3. A Side Trip to Torrevieja

7th January 2013

Normally, we would have sailed onto Morocco and then onto the Canary Islands, but we needed to make a side trip.  Why, well, we had purchased a brand-new bare bones yacht.  Before we could embark on our Atlantic crossing, we needed to load the yacht with some essentials like a generator and solar panels and some non-essentials such as a water maker, washing machine and dryer and air con.  David had arranged this with the yacht broker as part of the purchase of the yacht.  The only problem was, we would have to sail east to Torrevieja, East Spain, to have the work completed.

We were late setting off towards Gibraltar, so it wasn’t long before dusk was upon us.  I was getting used to night sailing, rather than fearing the impenetrable black of night, that same darkness now felt more like a comfortable blanket surrounding me.  In the quiet of the night as we motored through the water, it’s constant hum and the wash of water against the yacht’s hull were my only companion.  That was probably why I had noticed the sudden change in the sound of the engines.  Having slowed the down, it became apparent that the Starboard engine was the cause.  I assumed the odd noise came from the engine having something tangled around it, but when I suggested this to Tony, he dismissed it. 

Taking him at his word, he was the captain after all, I restarted the starboard engine again but I just couldn’t get over the odd noise coming from it, it just didn’t sound right.  In the meantime, Dave had emerged from below deck. I explained my concerns to him and after playing with the engine, varying it’s revs etc. he agreed that something was wrong with it.

  With the waterproof torch in one hand and his googles in the other, Dave leaned over the stern of the yacht to check the prop when he noticed a piece of rope in the water. One small pull and the tangled clamp of rope came loose. Just goes to show, a woman's initiation is alive and well.

Gibraltar

It wasn’t long before we arrived at the Port of Gibraltar. Our grand 42’ catamaran felt tiny as we sailed in the shadow of the abundant towering ships set drifting in the bay, all waiting for their turn to dock at port. As stressful as docking was, once tied up safe and secure it was always a pleasure to have a rest from sailing, whether that was just sitting pretty relaxing or stretching our legs on solid ground. It really hit home that once we started the Atlantic crossing this small luxury would not be an option. All the more reason to enjoy it while we could. In this instance Tony was extra excited, he had been missing his usual English fair and couldn’t wait to visit the UK grocery store waiting for him in Gibraltar. I have to admit, no offence to UK cuisine but I would prefer Spanish food any day of the week.

It is at this point, I guess I should apologize to the guys, not something I’m prone to. I might have suggested, in an earlier post, that the guys were a little delicate because they had needed to nap before our New Year’s outing. Well today, it was the reverse, they were full of life, while I was at best tired and snappy. I was desperate for some beauty sleep. And when I say beauty sleep, I mean it, as there is nothing more ugly than myself when I haven’t got enough sleep. Needless to say, Dave and Tony being of above average intelligence were happy to escape, even if it meant splitting the essential shopping between only the two of them.

In the meantime, I tried to sleep, but after staring at the ceiling for five minutes, I realized it just wasn’t going to happen. So, in the end I decided to indulge my sorry self and grabbing a glass of wine, I made a pretense of studying for my up-and-coming sailing examine.

Tony was the first back to the boat with several heavy ropes, whoops, that would be sheets, in toe. Having already felt the lash of my stinging tongue, he didn’t even bother to look my way, actually he looked anyway else, obviously hoping Dave would emerge from the depths of the yacht to help him install them. But with no sign of Dave, he resigned himself to working on his own and proceeded to try threading the reef sheet (ps. reef sheets simply enable the sail to reduce in size for strong winds).

Feeling a lot more human and humane, and the tiniest bit of guilt, I offed to help him. Tony gave me a long stare as if measuring the danger. I guess I must have passed his assessment as he bravely accepted my offer. Sometime later, David approached the boat weighed down with all the groceries. I have to admit, that for at least half second, I felt a bit bad for leaving him with all the shopping. But the past is the past and shrugging any remnants of guilt aside I helped him unload the groceries onto the yacht. I was most impressed when I unloaded not only my favourite, mocha coffee, but a very heavy bottle of Pepsi Max, only just my most essential requirements!! Yes, he still loves me.

I left the boys to debate the most appropriate method to rig up the remaining reef sheets and started my domesticated duties, safely storing the food items. Soon, all was completed and before the evening was upon us, we were off sailing again. The idea was to try to get ahead of a strong front coming from behind us, and if possible, to get to Torrevieja where we would be staying while the yacht was kitted out. I was first up to man the helm.  Four hours later, all was still looking good, who knows maybe the Mediterranean can offer calm sailing conditions during winter.  At the end of my shift, I was exhausted so I went directly to bed leaving the yacht in Tony and Dave’s capable hands. 

