A Winter Home

Great jubilation! We’ve finally managed to pursuade the rather severe Ingrid at the Marina Office to let us have a berth here at Port Vell for the next six months. The prospect of having to travel 160 miles back to Valencia as winter progresses was unsettling though perfectly do-able. However we have both fallen in love with Barcelona and really wanted to stay so we’re very relieved. We now have a postal address too though we would hasten to say that we do not plan to send any Christmas cards & likewise, do not expect to receive any. However, for future reference our address until the end of April is as follows:

Julia & Duncan Byrne

Yacht “Rampage”, Berth E5

Marina Port Vell S. A.

C/. Escar, 26 (Moll del Rellotge)

08039 Barcelona

Spain

Breakfast in the cockpit, Maggie's last morning

Artists in Las Ramblas (note the Skipper wandering off without me!)

After bidding Maggie, the last of the Stunning Ruins, a fond farewell on Saturday we did a brief shop & then set off on bikes for the Ramblas. When we got there, there were so many people about that we decided to chain our bikes up and wander round on foot – to be honest, the only thing to do in the Ramblas. It is great fun just pottering round the little craft stalls selling hand-made leather goods, jewellery and ceramics, carved wood and hippie clothes. There are artists selling every style of painting, some persuading passers-by to sit for an impromptu portrait, plus lots of flower stalls & “souvenir stalls“ selling postcards & all the usual tat. There are also lots of bars and restaurants all the way up the street which must be ½ a mile from near the waterfront right up to Placa Catalunya – Barcelona’s equivelent of Trafalgar Square. We’ve been warned however, not to eat on the Ramblas because you apparently pay a premium for the location.

A charcuterie stall in the market

Duncan pointed out the main covered market here in Barcelona, which we Ruins managed to totally miss last week. It seems every bit as good as the grand market in Valencia if not as ornate. On the way back to our bikes we were attracted by the sound of drumming in a street off to the right.

A fruit & veg stall at the main Barcelona market

We went to investigate & discovered 50 or 60 people with every shape & size of drum making the most tremendous din, encouraged and led by their enthusiastic conductor/musical director. We stayed to listen for quite a while – it was such fun. It was getting dark by then and there was such a brilliant atmosphere – everyone relaxed & happy & enjoying themselves. I was however, quite relieved to find the bikes still chained up where we’d left them as Barcelona has a bad reputation for pickpockets etc & I was quietly worried that they might have disappeared.

There are often musicians playing in the wide paved area between the marina and the street and people wander along or sit and listen to the music. As well as pedestrians there are lots of cyclists and people on roller blades; it is all very chilled. Just as we were going to bed that night, there was a firework display down on the beach at the far end of the marina which we sat & enjoyed with our neighbour, Josie.

Revellry at the pontoon party

On Sunday we had a quiet day doing some domestic admin and girding our loins for the pontoon party which began at 4pm. We’d seen a notice in the loos, inviting all comers and later Josie mentioned it to us; she seemed to be one of the instigators. Everyone brought drinks & munchies. Our Doritos and dips were very modest compared to some of the kebabs and sate etc other people had brought along. As well as Brits, there were Americans, Canadians, Swedes and Josie who is Dutch. Everyone was very friendly, (especially after a few drinks !) and we were given lots of useful local information including the best places to eat, concerts in the Madrid Bank on a Friday night for €2.50 ahead and an enormous DIY emporium which we tracked down this afternoon. We were also invited along to a Cava Bar at midday today – see below. Duncan was also delighted to be offered some electronic charts which cover italy, the Adriatic and Aegean in exchange for a bottle of rum.

Yesterday Duncan & I went off to hunt for a chandlers’ shop he’d seen an advert for in the marina. When we tracked it down it proved to be a great find – much bigger and better stocked than either of the other chandlers’ we’ve found. We bought some potion recommended by our friends Brian & Rose for dealing with rust marks on the gel coat. Later we set to with brushes and buckets and the hose to scrub the decks. Rampage looks a lot smarter for the attention. We then went on a recce to find the bus station in anticipation of Polly & Tommy’s arrival this evening. I managed to fall off my bike for the second time since getting them – no damage this time but humiliating nonetheless. Luckily it was in the park & not in the street. No I hadn’t been drinking (on that occasion,) but swerved following a last minute change of mind about which way to go and skidded on loose gravel.

