36 44.75 N 006 25.8 W Chipiona, Andalucia

Sunday 23rd May

We had an easy ride down the river from Seville back to Chipiona, except for an almighty crunch under the keel in the middle of the river in 4.8m of water! No idea what it was, a sunken boat, supermarket trolley, bit of fishing gear or what. No noticeable damage, but expect some scarring on the keel itself. Only other eventful bit was seeing Romany horses and carts being ferried across the river - crammed in like sardines.

Chipiona itself is a beach resort mainly used by the Spanish themselves. Once you have toured it twice there is not a lot to see or do, but we have been stuck here since Thursday. Strong to gale force south easterly winds (direction we want to go in) have kept us confined to the marina. So today decided to take the bus to Jerez, home of sherry (over 20 well known names), flamenco, and famous horse studs and horse shows. They are like the Lippizaner horses of Austria (and I think share training and breeding stock) with their famous dancing and dressage to music, performing coupades and intricate leaps.

I had a very nice sherry - light golden, chilled and dry. We went to a tiny little Alcazar, the most interesting bits of which were the olive presses (main crop before the planting of vines and production of sherry) and the Arab baths. Apart from that, everything, but everything was closed. Sunday afternoon and all that. Even the Chinese bazaars and street cafes were closed. However, a good little diversion. If we ever go back I will make sure the bodegas and sherry houses are open and a horse show is on.

With luck on to Cadiz tomorrow, forecast looks more hopeful.