9/14/23 Porto Esportiu Marina, Tarragona, Spain
Woke with the sun, which means about 0830. Suzette is
desperately trying organize and manage her storage of galley food and implements
while having it look good. Armed with cabinet measurements we were off to buy
baskets and containers at The Flying Tiger and the Chinese Store. With her
baskets secured she began the process of rearranging and organizing. Of course,
now I cannot find a thing.
We left the dock about 1315 heading north to Villanova and
the AC40 race practice. We enjoyed sunshine and a perfect broad reach in calm
seas. Passing Port Segur Calafell entrance, our marina for the next couple
nights, we continued 5 more miles to the Race Course off of Villanova. It was
very exciting to line up with the other spectator boats and watch the action
first hand.
The AC 40 are a single class of boat; 11m long, 18m tall, 2
tons in weight with foils and high-tech sails. To see them get up out of the
water in less than 10 knots of breeze and do 20 knots seems to defy physics.
New Zealand dominated the practice races. The USA and Italy made a great
showing. The others; Swiss, Britain and France only managed to have a good
practice day.
After the races we headed back to Port Segur Calafell to check in. This is a very small marina with a narrow and short winding entry, so with a small crush of boats we had to wait in line. Once inside the busy Marinaros waved us in to our slip, but did not stick around to help. With plenty of people on the dock we did have plenty of assistance and settled in quickly. We had a good spot with a descent breeze and good access to the shore.
While Suzette worked on dinner, I crawled down into the starboard
aft lazarette and contemplated where and how I would mount my new water filter
system. Having made a plan, I decided to sleep on it and see if it is a good
plan. Next up was the assembly and fit up of my new 230v panel. Another item to
sleep on before final installation.
Another hot day making a cool shower feel that much better.
Another fabulous Suzette dinner and a round of Pinocle had us ready for bed.
With breeze aft we did not get the coolest night for sleeping.
9/15/23 Port Segur Calafell, Spain
Up early under a very gray sky we were off to Villanova to
take in the onshore America’s Cup 40 base and see the boats. The plan was to
ride our bikes, but with Suzette dressed in her pretty white sundress, heat and
predicted rain it was decided we would take a taxi. The office helped organize
a taxi to pick us up. A quick peruse of the harbor front market and we were on
our way. It was about a 30-minute drive on a road that followed the shore
behind the beach front condos and hotels. It turns out that riding our bikes
would have put us on a narrow high traffic road for a bit of the ride, so it
was wise not to take the bikes.
The harbor in Villanova was a fairly large private yacht
type marina, 3 times the size of our Port Segur. We walked out to see the AC40
boats, but we could not get very close, needed a proper credential. We could
look out to the viewing beach and the race course. On the land side was the
America’s Cup public areas with a large stage and Jumbo Tron to watch the race.
It started to sprinkle and get darker, but not enough to matter. We visited the
America Magic booth and chatted with the hosts. Next stop, the memorabilia
kiosk. They always have great quality clothing for the AC and I found a great
polo shirt to buy.
The rain was picking up so we scouted out a table under one of the big umbrellas. There were food trailers and a huge bar so Mexican and a beer for lunch as we watched the rain intensify and began to hear thunder in the distance. On stage they were interviewing the crew from each team, but the weather made it difficult to hear. Our umbrella mates were two guys from Switzerland and a guy from the UK. All had flown in for the event. I asked the Brit how he thought his team was going to do and he just laughed and said “We have never won the cup in nearly 200 years; I don’t think we will.” We talked, laughed and drank beer with this group all afternoon huddled under our umbrella as the races were first postponed and then finally canceled.
We said our goodbyes and proceeded to try and find a Taxi
home. The lady in the memorabilia kiosk was very friendly and helpful, but
unsuccessful in finding us a taxi. She explained that it never rains here so
that this big rain throws everyone out of sorts and they do not know how to
deal with it. Sounds like Southern California. We asked about the train and she
said no, there was a minor derailment, no one hurt, but no trains. Bus? Maybe
the bus, but she heard the streets were flooded and traffic was not getting
through. Hotel? All full.
