The Costa De la Luz (Coast of Light)
Alan's Log:
Joan's Log:
Voyage from Lisbon, Portugal to Ayamonte, Spain
Friday July 20th, 2007
This is about a 140 NM sail, so we left Lisbon in the afternoon so as to arrive the next day at about the same time. We were favored with West winds of 15-18Kts as we headed south through the night, back to Cape Sao Vicente which marked our landfall in Europe a month or so earlier. We rounded the Cape and headed East past Lagos, and started thinking about the good times that we had enjoyed with David & Tni of ROSARIO in Lagos, and, briefly, in Lisbon. As we headed further East past Lagos our radio was blipped for a position report (will explain below*) and when were approaching the Spanish border we got a radio call from David of ROSARIO! They were just heading out of Faro so we arranged to meet up at the first port across the Spanish border - Ayamonte. A pretty town on a river that divides Portugal and Spain.*VHF Position Reports. Using DSC radio we are able to send and receive position reports of our and other boats. So, if we know a boat's MMSI number, we can program an automatic call which will provide us with it's Lat & Longitude as well as its course and speed. This only works if the boat in question is in range of VHF and has its radio switched on - Oh and you have to have the vessel's MMSI number.
We left Lisbon and sailed overnight. Our destination was as far as we could get into southern Spain. We had a great sail, good wind from behind and made great time. As we were passing the Portuguese town of Faro, we received a call from David and Tni on ROSARIO over the VHF. They were only about 10 miles behind us. After a little discussion we decided to meet up in Ayamonte, the first port of call in Spain after leaving Portugal. Ayamonte is a beautiful town which looks like it had been built with life-size white legos building blocks. We spent 3 or 4 days there just " kicking it" as Tni would say. There we had our first taste of Spanish cuisine, Iberican ham, tapas, paella, all wonderful. We were immediately struck by the way the Spanish enjoy life and family! We had a few very noisy nights in the marina, it seemed they enjoy life maybe a little too much! Our first night, there was very loud music coming from what seemed 3 different sources; then around 3:00 in the morning came the voices of many people singing and chanting? and screaming until about 5:00AM! The 2nd night was the same with singing from the boat 15' from us till 6:00 am, but without the chanting. On the 3rd night, exhausted from the previous two nights I was able to sleep through most of it!
Despite tramping all over town with two laptops in search of elusive internet Cafes our seemingly never-ending search for internet had no results in Ayamonte.
Our next stop was Rota, with Rosario, our cruising buddies. Rota is a lovely old seaside city with a lovely old church and castle, many plazas flanked by inviting outdoor cafes and a long beach with golden sand.
On our first morning there I met an artist from Holland, painting at the end of our dock. In the glorious morning light, she was painting the view of the lighthouse, town and church in oils. I felt pangs of envy and disappointment with myself for not being out there too! Willehmena very kindly loaned me a book of her work, she is an extremely talented and accomplished artist. She gave me just the push I needed to get my act together and just jump in! Later that same evening we bumped into her and her partner Christian, in a crowded cafe; where we ended up sharing their table, tapas, wine and great conversation . I know it was more than a coincidence we met and thank her for the inspiration ! Will's website
Rota is also an American Navy base, which almost reminded us of Bremerton! We tuned into the base radio station, so odd to hear American music, advertisements, and news after so long. The news was the same as always, glad to have missed it. Tni and I had an adventure on the base, we were originally in search of a gypsy flea market, but couldn't find it and ended up at the gates of the base. Both of us were in need of prescription renewals and thought "hey, there is an American hospital here, with American doctors, so what is the harm in trying?!" We walked into the gate house, explained our situation and before we knew it had been given permission and granted entry and had a military police escort to the base hospital! The really crazy part is they never asked to see our ID or PASSPORTS! OR check my heavy backpack??!!?? Anyway, our escort was charming, and everyone in the hospital was extremely helpful and friendly, the disappointing part is that we didn't get our medicine. The pharmicist on duty told us we could get it over the counter in Spain. Which ended in a futile seach on my part, I tried in about 4 or 5 different phamacies, with no luck, all said that type of medicine was not available in Spain. Oh well, I'll get it eventually. As we were escorted out of the base we passed a Baskin Robbins! And we got to stop and get a scoop of our favorite flavor, how great is that?
We were all struck with the Spanish way of life, sleep late, lunch around 3:00, followed by siesta, dinner around 9:00 or 10:00 lasting till 12:00. Tni and I loved how everyone is out strolling in the evening. Quite a contrast from American way of life, where everyone settles in front of the TV. It is a promenade of families out with toddlers and babies, with a procession of strollers every 5 feet. Apparently, there is no such thing as babysitters in Spain as whole families, grand parents, teenagers with their cell phones and young parents in large groups with babies and very small children were out together having dinner until after midnight. Midnight seemed to be the witching hour though, when the previously very quiet children began to melt down. Whining, crying and tantrums erupted all around us, at which point everyone packed up and went home!
Still no internet! we walked for miles looking for wifi. We finally found it in a tiny restaurant on a narrow street. Later we discovered that free wifi (pronouced weefee, in spanish) is provided in the library not far from the marina! Nice! Air Conditioned too!
I spent a fun evening sitting on the steps of the castle sketching the old church, although after a while I was assaulted by flies and then by a group of children. All were very curious about what I was doing, and speaking to me in spanish, one little girl actually just grabbed my sketch book and pencil and started drawing her own picture!
Next......We share a rental car with David and Tni and visit Sevilla together for a few days.