scenery along the way, including spotting the smallest beach we’ve seen in Spain and the blooms of jellyfish were our entertainment for the day; the latter not quite as big as those we saw in Australia, but big enough, nonetheless.
By 1600 we were tied up to our dock in Yacht Port Cartegena, but not before we had to drift outside the harbour for about half an hour, per instructions from Port Control, while a gas tanker berthed. Getting onto our dock, thankfully an easier t-dock, was a tad tricky, nonetheless, given that the wind had picked up significantly; of course, exactly when we didn’t want stronger winds!
Once settled, we registered with the marina office then took a wander around the waterfront area in search of a restaurant, where we could have an early dinner and a cold beverage. Besides finding Mare Nostrum, where we enjoyed another delicious seafood paella, we found a rather odd, but enormous waterfront area and a very clean tidy town, all basically deserted, though. Finding a submarine haulout facility was, however, a first. The waterfront did to come to life as the heat of the day subsided, but it was still an enormous area for the relatively few people around.
We had also changed our plans to stay two nights here, since the marina could accommodate us, which will give us a little more time to explore.
After dinner and our walk we returned to Paw Paw and crawled into our beds. The stress of this passage through the Mediterranean was catching up with us, particularly now that we had the orca situation to deal with, something we could certainly do without right now!