So, bus it is. I gave Suzette my rain coat and we proceeded
to walk 10 minutes to the bus stop and see what happens. Soaking wet we managed
to find the bus terminal and waited for the 546 bus. At least we were out of
the rain. The bus arrived, but I only had a 5 euro note and 50 euro notes, the
fair was 6.50. The drive waived us in with our 5 euro note! As we rolled along
the skies were clearing, the rain stopped and the sun popped out. We got off in
Segur Central and walked 10 minutes in the warm sunshine happy to be drying out.
The boat had a good fresh water washing and so did we,
courtesy of mother nature. We decided a hot meal was in order so I made a
Patata Frittata and we toasted the last of the baguette for cheese and crustinis.
This was the first hot meal on the boat as it has been too hot to think about
cooking on board. The boat was nice and cool making for a great night of sleep.
9/16/23 Port Segur Callafell, Spain
In some ways this was a wasted day, nothing got
accomplished. I updated my journal, but the computer would not save my updates,
they seemed to be lost in cyber space. I spent all morning trying to install
the water filter system, but it was not to be.
We headed out to the race course around 1415 and sailed a
nice broad reach, best part of the day! Arriving at the course the wind was
dropping so the races were on hold. The wind finally picked up enough for the
race to start. They need consistent wind over 7 knots, they got about 9. The
first race went off, but without a commentator it was very difficult to see who
had the best start, who was ahead and who won. The wind died off again so we
waited. They managed to get a second race in, but had to shorten the course as
the race settled into a slow displacement race rather than a foiling race. We
waited for a third race, but no go.
We motored back into the harbor about 1800 and settled in for the evening. It was cooler than the previous night so it was dinner and cards in the cockpit.
9/17/23 Port Segur Callafell, Spain
It was a much better day this day. We managed to get online
and retrieve my lost file from yesterday. I finished the rework on the water
filter system and it was ready for use. The plan was to sail back to Villanova
and watch the last cup races, then continue on to Barcelona. Since the last few
days were a bit of a blow out for the races, we decided to skip the race and
head up to Barcelona. As it turned out the wind was up to about 12 knots out of
the East so we motored into the wind to get enough east to allow us to sail to
Barcelona. We could see the races off of Villanova as we set sails and headed
North East. We were able to stream the race on my phone and got a better feel
for the action then when we were there in person. America Magic had a great day
and was declared the winner on points as the wind died and the final race
between New Zealand and the USA came to a standstill with the USA leading.
We made Barcelona by about 1830, checked in at the office and found our mooring. The Marineros were helpful and friendly. It was pizza night and I was dying to try out my new pizza stone, but making dough at this hour would have us eating at midnight. We chopped, seasoned and grilled eggplant, onion and garlic and served it over pasta with a goat cheese and our last bottle of wine. Later in the evening we were rewarded with what seemed like a never-ending display of fireworks off the beach to the North. A quite night in the marina.
9/18/23 Porto Olympico, Barcelona, Spain
It was a bit gray and even rained a little in the morning
making for a slow start. The marina was a left over from the Olympics and was undergoing
a huge renovation, lots of shops and restaurants being added as well as an
observation deck for a view out to the sea. Once the sun popped out, we walked
to the America’s Cup Experience in the America’s Cup Village about 1 mile SE of
us in the old port. The quay here was lined with super yachts, even a few
familiar ones that we saw at the race in Villanova. Arriving at the venue they
informed us that there was a private event and we could return after 1300.
Hhmm.
My favorite chandlery was close by, Accastillage Diffusion, a French Company. This is the chandlery we used in Les Sables d’Olonne when we outfitted the boat. I need the deck fitting for the passerelle I had purchased there and they had just what I needed. So now I have opened the shopping pandora’s box and we were off to find a place that sold handmade shoes for Suzette. We found several shops, but no great shoes. Suzette did find a few shops for clothing and bought some new clothes, among the purchases was a very elegant top that she plans to wear to the Commodore’s Ball in January.