I knew as soon as I opened my eyes the sea condition had worsened.  Looking at the instruments panel I could see we were sailing against 40 knot winds. The sad thing was, I was so used to the bad weather it almost seemed normal now.  Tony, however, had obviously had enough of the gusty winds and resulting sharp crested waves that crashed into us over and over again with a resounding boom, followed by a nerve-racking vibration that tore through the yacht leaving it shuddering. As such, he suggested we pull into the port of Almeria to wait out the storm, rather than exposing the yacht to any unnecessary hardship.

On entering the Port of Almeria, we saw we would need to employ the European method of docking, probably not surprising given we were in Spain.  We passed the crowded dock where yacht upon yacht was snuggled up side by side, with only fenders to separate them. Dave lined up our yacht, in front of a narrow gap, we dropped the anchor and keeping the tension on the anchor line, he manoeuvred the yacht between to monohull yachts.  With the anchor line already firm we tied it off just before reaching the concrete dock with the stern of our yacht. But no matter how close we were to the dock, we were still left with a considerable gap to leap across to it and unlike most, okay, all of the other yachts, we didn’t have a boat ramp. Still, we had to eat, so with blind faith we made the jump, driven by thoughts of a warm pub and cool drink, not to mention fresh seafood.

The place was almost deserted but at least we got a lot of attention. After feasting on a massive meal of seafood paella, Tony left to catch up with friends. While Dave and I continued chatting with some fellow sailors, a married couple who routinely sailed the area.  We managed to talk into the late evening, only then made our way back to the boat. Looking from the dock at the yacht where our berths awaited us, I swear the gap had grown twice its original size. I was not a happy camper. After several colorful words to Dave, because of course it was his fault, I bravely made the leap. I'm pleased to say I arrived safely on the yacht but I was determined that we would get a boat ramp so I wouldn’t have to repeat the exercise.

My First Docking Adventure

In the morning, we set off again towards Torrevieja, this time the wind disappeared and we enjoyed a smooth ride. I was on watch as we approached one of the many ports in Torrevieja, so it was I who steered us into port and docked the boat. A heart attack inducing activity for all involved, it was during this time I realized that if you really want to freak out your husband, nothing, not tantrums, or expensive shopping sprees could compare with taking control of their brand new, precious, unblemished yacht and forcing them to watch you park it for the first time.

Needless to say, I got a lot of attention. I’ve never seen Dave so on edge, nor so restrained. But as terrifying as it was for me, I was very proud of my first successful attempt at docking the 42-foot-long, 24-foot-wide boat with only two very little propellers and no bow thrusters. I am even prouder of Dave for keeping his mouth firmly shut despite his obvious massive anxiety.

There was only one problem, the power cord was too short, so with Dave’s blood pressure soring once more, I steered the yacht away from the dock, spun it around and proceeded to back the yacht back in again. Another successful attempt, now I just needed to tryout docking the yacht in a strong wind or current, a small matter I’m sure.

Torrevieja

We had arrived at our final destination for this segment of the journey, Torrevieja.. We would be staying for a month while all the mod coms where installed. In the end we needed to relocated the yacht once more as it needed to be docked close to the marine services, this location required us to use the less familiar European style once more. We backed the boat up to ensure our power cable would reach but this meant the gap between the dock and boat was far too great to leap. Suddenly the need for a boat ramp was essential. Tony and David, both being the entrepreneurs they were decided to nab the ladder in the marine service work area. This and a wooden board provided by the marina served well for our stay.

That afternoon, Tony arranged his flight back to the UK. He would stay there while they worked on the yacht, and return to us in plenty of time for the beginning of the next stage of our sailing journey. We were sad to see Tony go but at the same time we were both excited to see Mark walk through the airport door with his captains cap. Mark had agreed to holiday with us while we waited out the modifications.

A quick trip to the yacht, where we settled Mark into his berth, then we were off to visit a local restaurant, and while the service was terrible, at least the food was superb.

The next morning was washing day, it took five loads to wash it all. That and the usual scrubbing down and polishing of the yacht took most of the day. But once all the tiring work was completed, we set up on the front of the boat with G&Ts, wine and nibbles and enjoyed the orange-pink sunset.