all aboard!

On September 12 we spent our first night on our catamaran, shift - woo hoo! This time it was an easy move since most of our stuff fit into one car. The catamaran is docked in Gibraltar at a Marina. We swayed ourselves to sleep and the next morning started on our laundry list. First stop, IKEA - which is 1.5 hours away in Jerez. We made a day of it, stopping in town for a perfect lunch of tapas. Our timing couldn't have been better; it starting pouring rain just as we started eating and fortunately, we were well protected under a couple of umbrellas. Fried boquerones, the best tortilla, pisto [which Anais loves], and of course a glass of fino.

We spent quite some time getting all that we needed for the kitchen, linens and organizing stuff. 2 full carts of stuff fit into our rather small Ibiza Seat - once again, Andreas' spacial management skills in full action. It was a gorgeous drive back through the Cadiz region which is much less developed than the Marbella/Malaga coast. Mostly rolling hills of oak trees and the occasional village, cows and horses.

We've spent the past few days emptying and scrubbing everything down. All while getting used to the different sounds of a boat, and of course, the swaying... 

first load of stuff from apartment to boat

hatch check

what's not to like!

2nd load! all into our Ibiza Seat

Another hatch check

endless stainless steel to polish

sunset over the Cadiz region

Anais approves of cushion colors

cushion seats removed and cleaned 

Gaucin & Ronda

We drove through many small white-washed Andalucian villages in the mountains and took lots of photos of the tiny, very narrow streets. In Ronda, the most famous of these villages, we walked to the impressive Puente San Miguel and had lunch in a restaurant with a perfect view of the deep gorge below. In order to escape the heat, we ventured to a local spot to Las Cuevas del Gato for a nice refreshing swim. The temperature of the air dropped, what seemed to be, 10 degrees and the temperature of the ice cold water was enough to freeze your brain! We walked up the narrow pathway to see the massive 4 km long cave with a cool waterfall. We really wanted to go inside, but that was a little too difficult for us.

Puente de San MIguel

Malaga

We went to Málaga to pick up Brigit, Andreas' mom, who is spending a few days with us. Malaga is a port city on southern Spain’s Costa del Sol, known for its walking streets, great food, port and  yellow-sand beaches. Overlooking the city is the Alcazaba and ruined Gibraltar castle, remnants of Moorish rule, where we had coffee, ice cream and enjoyed the great views. We really liked the small twisted streets with plenty of cool restaurants, bars and small boutiques and stores. 

exploring the coast

As we wait for the catamaran to dry and the inspector to do his survey, we decided to take the day to explore Tarifa - one of our favorite places! Fortunately, it's only a 45 min drive up the coast. The wind was blowing so hard today that instead of hundreds of kiters and windsurfers out on the water, there were only a handful. And they were sailing on what seemed to be handkerchiefs - aka tiny sails!

two cools dudes on vacation

despite the hurricane winds, Anais snoozes

Valdevaqueros beach and dunes

Morocco in the distance! 

On Saturday we went to Marbella, since we needed to exchange our rental for something smaller. Beautiful coves but lots of tourists.

the old part of Marbella

Sea trial

As part of the catamaran inspection, we dropped the boat back in the water to take her out on the water. The inspector climbed up the mast to make sure everything looked good. We then set out with about 15-19 knots of wind to give her a spin. Felt great to get the sails up and see that everything worked.

The Haul Out

Haul out of the Lagoon 440 at Varadero Sotogrande 

The catamaran we decided to see first is this one. It's a Lagoon 440 built in 2007. It has all the amenities we would need and ever dream of for cruising and then some! On Sunday we drove to Gibraltar, hopped on the boat with the owners and took it to Sotogrande for a haul out. The Levante winds were head on and we motored the entire way. Despite the 22-32 knot winds, the cat really impressed us with how smooth the passage was [although the owner wife, her sister and their dog all got sea sick!]. Enzo was a champ and Anais, still jet-lagged from the trip, slept almost the entire 2 hours in one of the cabins. 

An enormous crane pulled the boat out of the water on Monday morning. The surveyor had a look and gave us the thumbs up from what he could see. He'll do the full inspection on Thursday and we'll be able to better assess the boat. Until then, we're enjoying this quaint, little summer town and may be able to kite and visit Tarifa.

checking out the folding props

Puerto deportivo Sotogrande, where we hauled the boat out for a few days...

Sunrise before the boat survey part2.

Madrid

Family Reunion 

We stayed in Madrid 2 days and enjoyed the time with Andreas' brothers and their families. Nikki's (Andreas' brother) birthday was on the 18th, which was perfect timing for a celebration. 

yummy cake made by Silvia!