Pitufa.at

In the bay in front of Arrecife’s old harbour we’ve met some cruisers, who’ve been living on their boats a bit longer than we (some 3 years, some 30 years…). It’s common to visit each other on the boat, everybody gives on information, guides and books (thanks Petra and Andi on Bona Fide) and we were even invited for a free ride to the supermarket – and more important back with a load of provisions (thanks Uwe and Eva on Quinuituq)!
We’re looking forward to meeting more nice people in our next destinations

We’ve spent 2 days in a bay on the Southern side of La Graciosa. Even though every tourist can reach the Canary Island within a few hours and for little money, we still felt some “pride of discovery” when the silhouettes of the islands became visible in the morning haze. The almost vegetation-free, brown, black and reddish mountains on La Graciosa and the opposite lying Lanzarote give the impression of having sailed to Mars. The weather is quite cool and a strong, cold breeze blows over the islands, bringing clouds with it. Nevertheless we went swimming yesterday. It was the first time since Sardinia a month ago, later on we never found an opportunity. (In the marina in Melilla the water was too dirty, in Gibraltar too cold, and during the passages too rough.)

Yesterday was a 3D day. That stands for domestic duty day and sounds a lot more motivating than cleaning day. Now the boat is really clean again after the passage. In the evening we took Leeloo on a trip ashore. The circumstances were ideal: a flat sandy beach for landing the dinghi smoothly, all sunbathers had left in the evening and an almost-full moon to enlighten the whole trip. Leeloo likes the dinghy. When it’s lashed down on deck she likes to sit underneath and when it’s floating in the water behind Pitufa’s stern she spends hours watching it. Yesterday she was about to follow Christian down to the dinghy on her own, but as Pitufa’s stern is quite high (about 1.70 m), we decided on squeezing her into her harness and then I handed her down to Christian. During the trip she stood like a figurehead in the bow and seemed to enjoy the ride. After we had dragged the dinghy high up on the beach we waited until she picked up the courage to hop out of the boat. Then she explore d the beach (we left her on a leash) and the spiky vegetation.

After half an hour she wanted to go home again, jumped into the dinghy and meowed excitedly when we approached Pitufa. She almost fell into the water, because she wanted to climb aboard without help. As the steps of the swimming ladder are far apart and slippery, the stern is high, and there is a safety net up to the lifelines, I grabbed the protesting cat and heaved her up on deck.

Back home the unpleasant part of the trip still waited for her: In order to “desalt” her paws and fur I rubbed her with a wet towel and she shrieked in outraged protest

We have just uploaded two small photo galleries from Sardinia and Melilla.

Melilla is an ancient town, it’s origins go back to the Phoenicians and Punics. It has been Spanish since 1497, though it was besieged and threatened many times by its neighbouring peoples.
Today it’s a melting pot of different cultures: Spanish, Berber, Jews, Hindus, African immigrants, etc. That shows in the colourful traditional clothing, shops and cuisine. The prices are very low, so we’ve already tasted lots of tapas . As we’ve only been here a few days we may have got the wrong impression, but it seems that everyone here is very tolerant and friendly and that the different cultures coexist peacefully.

The old centre of Melilla is dominated by a fortress, there are many museums, old monasteries etc. and all sights are open to the public for free! The new part of town is in Art Deco style, also very pretty. It seems like strong winds from the West will keep us here a few more days, but being stuck in such nice surroundings isn’t so bad either .