Eos Log
As soon as the gale was over we left Puerto América and went to anchor again in the Bay of Cádiz. On the weather forecast we saw lots of northwesterlies for the coming week with the exception of a southwesterly for the next day, so we thought to catch that train and did an afternoon hop to the Guadalquivir river.
As we were leaving Cádiz Bay there was a helicopter having a bit of fun going real low, even inside the harbour piers. But also right near some small sailing boats causing one to capsize! Fortunately another one was nearby to help them. The helicopter pilot must have got a bit of a fright and disappeared and we were happy to continue without anymore of this kind of distraction. Then all of a sudden: TOOOOT!! Oops! We had been too busy watching the helicopter's antics and forgot about the occasional look around and there was this real big cargo ship behind us claiming his way in the channel. What a couple of experienced professional sailors we are! And the most embarrassing thing was that he had obviously noticed that we had not noticed him.
On this trip we saw a surprisingly large number of yachts - all using the same waypoints? - some 10 of them. Alas, no dolphins, again.
We had been a bit impatient to up-anchor and were punished by a knot against us of the last of the ebb in the entrance to the Guadalquivir. Anyway, nicely in time for a sundowner. The anchorage to the NW of Bonanza (tatarata taratata Bonanzaaaa!) gave us a good view of the Cota Doñana nature reserve with deer, black pigs and lots of birds. We saw flamingos, kites, several types of heron, storks, a sort of black stork but with a curved beak who shouldn't be around there according to our bird book and plenty of unidentifiable other birds wading on the muds. And the smell of the hot pine trees was just lovely! Early morning is the best time to enjoy it all there. During the day there were some small motorboats, the inevitable jetski and a few tourist boats making use of a jetty a bit further on. Some medium sized cargo ships steaming past, but for the rest we had the river to ourselves.
Waiting for a better wind we just let time go by, watched the bird life, did a little bit of boat jobs, sewed the flags that got teared in the Cádiz gale, read some books and just enjoyed life at anchor.