Benidorm to Denia, then Puerto Saplaya, Valencia

First fish of the season

TUESDAY 21 APRIL 2009

BENIDORM - DENIA - 47 MILES

We were woken about 7.30 a.m. by a knock on the hull – always disconcerting when you’re at anchor – and the police were there because we’d moored slightly inside a swimming buoy. It was a beautiful sunny day and flat sea. The wind got up to about 20 knots as we were nearing Calpe, so Roger decided to sail, which quickly heeled the boat, and one of his expensive sailing boots fell into the sea. We tacked about 5 miles offshore but by the time we turned for the homeward stretch, the wind had reduced to about 5 knots, so we ended up motoring the rest of the way – typical!

We arrived in Denia at about 4.30 and were shown to a berth in the Marina where a very pleasant girl in the office dealt with our paperwork. She said she had been working there for two years and we were the first English couple to speak to her in Spanish. After we changed our gas bottle in the chandlery we had a cocktail in one of the bars. There’s good a choice of restaurants and bars in the Marina so we went out for a meal later on. Although we didn’t have time to explore Denia, it looked a very attractive place.

MARINA: 20 euros, electricity & water metered, lovely individual bathrooms.

WEDNESDAY 22 APRIL 2009

DENIA - PUERTO SAPLAYA, VALENCIA - 53 MILES

Visibility was not so good, so we put the radar up – more toys to play with, but it turned into a lovely warm day. The countryside in this part of Spain is very pretty with houses and villas dotted up the slopes of the mountains. The highlights of the trip were spotting a sunfish and Roger catching the first fish of the season – a Bonito (like a small tuna). We motored the whole way, arriving in Puerta Saplaya 3 miles north of Valencia about 5 p.m. The port only has about 2 meters charted depth which silts up and we ran aground a couple of times trying to maneuver. We were about to give up and go somewhere else when the Marinero called over to us and directed us to a berth. There is no water, electricity or showers, but there is a massive El Campo supermarket and shopping centre nearby.

MARINA: 25 euros per night, no water, electricity or showers. 3 miles to Valencia. The Americas Cup Marina would be better, but we didn’t know where it was and had no charts for it.

WILDLIFE: Sunfish