Hello friends. Thank you for tuning in again. In the previous blog we explain why we stay the winter in Motril. We explored the town, enjoyed our self-made “5-star” Christmas dinner, celebrated New Year with fellow boaters, did some boat projects, saw the Carnival parades in Malaga and visited the picturesque town of Favignana. And there is still more to explore.
Motril has long been synonymous with sugar and sugar cane. To get a better understanding of the abandoned sugar factories in the area we visit the “Museo Preindustrial de la Caña de Azúcar” located in La Casa de La Palma.
Sugarcane is a gras plant and was originally domesticated around 8000 BC in New Guinea. From there the plant slowly moved across Southeast Asia until it reached India, where the first organised production of sugar began around 1000 BC. Indian chemist found a way to crystallise extracted sucrose, making sugar much easier to transport.
Arab nations adopted sugarcanes, and spread it across the Mediterranean, from where it reached Spain around 715 AD during the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula by the Al Umayyad Caliphate, but it did not take hold until after the reconquista by the Christian Kings and Granada yielded to the Crown of Castile in 1489.
From the 15th to the 18th century an average of five sugar houses were operating in Motril, supplied by 425 hectares of sugar cane, which produced 45,000 cone-shaped blocks of sugar a year. In 1654 the La Palma sugar house produced 822 tons of sugar.
The mills were operated by two operators called the “feeder” and the “returner”, who stood on either side passing the sugar cane between the rollers up to ten times. This operation was extremely dangerous to the point that on American plantations it was common practice to keep a machete to hand to cut off the arms of slaves trapped between the rollers.
The crushed sugar cane was pressed to squeeze out every last drop of juice, applying a pressure of up to 2 kg/cm2. In 1641 the La Palma sugar house had a press room with 4 wooden beam presses. Heavy stones hanging on spindels, helped to increasing the pressure.
The collected juice was refined during the boiling processes that involved:
- CLARIFICATION to remove impurities after adding clarifying agents to the syrup in the boiling pan.
- CONCENTRATION of the juice, passing it from one pan to another.
- PURGING by pouring the massecuite (mixture of sugar crystals and molasses) into clay cone-shaped moulds to drain off the remaining molasses.
- REFINING involving a process known as claying to whiten the sugar,
The value of sugar and the wealth generated by the sugar trade attracted pirates who plundered the Mediterranean coast from the late 15th century to the end of the 18th century. Motril built a new defence system around 1500, surrounding part of the city with a wall and establishing the main church as the central element of the new fortifications.
The increase in sugar production led to extreme rapid deforestation to fuel the sugar-house furnaces. A sugar house consumed 2000 hectares of forest each year. Sugar production led to a serious environmental crisis, a dramatic transformation of the landscape and a change in micro climate. The lush oak forests that covered the coastal mountains have disappeared, and the mosaic of vegetable crops and orchards growing on the plains and pool areas near the sea were replaced by a monochrome blanket of sugar cane plantations. Wat is left today is barren hilltops that have their topsoil washed away, dry riverbeds, and hotter and dryer summers.
After this interesting museum it was time for a boat project.
The two ventilation openings behind the oven consisted of two short tubes letting saltwater spray in, causing corrosion on the back panel of the oven. We replaced them with a bend and fixed it with the opening facing up. We also covered the opening with mosquito screen and sprayed zink primer on the oven panel to stop the corrosion. One more boat project off the list.
Currently, there is one notable rum distillery operating in Motril, which is Ron Montero, known for its artisanal rum production. The distillery has managed to maintain its operations despite the decline of the sugar industry in the region.
A “modern” version of a cane crusher, with three rolls. Sugarcane harvesting was discontinued in Motril in 2006. Azucarera Montero is now importing molasses from various countries around the world.
According to the company, the distillery of Ron Montero just outside the town is the only sugarcane molasses distillery in Europe. It produces alcohol for rum production and for medical use. Note the baren hills in the background that were once covered in lush forest.
Wifi in European marinas is becoming increasingly patchy. They simply do not invest in the required technology. We are also going to sail to remote area’s in lesser developed countries in the coming years, so we decided to install Starlink on the boat. The modem and power supply will be invisible once installed behind the TV cabinet. The antenna is placed outside behind the solar panels.
Every now and then an exceptional ship calls at Motril port, like the “Sea Cloud” and “Star Clipper”, pictured below.
Sea Cloud is a sailing cruise ship owned by Sea Cloud Cruises of Hamburg, Germany. This barque (a square rigger with three or more masts) was built in Kiel, Germany, for Marjorie Merriweather Post, owner of General Foods Corporation, and known as the wealthiest woman in the United States. She was launched in 1931 as Hussar V and at the time was the worlds’ largest private yacht.
