Wander Lost

Author: John

  • Ibiza and Majorca

    From Altea I sailed up the coast and anchored overnight. The next evening I set off for a night sale to Ibiza. The seas were rough with a 4m swell and strong winds but we made very good progress and arrived in the early morning. I anchored overnight and the next morning I moved to Ibiza Marina where I resupplied with food and stayed 2 nights.

    The next day I sailed along the South coast of Ibiza to an anchorage just at the tip of the island ready for the crossing to Majorca. On the way I passed 2 coastal towns one called Cala Longa the other Es Carna, the last time I was here was about 30 years ago on two seperate family holidays. My youngest daughter Lucy was still in a pushchair.

    It was another rough crossing to Majorca and found a beautiful anchorage in a small bay and stayed there 2 nights. I am now motor sailing along the South coast of Majorca making my way up to the Marina where I’ll stay for up to 2 months.

  • Garrucha to Altea

    I have not blogged for a while so there’s a lot to catch up on. This will be a longer blog including carnivals and possible romance. How’s that for an attention grabbing opening 😉

    Carnivals

    From Garrucha I sailed to Aguilas, my mum had told me about carnivals there and the timing was perfect for getting to see some of it. I booked into the Marina for 5 nights and while there managed to see 3 carnivals in total. One night was a party night where everybody dressed up in different costumes and just went out for a drink at the bars and the restaurants, the place was buzzing and although I went back to the boat at around 11pm, I could hear the partying going on until the early hours. I really need company to share this with.. more on that later.

    Aguilas Carnivals

    From Aguilas I sailed up to Mazarone, my mum used to live there, And then up past Alicante and Benidorm to Altia. I’m here for 2 nights to refuel and resupply ready to cross to Ibiza.

    And now the bit that I’m sure my mum is dying to know more about. Last November I went on some dating sites and I’ve been quite successful. I’ve got several new female friends who I chat to online and may progress further, but time will tell. It takes a very brave and adventurous woman to come out and meet me on the boat having never met me ashore. But those are the qualities I like so it’s a good filter for the people that may be suitable for me. Two ladies have booked flights to come out and meet me in the next 2 months, both of them coming out as friends and they may leave as friends, we don’t know, They do know about each other, I am very honest and open with them and we are mature enough to understand what is going on. And in case you hadn’t already guessed Marina is a lady I met on a dating site, she came out as a friend in Gibraltar. We agreed we’re not compatible and that’s OK, we still enjoyed our time together doing some sightseeing and sailing.

    Tomorrow I hope to sail to Ibiza I could write a song about that.. “Hey, I’m going to Ibiza 🎵”. Its 12 hours away roughly depending on the weather, the forecast looks good though. I will check the forecast again tonight and tomorrow morning but it’s likely I’m gonna do it as a night sail so I can arrive in Ibiza during daylight. That means leaving late tomorrow afternoon.

  • Two Years Living on Lady Cindy

    It’s been two years now since I moved aboard my 32 foot sail boat. I have had good times, bad times great times, sad times but I know it was the best decision I have ever made for myself.

    In that time I have travelled to West Wales and back, crossed the English Channel and Biscay alone, sailed with crew, sailed with friends, met new friends, seen hundreds of Dolphins, dodged Orcas, been frustrated, happy, sad, excited, proud, ashamed and every other emotion. But I feel alive, I am enjoying life, I like me.

    My journey so far

    So what’s next? I will continue up the Spanish coast over the next week or so then cross to Ibiza. Plans are underway for a friend to join me there to sail to Alcudia in Majorca. I will be spending up to two months there working on another boat before sailing to Corsica, Sardinia and the Italian West Coast. I then hope to sail all the way around Italy to Venis over the Summer. I have no definite plans for beyond that.

  • Motril to Garrucha

    A cold Mistral wind has been prevailing along this coast all week and is set to continue for another week. It has meant tacking into strong headwinds with 1-2 meter waves and rolly anchorages. I am sheltering in a marina at Garrucha.

    While anchored I had a visit from the National police to inspect the boat and check my documents. They went away happy 🤗 My Facebook post at the time was..

    Lady Cindy has been violated!!!
    A big boat came alongside while we are anchored, it’s night and the first I knew was flashing torches at the window. Their boat had no lights on 😳. Two boarded my boat Lady Cindy and one searched inside, the other got his pen and pad and demanded my documents 😳😳 I handed them over…. Two forms later, they were satisfied and called back their ship.. which bumped into mine quite hard 😳😳😳 the two men jumped over and they were gone. The Spanish police are actually really friendly 🤣🤣🤗🤗

    As soon as I get a weather window I plan to day sail to Aguilas where there is a week long festival of carnivals starting on the 16th.

  • Motril

    I spent about a week in Motril, it’s a lovely place and a refreshing change from the other Costas towns. The people are friendly, the views of the mountains stunning and I got a lot of boat maintenance done.

