Before leaving Ayamonte we took the ferry over to Santo Antonio on the Portuguese side of the river. It’s amazing how different it is to Ayamonte (being Spanish). Just for example : the bars and restaurants on the Portuguese coast all compete to do the biggest cheapest full English breakfast but across the river you can’t find one! Pete bought a set of stainless steel curry serving dishes from a huge kitchen shop, so we’ll have to get back in to making curries again.
From Ayamonte we decided to skip a few ports and get to Rota on the edge of the Bay of Cadiz. We arrived at 8.30 with still plenty of light for berthing at the marina. This supposedly “overlooked by tourists” town was chock a block full and the long long beach very crowded. We found a nice little bar on the sand for the afternoon.
On the 5th we motored round to Puerto Sherry to be on hand for the haul at 11.00 high tide. We met Paco the Yanmar mechanic and he came on board. After a look and discussion (via various translator apps) we decided to go ahead and have both engines out for a look at where some water is getting in and oil getting out. Of course – it turns out that both sail drives (gear box) are worn just about to the point of failure! We approved two new replacements ordered and the marina office booked the only room available in Santa Maria nearby. There is a big fiesta here on Wednesday and it is August summer holidays. The Hostal is OK but we decided to fly up to Luxembourg and stay with my brother and his family for the week while the parts are ordered and installed.