For the past two weeks we’ve been in Almerimar Marina, sorting out a long list of boat jobs. We had been leaving everything until we got to “mainland Spain”; sorting out the heads (dirty plumbing!), cleaning water tanks, replacing the autopilot and upgrading the solar panels... and many more little jobs which inevitably lead to other jobs which you never knew needed doing. It really has felt most days you go forward one step and back five... not the most relaxing part of the trip. The boat is constantly in a mess, with floorboards up, tools everywhere, wires and pipes and bilges exposed. George goes from being elated to grumpy in a moment and then back to elated again. Goodness knows how he knows how to wire in an autopilot or an AIS system... l have been an admiring assistant; passing pliers or screw drivers mostly!
The children have loved being here, having made friends with some older girls along the dock. One night they were watching a film to past midnight on another boat whilst we went to have drinks with the parents- first night out without the children for 3 months! Bliss!
It has been great meeting other boats preparing for the Atlantic too... it’s exciting to think we may see them further along the way.
Of course, I have loved having a laundrette just a stones throw away. I’ve probably blown the budget on washing... but at least everything smells good now.
Other upsides are having a supermarket so close. It’s hard to convey the joy of a beautifully laid out Spanish supermarket... It is the highlight of my day going to do the daily shop! Sad but true. The girls weirdly love it too- or maybe it’s the fresh orange juice squeezer machine they’re addicted to. Annoyingly today we went to the massive Carrefour to do a big shop and being Sunday it was shut. Soooo disappointing! We had a hired car and we were going to load the boat up with Serrano ham and Don Simon wine- ( very drinkable litre of tetra pack wine for 1 Euro 45!) So frustrating. Should have thought it through.... have learnt that lesson for next time!
The main reason for hiring the car, though, was taking a trip to Grenada. It was high time we did a bit of sight seeing and really good to get off the boat for a day. It was a gorgeous city and despite going around in circles trying to find a car parking space we had a great time. The girls were pretty good. We know it’s not their favourite thing to do, walking miles up and down cobbled streets and looking at buildings, but they got very excited about all the water fountains and once energised with some tapas and donuts they were able to climb the steep hill to the Alhambra. I think they enjoyed it.... they took a million photos on my phone of the carvings! Hopefully some of it went in...I must admit we didn’t know much about it, so it will be good to learn some of the history together.
The most remarkable thing about this area of Spain is the “sea of plastic”; miles upon miles of greenhouses built between the coast and the mountains. It is quite extraordinary, billions of tonnes of fruit and vegetables are grown here, lots likely to be ending up on our supermarket shelves in England. We went on a tour of one of the greenhouses, another attempt at educating the girls... and it was fascinating. I got my gardening fix, George the supermarket producer thing and the girls, after waning in the heat of the greenhouses got to go back to the boat with a mini pepper plant each which made them very happy! We also had a tasting afterwards which was great... who’d have ever thought of cucumbers and honey. Local thing. Delicious!
So, it’s definitely been an up and down couple of weeks, but the boat is in a better condition and we are very ready for the next trip to Gibraltar tomorrow and then the next phase of the adventure, the Atlantic....