Isla Culatra, Portugal - Mazagon, Spain - Rota - Barbate

Taio peacefully at anchor, Isla Culatra

TUESDAY 20 MAY 2008

ISLA CULATRA, PORTUGAL - MAZAGON, SPAIN

55 MILES

Isla Culatra is a stunning setting with beautiful soft sandy bays, but we decided not to wait any more for the ‘perfect’ beach day and set off under a grey sky to Mazagon. The weather is good for the next few days for going East and getting to Morocco. It can sometimes take a month before the winds are in the right direction and not too strong. We motor-sailed most of the way, with a couple of hours sailing.

Marina: 13.29 euros

WEDNESDAY 21 MAY 2008

MAZAGON - ROTA - 44 MILES


After breakfast in the café we left about 11.00 and sailed the whole way on a beam reach, making about 6 – 7 knots. We passed Chipiona and are now going further East than we have yet been.

Rota is a lovely town, and we had an excellent meal in a hotel.

Marina: 13.29 euros

THURSDAY 22 MAY 2008

ROTA - BARBATE- 44 MILES

The family from Wales on Cape, who we had met in the Guadiana, were in the Marina, so we went and had a chat with them before having breakfast in the town. Sarah and David are going in the same direction as us, but have got engine problems at the moment which should be fixed in a few days. When we went to pay the marina, they told us that Ayamonte Marina said we hadn’t paid for the two nights when we were there in April! Unfortunately, I had paid by cash and hadn’t kept the receipt. It seems their systems often make mistakes, but it is up to the customer to prove that they have paid!

We didn’t get away until about 11 a.m. again, but had an excellent sail the whole way. Roger managed to put the cruising shute up without the use of the usual expletives! We passed Trafalgar and had to make sure we avoided getting tangled up in the Tuna nets. There are a few of these as the Tuna have to pass through the narrow Straits to go from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean to spawn.

We arrived at Barbate about 7 p.m. They could only offer us a 16 metre berth which would cost about 20 euros. We were also told that normally electricity and water was extra, but in all the Junta marinas we have stayed so far, we have not been charged for water and electricity. In the end she said we could stay on the waiting pontoon for 15.12 euros

Marina: 15.12 euros, excellent showers, no internet