Yacht Pipit

      

A shih tzu, turtles, an alligator and other creatures on the Rio Guadiana, 27th April 2012


Firstly, today is a significant date as it is two years to the day that we moved aboard Pipit and became full-time liveaboards. Whilst, as previously mentioned, it's not been G&T and olives all the time, we have absolutely no regrets about embarking on our adventure, and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone contemplating the possibility.

Anyway, before leaving Ayamonte, Ann suggested visiting the 'Roman ruins' she'd spotted near the marina. As we peered through the railings and glass walls, it became apparent that we were in fact looking at a zoo. It was closed, and all we could see was a workman and his dog. I thought it was a pretty shih tzu, but Ann assures me it was a boxer. The above is true, and I never imagined I'd work that old joke into these pages!

After purchasing a Spanish PAYG broadband SIM card (which should hopefully give us reasonably priced internet access from here to the Balearics) we left Ayamonte and headed up the Guadiana on the morning flood tide. The clearance under the very attractive suspension bridge is only a few metres more than our air draft and, as usual, it looked much closer than it actually was, and gave Andy something else other than his sciatic leg to clench as we passed beneath it...




It took about 4 hours to motor upstream to Alcoutim, keeping to the outside of the bends and avoiding the numerous lines of fish nets. We anchored in the middle of the river 'twixt Alcoutim (Portugal) and Sanlucar (Spain) and enjoyed a pleasant afternoon relaxing in the sunshine. But then the tide turned, and we now had the incessant strong northerly wind in the cockpit. Worse still, this was against the tide and forced Pipit to ride on the anchor snubber and chain, making for an uncomfortable and somewhat sleepless night listening to the anchor chain, as well as the continual stream of bamboo and other vegetation passing along the hull.

On Tuesday morning, although we like being at anchor, we moved to the one remaining space on the pontoon at Sanlucar, to gain some relief from the above mentioned noises. It seems there is a mini-liveaboard community at Sanlucar, with a number of people (mainly British) having over-wintered either on the pontoon or at anchor, and a friendly bunch they were too. We eventually found someone to pay, which involved filling in a form at the tourist office, taking the boat documents and passports to the town hall to be photocopied (36 cents) and returning to the tourist office to pay €7 per night, including power, water and showers, the latter best avoided as you have to stand on a foot switch which when pressed liberates no more than a dribble of water. It was a hot dribble though! We were to stay for 3 nights, and subsequently showered aboard.

On Thursday, we met up with friends Dave & Iris, who keep their yacht in La Roche-Bernard and were staying in an apartment near Vilamoura. It was great to see them again and catch up with their news and, dinghy launched, we enjoyed a very leisurely lunch in a restaurant across the river at Alcoutim. The next day we walked up to the castle above Sanlucar, but it was closed for restoration. It is apparent that Sanlucar has enjoyed a large amount of E.U. funding, having new roads, walkways and restored buildings amongst other things, so if you want to get some value from your taxes, pay it a visit! It has to be said that the locals have made a great effort to make their small town attractive too, with plenty of flower pots full of spring colour to contrast the clean white painted buildings.


Reminiscent of LRB...


Rock roses lining the path up to the castle at Sanlucar. The fragrance of lavender and orange blossom was in the air.


One of two windmills at Sanlucar - more E.U. funding required...


An evening constitutional to the creek opposite Sanlucar.


Hundreds of house martin nests under the bridge - there is actually one entering its nest if you look closely...


Sanlucar.


On Saturday, we left Sanlucar and headed up river to anchor just above Rio Vascao, aka Turtle Creek. The wind was still fresh & gusting, so we relaxed and basked in the sunshine under the protection of the sprayhood. Another night of disturbed sleep followed as more bamboo & vegetation collected on the anchor chain, which we had to clear a couple of times during the night. It was still blowing the next day, but at slack water we rowed the dinghy to Turtle Creek, and immediately saw what we went to see, but would you Adam & Eve it - although we've had to charge the camera battery only 3 or 4 times in the last year, it chose this moment to expire! We pottered around a bit and resolved to return the next day, and this was our reward:


One anchor.


Two anchors.






And action! Note the background sound of the woodpecker.


Following our return to Pipit we headed up river to Pomarao and, after a tricky bit of pilotage round submerged rocks (and trucks allegedly) following a severe flood some years ago we anchored a little way above the village in a very peaceful spot, albeit with the still persistent gusty wind. The next morning, at last! - no wind, clear skies and a beautifully tranquil river - this is what we had in mind! So what else to do but sit in the cockpit and mend the vacuum cleaner!

I always said we should have bought a Dyson... Incidentally, why hasn't James invented a kink-free hosepipe? I'd pay a lot of money for one of those...


Once the tide slackened, we took the dinghy downstream to the pontoon at Pomarao and went ashore to explore - this didn't take long as it's a tiny place, but we did enjoy a walk up the hill to view the dam and reservoir:

Not exactly the Hoover (dam not vacuum), but still quite impressive...




Now that's what I call a water maker! Won't fit under the saloon berth though...


A Heard 28 a long way from home - do you know of this boat?


Our private anchorage - no visitors for a week apart from local fishermen.


Evening reflections...


Bee-eaters - you'll have to believe us!


Early the next morning we enjoyed a 2 hour row at slack water in Nessie on a perfectly still and tranquil river - just messing about on the river...

A bit out of focus, but we didn't want to get too close to this 'gaitor...


I can't believe it's not butter...


We spent many hours watching wildlife through the binoculars, in particular Bee-eaters and Golden Orioles. Here is a list of what we spotted:


And heard but not seen:


Early this morning in the drizzle we returned back down river to Alcoutim and tied to the pontoon, just €7.50 per night including power & water and hot showers, if you time it right! We'll stay here for a few days, as we need to wait for civilised tide times to enter El Rompido, our next port of call after another brief stop at Ayamonte for stocking up and a buying a few chandlery bits & bobs.

So in summary the Guadiana is, as we've read and been told, beautiful and not to be missed. We've been blessed with lots of wildlife, but perhaps not so blessed with the weather - we've had frequent gusty winds (particularly annoying when against the tide at anchor), some cool and showery days and just a couple of 'proper' weather days. The new Manson anchor has set and held very well, with one exception just off the slipway at Sanlucar where we later remembered we'd been told the river bed is very rocky. The tide runs quite strongly in the river, so this has been quite a test, especially considering the strong winds and mini Treasure Islands of bamboo and other debris that regularly came to rest on the chain.



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