A Winter Home

The First Mate hijacked my blog writing, which saw both the last entry and this as a single blog.  She didn’t like the fact that I dismissed the cultural visits in Barcelona in a couple of lines and by the time she’d added enough detail to my otherwise sailing oritented blog it was too long for a single article, so she decided to split it in 2.  Thus you now have the details of her excesses in Barcelona making sure the MA got her ration of culture but you nissed out on some of the exciting detail of sailing “Rampage” down to her winter home – well, now you’ve got it!

Last Friday we started to make our way south, looking for somewhere to call home for the winter.  Our default setting for this was Almerimar, a marina not far from Malaga on the Costa del Sol.  The reasoning behind this was twofold: reasonable prices plus a liveaboard community.  However, it is about 350 miles or so from Badalona, so we were looking at the best part of 2 weeks to get there, always assuming we didn’t wind up getting stuck anywhere by the weather, so we were prepared to look at other possibilities as we journeyed south. 

 

Lovely Josie who came to wave goodbye as we left Ginesta

Our first port of call was Ginesta, about 30 miles down the coast from Badalona.  The first half of the trip was on the motor but we picked up a bit of wind once we’d cleared the main harbour entrance at Barcelona; always a bit of an adventure, dodging the enormous ships entering and leaving.

 

Ginesta has turned out to be the new home for quite a number of folks from Port Vell, which has turfed out many of their long term residents in order to redevelop the place for super yachts.  We made a point of looking up Josie, our neighbour from our first winter aboard, as she and Doug have settled on Ginesta as their new home base, cruising the Balaerics during the summer months.

The local equivalent of the Cornish Pilot Gig – included mainly for the benefit of Polly and Tommy!  Note that the rowlocks consist of simple pin; the oar is fixed to the pin with a loop of rope.

 

From there we went to Torredembarra and then on to Calafat, with the marina fees dropping by a few more euros each night as we drew further away from Barcelona.  We almost decided to stay in Calafat for a couple for nights as the forecast was for strong winds round the Ebro River delta.  In the end, we looked at a more detailed forecast and worked out that we would have a broad reach to the tip of the delta, the wind would then die away and return from the south, giving us another broad reach into Sant Carles.  So we left reasonably early, caught the winds just as forecast and arrived in Sant Carles after a brilliant day’s sailing; we got to within about 200 metres of the marina entrance before we furled the headsail!

 

Looking across to DD pontoon, Sant Carles marina, with the town behind and the mountains beyond.

On our arrival, we were greeted by Patrick from the catamaran “Shecat”, who we knew from last winter in Messilonghi; he and Sheila have berthed their boat here for the next year or so.  We have been very impressed with the standards of this marina and the staff have all been inoculated with the ‘customer service virus’ and are a joy to deal with; nothing is too much trouble and we’re told that if they can’t sort it there and then, it tends to get resolved as quickly as it takes the specialist to arrive on site.  Magic.  So, we sat down and started to do some complicated sums.  We added up the cost of everything not included in the price at Almerimar, then added in the cost of getting there and getting back (as we plan to return to Greece via the Balearics next spring) and suddenly, Sant Carles marina looked more affordable.  Then we went to the office and they offered us a good deal plus effectively a couple of free weeks into the bargain and that was that.  Sant Carles de la Rapita is our winter home this year.

 

“Rampage” settled into her winter berth

This is a link to google earth showing where we’re based  http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Sant+Carles+de+la+R%C3%A0pita,+Spain&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=40.619771,0.601158&spn=0.000912,0.001725&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=5.815838,14.128418&oq=sant+carles+&hq=Sant+Carles+de+la+R%C3%A0pita,+Spain&t=h&z=19 (the centre of the frame is pretty much where we’re berthed) and this link is to the marina website so you can see where we’re living: www.santcarlesmarina.com   The postal address for sending Red Cross parcels containing Cadbury’s Instant hot chocolate, should you feel so moved is as follows:

Julia and Duncan Byrne

‘Rampage’ Berth DD335

Sant Carles Marina

Ctra. Villafranco, s/n

Apartat de Correus 192

43540 Sant Carles de la Rapita

Spain

 

The skipper is much gratified to find himself on pontoon DD (Skipper puzzled by this reference as he’s always fancied quality above quantity…..)

 

Sunset last night. Sadly today is overcast – hence all the cloudy photographs in this particular post.

OK, that’s us for the season, just a little earlier than expected.  We will be doing a bit of pottering locally but not a vast amount, as beyond the lagoons of the delta there isn’t much for a good few miles up and down the coast.  However, there are some serious bird movements round here and we saw flamingos, egrets and other wetland birds on our last visit here with my brother Mike in 2009.

Mad Aunt on the Rampage.

Having escaped the clutches of Tossa de Mar (for some unknown reason our mature, grown-up daughter Polly was in tucks  of laughter about this place,) we made Badalona on 8 September with no real hassle and were promptly sent back to the same berth we had vacated a few weeks before.  This time the internet connection worked so we were able to make sure that my sister Susie (aka the Mad Aunt or MA) understood the instructions for meeting us in Barcelona before she set out to join us.

