THU 22-JUN
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| View of Harbor as Relish Departs....That's the Gibraltar Airport's Runway on the Left - More on That in an Upcoming Post |
We awoke early
and had Relish away from her
Med-Mooring and tied up at the fuel dock even before it opened at 0800, and by
1000 had topped off her tanks with 1,680 gallons of diesel. We also added a healthy dose of Stanadyne PF
treatment in each tank since it would take Silvio considerable time to burn
through 2800+ gallons now that he’s done crossing oceans. (Diesel fuel doesn’t store well after about
90 days unless you add a quality additive such as Stanadyne.)
By 1015 we were
underway once again. We picked our way
through the numerous ships anchored in or near the Port of Gibraltar, rounded
the Rock’s peninsula, and pointed the bow northeast towards Malaga, Spain. The sea conditions were perfect – barely a
breeze and an almost imperceptible gentle swell. No stabilizers required!
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| View of The Rock From the Other Side as We Departed |
Relish continued to perform flawlessly, and we cruised at a
leisurely 7+ knots along the southern coast of Spain marveling at the calm sea
state contrasted again the coastline and its impressive relief of Spain’s
Baetic mountains (LINK). Air and sea temps
gradually increased to 29C and 24C respectively (84F and 75F), and that warmth
felt very good.
Just before 1800
local time we pulled into Benalmadena
Puerto Marina (LINK) just to the southwest of Malaga.
Silvio did a masterful job of backing Relish into its tight Med-Mooring slot….right next to Moxie.
We greeted Bob once again as he helped us run the slime lines forward,
and Michel and Rick got the forward lines tied off to the bow. It didn’t take us long to get Relish washed down – no salt spray today
and by now we were getting pretty good at it.
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| Southern Coast of Spain Enroute to Malaga |
We enjoyed a pleasant evening relaxing on the cockpit deck, chatting with
Bob and his wife, Kim, who had flown in the previous day to join him for a
summer of cruising in the Med. Eventually
we did venture out of the marina for a late meal at one of the many local
eateries that dotted the carnival-like strip along the beach. You could tell that the silly summer season
had arrived along the Costa del Sol based on the crowds of tourists.
Michel had a very early flight to catch that would require an 0330 wake
up – so we said our goodbyes that night.
We were lucky to have Michel along for this last leg in several ways –
it gave us a 4th with whom to share shifts, he is very knowledgeable
about boating in general and Nordhavns in particular, and he has a
MacGyver-like skillset for fixing stuff; but more importantly we made another
good friend that we hope to hook up with again soon.
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| Together Again - Relish & Moxie Med-Moored Together at Benalmadena Marina Near Malaga |
FRI 23-JUN
This was a lazy day
for us….we slept in, ate a late brunch, caught up on laundry and took care of
the few minor maintenance items that remained for Relish. We would be
departing tomorrow knowing that she had been cared for very well and is in very
good shape for her coming season of cruising the Med.
We also began to
(finally) make some travel plans. We had
several options that involved some mix of driving and flying – Gibraltar
(again), Malaga, Lisbon, Madrid and Barcelona were on our list. But we had just recently become aware of
another boat-buying opportunity in the U.S. that just might cause us to return
there earlier than originally planned.
So as we were also working on that potential deal we decided to rent a
car and stay relatively close to the Malaga and Lisbon airports for now.
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| Silvio, Chelle, Bob, Michel & Rick |
SAT 24-JUN
It was time to
pack up our gear and let Silvio have Relish
back all to himself and his family (due to arrive soon.) So Silvio drove us to the Malaga airport
where we had a rental car awaiting us and we said our good-byes. Technically this also marked the end of our
boating adventure across the Atlantic Ocean.
That journey had been a blast, a bucket
list highlight full of adventure, challenges and just sheer fun. We learned even more about voyaging,
Nordhavns and ourselves, and more importantly we made many new friends with
whom we share much in common.
And while we also thoroughly enjoyed
being aboard Relish, we came to value
Silvio’s friendship even more.
Throughout the entire journey he was always a gentleman – kind,
courteous, thoughtful and patient, even under the most trying of
circumstances. In addition to being an
accomplished boat handler, he was also just plain fun to be around – a great
sense of humor, with whom we share many common interests, including aviation as
well as boating (and cigars). We were delighted to be
of assistance to him in preparing the boat, as well as helping him learn his
boat a bit better. Overall it was an
absolute pleasure helping him get his beautiful Nordy back to his home waters
in the Med.
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| Map of the Next Area Traveled |
That said we also knew that Silvio was
ready for this journey to be over and to get his boat back to himself. Living with two to three other people in such
close quarters for over a month gets a bit old, as do the 24 by 7 demands of
crossing an ocean. So while we parted
ways somewhat regretfully on Saturday, June 24th, in Malaga, we did
so with the rare privilege of having made a new and good friend.
Finally…we’d be remiss if we didn’t thank our four
Ghost Riders for sticking with us and getting us “back in the saddle” once
again and in a grand fashion.
We will have some more posts as we travel the local
area and eventually make our way back home, so stay tuned.
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| The Tracking Site's Depiction of Our Last Leg Aboard Relish |