Talking of drinking, the Cava Bar today was brilliant – a bottle of fizz plus a delicious filled roll each for €7! Can’t be bad. Needless to say the rest of the afternoon was pretty well a wash-out. D went for snooze (no surprise there I hear all those who know him cry,) and I sat & read my book (Road to McCarthy by Pete McCarty which I highly recommend.)

Having recovered somewhat we went to inspect a paserelle (gankplank) which one of the Cava party is thinking of selling. We are managing without one just now but inevitably will need one at some stage & have been on the lookout for a likely plank of wood for a while. There is a system of swapping goods that takes place in the loos here. We’ve come across book swaps before but here anything goes. D has returned from his morning shower armed with a bicycle basket, a battery operated fan and several thimbles (eye shaped devises which you splice into the end of a piece of rope to make a neat loop.) Tonight there was lots of clothing hanging up in the ladies but I haven’t got quite that desperate yet & besides it was men’s clothing!

This evening we are walking up to the Arc de Triomf to meet Tommy & Polly who will be arriving on the airport bus from Girona. They are staying til Saturday & we are really looking forward to showing them some of the sights. We’ve signed up for Spanish lessons which start next week & are invited to a Chestnut Party on board one of the boats in the marina next Wednesday. Watch this space for more exciting updates…

Ruins on the Rampage – the real story!

The Stunning Ruins

The Skipper has already started a couple of comments on the long-awaited visit of the Stunning Ruins. However, as he is not actually a member of this glorious band it is down to me to provide a full, fair and true account of our exploits over the past week.

Kath & Terri arrived at middle day last Friday. Duncan & I decided to go on the train to the airport to meet them. This turned out to be just as well as the journey was by no means straightforward. Indeed the Skipper (henceforth to be known as the Griddled Kipper) was heard to mutter that the reason the train fare was so low seemed to be because the passenger is actually required to walk much of the journey!

After a late lunch, the three Ruins set off for Las Ramblas. However after a short while we branched off down a little side street & had a happy time pottering around the old town. We stopped for a drink at a very quaint bar which we have totally failed to find again since. Duncan was waiting with a delicious chilli con carne when we eventually returned to the boat.

Next day the 3 of us set off once more for the airport to meet the 4th Ruin, Maggie and conduct her through the rabbit warren of the metro system. This time, after lunch we decided to visit the Museum of the History of Catalunya. We only managed half the museum before closing time but it was very instructive. We then took Maggie off to introduce her to the delights of the old town and all the little winding streets and bars and shops before returning to the long-suffering Skipper/chef who was waiting with a tremendous paella.

Next day we went to Mass at the Sagrada Familia. Mass was held in a side chapel which has been largely completed. The service was conducted in Catalan which made it tricky to follow what was going on and provided plenty of time to admire the stained glass windows and magnificent ceiling. Afterwards we went round the rest of the cathedral & visited the museum which was fascinating. The building is most impressive and will be amazing once it is completed but that is not scheduled until 2030. The inside is still a building site and there is much yet to be done on the exterior facades. We have decided that we shall need to return when we are all 70 to check on progress.

The Passion Facade of the Sagrada Familia

After a late lunch in a nearby street café we took the metro back to the Arc de Triomf and strolled back through the park to the marina. After a pause to relax & recover, we then escorted the Kipper out for a tapas supper. We spent some considerable time searching for a suitable venue but eventually found a splendid restaurant where the waiter treated Duncan and his hareem with immense respect and admiration! The three other Ruins very kindly treated us to this wonderful meal and we would like to thank them all very much indeed and it was a brilliant evening.

The Serpentine Bench at Parc Guell

 

Casa Museu Gaudi, Parc Guell

On Monday we set off once more on the metro, this time to Parc Guell where there are some fabulous Gaudi buildings and also the Casa Museu Gaudi. It is set on top of a fairly steep hill so external escalators have been provided for much of the climb but nevertheless we were fairly breathless and pink in the face by the time we arrived at the park entrance. We loved the way he created beautiful mosaic work with broken fragments of glass and ceramics. Geometry and nature are blended to produce flowing curves and styles that we all admired enormously. Eventually hunger drove us in search of refreshment but the visit was well worthwhile and highly recommended to any visitor to Barcelona.