 

Badalona is an old industrial suburb lying on the coast to the north of Barcelona proper.  It’s not pretty but the marina is good and inexpensive plus there are excellent train and metro links into the city.  Accordingly on the morning of the 10 September we caught a train to Placa Catalunya to meet up with MA.  We had, however, forgotten that the airport train stops at Passeig De Gracia NOT at Placa Catalunya, where we had told her to meet us.  It didn’t help matters that I’d succeeded in turning my mobile to silent so we missed several vital text messages…..  Ah well, we met up in the end and made our way back to “Rampage” by way of a beach bar in Badalona.  (It should just be mentioned here that Susie had probably the heaviest bag of all time – without wheels – having gamely agreed to bring out all sorts of bits and pieces for us ranging from teabags to a new custom-built shelf for our barograph, courtesy of Pam Lynch.  Our sincere thanks to both ladies!) That evening as we were finishing supper we started to hear fireworks and hurried out on deck to watch a truly spectacular show – it was a great welcome for the Mad Aunt.

A welcome beer after an epic game of ‘Hunt the Mad Aunt’ in central Barcelona!

 

After a day to relax and go to the beach, J and she spent the following two days ‘doing’ Barcelona, the winds being no good for sailing, while I tackled a few jobs on “Rampage” before we left the port.  On the Wednesday they spent the morning visiting Casa Batllo – one of the most remarkable of all the buildings designed by Antoni Gaudi. 

A beautiful doorway in Casa Batllo – one of just so many incredible features – a definite Must for anyone visiting Barcelona.

It was one of the sites J and I never visited during our winter in Barcelona 3 years ago and they were both utterly captivated by it and took any number of photos.  They then spent the afternoon pottering about the Gothic area and Las Ramblas, stopping off to see Placa Reial and the main covered market of La Boqueria. 

 

In La Boqueria – the famous covered market on Las Ramblas.

On Thursday J sent MA off alone to visit the Sagrada Familia, having already been there herself a number of times, but she joined Susie afterwards and took her up to Parc Guell – yet another Gaudi creation.    Back in town, they had supper at the Hard Rock Café, ostensibly because the Mad Aunt is collecting their glasses, although methinks the burgers and Long Island Iced Tea (a deadly mix of vodka, tequila, rum, gin, triple sec, sweet and sour mix and Coca-Cola) were the real attraction.  Feeling by all accounts relaxed and mellow, they then made their way to Placa Espanya to watch the music and light show at the fountains before eventually making it back on board around midnight.

 

Long Island Iced Tea and an enormous burger at the Hard Rock Cafe, Barcelona

On Wednesday evening, with the weather set fair for a few days from Friday, we’d had a route planning conference.  MA wanted to go to a ‘pretty anchorage’ and after much discussion and study of the winds, we decided that the best bet was to go to Mallorca.  Thus middle day on Friday, off we set and immediately picked up a westerly wind (force 4 – 5) which was great for a close hauled sail.  We were headed for Mallorca, but then the wind changed a bit, so we shifted our destination to Fornells in Menorca;  early on Saturday morning the wind changed again so we reverted to Plan A and headed for Pollenca in Mallorca.  Flexible or what? 

 

MA however, played no part in these discussions, as despite copious quantities of Stugeron she was laid low by mal de mare.  Although she didn’t actually feed the fishes, she spent most of the time in the cockpit in a horizontal position.   This was particularly sad because Friday just happened to be the Mad Aunt’s birthday and all she was capable of eating for supper was a bit of dried bread, apparently smelling & tasting distinctly of soap.  I should explain that we don’t always serve our bread thus scented but J had just washed the bread bag and it had transferred the perfume of the washing powder straight to the bread!  Yum!

 

Watching out for rays in Pollenca bay!

We arrived in Pollenca in the early morning of Saturday and I dropped anchor single handed leaving the watch below to slumber on.   (It should be pointed out here that a couple of times the skipper sloped off an hour early from his watch so fair’s fair!  J)   Anyway, Susie recovered well from the trip and was delighted with Pollenca and the next 3 days were spent at anchor there.  I had a bout of man flu whilst we were there and spent much of the time in bed whilst the girls frolicked about and enjoyed themselves.  It was very hot and sunny so most of the time was spent in and out of the water; they were particularly thrilled and delighted to see quite a number of dinner-plate sized rays while snorkling.  On our final evening there we had a meal ashore: paella, which for once was nicely cooked with lots of sea food.  (All too often in our experience, ordering paella in a Spanish restaurant leads to disappointment.)

