5/23/23 Valencia, Spain
Woke up at about 0500 to howling wind and bumpy sea in spite
of being tied to the dock in a marina. This has not been the quietest marina,
then add 20 to 30 knots of wind it was a very rolling ride. I got up at
daybreak and brought in the flags, doubled up the lines and rearranged some
bumpers. Satisfied I went back to bed!
When we put the boat up for the season everything gets
washed so we did 3 more loads of laundry as the boat pitched and surged. I made
all of the temporary hatch covers and did some more cleaning. The forecast was
for an inch of rain, but it went south of us for the most part, we had high
wind all day. The rain finally came in late afternoon and the wind flipped 180
degrees. The boat got a good washing as we closed up the boat for the night.
5/24/23 Valencia, Spain
We woke to gray skies, but calm like nothing ever happened.
I rearranged some lines and bumpers. We did a bit of wiping down using the rain
water and got ready for what turned out to be a mostly sunny day. We were still
drying clothes so the sun, dry air and lite breeze were just what we needed.
We grabbed a cab and headed to the Ciutat de les Arts and
Ciencies. We had passed through the grounds a couple days ago, now we would go
inside a couple of the buildings. The Arts and Science exhibits were very fun
with lots of hands-on interaction and animated displays. This is probably
heaven for a 10–12-year-old. For me it was fascinating to see how this complex
was built. They had a great series of progress photos for each of the buildings
and a conceptual model from the proposal phase. Like so many projects you could
see how some elements were eliminated, perhaps money, engineering or simply a
change of vision.
The Forum was truly futuristic inside and out. There was a conference going on in one of the halls and an art display in another. It was mesmerizing to be inside and see how the building was built and how it was being used.
We took a cab to the south marina to check it out. There were several chandleries here, after 3 chandleries I managed to buy somethings on my list from each one, but could not get everything on my list. Another cab ride had us back to the boat. This is a big city so a taxi is a necessary evil.
I got the boat organized and ready to leave in the morning.
I wanted to get an early start as they were predicting thunderstorms in the
afternoon.
5/25/23 Valencia, Spain
We pulled out of our slip at about 0815 under cloudy skies,
lite wind and no rain as yet. Made a quick stop at the marina office dock.
Suzette did a most excellent job of docking the boat. We closed out with the
office and we were on our way. With a lite breeze behind us, a favorable
current and a mild swell on our starboard quarter we had a smooth motor boat
ride to Castillon.
Decked out in full foul weather gear for the first time we
only had some on and off sprinkles. The sun popped out as we pulled in to
Castillon. We had about 10 knots of wind on our beam, but plenty of leeway to
pull into our birth and secure the boat. The rain here tends to leave the red
dirt from the Sahara on the decks rather than washing the boat, so we gave the
teak decks a salt water bath and everything else a freshwater bath.
At 1600 the office opened and we checked in for two nights.
While the weather was still dry, we made a run into the sea side town, El
Greco, and picked up a couple fresh food items to supplement our intentionally
waning food stores. Suzette had a homemade soup on deck for the evening meal,
but we needed a fresh baguette to go with it.
The rain did come at about 2000, but we were dry and warm below.
5/26/23 Castillon, Spain
It rained hard all night, along with it we had thunder and
lighting. On the boat lightning is my biggest fear. The boat has a system for
protection from the lightning, but I still do not like the idea of taking a
lightning strike. No rush to get out of bed in the morning as it was still
raining. It was a good day to clean down below and further our efforts to put
the boat away.
As the rain eased in the afternoon, I decided to clean out
the anchor locker. We have a galvanized 55lb Delata anchor, that came with the
boat, stored in the anchor locker. I would love to sell it so I pulled it out,
posed it for pictures and posted it on the “For Sale” board at Sant Carles
Marina. I also have 15 m of 3/8” chain and 80 m of 18 mm rode for this “spare”
anchor. For the primary anchor, that lives on the bow roller, we have a
polished stainless steel 55lb Delta. I was not sure that polished stainless was
practical, but, as it turns out, the fine sandy bottom keeps it beautifully
polished. For that I have 40 m of 3/8” chain and 60 m of 18 mm rode. I pulled everything
out for a fresh water wash, courtesy of the rain, and lowered myself into the
anchor locker to give it a good cleaning.