 

One of the Gaudi buildings at Parc Guell

We decided to take the bus back to the centre of town and were rewarded by passing two other famous Gaudi landmarks. The bus obligingly stopped at lights just by La Pedrera, giving us time to admire it and then drew to a halt at Casa Batllo where we decided to alight and take a few photos. Still in search of nourishment, we strolled down across the Placa Catalunya and on down the Ramblas where we finally stopped and a splendid restaurant calling itself the Paca Vaca. All we could eat of self-service salad and rotisseried meats, a beer, ice cream and coffee for less than €10 per head – bargain and delicious what’s more!

Casa Batllo

After a splendid meal we continued on down the Ramblas and wandered into a rather fine church, Eglesia de Betlem, where all the side chapels on the right of the nave were very old and ornate, whilst those on the left hand side where simple and modern. We then made our way to the cathedral which had a very spooky-looking dark medieval choir stalls and a fine vaulted roof. By the time we got back to the marina it was dark and this time the Kipper had a wonderful chicken stew waiting. We had vaguely thought of taking him out for a drink after dinner but in the end we were all too tired so we stayed and had one or two drinks on board before falling into bed.

On Tuesday Kath & Terri had to return home so Maggie & I went with them to the airport & after fond farewells we decided to try taking a bus back to town. We alighted at Placa Espanya where there is a fine view up to the Palau National & Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya. Unfortunately the only way to photograph this satisfactorily was whilst crossing a fairly busy road and I regret that the result was somewhat blurred so we have not included it in the blog. However we then took a fairly long walk down past the Parc de Montjuic to the harbour.

J aloft

Wednesday began rather wet so we had a slow start but when it cleared up the Skipper persuaded me to climb the mast! I was hoisted aloft in the bosun’s chair to rearrange the lazy jacks (ropes that keep the mainsail in order.) Not being fond of heights this was not something to which I had been particularly looking forward but in the event it was not as terrifying as expected.

Task completed, M & I then set off for the Picasso Museum. We stopped off en route and the extremely imposing Correos to buy some stamps and were impressed by its wonderful ornate, domed ceiling. We decided not to take a photo however, as it was rather dark inside & also we were vaguely worried that someone might just get upset. We enjoyed the Picasso Museum though we decided we must be philistines as we really preferred his early work to the very avant-garde pieces for which he is so famous. We were pretty tired by the time we’d been right round the museum and went to look for a coffee shop, having decided that the one in the museum was too pricey. However, as is often the case when looking for something in particular, we totally failed to find a café and had to settle instead for beer and olives and some of the delicious tomato bread which seems to be a speciality of this part of Spain.

Heading back towards the harbour and the marina, we stumbled across the Chocolate Quarter – of course! If there was a chocolate quarter to be found we were probably the best qualified people in existence to discover it. There is a musuem of chocolate which was sadly shut; however the school for pastry chefs was still in full swing and we were fascinated to see lots of trainee chefs wacking some sort of dough with immense force and enthusiasm. We could not work out exactly what they were making but thought you would enjoy the photo:

Trainee pastry chefs at the Chocolate Museum

En route back to the boat, we felt obliged to stop and buy some chocolate novelties as a souvenir of our day and to sweeten the long-suffering Kipper.

Yesterday it poured with rain continuously so we relaxed and played games and read books, venturing only as far as the bread shop for basic provisions.

Maggie at the helm today!

However today dawned bright and sunny so we took Maggie out for a short trip up the coast. The wind was unpredictable and we thought we might have to motor most of the time but eventually it picked up and we had a very good sail.

When we returned to the marina, she and I set off on bikes to explore a bit more of the harbour and also went up to Puerto Olimpico so she could compare it with Port Vell. We both decided it was very nice but Port Vell is probably in a better position, right in the heart of the city. Everyone was out, walking, cycling or roller-blading and even quite a few trying to surf ‘though it has to be said that the surf here is fairly tame. Now it is time to stop this, select some photos and prepare and evening meal. Tomorrow Maggie flies back to UK and we shall miss her very much. It has been a brilliant week for me and hopefully a Stunning Ruins reunion to remember!

The long-suffering Skipper!

