On a mission to get to the sheltered harbour of Torrvieja to fit the new windlass , we have been nursing our current one which has served us well for the last 19 years but it's time for a new one. We headed off early and headed there, we anchored not far from friends Rik and Sanne who had been anchored there for a few weeks having friends visit and stayed in the anchorage with us for a few days before they headed on.  

The anchorage is great - not very pretty but its flat calm inside with lots of space to anchor, the town has good shops and there is somewhere to leave the dinghy.

 

Steve set about taking the old windlass off - not an easy task as the above deck and below deck parts had seized together  , but, after trying various methods to get it apart Steve eventually resorted to drilling out the seal  and it somewhat reluctantly came apart. 

Fitting the new one wasn’t straight forwards and trying to fit the motor under the deck to the top part proved difficult but eventually with the help of Rik it was fitted together and we had a lovely new windlass.

 

We spend just over a week there as I needed some dental work - I found a dental practice with good reviews and we went for a walk to find it  - such a different experience than in the UK - I got an appointment the following day for a check up and to prepare tooth for crown and on my second appointment had a crown fitted, 2 fillings done and a clean, so easy and such nice people. Once I had finished at the dentist we were free to 

leave and continue west wards - we are having a new life raft delivered to Motril Marina so need to get there to pick it up!