The Meridian of Cádiz

As soon as we arrived in Lagos on the 11th of June, we started to follow the weather. On the menu were strong north-westerlies, followed closely by strong easterlies blowing through the Straights of Gibraltar. We opted to sail during the lull between the two.

We left Lagos on the 14th of June. Our destination was Cádiz. Our idea was to reach the bay of Cádiz and to wait until the strong easterlies subside before entering the Straights of Gibraltar. It was a 24 hour sail where we had a very gentle sail during a warm, starry night. When the moon came out around midnight, it looked like an enormous orange half disc rising from the mist. On Stephan’s watch, a few snorting dolphins leaped out of the dark beside the boat and the unexpected encounter gave him a fright.

In the morning when we were approaching Cádiz, we heard several PanPan safety messages on the VHF from Tarifa, Malaga and Cádiz radios asking vessels to keep a sharp lookout out for a rubber dinghy, with 42 people on board in the Straights of Gibraltar… Later I asked the harbourmaster and he told us that they had similar warnings almost every week. The harsh and grim reminder of the refugee crisis! 

Another safety message was about a life firing exercise (which you could already hear in the distance) extending from Cádiz all the way to the Straights of Gibraltar. 

Puerto América

Calle Cristóbal Colón

We are now in the Puerto América, a marina just outside the old town which seems to have been a grand project that has been abandoned half way through due the economic crisis. The name evokes all the illustrious heritage of Cádiz. I only vaguely knew about the famous battle of Trafalgar (which is just 25NM south of here). What we didn’t appreciate is that from 1753, Cádiz had a ‘monopoly’ on all trade going to the Americas, which had to pass Cádiz before setting off across the Atlantic. We also found out that Greenwich was not the only city to have established a Meridian: Paris, Prague, Rome and Cádiz also had one. All Spanish cartography referred to the Cádiz Meridian until 1907. Christopher Columbus set off from here.

And the history of this incredible city goes much further back: it was founded by the Phoenicians (1100BC), who called it Gadir. It is the oldest city in Europe.

Cooling down on Plaza San Juan de Dios

We are so happy to be here because we will have a lot to discover before we can continue our journey east. The narrow streets and the many ancient trees in the parks and plazas provide some respite to the overwhelming heat! We have to get used to this blazing sun. Even the strong wind is hot. The 20 minutes walk from the marina has no shade whatsoever and seems unbearable to us who came from the cold.

As I write this, it is 5pm and only 32ºC in a shady corner of the boat, but we considered it still too hot to walk into town after our lunchtime “grilling”.

Sunset over Cádiz

P.S. We had a great walk around the old town at dusk and a delicious dinner on the Plaza San Juan de Dios, where the wind gusts were so strong that we had to hold our chips and glasses of beer. The chairs were blown onto the square and the restaurant staff ran after them shouting “al ladrón!”(stop the thief!). Back on board, Easy Rider was covered in a thin layer of white sand (inside and out because we had left the hatches open for ventilation). The wind was gusting 34kn in the harbour. At 11:00pm the temperature was still 30ºC.

Old town of Cádiz