Ruins on the Rampage! – Skipper’s maunderings pt 2

There comes a time in the affairs of man (or some such nonsense) when you really do have to sit down and reassess the whichness of why. Today is just such a day; not actually cold but overcast, rainy and with the occasional really good thunderstorm thrown in for good measure. Because of the weather, there’s no motivation to do anything other than sit round in the saloon, doing crossword puzzles and reading books.

Maggie, the last remnant of the Ruins, is deep in the Crimean War Diary of J’s great great grandfather, having been introduced to it because it makes mention of Florence Nightingale. His comments on the good lady of the lamp were focused mainly on her having a good set of teeth rather than any deep understanding of her effect on medical care for the British Army.

As you will have guessed, I’m sat at the computer, working hard to keep you all updated with the next thrilling episode of our blog. Equally, you might be able to tell that we haven’t been doing much to keep you all waiting for but there you go.

We’re still in Port Vell Marina in the middle of downtown Barcelona, where we’d quite like to stay until next April. However things seem to be stacked against us in this wish, as the marina can’t comit to giving us a berth beyond mid January. The thought of having to move in what is usually the most exciting month as regards weather doesn’t fill us with glee, so we’re reviewing our options just at the moment. The favourite alternative is Valencia in the Americas Cup Marina, which is cheap (half the price of Port Vell), is quite close to the town and has good connections to the rest of the country for trips into the interior. Watch this space – Port Vell may just be able to sort us a berth out yet.

The visit of the Stunning Ruins went well – at least from my point of view. They were all very well behaved and I didn’t see very much of them at all, as they seemed to spend most of their time either looking round museums and the like, when, of course, they weren’t making a significant contribution to the profits of the local bar owners. They turned up to be fed once a day in the evening and were prepared to do the washing up before falling into their pits. As I said earlier, well behaved if a little loud on occassions.

Someone in an earlier comment asked why they were known as the Stunning Ruins; all I can say from having spent time in their company is that the they are certainly stunning and from having seen them collectively dealing with the morning after, they’re probably qualified as ruins. You’ll need to ask one or other of them to explain if you want any further details.

Ruins on the Rampage! – Skipper’s maunderings pt 1

Well, the dreaded day has arrived. The ruins have finally all managed to make it to Barcelona, a minor miracle given that it seems to take any single one of them about and hour and a half just to make the morning trip to the showers. J and I went to meet the first contingent to arrive at the airport; just as well as it turned out as the change between trains in the middle of the city is entertaining, involving a long walk and easily missed signs. Kath and Terri came in on an Easyjet flight from Newcastle on Friday afternoon and it took us about an hour or so to get back to the boat, from whence the girls disappeared on an exploratory walk round the local area.

On Saturday, the girls went to the airport again to meet Maggie, who was flying in from Bristol. After a slight panic because J did know where she was flying in from they managed to meet her and then took forever to get back to the boat – something to do with drinks at the airport…. They dumped Maggies bags and took off for another walk round the bars of the area – there are lots of them, so they didn’t reappear until about 8pm, demanding to be fed.

Today, after a late start, they headed off for an early afternoon mass at Sagreda Familia, the Gaudi church in Barcelona. The orginal plan, poorly formed, was for them to return to the boat to eat leftovers for lunch. However, they sent a text late afternoon saying that they’d done lunch…… So I ate chilli with nachos for a late lunch.

Barcelona at last!!

Yes, we’re finally here. We came into Port Vell, right at the heart of the city, on Monday afternoon and we are now busy casing the joint before the first of our visitors arrive.

But first we have to pick up where we left you last: Castellon de la Plana which D described, accurately if rather unkindly, as grotty. We did not linger the next day but set off for another 40 miles of motoring to our next stop, Vinaroz. The sea was so calm that we paused half-way and dropped anchor so we could go for a swim. The sea was deliciously warm though I kept a pretty sharp look out for jellyfish as I had spotted some from the boat earlier. Thankfully, there was no encounter and we were tied up in Vinaroz by just after 6pm. Again, this was just a brief stop for the night and the marina was unremarkable. The highlight of our visit was watching the fishing fleet all depart into the night, just as we were about to go to bed about 11pm. It was quite impressive to watch them all set off like a choreographed ballet, one after another. The other notable incident of our stay in Vinaroz was the fact that we made off with the access key to the shower block. It is interesting that this was about the only place where we’ve not been asked for a deposit for the key – goes to show that it’s worth doing as it jogs the memory fairly effectively to surrender the key before leaving! Key deposits have varied – anything from €5 to an outrageous €50 in Vilajoyosa where I thought the guy was joking and laughed outright. Not only was he quite serious but moreover, he wanted payment upfront for our stay too – which is fairly unusual – and when I explained that I only had €25 in cash on me he confiscated my passport. Obviously I have a more shifty appearance that I had imagined… We did, incidently post the key back to Vinaroz Marina with our apologies a couple of days later.

