25.6.2017
The ‘escape’ from Cádiz was very smooth. In fact the wind didn’t exceed 9kn during the 53 hours we were underway between Cádiz and Cartagena.
 |
| no wind |
The most important activity (apart from the navigation, of course) was trying to find a small spot in the shade of the bimini to save ourselves from the intense heat. Funnily enough, after so many years when we didn’t need a bimini for sun protection, we even thought one short moment in Falmouth whether we really needed one. Today I can positively say that without one we could not sail in the Mediterranean! We even rigged additional towels to keep the afternoon sun out of the cockpit.
Nevertheless, our sail from Cádiz to the Cabo Trafalgar was very pleasant because we could sail with the tide pushing us towards the Straight of Gibraltar. The greatest
 |
| Cabo Trafalgar at dusk |
surprise is that because of the constant current flowing from the Atlantic into the Mediterranean Sea, it kept carrying us the whole way to Cartagena. We did and average of 140NM in 24 hours which is a record for Easy Rider (considering that there was no wind at all and that we didn’t want to push our engine too hard).
It was very interesting to pass Gibraltar at night (01:00). You could make out the contours of the rock, which was illuminated from one side. Even more exciting was to see the Moroccan coast so close! The straight near Gibraltar is only 8NM across. You could also make out the highest mountain south of Gibraltar, Jbel Musa (848), which is higher than the ‘rock’ (426m). The stench of all the vessels in the straight was very intense. Once past Gibraltar, the shipping eased and we settled down to our 3hours on, 3hours off routine of watches.
We didn’t see much of the Sierra Nevada. In fact you could hardly see the coastline at all because of the haze.
 |
| Accompanying dolphins |
But what we did see a lot of were dolphins. To our amazement we also saw several swordfish jumping out of the water, but instead of diving gracefully back like the dolphins do they fell back into the water like heavy sticks making a big splash. The sea is so intensely blue here compared to the sea in the more northern latitudes. We could just sit and enjoy.
Cartagena like Cádiz has so much ancient history that we feel its importance wherever we look.
In the National Museum of Underwater Archeology we learnt so much about the Phoenician, Roman, Greek and Medieval trade routes in the Mediterranean. The Phoenicians brought culture and writing to Spain from the Middle East and North Africa.
 |
| sun rise in the Alborán Sea |
 |
| night navigation |
Now that we have reached the Mediterranean and the Alborán Sea, between Morocco and the southern coast of Spain, we have some mixed feelings about being here. Since having heard the Pan Pan safety message on the VHF in Cádiz about the rubber dinghy with 32 people on board adrift in the Straight of Gibraltar, we have heard many more such messages from Tarifa, Malaga, Cabo del Gato, and Cartagena radios. They are all similar, most of them are vessels adrift somewhere between Morocco and Spain in the Alborán Sea, carrying many refugees from North Africa. These messages get repeated every hour or so and in the end you feel quite overwhelmed by them! One of the questions which keeps haunting me is: what would I do if we came across one of these refugee boats? Is there anything that one could do apart from calling for help and staying close by?
If you think of them, without the comfort of shade, without much water or an engine to get you to the other side, you can just imagine the hell they must be going through…
 |
| Roman Amphitheatre in Cartagena |
PS:
 |
| this is the area of the globe where we are... |