The story of Star Clipper is not as illustrious. This barquentine (only the foremast is square rigged) is owned by Swedens’ Star Clippers and was purposely build as a cruise ship in 1992. In the photo she receives assistance from the orange tug to line her up in the strong winds.
We had two major projects coming up for the boat; Installing lightning protection and modifying the anchor set-up. To prop up our spirits we went for lunch in Espacio IME again for the weekend. It turned out even better than the first time. We cannot stress enough that this is by far the best restaurant in the area. A must go. Click the link to access their website.
People often ask us: “Are you not afraid of storms?” or “are you not afraid of pirates?”, and the honest answer is; “Not really”. Adverse weather can be avoided by proper route and departure planning. We also avoid those area’s with a known piracy problem. What we are really afraid of is lightning. You cannot plan for it and it can cause a lot of (expensive) damage and worst case, even blow a hole in our boat.
Also, insurance premiums have gone up considerably over the last few years as has the deductible, due to increased cyclone activity. Our deductible on electronics will be reduced to zero if we have a certified lightning protection system installed, so off we go. Those of you who are interested in this technical subject can click the images below.
The anchor of our boat drops down directly from the anchor locker, about 4 meters aft of the bow, causing heavy yawing (gieren) when dropping or weighing anchor. So much so that in strong winds te boat turns perpendicular to the wind when there is nobody keeping control at the helm station, resulting in the anchor chain scraping the bottom paint off. Single handed anchoring in strong winds is impossible.
By moving the anchor dropping point forward to the crossbeam we have dramatically improved the situation. The boat is much more stable during anchor manoeuvres. It is also easier to attach the bridle to the chain. We made a mock-up with cartons, then made workshop drawings and had the stainless steel fixture made by Juan Solviento, a local welding shop who delivers quality work.
With these two major projects finished plus a fresh coat of antifouling paint the boat could go back in the water.
We take a break from boat work and on a sunny February morning we take our bikes and cycle along the coast between the endless plastic greenhouses towards Salobreña. Along the way we find this memorial for the vistims of “La Desbanda”, Feb 1937.
General Franco’s nationalist armee received orders to march on Malaga. Only 12.000 Republican troops were left to defend the city and, with little hope of holding out, the decision was made to evacuate Malaga. Hemmed in by mountains, there was only one viable escape route – the N340 coastal road to Almeria.
On February 7, 1937, an estimated 150.000 citizens of Malaga abandoned their homes to set off for the 210 km journey, an event that has become known as La Desbanda, (the disbanding). Franco’s forces ruthlessly gunned down the columns of defenceless refugees from air, land and sea in a massacre that left around 5,000 corpses lining the gravel road.
Liza standing in the last remaining entrance to the once walled city of Salobreña. The rest of the wall is demolished. The old town is built on a rocky outcrop with a Moorish Castle “on top of the rock”.
The castle was built by the Arabs in the 11th century as a royal residence. It served as a prison in the 14th and 15th century for the Kingdom of Granada. To the right the main access gate to the lower compound (A in the layout below). The “New Tower” to the left belongs to the higher compound (B in the layout) and was increased in size by the Christians.
Aerial view of the Castle. The inner ring is mainly built by the Moslims and the extension, or the outer ring, is built by the Christians.
The “Bateria o Torreon del Aljibe” on the South side of the castle (C). Its proximity to the main gate of the citadel implies that it was used for stables and troops. The lower opening gave access to the gun powder storage room. The flat pavement to the left is the cistern bastion, designed to watch over the coast. The bastion has its name because it is build over a water cistern, still in use today for the cities water supply (D).
Looking towards the gate tower where Liza is standing. Note that the sea reached to the bottom of the rock at the time that the castle was built. The whole coastline moved outward when the topsoil got washed out as a result of the deforestation to fuel the sugar houses from the 15th to the 18th century. In those 4 centuries a forested area the size of the Netherlands has disappeared.
The Nasrid bathhouse (F) of the palace seen from the side of the oven. The rectangular floor immediately behind the oven is the hot-room. The next rectangle is the temperate room, and to the right of the black and white tiled floor is the cold room. The basin in the front right was a water basin.
View to the North with the tower or Bastion of La Coracha (H) to the left, built to defend the port that was located at its base. The tower at the centre is called the water tower (G) since it contained a waterwheel for centuries that supplied the fortress with water. The main entrance tower (A) to the right.
There were two more projects we wanted to implement with the help of Juan Solviento.
With the boat now in a better than ever condition it was time to move on. We enjoyed our stay in Morocco and are going back there to explore more of the country, but that is for the next chapter.
Thank you for reading our stories. Liza and Frits.