But I digress – by Monday 5^th October we had arrived at another little marina at Puerto de Calafat. This was not an adjunct to the fishing harbour as it was in Vinaroz but a little purpose-built marina. The Marinera was delighted to welcome us and had obviously not had anyone to chat to all day. He spoke no English but we made the mistake of saying we spoke some German and he was off! After the normal preliminaries of booking in were completed, he explained how to find all the local amenities, and chatted about other English visitors who had stayed in the marina this summer, before launching into an in-depth discussion of the current state of the global economy and more particularly the Spanish economy (fairly dire just now!) It stretched our knowledge of German to its limits, it now being nearly 20 years since we last lived there and had cause to use the language.

Off in search of a Spanish B&Q!

At first glance, the showers at Calafat appeared to rival the five-star facilities at Denia, but appearances decieve. Once again it was separate individual bathrooms with twin sinks and a magnificent-looking shower that squirted water at you from about 8 different directions. Sadly, however, nothing I could do would persuade it to produce anything more than very tepid water. I eventually gave up in disgust & went back to the boat for a shower which is perfectly ok, provided we have been running the motor & thus generated some hot water. (The imersion doesn’t seem to work – a little winter project for Duncan I feel.)

Our next stop was a place called Torredembarra where we were allocated a prime berth right beside the office and showers – very handy. We were by this time, so confident of reaching Barcelona on time that we stopped for a couple of days. The marina was pleasant and we discovered the old town while out shopping. On the second evening we set off out of town on a longish bike ride in search of the Spanish equivelent of B&Q for various small bits & pieces which Duncan needed.

We also did our biggest washathon to date – 7 loads!! Well, we hadn’t done any since leaving Almerimar some 2½ weeks earlier. I know – it’s disgusting but were boaties now. We had condemned the washing bag to one of the aft cabins as it was starting to sing quietly to itself. OK, D says it was a full f***ing orchestra. The cabin has since been fumigated.

The village church at Torredembarra

Having availed ourselves of the excellent book swap at Torredembarra marina, we set off once more last Friday (9^th) and had a great sail to Vilanova i la Geltru, some 30 miles up the coast. It was a big, impersonal & expensive marina so we again stayed just one night before making our way to Port Ginesta, which was much nicer. The weather continues to be warm and sunny so on Sunday morning we pumped up the dinghy and pottered off down the coast a little way, looking for a likely cove for a swim. However there was nothing suitable as the shoreline was rocky with no little bays. We felt rather vulnerable in our little rubber inflateable because the world and his wife were out on the water enjoying the sunshine. We spent a deal of time dodging sailing boats, jet skis, fishing boats and inconsiderate idiots driving over-powered gin palaces. Still it was fun & we managed to spot the church & 12^th century ruin mentioned in the pilot book. They were impossible to reach by sea however, and a long, hilly cycle from the marina so we contented ourselves with admiring them from afar. When we got back to the boat I went off to the beach next to the marina & had a swim while D had a snooze (he’s not really a fan of beaches!)

