Life of a Sailor

Saludos de Cabo de Palos! I am now at my cousins’ beach house in the small seaside town where I’ve spent summers since I was in the womb, and like every time, it’s great. Truth be told though, I’ve only been here for two weeks. Where was I during the missing week before then? Well! After leaving Paris, I arrived in Madrid, stayed there for a day with my aunt Cuca, and then the two of us plus a family friend’s daughter named Gaby (who was in Spain for three weeks to practice her Spanish as she lives in Hong Kong but is half Australian, half Mexican- complicated I know…) drove down to the south east coast to meet my family down here in C de P. The day after we arrived, we packed up our rucksacks and embarked on a “travesía marina” up the coast of the Spanish peninsula and to several islands along the way. Here is a debrief of the journey:

 Day 1: The Journey Begins

We embarked from the port Thomas Maestre in La Manga under Captain Juan Antonio Garcia (my uncle)- sailors: Caridad Martin-Nieto (my aunt Cuca), Gaby and myself. Our journey began with a five hour stretch up towards Alicante. We made a brief stop in Tabarca, an island just off the Alicante coast to have lunch and go for a swim.

We then completed our first day's sailing with three more hours towards Altea, a small seaside town. Once in port, we showered, had dinner, and went out to the town to meet some family friends- Fernando and Curra- who happened to be in town, for ice-cream and drinks.  

Day 2:

We awoke in port and went out for coffee and to meet Curra who had insisted we check out the older part of the town. Located on top of a hill, this part of Altea is classic. The cobble stone streets lead up to the church in the middle of a big plaza surrounded by bars, restaurants and cute little shops and stalls. The views from up there are amazing. 

 

After our little tour of town, we said goodbye to Curra and set sail towards Denia, another seaside town where we were scheduled to meet my uncle and cousin for dinner. We ended up finding a great little restaurant run by a pair of twin brothers, with a line stretching all the way down the block. The wait was well worth while though. The food was great- sepia a la plancha, croquetas de bacalado, atun con verduras- everything so fresh and delicious!

Day 3:

Sunday we took a break from sailing. A life long friend of Cuca’s daughter has a family house in Denia, and seeing that we were all in town, they invited us over for lunch. The whole family, plus the family friends who were over there also were all from Valencia (where I grew up).

Day 4:

Early Monday morning, my cousin Mari-Leti met us in port after having spent a week volunteering at a music festival in a nearby town. With this added member to our crew we continued our journey towards Formentera, an island right next to Ibiza.  The voyage was about nine hours long, but they went by quickly- lots of sleeping, sunbathing and reading involved...

 

That night we didn't go into port, but "fondeamos", meaning that we anchored just off shore.

Day 5 and 6: Formentera
We woke up to the swaying of the sea and sound of waves on shore and slowly but surely headed into port where we docked an showered. Formentera is small, with three little towns filled with small car and motorcycle rental shops, seafood restaurants and Italian tourists.  We rented a car and drove around checking out the different views, lighthouses and cliffs.

 

 

That night we spent docked in the very touristy port of town. 

Early morning we filled up on groceries, took a last tour of town and headed back out to find a good place to drop anchor. 

We found a great spot right off shore of a beautiful beach on a part of the island right next to the locally famous mud pits. Yes, locally famous mud pits, where locals and tourists alike go, rub mud all over themselves and lay out in the sun looking like Avatars or some sort of science fiction natives. It’s an alternative to the mud baths offered in spas, and for much cheaper. 

That night was probably my favorite.

    

 It was so peaceful, no cars, no city lights- only the creaking of masts and sailing lines. It was a good ending for what was to come….

Day 7: Sea trip back to the mainland.

At 5am I was woken up by loud banging and swaying. The wind and picked up, and it didn’t stop all day. This day was literally spent curled up trying to sleep bellow deck, clinging on for dear life everytime the boat swayed. It was a long twelve hours.

Nevertheless, we made it to Campello right by Alicante at around dinner time and dizzily stepped onto the port. We were all exhausted, but still had a nice stroll on the boardwalk after dinner.

Day 8: Return to Cabo de Palos

We were prepared for the worst from the winds, but luckily the next day was calm and beautiful for our voyage home.

Before entering port, we stopped for a quick swim at the Grosa island. To top it off, we weren’t allowed back on board, so we clung on to the life saver rope while the adults turned on the motor and tried to escape. Just kidding, we did it on purpose for fun.

It was a good ending to help our restlessness as we sailed into our final stop.
The next day Cuca and Gaby left early, and since then I've been here, in Cabo de Palos. We spend the days waking up late, swimming, eating, napping, more swimming... Some days we take the boat out, others we snorkel or go into town for coffee or ice-cream. My brother got here on Friday, so now the house is full and lively, but very relaxed and ideal. Why else would it be my favorite place in the world?