Cartagena, Passion, Penitence and Pointy Hats!

We planned a route to Cartagena from Aguilas, knowing that there was refuge about half way in a place called Mazarron, if the weather got a bit on the wild side again! "Alert", the American yacht had already headed out and we called them to find out what the conditions were like and what forecast they had received. Our Navtex seemed to have a gremlin that struck whenever Palos, our current sea area, was mentioned! Our forecast had read something like
"Palos: **** Q L ** 3 ***" The rest of the forecast had been perfectly readable!

Diane translated it for us into "East 3 to 4, slight", so we said we would probably try to sail all the way. She and Jim seemed fairly certain that they would call in at Mazarron.

At first there was very little wind but as we rounded the very scenic Mt. Cope the wind rose to quite a breeze, on the nose, so after about an hour and a half we tried the main with two reefs, and with the jib out we were going along well. So well in fact that we had shaken out both reefs at half hourly intervals and I began to relax again. Our last experience with the strong winds had left me feeling a bit cautious, and I wanted to break myself back in gently! Unfortunately we had to tack upwind and so progress was slow. By 1400, after reefing twice, the waves were quite substantial and many white horses were galloping towards us. We were faced with the choice of a four-hour slog to Cartagena or a downwind, one-hour ride to Mazarron. We opted for the latter! Down came the main and as we turned onto an estimated course, under jib alone, I knew we had made the right decision. It was much more comfortable. Chris went below to plot our new course and within 50 minutes we were tied up on the fuel berth having not found suitable depths for anchoring near to Alert. Their draught is less than two feet and they had sounded their way into a sheltered spot that some people would not have got a dinghy into! The marina was friendly though, and had fantastic hot showers, very welcome after a few days on anchor.

Later that night we decided that our best plan to beat these easterly winds was to get up early and go before they had a chance to build up! So that was what we tried. The alarm went off at about 0730 and by 0815 we were leaving the marina in an early morning haze. Jim was on deck on Alert but did not see us depart, and we headed out into the bay in a flat, still, calm…..FOG! If it isn't one thing, then it's another! With the radar on we decided there was enough visibility to be safe, pretty sure that it was a morning mist that would burn off. The radar had indicated a large "target" and we steered a wide berth around a huge ship, which was anchored on our port side. Eventually the fog began to clear but we were already past Cabo Tinoso and into the bay leading to Cartagena. Just to rub salt into the wound, a westerly breeze developed just a little too late and we didn't bother with the sails for just the last couple of miles! Ian, (Zephyrus) was on the pontoon as we arrived and he took our lines for us. We had finally made it to Cartagena!

The Spanish, as a nation, are renowned for their fiestas and Easter, in this region, is celebrated to the full. Cartagena is particularly famous for its street parades so I was keen to get here in order to experience something of this custom. I had not realised quite what a spectacle awaited. Over ten days, from the Friday before Palm Sunday, until Easter Sunday, eleven 'Passional Processions' are organised by the brotherhoods of Cartagena. We had already missed the first four days and we eagerly agreed to meet up with Ian and Jo at 8pm that evening to watch the "Procesion del Traslado de los Apostoles" in which the images of the Saints Peter, James and John are carried around the streets to the Church, from the military establishments with which they are connected. In fact, all the processions had a military air, accompanied by a steady drum beat, musical bands playing traditional funeral marches and, occasionally, soldiers goose-stepping their way around the town. One illustration of the importance of the parades to the people involved was the leader of one group of modern day soldiers who had an intensely serious expression as he concentrated on twirling his baton and goose-stepping, but he never stood still enough for us to take a photo. Other men, dressed in the uniforms of 18th century soldiers also paraded, some playing instruments, others carrying lethal looking bayonets! I liked the Roman soldiers, feathers bobbing and a less formal style of marching in their laced leather boots.

The most striking feature for me though, was the precision of the parallel columns of penitents, richly dressed in satin and velvet tunics and cloaks, embroidered in gold with the symbol of their brotherhood and topped with a tall pointed hood. Spontaneous bursts of applause would erupt from the onlookers as, with seemingly no signal, a hundred yard row of penitents would begin to slow pace, simultaneously, without error and then stop and wait without a hint of movement except for the odd breeze rippling through the flowing cloaks. They carried beautifully ornate staffs, surmounted by a lamp, lit by electric light on this occasion, but not for the procession on the night of Easter Thursday, which is held in silence and lit only by candles in the staffs. All the other town lights were turned off. It was distinctly eerie.

Equally remarkable were the "paseos" on which the images of Christ, Mary and the Saints were carried. They were elaborately decorated with flowers and usually carried on the shoulders of men from the brotherhoods. They looked extremely heavy and difficult to manoeuvre, ripples of applause often greeting these men as they approached. We appreciated the effort that went into the preparation of these thrones more, after a visit to the church on Friday afternoon, where we saw the flowers being arranged. The sheer quantity of roses, lilies, orchids and carnations in each "pasos" was simply stunning. The procession under preparation was one of the most important, that of Good Friday, during which the Paseos depict the images of the Easter story, from Christ's arrival at the top of Calvary to his burial. One aspect of the scene in the church that struck us was that here was a community, working together with a real buzz of purpose inside a building that is so often a place of quiet solitude. I also realised why we had to pay 600 pesetas each for a front row seat for one of the parades!

Easter Sunday was also Chris' birthday! It made a change from the gale bound birthday in Alderney last year, to be sharing chocolate cake with crews from Alert, Kasara and Zephyrus and being able to cook him his favourite meal in the evening. A new cap was among the presents he received, to replace the last one he lost overboard in the winds on the way to Aguilas! 
Our next hop will take us round Cabo de Palos and onto a Northerly stretch, past the Mar Menor, towards Alicante. We just need the right weather!