The beach at Ginesta

On Monday we completed the final short leg of our journey to Barcelona. There were lots of seriously large ships loafing around outside the main harbour and obviously being summoned in, one at a time, in an orderly manner by the harbour master. Some brave souls were sailing between these monsters in a devil-may-care fashion but we preferred to keep the motor running so we could dodge quickly if one suddenly decided to move in our direction. The harbour & marina complex here are vast and it took some 15 or 20 minutes to reach our berth. A couple of guys kindly helped us in and disappeared to some party that was about to begin, promising that although the Capitana’s office was shut for the rest of the day, someone would come down to book us in. This duly happened and we were solemnly presented with a swipe pass and electric cable fitting and relieved of €70. We were just about to relax when Duncan spotted important looking documents floating around the boat. With Duncan using the boathook to swoosh them towards me & me lying face down on the pontoon dangling dangerously over the edge, we were able to retrieve them and at the same time enliven and enrich the lives of all the various on-lookers who probably went home to their loved-ones finally convinced that the English are utterly mad. (NB it was subsequently discovered that my sailing qualifications – such as they are – had been rescued but D’s are still missing so if anyone demands to see our papers, I shall be claiming the title of Skipper until such time as his are replaced. D now reckons that my successful berthing of Rampage at Vilanova has completely gone to my head.) After the inevitable recriminations and chunnering, we decided to forget about drowned documents and set off to explore Barcelona, which as everyone had told us, is a fantastic place.

We were immediately struck by the magnificence of the buildings, the lively ambience and the terrifying Russian roulette of cycling in this city where you are given no quarter either by motorists or pedestrians, or even fellow cyclists of whom there are vast numbers. After tracking down the tourist office in Placa Catalunya, (something like Barcelona’s equivelent of Trafalgar Square, ) we eventually found our way as far as the magnificent Sagrada Familia, designed by Gaudi & still under construction. Indeed D felt it had not progressed much since he was last here as a teenager, some 40 years ago! We made our way back across town via the beautiful Arc de Triomf and the Parc de la Ciutadell , found a tiny Spar near the marina where the only thing they could provide for supper was pizza.

The Arc de Triomf, Barcelona

Yesterday however, I managed to interrogated two unsuspecting English women in the ladies loos & learned how to find the local market so last night we had delicious fresh fish for supper. After brunch yesterday we abandoned our bicycles and set off on foot to the Arc de Triomf main line station where we took a train north to visit the marina at Premia de Mar. We have provisionally booked in there for the winter as they were the only marina in the Barcelona area who bothered to respond to our emailed enquiries. However, having seen it, we understand why they are desperate for business and it has been relegated to “last possible resort.” Apart from being about 1+ mile from the train station, both the town & the marina at Premia de Mar were uninspiring to say the least. The marina seemed dead, with no shops or bars around, no laundry, no wifi service and worst of all, no other liveaboard folk in evidence. We headed back to the city, alighting from the train at El Mansou to look at another marina. This looked a lot more promising but we reached the Capitana’s office at about 2.30ish shortly after everyone had disappeared for the 2 hour siesta so we were unable to ask any searching questions or inspect the loos etc as we’d hoped.

Today we have been giving Rampage a good clean after all her adventures and we may go to visit Puerto Olimpico on bikes which is just a bit out from the city centre. However, we are sort of hoping maybe Port Vell will decide they have a vacancy for us. Failing that we may make our way back to Valencia next month, particularly if our erstwhile sailing companion, David, comes to join us for a few days as he has threatened. We will, of course, keep you informed and let you know when we make a decision and finally stop wandering for the year.

J working on the blog!

On to orange country (Valencia’s biggest export)

Leaving Denia

The time has come, the walrus said; well, you know what I mean. It seems to have been a long time since one of us actually sat down and wrote anything for the blog but today is a good one to do a bit of catching up. We’re at sea heading from Valencia to Castellon de la Plana, a little place about 35 miles north. There’s not a breath of wind so we’re motoring along and there’s little to do except make sure we don’t hit one of the large commercial vessels or one of the numerous motor yachts that there seem to be round here.

Having just checked what we wrote on 28 September, I see we left you all in Vilajoyosa, a lovely little place (not). Anyhow, on 30 September, we left there and headed round the last major cape before Barcelona, Cabo de Nao. It seemed to take forever to get there, as what wind there was seemed to be straight on the bow and slowed us up a bit; it didn’t help that we could see the cape almost as soon as we left harbour – it just never seemed to get any closer. We stayed that night in Denia, a real change from our last stop! The staff were helpful, even though the only language we shared with the berthing chap was French, there were bars and restaurants in the marina and it was all a refreshing change from the fairly grumpy, grudging service we’d had in Vilajoyosa. I mean, we don’t want to pay a fortune to stay in a marina but you do expect a reasonable level of service in exchange which we frankly didn’t get in Vilajoyosa.

