23) Aguadulce, Spain

Puerto de Aguadulce, Spain 36° 49N 2° 34W

We left port this morning about 10:30am and an hour offshore I just learned where I was.  I thought for the last couple days that we were in Almeria, Spain and it turns out we were 6 miles west in Aguadulce, Spain.  And everyday I ask what day it is.  I think I should start asking where am I.

The sky is blue; the winds are light, the seas are 3 foot swells and we are pointed west 256° to Gibraltar; the last stop in the Med before we jump off south to the Canaries.  At our current heading, current speed and current conditions we should arrive at 8-9am tomorrow morning.  When we arrive we will have somewhat closed a chapter in this cruise.  We will have transited the entire length of the Mediterranean.  We plan to provision, fix some things on the boat, buy some parts, pick-up some parts that are being shipped to us from San Diego overnight, do laundry, see the monkeys and the sights.  The passage south to the Canaries will be the longest we will have done as a crew and steps us up to the longer 21 day passage to Barbados.

We’ve figured out some ways to make life easier underway.  We finally resorted to finger-foods because it’s almost impossible and dangerous to cook with the stove underway.  They went to the local supermercado (very small) this morning for some odds and ends.  John picked out the biggest bag of sunflower seeds he could find.  Dinner is planned; that was easy.

This morning out of port I fired up the stove and cooked chorizo and eggs for John and I.  This is not a meal that Alan desires.  I’m glad that we got one good solid meal in us at the beginning because there won’t be any cooking today.  John mentioned washing down the food with some beer and yes we washed it down with a Cruzcampo.  What the hell, Alan was on watch from 11-1p and it was 5 o’clock somewhere.

There was so much traffic today and to top it off they were on the inside.  We were used to being on the inside of the shipping lanes.  Also, one of the hazards of this particular part of the coast is debris in the water.  Along this coast are acres for miles of greenhouses that supply produce to Europe.  When the plastic blows off it sometimes ends up in the water. 

These boats would come up behind us and overtake us on starboard, all day long.  At one time I counted 9 vessels around us all the way to the horizon.

That little chunk of rock is Gibraltar.  We just went over a thousand miles west across the Mediterranean and ended this portion of this boats’ journey home to San Diego, CA.