    First job when I arrived was to got to a local vets to get Dotty a European pet passport. Up till now she has been travelling on a UK issued animal health certificate which has expired. The pet passport allows lifetime travel throughout Europe and simplifies entry into a lot of non EU countries. Dotty is officially a European 🙂

    Then boat maintenance started. The most important was to pay somebody to go up the mast to install a new light. It’s a combined navigation and anchor light and led. He was up there for nearly 4 hours, it should have taken 1 hour tops but it was uncomfortable up there so I am sure the problems he had were genuine. I rewired down below and it all works great.

    Other jobs included a new stern navigation light, fixing the transom toe rail that broke a few weeks ago, new gearbox oil, new mast steaming light bulb plus a few other minor jobs.

    I am now making my way West then North toward Valencia.

  • A day in Motril

  • Gibraltar to Motril

    The Spanish Costa del Sol coastal towns have held little interest to me being full of hotels, bars and clubs. I am glad to be passing out of season when they are quiet. The scenery on the other hand is stunning with mountains right up to the coast.

    I am currently anchored in the harbour at Motril. I will stay here for a few days exploring and move on next week, weather permitting. I think I have found a vet willing to issue a pet passport for Dotty, I need to go to the clinic on Monday, cross fingers on that.

    Loneliness has crept in a little bit again. I am determined to be positive though. I am taking steps to fight it, friends should expect a barrage of ” How are you?” messages soon 🤣 and those of you thinking of holidays this year, check out cheap flights to the med to join me for a week or two 🤗

  • Gibraltar with Marina

    Now this could be confusing so bear with me. Marina is a good friend who flew to Gibraltar to spend a week with me on Lady Cindy, who is in Gibraltar at a marina. As I explained to my mum…

    Yes, it’s Marina. I am going to a marina to meet Marina and will stay with Marina at the marina for a couple of nights at least to walk from the marina with Marina up the rock. Then Marina and I may leave the marina to go to a marina at Cueta to stay a couple of nights and Marina and I may get a bus into Morocco. Then return to the marina. Then Marina and I will sail back to the marina in Gibraltar to stay another night or two before Marina flys back from the airport near the marina. Come on mum, keep up 🤣

    And that is exactly what we did 🤗 for once, everything went as planned and we had a great time.

    Tetouan in Morocco

    But, all good things come to an end eventually and my time with Marina in Gibraltar is one of them. Yesterday she flew home but as the marina is right next door to the airport, I got some video of her leaving..

    I plan to spend a couple of days in Gibraltar, there is a Yanmar dealer here where I can get engine parts so I will service the engine, do a few maintenance jobs and then sail into the med and up the Spanish coast. I am in exploring mode now so although I have a rough idea of direction (Italy) I can wander to get there. The weather forecast shows a windy week of 20 knots or more so I will wait till that blows away.

  • Arrived in Gibraltar

    It’s taken a lot longer than expected but I have finally arrived at the gateway to the Mediterranean, Gibraltar. Its been a difficult journey with bad weather, rough seas, finding out my mother is very ill, feeling low at times plus other difficulties. But we have done it, we are here and I feel fantastic.

    Sunrise at The Rock.

    We arrived at night so threaded our way through the busy harbours of Gibraltar on one side, Algecires on the other, I don’t think I have seen so much traffic on AIS, even in the Solent. We dropped anchor on the Spanish side at La Linea and took a well earned sleep after 3 days and 2.5 nights of non stop sailing.

    The next day we moved to the marina and spent a few days looking around, shopping, fixing things and chilling. Today we moved to Ocean marina in Gibraltar so technically we are back in the UK 🇬🇧.

    This is a big milestone because we switch from travelling mode with a destination, to wandering mode where we can go in any direction. At the moment I am think Balaerics then across to Italy and Malta. I will stay in and around Gibraltar for a week or two first.

    Tomorrow, we get a new guest aboard. Marina will be joining us for a week. We plan some sight seeing, sailing, fishing and possibly a trip to Africa, about 3 hours away across the strait.

  • Portimao and farewell Nelly

    After Christmas we left Sines and headed to Portimao. Good winds down to Sagres died completely after we turned the former so anchored overnight. After starting the engine the overheat alarm went off so we drifted into anchor. That night I replaced the water pump impellor and we were good to go. The next day there was no wind so we motored into Portimao in flat calm seas.

    Portimao is where Nelly leaves Lady Cindy😔 she will be ashore for a while working on a beautiful 3 masted cruiser that is in for maintenance. Nelly will help with painting etc. to get it ready for it’s next leg around the world. She has been a great help in what have been difficult sailing conditions from Santander to here. I wish her all the best for her onward adventures, she will always be welcome back in the future but maybe not in such rough seas 🤢🤣

    After 2 nights in Portimao, Dotty and I set sail for Gibraltar, via Cadiz. Sailing so far has been with good wind strength and calm seas but with the wind more Easterly than forecast, talking back and forth is slowing progress. We have just passed Faro and are on a Southerly tack. At this rate we should reach Cadiz late tonight.