Shopped out we had a desire for sushi so we found what
turned out to be a great little sushi bar in the Gothic District. They even had
Sapporo, my favorite Japanese beer. This was the perfect light lunch on a hot
day. We wondered through the ancient narrow streets of the Gothic District and
found the Cathedral De Barcelona, a beautiful 15th century building.
Another interesting place was the building in which they store all of the
documents associate with the kingdom of Aragon, the ruling dynasty for 100s of
years. All of the Knights Templar documents reside here as well as many
documents from Christopher Columbus and his voyage.
We manage to navigate the narrow old streets back the old port and to the AC Experience. They had a replica of the Auld Mug and lots of exhibits that talked about the history of the race and the current technology. We stopped at the AC store hoping to get an America Magic shirt, but the shipment was held up in Brussels due to weather or some such thing. So I picked up an AC rugby shirt, I know this weather will cool off soon. We were worn out from the heat and about 8 km of walking so it was back to the boat for a siesta. The breeze had picked up making it comfortable on the boat for a nap.
Refreshed, I installed the new passerelle fitting on the starboard side of the swim ladder. This allowed me to use the crane on the stern to easily lift and lower the passerelle. Since we plan to anchor out for the next few days, we decided that a grocery run was in order. There was a Consum just outside the marina so we deployed the wagon and walked to the store. The Consum was in a shopping mall of sorts and I noticed a sporting goods store. Suzette wanted some snorkel gear now that we had warm water. We were only able to find fins there, but that’s a start.
The grocery store was huge and well stocked. They had our
new favorite wine, Mucho Mas, so we bought all they had, 10 bottles. We managed
to fill the wagon to overflowing with groceries. Fortunately it was only about
1 km back to the boat pulling my heavy wagon. With everything stowed and the
sun setting we enjoyed a big salad, bread, the last of the creamy gorgonzola
and a bottle of Mucho Mas. The Mucho Mas is a Vino Tinto blend with no details
on the bottle about the grapes, but it sure tastes good. A bit of weather
checking and trip planning to decide where to head tomorrow. This has us
continuing north east up the coast and around the Cabo San Sebastian into the
dreaded Gulf de Leon. The winds get
funneled through this area from the Pyranies and it can easily blow a gale. The
next few days looked like a max wind of about 20 knots, tolerable.
9/19/23 Porto Olympico, Barcelona, Spain
Up early to prep for departure. I did not have a destination
confirmed, just a few anchorages picked out pending wind and swell predictions.
The skies were filled with light clouds and the breeze was light so we motored
out and headed NE rounding Tossa de Mar about 1330. The wind was clocking N of
E, but not helping. We left a large birth to the east as we passed the rocks
off of Rocabona and rounded Cabo de Begur about 1600. The shoreline was
becoming less populated and flatter as we progressed. The trees were more plentiful
and, with the recent rain, very green.
We passed between the mainland and Meta Grand Isle, essentially a big rock with a light on it, and turned into the anchorage at Cala de la Clota. There were several boats anchored, but plenty of room for us. We dropped the hook in about 6m of water, but not very clear as a river dumps out nearby. We were careful to stay well clear of the submerged rock pile in the middle of the cala. This would be our last night in Spain; and a quiet calm night it was.
9/20/23 Cala de la Clota, Spain
Awaken by a light rain in the morning, we got underway
heading to Collioure, France. It looked like an interesting town with an
ancient cathedral and a Matisse Museum. Ultimately I was unable to secure a birth
and they do not have an anchorage nearby so we set our sights on
Canet-en-Rousillon. We set a course
across the bay to round Punta de la Creu, then turned north to get past Cabo
Creus and into the Gulf de Lion. This coast is called Costa Bravo, it looked
like some great anchorages along its west coast, but with the swell from the
east they offered no protection.
