This week we had the great pleasure and fun of sailing once again with Dasiy Mae as she continued her onwward voyage back to Benalmadena. We invited Rosana to join the crew of Gemini J and had a lovely evening catching up on Tuesday before a relatively early start on Wednesday morning when the weather conditions were forecast to be in our favour (and for once it was correct). I enjoyed another morning walk with Judith and Rosie whilst Skippers Nigel and Poppy prepared the boats for their trip. Daisy Mae departed first and we followed very shortly afterwards, we enjoyed motoring towards Cabo Tinoso together before our headings took us our separate ways.
We got to Cabo Tinoso around 9am and we could still see Daisy Mae at midday – motoring towards their destination of Garrucha and disappearing into the hazy horizon. We had chosen the shorter route to Aguilas (which translates to Eagles – so no wonder I love it there!) where we wanted to revisit Puerto Deportivo Juan Montiel (last time we had stopped for a lovely couple of days with Daisy Mae on our way to Cartagena). The conditions meant that it was another day of motoring, the sea was slightly choppy but the waves were behind us pushing us along a little, this really suited our friends on Daisy Mae who had a much longer journey than us. We were happy enough to put some more miles on our new engine and continue to gain confidence with it – and we had Rosana for company – all in all a lovely day on the water.
We did manage to get the mainsail up on our approach to Aguilas, when we arrived it was hot, hot, hot so time to quickly open up Gemini J, put up the bimini cover for shade and head to the cafe bar for a cooling drink.
The next morning I was up early, eager to walk the stunning coastline that Judith, Rosie and I had enjoyed on our walks at the end of July. It was just as lovely as I remembered and so good to be back here. After walking we had a restful morning, including coffee at the hotel overlooking the beach with just a quick dip in the sea and time on the beach before going back to the cafe bar on the marina for what turned out to be a delicous lunch – after a bit of negotiation with the lifeguard who was adamant only berth holders could sit at the tables by the pool we managed to persuade him that we weren’t going to jump in the jacuzzi without paying and got a lovely shady table under a banana tree.
That evening Rosana and I walked (the two minutes) to the beach to watch the sunset which was stunningly beautiful.
The next morning I went off paddle boarding, out of the marina and along the beach (still not quite good enough to take photos while I’m underway) it was lovely and calm and there wasn’t too much boat traffic at that time, I was super proud of myself, mind you, when I had to stop to let a dive boat depart the marina, luckily they were going slowly enough to offer me a quick “gracias” as they went past – and I don’t think I was even wobbling !! That’s good progress 😉
We went beaching and swimming again before another amazing lunch at a beach bar/restaurant overlooking the sea. Lovely views and luckily food to match, great company and a completely brilliant menu del dia for 10€ a head. The afternoon was rest time before Rosana and I took a longer evening walk to explore the Aguilas promenade. It is a place with lots of different bays and after walking along to the fishing port we decided that we were definitely in the newer, lovelier part of town – although perhaps a daytime wander might be better when the fairground isn’t in full swing. Aguilas is a really lovely place and one we’d like to come back to in winter time too. The castle on top of the hill protecting the town looks well worth a visit. Our moonlit walk ended back at the marina of course and we had an early night ready for an early start the next day.
On Saturday morning we were awoken by the alarm – and wow, it was still dark! That was the plan though – a sunrise sail back towards Cartagena. We were all surprised by just how dark it still was at 6am and we had to be careful not to shine too many lights as we would need our “night vision” for the marina departure. We switched on the navigation lights and were on our way by 6:45 …… it was stunningly beautiful being out on the water at that time, although I must say I did have the advantage over my crewmates of being used to getting up early (they were both a little bleary eyed). We were heading straight into the sunrise and before long our early start was rewarded with a beautiful orange sky and sights of the sun coming up above the water. The photos cannot do justice to such a wonderful sight.
After the excitement of the dawn we got down to the business of sailing back to Cartagena (once again head to wind) – we knew conditions would be slightly against us and we were surprised to be able to get the sails out and get extra speed from them – we had a relaxing trip back to our home port on motor and made our way through a fair few tankers and container ships as we entered Cartagena. We also got another close pass by from the tourist catamaran Ole! We had had another amazing few days with friends and we are sad to have said goodbye to Poppy, Judith, Rosie and Rosana for probably the last time this summer. Now time to give Gemini J some love and attention before we head off for a longer trip next time.
The Adventures of Gemini J 