After leaving Africa we headed eastwards along the Costa del Sol, stretching some 150 miles from the Straits of Gibraltar to the headland of Cabo de Gata. From the sea the huge holiday reorts which stretch along this coast appear remote and attractive. Behind us, in the photograph above, you can see the town of Torremolinos. One advantage of sailing in the Mediterranean is the easy availability of harbours and purpose-built marinas which offer every comfort. No longer does one have to suffer the Atlantic swell or be constrained by its tides. But, having said this, we found the Mediterranean very fickle, at one moment offering calm blue seas and in the next blowing up fiercely almost with no warning

Below are pictures of two very different harbours along this coast. To the left is a sketch of the huge marina of Belamadena whose bizarre architecture seems to reflect an influence derived from ice cream cones and Arabic architecture.!

To the right is the private marina of Punta de la Mona tucked away in its picturesque bay and created by joining an island to the shore..

Continuing eastwards, the high mountains of the Sierra Nevada soon come into view. It is quite an experience to be able to sail or swim in the warm waters at the foot of this range and at the same time look upwards to the snowy heights.

Below is a sketch of 'Joy of Mann' sailing past the distinctively shaped village of Castell de Ferro, with the Sierra Nevada behind and the highest mountain of mainland Spain, Mulhacen, at 3482 metres, still covered with snow in mid-May

Immediately below is a photograph of 'Joy of Mann' in the harbour at Aguadulce, on the Costa del Sol. The boat was wintered here and at the same time the Volvo Penta engine was removed and overhauled. The sketch shows the Volvo mechanic working on the engine, surrounded by bottles of engine oil and newspapers with Geoff sitting outside in the cockpit looking on.Whilst here we took advantage of the closeness of the mountains and made an excursion to the nearby ski resort of Sol y Nieve for a day's skiing. It was mid-April and in the morning we left with ice on the car windscreen, visited Granada and the Alhambra on the way back, and returned to 'Joy of Mann' and temperatures in the 70's.

At the bottom left, Geoff relaxes on the beach at Aguadulce in the heat of early July. Lastly, a sketch of the impressive headland of Cabo de Gata which marks the end of Andalucia and the Costa del Sol.