We had woken to another hazy, misty, foggy morning, though, with low cloud hanging over the coastline, all of which persisted for most of the day, reducing visibility significantly and preventing us from seeing much of the coastline as we meandered west.
We were, however, getting closer to the Gibraltar Strait, given the number of ships’ AISs (Automatic Identification Systems) we could see on the chartplotter and the number of VHF radio calls we could hear. It’s fair to say, some operators had the worst radio etiquette we’ve ever heard and it sounded completely disorderly, with ships passing each other in all directions; not particularly a strait we’re looking forward to crossing, but hopefully it’s not as intimidating as the Singapore Strait. We’ll know soon enough!
After our sunrise departure, Elaine needed a wee nap around noon. By the time she surfaced an hour later and had prepared lunch, we had just over an hour before reaching Málaga. It was lovely to have a shorter sail for a change.
Although we had to wait outside the harbour again, per Port Control instructions, for another cargo ship, this one departing and squeeze passed a departing ferry inside the harbour, we were, nonetheless, safely secured to the dock in the IGY Superyacht Málaga Marina by 1500, surprised to find we were the only yacht in the entire marina, besides the two or three tourist boats picking up their latest tour groups for an excursion.
After a very friendly welcome and completing all the paperwork at the marina office, we returned to Paw Paw to drop off all our officialdom documentation and headed for the old town, per the recommendation received from the marina staff.
What a lovely surprise awaited us once again. Besides the enormous waterfront area around the harbour and marina, lined with cafés, restaurants, bars and numerous high-end shops, there were beautiful tree-lined streets and malls to wander along and lush gardens to explore, as well as fabulous and well maintained old buildings, the ancient castle, Roman ruins, including an amphitheatre and the stunning cathedral. On this occasion, though, we definitely did not hike up to the castle, nor did we enter the cathedral, the latter due to the ridiculous price wanted at the entrance; since when did one ever have to pay a fee to enter a church and a very expensive one at that. We definitely don’t mind giving a donation when requested, but that’s where we draw the line. We were clearly back in the tourist trap!
Instead, we wondered the streets, enjoyed the atmosphere, found the Sherlock Holmes Pub for a cold beverage and then enjoyed a steak dinner at the Puerto Cristal restaurant; we were both somewhat over squid and octopus cooked numerous different ways by this point!
We had also learnt about “Feria de Málaga” from the marina staff, which commences tomorrow and runs for a week, but we were content to skip these festivities and press on to Gibraltar, especially given the difficulty in getting space that can accommodate a catamaran in the various marinas along this coast; we definitely didn’t want to be changing reservation dates at the last minute.
Content with our evening, after enjoying some live music at an outdoor pavilion, we returned to Paw Paw, where Elaine enjoyed a chat to her sister, Dianne, following which it was time for bed.
