Christina Lee Update, May 2007

Five months of land lubbing has left our boat a little wanting of some TLC. Thankfully the wind usually blows east or west and not from the land so the constant dust cloud from the ongoing building work has not settled upon our topsides. The winter has been cold and wet we were told so she has had a wash on occasion.

Major upset at Aguadulce Marina! Prices have risen massively and the live aboards are all up in arms. It has been the cheapest place to stay for them; at least that’s what they think, on the northern side of the Med. We were paying 12 Euros a day plus tax for long stay, the price went up 65%. For our stay from 1st May we were charged 58 Euros Inc tax per day! As a result we were obliged to leave pronto like.

The only viable option was to head across the Alboran Sea to the North African coast and stay in the Spanish enclave of Melilla, ideally suited to a couple of weeks boat servicing and cleaning! Plan was to leave the marina, anchor outside and wait for our departure time of 5pm. Trouble was the sea state was a bit lumpy and I did not want to dive under the boat to check the propeller with the boat leaping up and down. Sod it, it will be fine! We were going to make sandwiches for our journey and get the boat prepared but that all went out of the window at 2pm when we left the marina, pity.

The whole point of a passage plan is to work out how long it will take and what time you will arrive at the destination. Leaving at 5pm and travelling 110 miles at 6 knots would have got us there about lunch time the next day, great! Leaving a 2pm gave us a bit of a head start but the wind was against us. The weather forecast did not mention anything about 25kn of wind from SSW. After about five hours the wind had veered enough to get all the canvas up and the boat speed went up to 8kn. We were still close hauled and taking a lot of water over the deck, the sea state was terrible, all crossed up and lumpy and hitting us beam on so the boat would roll sideways 30deg as well as going up and down. Very tiring as you had to hold onto something all the time and there was no way we could make sandwiches or a roast dinner.

There was also quite a bit of traffic about as all the shipping entering or leaving the Med goes through the north of the Alboran. We had no reason to slow down or alter course thankfully but we had to keep a good look out the whole time. Only one big super tanker came close enough to be on a collision course but he gave way to us and went across our bows with about a quarter of a mile to spare. That sounds like a long way away but imagine a thing the size of a small town bearing down on you at 25kn, loaded to the top with 40 foot steel containers and we, just a humble 40 foot plastic boat hoping they have us on their radar…

Despite the difficulties of night sailing there are some pleasures. We were quite often visited by our ocean cousins, Dolphins. At night you can’t see them but they leave behind a wake of translucent phosphorescence as they dart about around the boat. You can really appreciate just how fast the mammals can travel and they love the fact that we are bashing the waves and competing with them in some strange aquatic light show. Gay missed this section of the night’s entertainment as she had gone below for a kip. She also missed the panorama of the night sky when at sea. This Day Skipper only functions during the DAY!

We were lucky in a way that the moon only crept out of the sea when we were about to set a course for the Marina. The air quality is so good and the fact that there is no back light around makes one feel that it’s possible reach out and touch the stars. The Milky Way is so big and diverse. It’s hard to pick out the constellations that we are used to in Europe as they are lost in the brilliance of the sky. Truly humbling.

The glow of Melilla is apparent even 30 miles away. When you arrive you can’t see the navigation marks as the backlights swallow everything. This is when leaving early becomes a problem as you have to arrive at a strange port in the dark. Garmin saves the day and we motor inside the outer harbour with no problems. It’s five o’clock in the morning and the night clubs are still open...

We are shown to our berth and go in bow to as it’s still blowing plenty and I cant keep her straight enough when stern to. It’s pretty empty and we have loads of room to swing about on our one stern line. The formalities were painless and we were in bed before six, feeling shattered.

Melilla. Africa? Morocco? No, quite obviously very affluent Spanish. Lots of 4X4’s and fancy German cars, designer clothing shops and all tax free. Don’t ask how they make their money here, it’s not tourism. The Marina is as good as any we have stayed in before and 100% better than Aguadulce. WiFi internet, clean toilets with seats and paper, loads of showers, full time security patrols, use of the yacht club Gym and swimming pool and all for less than 10 Euros a day! Compare that with 58 euros for all day jack hammering, all night racket from the clubs, crappy toilets and no security at all! Get Stuffed Aguadulce!

We love it here, it’s so quiet! We have great neighbours too, on our port side we have two Australian couples in their twenties or early thirties sailing around the world in a 45’ sloop, I think it’s an Island Packet. To starboard we have Len, normally sailing a 40’ ketch but his boat blew off its blocks whilst on the hard and punched holes through the hull and he lost his main mast! He hopes to have the mast back and re rigged for July so he can get going. Nice bloke, knows all the right people locally. Just up from him is a Moody 44 owned by Dave and Carol, they have been here for 3 years and now have residency! On the hard is a Huge Hatteras motor boat owned and maintained by Pat and her husband, both from Liverpool. Plenty of English to talk to if you wish. The harbour has stacks of room inside the breakwater, perfect for the locals to learn to sail and it is also well connected to mainland Europe with frequent ferry’s and high speed Cat’s. There is also the commercial dock just in front of us over the wall so we can watch the action from the saloon, all very pleasant! The beach is about one mile long on the inside of the breakwater so very safe but there seems to be quite a bit of crap in the water, guess it can’t go anywhere else? Last night a 1950’s cruise liner arrived from Finland and discharged lots of bloated hat wearers. She’s called Kristina Regina, look her up on the net. Quite some investment/commitment to keep a ship so old afloat.

We will be here for a while before going to the Balearics. Need to do a bit of minor maintenance and stock up of cheap Vodka. Diesel only 0.75 euros a litre. Will keep you all posted on our movements, miss you all like the English weather!

Regards,
Graham and Gay