This evening Indigo is anchored off the Cabo de Palos, outside the Mar Menor.

After tomorrow’s Tramuntana passes we make for Calpe, seventy-seven miles north. There we will find a most compelling candidate location for the lost Massaliote emporion of Hēmeroskopeion (“the watch-tower”).

#sailing ⛵️

Incidentally I’m fairly sure Bastet, refugee from Abrahamic Egypt, is crashing at her relative Isis’ temple in Cartagena. How else to explain these two fuligin apparitions on the sacred ground?

They also make you high!

I definitely have new questions for the guy after sailing into Cartagena. Tell me again how this 15cm tide somehow produced an ebb race “every evening” which made the lagoon passable for Scipio’s set piece assault? Was there a tidal sill on the canal and something something sunset land breeze? What?

Mmm! Certainly the samples of Punic & Roman I’ve just now seen in Cartagena’s Museum of Underwater Archaeology don’t give best impression of Phoenician craft cf. Roman. Tyrians out here binding strakes to rib with twine, smh! (Though these egs probably too separated in time for useful comparison.)

Isn’t Polybius pretty decisive on this? Something about ‘before they got hold of this specific wrecked punic ship and copied it meticulously, those Romans were useless at sea.’ It’s hard not to trust the Achaean!

What’s a Loma Pelada, btw?

Didn’t get many pics of the (rather grey) Carthage sunrise.

Too busy ensuring I obeyed COLREG while passing the Spanish navy corvette Audaz in the narrow harbor channel (with a bonus 35 knots of katabatic wind to make it interesting 🫨)

Overnight we crossed the Alboran Sea, from Rusadir - only my second time in Africa. Was an exceptional sunset as well.

On passage Indigo hosted a songbird - our third such passenger (once in Biscay, and last winter in the Storstrømmen).

In Cueta, saw a well-kept Hinckley ketch out of Southwest Harbor, Penobscot Bay. This is where I learned to sail :) - cc @ricktalk.bsky.social

Motoring - calms seas & zero wind. Was running the engine harder than usual (3200 rpm, max is 3600). I was 15 nm off Portugal.

When I called a pan-pan, Lisboa advised me to make top speed east, but I ended up ignoring them. Indigo can’t outrun Orcas! Once I cut engine & all sound/light, they left.

We’re pressing on to the Pillars of Hercules today.

It’s taken three longish night passages to get around Cape St. Vincent and to Cape Trafalgar. The sunsets have been just compensation.

Last night’s passage from Faro was a delight - a consistent close reach in 15 kts. Indigo averaged 5.6 kts & made the 75 nm crossing in 13h. I even got some sleep.

Hey Sammy! Soon as I can! Probably there by January at this rate…

They left after I lashed the rudder still & cut all lights & noise. Be a boring toy was the idea. Felt like Lenny’s 🐇

Made for Sines, docked there. Must repair a snapped autopilot mounting bracket. Some scrapes, but no structural damage.

They’ve done worse - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberian...

Went via Irish Sea / Isle of Man - so technically just around Great Britain.

Plan is Greece by winter. The west coast of Africa is intriguing, though 🤔