As we approached Punta de la Creu the rain started and
turned into a torrential rain. On with the radar as the visibility went to
nothing. The rain only lasted for about 30 minutes, but I was soaked. At least
it was warm. The wind picked up after the rain so we unfurled the sails only to
be duped as the wind died of and the sails were furled. We motored into
Canet-en Rousillion and found the Marinaros waiving us in (opps, we are in
France now and they are Sailors). We got settled on an end tie and checked in
at the Capitinaria office.
We walked the small town and found live music in the town
square with people dancing; line dance, two step and a salsa. The two-person
band sang in English with no accent, but spoke French in between songs. This
was a very simple town, boxy houses, a restaurant row along the beach and the obligatory
ferris wheel. On our dock the small fleet of classic fishing skiffs adorn in
their bright colors. The weather was starting to cool as we were moving north.
The French built a number of marinas along the low-lying coast of the Gulf du
Lion to encourage recreation and boating in this area. Unfortunately, there is
not much here; an endless stretch of beaches, estuaries and strong winds.
9/21/23 Canet-en-Rousillion, France
Up early under grey skies and a light breeze. It would be a
long day as we would cross the Gulf de Lion heading NE, again with no confirmed
reservation, but anticipating a significant swell. Mid-morning the wind came up
to about 10 knots and we unfurled the code 0 for the first time on this trip.
Sailed a perfect broad reach for several hours until the wind died. We managed
a confirmation from a Marina East of Montpellier and motored that direction.
The swell was building and confused making the last couple hours very
uncomfortable. We were happy to get into La Grande Motte marina, the first of
the purpose-built marinas from 1967. The architecture was pretty spectacular
with many white pyramids shaped building dotting the skyline. The Marine
Policeman waved us into a great side tie and helped to get us settled in. With
the office closed we would check in and out in the morning.
It appeared that there must be some sort of multihull regatta as the place was filled with performance cats and tris. We were just happy to be in the calm protected waters of the harbor.
9/22/23 La Grande Motte, France
Up early and looking at the weather it looked like high
winds in the afternoon so I shook the admiral out of bed and we got underway as
soon as we could check out. The skies were super clear and the wind was light
as we drifted off the dock and got underway. The first day of fall and it felt
like it, 64 degrees in the cabin. The swell and the wind were behind us as we
made our way east toward Marseille. The radio came alive with a Pan Pan and
indicated that there was a gale warning for the area from 2000 UTC to 600 UTC, overnight.
Adding 2 hours for our location that meant 2200 to 800 we did not want to be in
the Gulf.
Port St Louis at the mouth of the Rhone River looked like a well-protected
place to hide out and there was a good anchorage if we were able to secure a
birth. The wind and swell built, both on our stern. The swell was running 1 to
2m and the wind built to over 20 knots, but with both behind us we were being
comfortably pushed in the right direction. I was in the cockpit reading when I
had a Top Gun moment. Without asking permission from the tower two fighter jets
did a very low altitude flyby right over my head. That will wake you up!
The ride got a bit uncomfortable when we turned north into
the Gulf de Fos passing the mouth of the Rhone River. You could see the
distinct line between the blue water of the med and the cloudy green of the
Rhone as it poured into the med. The Gulf was very industrial with lots of ship
traffic. We made our way to a canal that led to the Port St Louis. I was
surprised to see river going grain ships being off loaded along the canal. Evidently,
they come down the Rhone with regularity, we passed several along the way.
We were waved into a side tie on a rather crusty looking
concrete Quay by the sailor. The wind was down to about 15 and on our beam.
With all bumpers on the port side, we managed a gentle landing as we parallel
parked on the Quay between two large power boats. The wind held us in place so
it was easy enough to get lines sorted and the boat settled. We did a bit of
work to decrease the windage so the high winds would hopefully have minimal
impact.
It was a quaint little town. We walked across the wharf and through a park to see the Rhone and then on through the town. The plan was to have pizza on board, but the bag that Suzette thought was flour turned out to be sugar! Salad, bread, cheese and Jamone it is. And our first bottle of French Wine in a long time.
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