The rain finally stopped and the sun popped out at about
1630. Suzette had done some more laundry and used the dryer, but there were some
things still needed to dry so we put up the clothes line. We hate being that
boat with the laundry hanging out, but we had a lot to get cleaned and dried. I
ran up to the hardware store for a couple odd parts to finish my storage rack
in my work room. I am working hard to utilize the cube and keep it accessible
at the same time.
5/27/23 Castillon, Spain
Up early and out on a beautiful dry, sunny day. The wind was
light out of the south and the sea was flat so we motored 30 miles north to
Benicarlo. We put out the jib to dry it out and have it ready to put away for
the summer. The sun and breeze did the job. Passing Pensicola we could see the
fabulous castle on the cliffs out at the water. We arrived in Benicarlo at
about 1230 and easily moored the boat. Check in was as quick as we have ever
seen, they actually used the data that is given in the reservation and pre
filled out the forms.
First task was to fold up the jib, a big effort as this is a composite sail that is 70 plus feet tall and about 18’ at the foot. With no wind we were able to wrestle the sail into a neat roll, bag and put it in the sail locker. I took all of the shackles and blocks below for Suzette to clean, lube and stow them out of the weather. I spread the lines around the cockpit to get the good and dry, cleaned the line lockers while they were unoccupied. We were feeling good about our progress and happy to see that the forecast was sunnier than previously predicted.
Dug out our suitcases and started packing things that were
leaving the boat. We like to keep the “stuff” from accumulating on the boat, so
we have gone through each drawer and cabinet and gleaned out what we are not
using. Some things will go home, but we also have a donation pile to deposit
here in Spain.
The lines dried out nicely so I could stow them in case it
was a wet night. Showers, dinner and bed.
5/28/23 Benicarlo, Spain
Hoping for a bike ride to the castle in Pensicola today,
but, in spite of the forecast, it rained for most of the day! This meant
reading and messing about on the computer. The rain finally quit about 1700, so
we went for a walk about town before having dinner. This seems like a very middle
class working town, very little resort activity and no fancy boats in the
marina. It was an early night knowing we had a busy day tomorrow.
5/29/23 Benicarlo, Spain
The reason for this stop in Benicarlo was cheap fuel. We
were up early and out of our birth with the first stop being the self-serve
fuel dock. As it turns out it was relatively expensive so we moved on. We
motored out past the 3-mile line and did some servicing of the black water
tanks in preparation for storing the boat. It was turning out to be a beautiful
sunny day, light breeze and glassy conditions. We could see mackerel and other
fish jumping out of the water as well as some large bait balls.
13 miles later we were pulling into the fuel dock at Club
Nautica La Rapita. The fuel was not cheap, but it was .30 Euros less than
Benicarlo. 278 liters later we were away and headed to our final destination
for this 90-day trip. We have logged a little over 1200 miles this trip.
Calling into the Santa Carles Marina we received no response
on VHF, but we knew where our slip was so we headed in. With a pretty good wind
on our beam, we were happy to have a couple people from another boat jump up
and assist us. With the boat safely moored it was time to put the boat away. We
spent the day cleaning, packing, stowing and stripping. I like to reduce the
windage and protect the lines when we store the boat, so I stripped off the
main sheet, tightened the halayards away from the mast, and secured the boom.
In spite of it being Monday, we had boat made pizza for dinner. Derek and Chantel stopped by to say hello and bon voyage. They were heading to Mallorca in the morning.
5/30/23 Santa Carles, La Rapita,
Spain
Lazy morning and a few boat projects. We had a rental car
brought to the marina at noon and headed back to Barcellona for Suzette’s eye
appointment. We took the opportunity to drive Barcelona and stop to see the Sagrada
Familia, a church designed by Antoni Gaudi. The church has been under
construction since 1882 and is still a work in progress. In a word “Gaudy”, now
we know where the term came from. It is quite an architectural marvel with a
long history.
