Our walk was followed by a light breakfast along the waterfront of the harbour, at Granier Café, before casting off the dock and setting sail to Estepona; our last stop in the Mediterranean Sea.
We hadn’t expected to sail this leg, given the light and variable winds forecast last night, but a perusal of the weather again this morning indicated we could have a light breeze out of the east of 10-15 Kts, which would allow us to motor-sail at least. What we got, however, was 25-30 Kts out of the southeast and quite a fetch and swell on the beam. Exasperated at the forecasting yet again, we double-reefed the headsail and meandered along the Costa de Sol, not wanting to arrive at the marina in howling winds.
As quickly as the blow started, it disappeared, forcing us to motor the last hour, but thankfully the wind was around 5 Kts when Elaine had to manoeuvre Paw Paw into the smallest gap she’s every been squeezed into. Regardless, we had a spot in the Estepona Marina and that’s all that mattered. After seeing other yachts at anchor along this coast, we were delighted to have secured our reservations in the various marinas along this coastline; yesterday looked exceptionally uncomfortable for those at anchor, mostly catamarans, if not all.
Our spot in the marina didn’t come without a problem, though. Apparently, although we had a reservation, a yacht hadn’t left. After few VHF radio calls to the marineros, voila, a spot was found, thankfully!
Sailing along this section of the coastline put us in “orca ally” as well. That meant we sailed with one foot in the sand, staying within the 20 metre / 60 Ft depth contour, per the recommendations of the Spanish government and the scientists involved in the research of the odd behaviour of orcas attacking yachts, putting us very close to the coast, a coastline that we could see today without the mist / fog. It was, however, very built-up, with one continuous line of multi-storey buildings the entire stretch.
Hearing yet another “pan pan” call and yet another “may day” call was disconcerting as always, but a second “may day” call, however, had us scratching our heads. Three people on a kayak were adrift 18 NM offshore from our position at the time, basically putting them amongst all the cargo ships, but in a very strong onshore wind; how was that even possible! By the time we were berthed we hadn’t heard if they had been rescued or not, but we did see a search and rescue helicopter heading to the area.
Other aspects we weren’t expecting on this leg of our passage to Gibraltar, besides the strong winds, was having to dodge numerous yellow buoys set about 1 NM off the shoreline and a navigational warning of fog in the Gibraltar Strait, in the middle of the afternoon and in the middle of summer, for crying out loud!
Two motoryachts following each other, however, confirmed our suspicion that certain actions on the water are done for badness. Both motoryachts were passing us to starboard, within about 100 metres, when the rear yacht crossed our bow, coming to our port side and making Paw Paw the “sandwich spread” as they bounced her around in their wakes, before the motoryacht to port returned to its previous configuration and the occupants looked back to see what they had achieved. It was so blatant and utterly disgraceful! As far as we’re concerned, they can keep the Mediterranean. Overall, we have not enjoyed “sailing” here at all!
After getting settled in Estepona Marina, we were snooping around the marina complex in search of an establishment serving cold beverages and happened to encounter a lovely couple, from whom Roy had asked directions. After an initial chat, we were invited to join them for a drink and an enjoyable evening ensued.
Afterwards we enjoyed a late dinner at the Mumbai Masala restaurant before retiring for the night, both delighted that the Atlantic Ocean was a mere 20 NM away after sailing 2627 NM since leave Finike, Türkiye, in April; we’ve almost connected the dots!
