We spent a few days at home before our next little August adventure, enjoying time with the cats and morning walks – one particularly spectacular sunrise.
Before long we were itching to get back to Cartagena and we invited Rosana to join us on a short trip over to Mazarron for a couple of days to get some paddle boarding and relaxing. Having cleaned Gemini J last time after our trip Skipper Nigel was very disappointed (putting it politely) when we arrived to find a full dump of fresh sahara sand had landed on deck. The sky was thick with it too – so, time for another cleaning effort before we could sail onwards.
As we set out we realised the sea state was not quite as calm as expected, however, the swell was in our favour so we were happily being pushed along for the short journey to Mazarron. We got the sails out but needed to motor sail to make good progress. It was great having Rosana on board for sailing this time and we had a lovely journey over. We had phoned ahead to check that there would be a berth for us and were told that whilst they didn’t make reservations there would be no problems – simply radio through to the marinero when we arrived. We duly radioed and indeed phoned as well – only to find they were completely full !! What a nightmare, we had to turn back from the entrance to the marina and were considering our plan B when we heard a boat leaving over the radio…… quick thinking meant I got back on the phone and asked for their berth – the marinero could hardly say no given the fact that we’d heard there was now a place available. Despite being really busy and stressed he agreed to help us and we were mooring up 10 minutes later between two massive motor yachts. Our place was right by the beach and restaurants so we set the boat, got everything secured and headed for a delicious lunch.
It was busy in Mazarron – the beach in particular but the great thing about being aboard is that we have our own space so no need to contend with the crowds. It was still very hazy and the sky seemed full of dust – the temperatures were in the 30’s pretty much the whole time, only cooling down a little late at night through to the early morning. We relaxed after lunch and in the evening Rosana and I went for a walk along the promenade. The next morning I went out on my paddle board (no photos since I haven’t quite mastered it yet and taking a camera would be one step or possibly fall too far). I felt I earned the English Breakfast that we found in a local cafe just a few steps from the boat. We had to move to a different berth (due to the marina being full and a boat coming back into our space that evening) so we circled around the outer harbour for a while just to get a cooling breeze on us before the marinero helped us onto a pontoon berth – much quieter than the first and below the Christ statue I had walked to last time. Rosana and Nigel enjoyed a “pontoon shower” to cool down since the temperatures were rising by this point. In the afternoon Rosana and I took Ben the Kayak out for an adventure – it was brilliant. The first time we have tried it with two paddlers and it worked really well, the speed is certainly much faster with two. Skipper Nigel joined us on the dinghy as our “support crew” for the first little bit before he headed back to Gemini J. We continued on round the headland and found a wonderful pebble beach only accessible from the sea – it was brilliant. We managed to get ashore and had a little swim from the beach before heading back to the marina. That evening we walked around and got ourselves a Mama Mia’s pizza which we enjoyed aboard.
The forecast was for 10-12 knot winds and slight seas the next day when we were due to head back to Cartagena, I went off for a paddle board across the beautifully calm bay first thing. Later, as it turned out once again we found ourselves with stronger conditions than expected with 20 knot winds. We did manage some sailing but as the wind was strong and we needed to be sailing “head to wind” for our course to Cartagena it didn’t last long. We were crashing into the waves which were a little higher than expected but the sea spray was very refreshing so no-one minded too much. We arrived back in port very weather beaten but with big smiles on our faces ready to face the next adventure that August brings us.
The Adventures of Gemini J 