In the wake of the Volvo Ocean race

On the SaltyPaws we have been closely following the Volvo Ocean race. What makes the race even more exiting, is that the first leg, follows the route of the SaltyPaws for a long time. The main differences are: SaltyPaws anchors when the wind is not favorable, or starts the engine. The other main is the coffee and the food.

The first leg of the SaltyPaws was from Alicante to a small nature reserve called Isla de Tabarca. We tried to make more head way the first day, but we decided that beating against seven Beaufort was simply not worth it. We circled the island and found a good anchorage.

The next leg is from Isla de Tabarca to Mar Menor. We started out with a good half wind, but gradually the wind lightened, and shifted

We found a really quite anchor spot in Mar Menor. While all sides of Mar Menor are built up solid, this little island just had a few signal towers. Without any waves, and a very light wind, this was one good night for sleeping. The water looked very attractive for a swim, until we saw it was jelly fish infested. There is a current going into the Mar Menor, fueled by the evaporation, and drawing the jellys in. Once they are in they are there to stay, until it gets colder. The natural predators for the jellys are sea turtles. It is unfortunate that they are so scarce, as right now we could have used a few.

In order to catch the wind, we stay offshore quite a bit when we are passing the spanish coast line. Just as the girls team did in the race, we head closer to shore near Marbella, in order to avoid the strong current through the Gibraltar straight.