Suzette’s eye appointment was a comprehensive series of tests and examinations. The IMO facility and doctors never disappoint. She was given a clean bill of health and taken off all her eye drop. She did get a new prescription to help get rid of the redness in her eye. They carefully explained that there was some healing that still needs to take place, so she should take it easy for a couple more weeks. They indicated that her vision would continue to improve, so she will be keeping more than one eye on me.
On the way home we stopped for a picnic on the beach and
returned to the marina for a good night’s rest.
5/31/23 Santa Carles, La Rapita, Spain
It was a full courst press today, last two loads of laundry
were the first order of business. Pack the suitcases and load them in the
rental care so we could deliver them to the hotel that we would stay in for the
next two nights, fuel the rental car and get back to the marina by noon.
We washed the top sides and covered all of the hatches and lines. Replaced the salt water in the genset with fresh. Bagged the things we needed to keep dry and mold free. Every time I thought I was done I found a few more things that needed to be done. Dinner was a hodge podge of left overs; soup, jamone and cheese on a baguette and fried potatoes.
We finally called it quits and walked back to the hotel to
shower and crash!
6/1/2023 Santa Carles, La Rapita, Spain
I was up early so I went for a walk to let Suzette sleep. It
is a quiet town, nothing ancient, just a nice working town. We had breakfast at
the hotel, then walked to the boat to prepare to be lifted out of the water. It
was a short motor over to the boat yard. The lift was right on time and we were
out of the water in no time. They did a great job power washing the bottom. It
looked like the bottom paint held up well after 1 year in the water. They set
the boat up in stands and went to lunch. We did a couple chores while we waited
for Thomas who would be over seeing the work on Raffaellesco. It turns out he
was headed to lunch so we did the same.
A relaxing lunch at the Marina restaurant, we are getting better at the 2 hour lunch. After lunch we met with Thomas to review the work we wanted done:
Paint the bottom
Repair a couple dings in the fiberglass from the anchor
New zincs
Clean and wax the hull
Remove the gray boot stripe and do a painted-on boot stripe
in Raffaellesco Blue
Clean the top sides as necessary during storage
Charge the batteries monthly
With this effort done we headed to the hotel to drop off our
boat stuff. We walked the town to find the bus station for tomorrow’s trip to
Barcelona. On the way we found a great plumbing store and I bought the things I
needed for my dock water filtration system. We checked out a few stores for
future previsioning when we return. We found the bus station, but it was the
wrong bus station. Suzette did find the perfect basket that matched the wicker
on the boat for a napkin holder.
Back to the hotel we were still eating up our boat food,
Suzette had made a salad so we picnicked on the salad and these delicious
cracker sort of tortillas. After dinner we did find the right bus stop and a
huge grocery store for provisioning in the fall when we return.
6/2/2023 Santa Carles, La Rapita, Spain
One last trip to the boat to take care of a short list of
things that cropped up in my brain overnight. We had a few hours to kill before
our bus trip so we checked out of the hotel and camped out at a café on the
square. On the way we passed a few stores and the first shoe store had Suzette
buying yet another new pair of shoes!
Note to self, do not drink two beers prior to boarding a 3
hour bus ride. We caught an earlier bus then planned, but it turned out to be
the wrong bus. It was OK because we were able to transfer to a bus that was
going to Barcelona. Thank goodness for our fellow passangers that provided
guidance. The second bus stopped at a bus stop outside of Barcelona and a number
of people got off and got onto another bus. Fortunately Suzette realized we
needed to be on that bus, this was about the time the bus driver came back and
said the other bus would take us into the airport. Better to be lucky than
good.
We arrived at the airport and decided to do some due
diligence prior to heading to the hotel. First stop was the tourist office to
see how we do a better job navigating the bus system when we return. He showed
us on line how to make the reservation, we will see if it works for us. Next
stop was KLM to see what time we needed to be at the airport for our 0620
flight. The woman at the check in counter said 0330. Not liking that answer we
waited to talk to someone in the Sky Priority line. I like his answer a little
better, 0430 for sky priority.
Next was finding a shuttle to the hotel. We were directed to
the bus stop where we waited about 40 minutes for a van. Settled into the hotel
with WIFI and a glass of wine it is time to post.
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