On the 12th April we departed Fuengerola and headed towards Almerimar. Again along side our good friends Eva & Haken onboard Sally. We stopped for one night on route in Este, 47 miles along the coast. A pretty marina but extremely expensive even though we received a ‘free’ bottle of wine!
Skipper taking a quick nap after the previous days sight seeing!
The next 47 miles to Almerimar were under engine as the wind was almost none existent! We were very excited to see the amount of snow still remaining on the Sierra Nevada mountains. Perhaps we could get a few extra days of skiing this year!!!
Almerimar is ‘Milford in Spain’. We were looking forward to catching up with those who have departed Milford Marina and now keep their boats in Almerimar. Ian had recently returned to the UK for a few weeks so unfortunately we didn’t manage to see him, however, Nicky, John & Morgan (SY Senora) and Tom (SY Connor)were all there when we arrived. We enjoyed our time catching up and sharing tapas and just a few bottles of wine!!
We had been having trouble with our furling genoa. On mentioning this to John he recommended a British guy who immediately diagnosed this on the mention of the make of the furling gear. Apparently there has been an ongoing manufacturing issue and he has replaced a total of 21 with exactly the same problem as us! Unfortunately the manufacturer will not accept that it is their responsibility in any of the cases reported and therefore we had to pay for a replacement masthead carrier. Over 900 euros!! ouch!! plus fitting of course. The item was delivered and fitted within a few days….a well organised operation from start to finish considering we had to take down the forestay whilst Money Penny remained in her Marina Berth.
During our stay,we hired a car and rented an apartment (with Eva & Haken!)in Granada, just an hour and a half away, at the foot of the snow covered Sierra Nevada. All of our ski equipment and clothing was still in France following our ‘road journey’, but this was not going to stop us. We would wear our wet weather gear if necessary! We left early in the morning to drive up to the mountains and arrived at around 10am to glorious, hot, sunshine and plenty of powder snow! Wet weather gear was certainly not needed as we skied in jeans and thin jackets. The conditions were perfect (if a bit hot!) and the slopes were extremely quiet. We even got a chance of some off piste.
At 5pm we returned our hire equipment and made our way down the mountain to Granada. In the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, Granada is a beautiful city, it’s medieval architecture dating back to Moorish occupation and this can be seen especially in the Alhambra, a huge citadel and palace on a hilltop overlooking the city. We were unable to get tickets to see the main areas of the fortress but spent time exploring the outside garden areas and the hillside opposite.
Our accommodation was a spacious 2 bedroom apartment within the old walls of the city (not easy to find or get to by car but we had been provided with exceptional directions!). From there we explored the City on foot, enjoying the architecture of the many buildings including the Cathedral. We saw street performers, and there were surprises around every corner of the narrow city backstreets. To sooth our tired feet on our return to the apartment we were even able to take advantage of the onsite spa facilities. A real bonus when living onboard Money Penny where we are often limited to the amount of water and electricity available!
Our Friends from Pembrokeshire, Karen & Stephen, who visited us earlier in the year in Lagos, were back in their house in Spain. They joined us again in Almerimar for 2 nights celebrating Stephens birthday. Whilst they were with us we commandeered both driver and hire car to go in search of a local DIY store. On our journey to find the Spanish equivalent of a B & Q we travelled through mile upon mile of plastic poly tunnels. This area is renowned for the production of fruit and vegetables in Spain. In deed most of Europe's fruit and veg apparently comes from the area. If you ‘google earth’ Almerimar you can see the massive area of what looks like white snow…..acre upon acre of white plastic which without a doubt gets blown into the sea in extreme weather conditions. How is this allowed?! We enjoyed our two days together and thank them for the road trip!
With the blink of an eye Money Penny had spent over 2 weeks in this marina. The cheapest yet at 10 Euros a night!!! but it was time again to move on!