Sunday 11 November 2012

Crank

Crank.....a nautical term. Felt quite sad when we left our friends in Lagos......parting of the ways, but knowing at some point we may bump into each other again. We arrived in Cadiz after one of our best sails yet. Flat seas, strong winds and heeling past 20 degrees at times. The waiting pontoon was surrounded on three sides and it was low water, so we chose an easy pontoon to tie up to. The marina was empty and no cruisers, no wonder! The marina staff were very unfriendly and unwelcoming. The marina is at the deserted end of the commercial docks surrounded by derelict buildings and cats. A promenade to no where has been started but they must have run out of European money! We were told there was no internet.....not allowed to be sold in Andalucia and they obviously weren't going to let us log in. Great!
We walked into Cadiz via containers, port bins and a derelict row of buildings. It turns out that on a Friday night, portaloos are put in place and these turn into night clubs, seedy,scruffy dumps of places. I never really felt threatened, but then I had Tristan with me! Cadiz sea front was stunning at night and there was a good atmosphere in the narrow city streets.
If you can get over the location of the marina, Cadiz is a beautiful city....narrow streets and lots of beautiful parks with specimen trees and fragrant Mediterranean flowers.
We walked miles.
We managed to buy a depth sounder....the one we were convinced to have serviced is intermittent and we are freaked out when we enter a new port, so we needed to sort the problem out. As soon as the wind blows from any direction but the south west we are off. Morocco is calling.