The showers and loos in Denia were a real demonstration of what can be achieved; there were about 24 bathrooms, each about double the size of our bathroom at the Chapel with a shower, sink and toilet, bench and hooks – beautifully clean & new. If there’s an award for the marina with the best loos, Denia wins it hands down. Nowhere else even gets a look in! Mind you, still not too sure if it was worth the 37€ a night……

1 October was very much similar to the previous day in weather terms, not much wind but at least it was blowing in about the right direction – we did manage to get a couple of hours sailing in around middle day. We were making for Valencia and arrived round about 6 pm. The trip was largely uneventful apart from a load of bamboo & debris in the water at one point which we had to try and avoid.

Flood debris at sea after all the recent rain - one small patch!

We’d tried to radio ahead to book a berth at the marina but got no proper response, so carried on into what we thought was the Real Club Nautico de Valencia marina. The almanac had talked of an expansion having taken place but failed to let us know of the major changes that had been going on. The club marina remains as before but there is a vast new ‘yacht base’ aimed at boats in excess of 20 metres and “super yachts“, so initial thoughts were that they wouldn’t be interested in Rampage at a mere 12m. Nothing could be further from the truth – the yacht base had a RIB waiting for us who guided us to a berth more suited to a boat 3 times our size, the receptionist turned out to be the sales manager for the complex and couldn’t have been more helpful and to cap it all, when we got back to the boat after booking in we found that Duo, a catamaran we’d been meeting on and off on our trip north was berthed on the other side of the pontoon!

One downside of the yacht base was the 2 km trip to the shower block – does that give you some impression of the size of the place? Did I mention the price? 15€ a night, all inclusive (most marinas in this part of Spain meter both electricity and water and add that to an already large bill!). Their offer for staying the winter was also very attractive but their setup is aimed at ‘super yachts’ with their crews using the on-board facilities which isn’t really what we’d like.

Given the low cost and all, we decided to stay 2 nights and ‘do’ Valencia. There are no bus or rail links to the city which is several miles out so the marina organised a taxi to pick us up and Eva, the charming sales manager, told us all the ‘must visit’ places. We had a great day out, looking round the indoor market and the cathedral, having lunch in a little plaza and doing a bus tour of the city. Sadly we both managed to leave the camera aboard Rampage so no pics I’m afraid, but the city is well worth visiting. The market, in particular, was terrific – buzzing with activity and a series of domed roofs, lots of decorative coloured tiles and stained glass. It was frustrating not to be able to buy from the tremendous array of meat, fish, fruit and veg but we were dropped off there first and it wasn’t practical to cart stuff about all day in temperatures of 30 + centigrade. Yes, after a few days of rain last week we are back to warm sunshine, blue skies and termperatures in the high twenties and thirties.

Julia arrives in Valencia......

We both decided that we rather like Valencia and wouldn’t mind staying the winter there. But not at the yacht base – it’s simply too far out of town and remote from everything we need so this morning we headed to the north of the port to the Americas Cup Marina, another new marina development which has two parts, one for the more humble yachts like us, the other, inner part for the ‘super yachts’. The two parts are separated by a swing bridge, which carries the Formula One circuit across the dock.

We refuelled there, taking on just shy of 100 litres of diesel (for the main engine) and 5 litres of petrol (for the outboard). Whilst I was attending to the nasty smelly diesel (note this is definitely one of my jobs – no competition from J to take it over), J went to the Capatania to check out their charges. To our total surprise, they were as good (almost) as the other marina and what’s more they’ve got plenty of spaces. We paused for ½ an hour to have a look round and think we may yet come back to the marina for the winter. It’s fairly new, has a metro station 10 minutes walk away which links directly to the airport and city centre, there are shops a short bike ride away and there’s a beach just round the corner when the weather’s good.

Fish farm - miles out to sea. Yet another hazard to avoid.

Tonight we are in Castellon de la Plana – a grotty little industrial town but it is just a brief stop. We hope to reach Vinaroz tomorrow night as the forecast is for more light winds from the west.

Ruins! You will be pleased to note that the skipper is now 100% confident of reaching Barcelona before your arrival … unless the first mate screws up in some way!