17th May - Caleta de Valez

Soundtrack: Kids chattering as they throw crisps to the fish in Caleta de Velez marina. They are standing on the pavement just four feet from our cockpit. We are squeezed into the tightest berth imaginable at the far end of a blind alley where the water ends and the rocks begin. How on earth we’ll extricate ourselves in the morning is anyone’s guess as there’s no room to turn.

High Point: Eating the first loaf of fresh bread we’ve baked on passage for lunch. We spent two hours spent gently drifting two miles off the coast while we had lunch and a snooze. Only the distant sound of the traffic on the autovia del Sol disturbed the peace.

Low Point: No wind at all today – we had to motor all the way from Benalmadena.

With the wind variable and due to turn easterly in the next day or two, we’ve had to do a fair bit of motoring the last couple of days to get ourselves along the Costa del Sol. Last night we were in Benalmadena, a 1,000 berth marina close to Torremolinos. The tight-packed rows of apartment blocks along the coast are a complete eyesore, and we are chastened by the thought of people saving up all year to spend their holidays here.

Benalmadena marina is buzzing with boats of all shapes and sizes. Our berth by the entrance is a perfect place to watch everyone come and go. A Ronnie Biggs look-alike drives past in a 53 foot Princess; girls in bikinis are having a party on the foredeck of a catamaran amid blaring pop music; a heavily tattooed skinhead kicks up spray on a jetski; five Frenchmen emerge from a tiny red sailing boat; a Chinese junk goes in and out a couple of times taking trippers out for a ride. The centrepiece of the marina is a pseudo-Moorish development of apartments each with their own berth. The water in the marina is disgusting, so it must come as a shock to find a cesspit on your doorstep when you’ve paid a fortune for one of them.

We’re enjoying the contrast here in Caleta. The resort is small and family-minded, with hardly a foreign tourist in sight. And we’ve had solar powered showers tonight!