15th May Rota to Barbate

Stuart had his first sail on the 38 miles down the coast, round Cape Trafalgar to the small town of Barbate. We were astonished to find that as we sailed past Cape Trafalgar we could see the coast of North Africa on the horizon. Somehow we were expecting Cape Trafalgar to be a magnificent headland, but in reality it is a low sandy promontory, still you can’t beat the history.

Barbate is a good sized fishing port and the last stopping off point before the 40 mile passage to Gibraltar. Its marina was built with great things in mind but now looks thinly used and a bit run down, which is a shame as the town has great beaches.

Cape Trafalgar

We are now south of Cape Trafalgar, Africa is on the other horizon

The lovely sandy beach of Barbate (we may be the only tourists here)