More miles – more marinas and a trip to Marbella ….. June 2011

01 – 06 June 2011

Summer has officially arrived, but it seems someone has forgotten to tell the weather gods.   The temperature has cooled a little and there has been thunder and lightening around, oh well, not much we can do about it.  

The days are passing but nothing much seems to be changing.  We have moved along the coast, first of all to Fuengirola and then onto Estepona where we currently are.  Both trips were around 30 miles, pretty uneventful with light easterlies that teased us into taking the time to set the sails, only to have the wind drop out after a couple of hours.  Our trip here to Estepona was somewhat rolly, and we had stayed in Fuengirola an extra day to give the swell time to settle. 


We caught the bus from Fuengirola to Marbella, Spain’s  waterfront “Golden Mile” destination of choice for the rich and famous.  There is a lovely old town area, compact but cute, full of some upmarket shops and plenty of restaurants.  We didn’t take the bus the additional 6 kilometres out to Puerto Banus, we hear it is Spains most expensive marina and full of some very big “gin palaces”, with some rather glitzy waterfront cafes.  But we have certainly seen enough marinas in the last month so instead explored all the small alleyways and plazas in the old town which didn’t take long, so there was nothing for it but to find a spot for some early afternoon tapas before our bus back again.      

Fuengirola’s waterfront is lined with high-rise apartment blocks and hotels, it is the busiest spot we have seen so far but we still thought it was pretty quiet, considering it is the beginning of June the tourists are few and far between.   

So now we are in Estepona, we can see the “Rock of Gibraltar” just down the road, and this morning it was clear enough to see Morocco too.  Tomorrow we have a nor’wester of 15-20 knots forecast so we shall head down the coast, our final part of the Mediterranean coastline.  If the Straits look a little too lively we might stop in Gib, if we are up to a sporty sail across the straits then it will be onto Morocco – we are ready for a change of scenery and culture.  

For Cruising info for Fuengirola and Estepona valid June 2011 click here