I wandered along the seafront one more time to take in the sunrise before we departed Aguadulce. It was a beautiful morning although the forecast told us to anticipate changeable weather so we were prepared with our life jackets and warm gear at the ready.
In reality we set out in much calmer conditions than we anticipated and they stayed with us all morning. In fact for the first time this trip we didn’t even try with the sails, we simply motored across the gulf towards Cabo de Gata. It was quite cloudy but towards lunchtime it got warmer and we were in t-shirts as we rounded the headland. It is always a key moment for us when we go round the “Cape of the cat” 🐈 it means we really are on the final stretch of our journey home. It is a short distance from here to San Jose and we were on berth at half past 2 – thanks to the calm seas and consistent 4 knot winds all the way (25 nautical miles) from Aguadilce. We still need to be vigilant with the weather forecast but hopefully we’ll head to Garrucha in the morning.
We woke up early and I went for a pre-sunrise walk before we set off. I didn’t see anyone else other than a couple of cafe owners and the street cleaners. We set out at first light and it was lovely to see the early morning sun light up the little town of San José. We passed an odd looking fishing boat just around the headland as we got the sails out. The conditions we really good and we had a good hour long sail before we needed the motor to boost us along a bit when the wind dropped. We went past Carboneras and the ‘hotel ilegal’ which looks like it is either being dismantled or built up, who knows what we’ll find next time we’re passing ?
The wind picked up around 1pm and we were sailing again with no motor. We were having a great time making around 5-6 knots speed in a 10 knot wind. We felt the sea state start to pick up as we approached Garrucha. The wind also gusted up to 25 knots as we were about to start bringing the sails in in order to enter the port. Skipper Nigel had to do some nifty handling to make it easier for me to do my crew job of bringing in both the Genoa and mainsail.
We entered the port in heavy (25 knot) winds and managed to get the boat onto her mooring space alongside without too much trouble – thanks to good teamwork and a helpful marinero who put us in a favourable spot for the wind. It took us a few minutes to recover and set the boat. The wind dropped around 6pm and we went out for drinks and snacks before watching a stunning moonrise (impossible to photograph I’m afraid). I did make a video just after we arrived…..
Hopefully onwards tomorrow – as always depending on the weather 🙂
The Adventures of Gemini J 