... stuck ... a courageous car dive later on would kill my clutch ...
Crtd 12-11-22 Lastedit 15-10-27
After visiting that venue of ultimate Gibraltarian naval pride: the Trafalgar banks in front of Cabo Trafalgar, some 60 km Eastish of Gibraltar (reported in postscript to my Gibraltar blog), I went back through the green green wet November landscape of the Spanish South coast to the mouth of the Guadiana river, border between Spain and Portugal. The mouth harbour town on the Spanish side is Ayamonte. A magnificent modern highway bridge has not succeeded to extinguish the ferry traffic, cars included with boats proudly flying their Portuguese and Spanish country flags, together with impressive fortifications at both river sides keeping the memory of the border alive. Before my Gibraltar excursion I already had been roaming the Spanish riverside of Guadiana Northward. It had rained the full night before I started that trip and I soon got stuck:
... stuck
...
a courageous car dive later on would kill my clutch
...
Later, driving on in speed boat fashion, my clutch, the original clutch of my car I bought new in 1999 finally gave the last it had and started blocking and rattling. Sevilla's main Renault garage had total professionals to help me out, found that my entire engine was hanging loose and rattling on one side as well, and cashed in 800 euros from a very grateful customer.
... this ruin is on a 10 m
inundation-safe hill next to the river, not far from Ayamonte ... its
prohibition signpost obviously used as an exercise shooting target - from over
the road! ...
... high tide sunset in
Ayamonte town, a river beach ... but with sewer's exits ...
... Low tide, ocean and
Ayamonte at direction left. This ruin is inundation-safe as well but rainy season shopping
must have been
by boat. It should be reachable by road in dry season but due to
the side river (in front) that
takes 10 km from where I took this picture. I thought of
Roland, for he showed
interest in a plot along the Guadiana to build ...
... this side river valley camp I baptized
"Floating Stone", is
5 minutes from Ayamonte ...
... the floating stone
proper (yellow arrow, moves with the wind from one side of the pond to the
other. The stone below it on the low edge of the picture does not float, is too
heavy to lift and rests on the shore ...
... the rear wheels (not propelled!) had sunk in
the mud, my 1.5 ton winch after 10 years on another duty, aided by some
metal bars I found at the pond and some far away marshland shrubs to prevent them
tilting on tension ...
... after-job
shower ... water jerry can on roof, some plastic tissue fixed over the exit of the tube with
a rubber, then piercing, with a needle, twenty holes in the tissue ...
My original plan Rio is fading a bit: I now learned that Brazilian Portugueze is almost a separate language, particularly learning the spelling of European Portugueze would be a waste of time. Spanish is a lot easier. I collected some internet learning material. But I feel tired of learning an 8th language. Age? I don't know. My gazes return to boats.
... Ayamonte's harbour
sports another of my tempting options: living on a
Saa Moja size Mediterranean
ship ... but that should be at the Turkish side, because harbour fee
here is 26 euros per day and this ship's price in Spain not unlikely 4 ton euros
...