84The color of the Alboran Sea reminded Diego Monastario of mouthwash, yet the thought of ingesting its waters lifted his stomach to his throat. It had not always been so. Less than a decade ago he happily snorkeled among the dolphins and turtles, until a glut of tourists polluted the area in so many ways he was tempted to find a new home for the schooner his father and uncles built with their own hands and moored at the Almeria marina.
The seventy eight foot schooner, Libertad Nuestra, once stood as the apex upon the sea, its masts towering above other vessels, easily visible from the fortress Alcazaba overlooking the harbor. As the Libertad Nuestra drifted in the opposing currents that moved Alboran waters to and from the Atlantic Ocean, Monastario sat beside a cooler of Estrella beer a
