Cartagena to Almerimar

We departed Cartagena on Tuesday, November 22, 2005. Our prayers for good weather had been answered. Our departure was 0845am with clear skys, 1-2 foot seas, wind 10-15 out of the west. We passed our first way point Aguilas, 33 miles south of Cartagena and decided it was best to keep going. We passed way point two around 2400, Cabo de Gata, the light on the point that turned us west. We were lucky to have such a clear night with the whole community of 20 fishing boats and trawlers. They were kind enough to show us the “tunny pens” with their huge white lights. When the night shift comes the eyes play tricks, sometimes things seem so much closer than they appear. At 0400am on Wednesday, November 23, 2005 I had the chance to catch the weather, gale 7 winds, 6-8 foot swells, and perhaps cyclonic winds. Mercifully, we were 7 miles from our next way point, Porto Almerimar. Negotiating the harbor entrance was a bit challenging, with the dark morning sky, the sun doesn’t really rise until 0745am. We made it to the gas dock and had a few hours until we could make it to the berth. We are thankful we made it to the dock, enough time to spare before the weather changed. We had heard the coming week’s forecast and knew we would be staying a few extra days.

Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 2005

Thankfully we were trapped at the port because of impending weather. Jeff and I woke, had a quick breakfast and shoved off to the local Mercadona (grocery store). It was nice to know we were eating Thanksgiving dinner with out rocking seas. Jeff and I were very impressed with the selections we found at the Mercadona. We decided to splurge a bit, we picked up some Gouda cheese, an Iberian pate sampler, two bottles of Rioja red wine, some pavo (turkey) legs and wings, fresh green beans along with fresh mixed greens and carrots for a salad. Since we didn’t have a whole turkey we decided to dry rub the turkey with herbs and spices. After it marinated an hour we pan seared and then finished the rest of the cook time in the oven on 400. It took about a half an hour total to eat great tasting bird. In addition, Louise prepared a “Hurkey.” Essentially a turkey and ham come together in a casing and it becomes a “Hurkey”. We had that in addition to the traditional Thanksgiving goodies including, sweet yams, green beans, salad, fresh French bread, and cranberry sauce. Louise took care to bake a pumpkin pie. She made the crust from scratch and we topped it with hand whipped cream. We had not anticipated a Thanksgiving dinner, but it was nice to celebrate an American holiday in Europe with success.

Friday, November 25, 2005

Laundry day: Cleaning sheets, clothing and anything with an odor. We had the winds that had been forecasted show up so it was great for drying. We are getting a cold front with North West winds pushing down from France and Great Britain. A few days ago the Sierra Nevada Mountains that are able to be seen from the harbor only had a small dusting of snow. After two days of winds gusting 35 knots the snow on the mountains is lower and more visible from down here. Chris and Louise decided to rent a car to shop for four months of food rations. We have been told by a well traveled cruiser named Michael that this is the place to buy food. We are in Almerimar, where much of the surrounding area is a plastic sheet under which the majority of Europe’s winter vegetables are grown. Food production is plentiful and the prices are right. A nickname for the region is Costa del Plastico.