August 28 - September 7, Cartagena, Alicante and Lorca, Spain

Thanks to an introductory letter from our home club, Lakewood Yacht Club, we were able to secure a berth at the RCNC, arriving around 5:30 PM. Real Club Nautico Cartagena sits at the main port terminal, and right downtown. It boasts a nice pool, great restaurant and bar and offers a variety of water sports. We were happy to get a side-tie berth, and although there were security cameras and a marinerio who patrolled here, we were not secure. Pedestrians could stroll by and with a fair leap could be down on our wharf. I did inquire about the security of our berth but was assured that there would be no problem. Passersby from a large British cruise ship did stop by to snap a photo of our old gal and to ask about our travels and marveled that we had actually sailed here from the west coast of the US. 

 

Cartagena Civic Bldg

view of Yacht Port form the castle in Cartagena

the promenade paved in marble

On Wednesday, we set off exploring this really interesting town. The ancient history is profound, and in your face. It is one of the oldest towns in Europe with a tri-millennial history, dating back to centuries before Christ. We would see very modern buildings next to completely dilapidated ones. If we strolled one street off the main drag we felt as though we had entered a deserted set being prepared for a horror movie. We couldn’t tell if there had been an earthquake, or war, or some other natural disaster that had semi demolished parts of the town. It’s very random. Eventually Frank found a waiter who spoke fair enough English to explain to us that after a building reaches the age of 100 years old it can be sold and demolished in order to rebuild new. However, if ancient ruins are discovered underneath during demolition then all work must cease and the land or property reverts back to the government. The owner completely loses out. Eminent domain to the extreme! This is so widespread in this town that there seem to be more semi demolished, unfinished areas than completed ones.

Our second night here brought us misfortune. An entire bag of scuba equipment was stolen from our boat while we were sleeping. We had both heard a loud noise that shook the boat and thought we heard footsteps on the deck around 3:00 AM. Frank got up to investigate but saw nothing amiss. The next day our neighbors reported their bike stolen, and when we checked around our boat we noted that our big Nautica bag with 4 sets of scuba gear (half of it brand new just brought back from home) was missing. Frank spent 5 hours that day at the police station filing the report, and I spent hours dealing with the marina and talking to local shops to see if anyone had tried to sell us our equipment. We have been assured nothing will come of it, that our items are long gone. We now have locks and chains on the dinghy motor, all lazarette lockers and the gas tank. 

We moved over to Yacht Port Cartagena where the security is much better. RCNC felt so badly about the theft they at least refunded our first two nights. Trying not to let this ruin our visit we explored the town and visited some of the museums and ancient sites. 

We rented a car for a few days, and on Saturday, drove back to Alicante to visit the Volvo Ocean Race Museum, which we had missed in our haste to flee the pricey marina. This museum is free and although small, packs a lot of history and information into the exhibits. Very impressive! Very informative. Very enlightening. We were able to tour Brazil 1, a former finisher. 

sleeping berths inside Brazil 1

Brazil 1

the galley

the head

Thanks to a referral from our friends Laura and Mark Pitt, s/v Sabbatical III, we drove inland up to a little town called Lorca, staying two 

nights in a wonderful spa hotel called Parador de Lorca at the top of the highest hill encased within the grounds of an ancient castle and built atop an ancient Jewish Synagogue that was discovered during the building of the hotel. It is apparently the oldest mediaeval synagogue in the Murcia region. Here is a link to the fascinating information: https://murciatoday.com/the-mediaeval-jewish-quarter-and-synagogue-in-lorca_14877-a.html

During our two days we spent a day in the town, and became enthralled at the Paso Blanca. It s a museum of the White Brotherhood of the Virgin Mary and Christ - NOT RACIAL - rather very religious. They are one of the largest participants of Semana Santa, and their group is focused on preserving the traditions of and depicting the Passion of Christ. Lorca’s holy week celebration is one of the most special in all of Spain, competing with the Blue Brotherhood (Paso Azul). Their capes and special horses are the big draw during Holy Week. The capes are all hand made of silk and velvet with each depicting a Biblical story or character going back to the Old Testament. IT is all played out and performed in a parade on horseback. It is very difficult to describe, and something that should be seen in person to appreciate and understand. The capes take from 1 – 10 years to made and are so detailed that you can see facial expressions of the characters. Frank and I were so impressed we have decided to put Easter in Lorca on our future travel plans. Here is a link to the Semana Santa in Lorca.

http://www.lorcaturismo.es/itinerarios-Semana-Santa/viernes-dolores.asp?id=8&lang=en

We returned to Cartagena in time to receive a shipment of parts for the boat and to await good weather for moving on. IT changes every day around here and generally not for the best. Today is Sept. 7^th, and we are ready to go, but can find no good anchorage or marina along the coast for landfall, so it looks like we are in for at least an overnight to either Almerimar or Marina del Este.