 

A glass of sangria on our last night in Pollenca

We crossed back to Badalona, leaving on Monday evening and arriving about middle day on Tuesday.  The trip was made on the motor as there was no wind worth mentioning, although we did pick up a current which gave us about an extra knot over the ground, cutting a couple of hours of the journey time.    This time, without the waves, MA travelled much better and was able to admire the scenery, and in due course the stars.  Indeed she took the helm for the first couple of hours of the trip.  Once again, on reaching Badalona, the marina put us back on the same berth! 

 

Leaving Mallorca as the light faded.

On Wednesday we all went into Barcelona and visited another of the Gaudi houses, La Pedrera.  I find Guadi’s take on things quite remarkable if a little pretentious.  However, for me what is remarkable is the very advanced building techniques he used which meant that the structural strength of his buildings lay in the internal steel and stone work rather than in the walls.  This meant he could shape the external walls as he saw fit to achieve decorative effects rather than having to shape them as load bearing structures.  Brilliant idea and it lies very much at the heart of many major modern buildings like the Gherkin and the Shard. 

 

We had a very late lunch back at the Hard Rock Café, after which Susie presented both J and me with a commemorative glass which we will treasure carefully.  Finally we took Susie to see the outside of the beautiful Palau de Musica and urged her to try and visit it if she gets the chance when she returns to Barcelona on business next February.  Returning to the boat that evening, where we realised we didn’t need to eat again as the portion sizes at the Hard Rock had rendered any further food redundant!

 

Thoroughly Gaudi-ed out, MA was loaded onto her flight the following afternoon; J and I took her to the airport to ensure she didn’t escape and try to re-board “Rampage”.

International Rescue

But I’ll come to that a little later on…… 

 

We stayed in Port Vendres until 27 August when we sailed back down to Cap Creus to the anchorage we’d left to go to Port Vendres.  We intended to stay for a couple of night before heading back to Cadaques but I was woken by the sound of a rising wind at about 04.30.  The wind had decided to get up early and from the north, blowing us on to the shore; as we were only about 5 metres from the rocks, held by lines ashore, we decided to leave promptly.  20 minutes after waking up, we were lifting the anchor having freed all the lines and recovered the second anchor.  Who says adventure is gone from modern life?  Not for us!  Just navigating out of the anchorage in pitch darkness, (no moon, stars or shore lights) was somewhat un-nerving  as you simply couldn’t see the shoreline and had to rely completely on the chart.plotter.

Arriving in Cadaques under lowering skies

 

We motored round to Cadaques through the growing light under what could only be described as a threatening sky.  Low, dark clouds and vivid lightening strikes on the shore made for an exciting trip, lightened only by being joined by a small pod of dolphins for part of the trip.  Once securely anchored in Cadaques, we retired to bed to catch up on our sleep whilst a couple of thunderstorms tracked through the area.

Classic cigar-shaped clouds presaging a tramontana wind

 

The following day, the long range weather forecast was distinctly gloomy with a tramontana wind forecast to arrive the next day and blow for about a week.  After pondering on this for a bit, we decided that, whilst the Rocna would probably hold out, it would not be a comfortable experience so we would move round to Roses marina and sit the wind out there.

 

We made the trip under sail and arrived there early afternoon, along with a southerly wind which made berthing difficult.  An over-keen marinero in a RIB did help us to avoid dinging our neighbours’ boats but manage to break our forward navigation light in the process.

 

The waterfront at Roses looking across the bay to the marina

 

Roses is a pleasant enough town but quite large so we got the bikes out of the cabin for the first time since arriving in Spain to explore the place.  Since they were well buried at the back of the port cabin, (our main storage area) this led to an unscheduled sort out and re-stowing of the entire contents and took most of the afternoon.  The town is of two parts: the area by the coast is very touristy, full of cafes and T-shirt shops, whilst there is a separate little commercial centre which supports the inhabitants of the town.  Thankfully, this was quite close by the marina, so it wasn’t too far to walk to do the shopping.  There was also a very good hardware store where I was able to replace some bits and pieces that had been used up during the summer.

 

The wind begins to make itself felt

 

The wind arrived 12 hours later than forecast but did it arrive!  Initially J, always reluctant to pay marina fees unnecessarily, queried the need to be there, especially when she spotted a German yacht anchored off the beach, outside the marina.  However, as the wind built we agreed that it looked distinctly uncomfortable.  As the weather worsened, his anchor dragged and he had to be rescued by the Salvamento Maritimo and brought into the marina at which point J began to think of it as perhaps money well spent……

 

The German yachtsman being interviewed by the Cruz Roja prior to being recovered into the marina.

 

I reckon that it was about 30 – 40 knots most of the time but gusting every now and then to over 50 knots.  This went on for the next 5 days with little relief; most of the time it was sunny, although we did get one day of fairly heavy rain, but the wind was relentless.  It blew sand off the beach onto the boat and there was a constant fine spray blown off the sea onto the boat, coating it in a nasty brownish film.  The bikes also suffered the same fate and the wind was so strong we didn’t bother trying to use them.

 

Note the angle with the quayside as the boat is heeled even tied up in the marina, as the wind blows against the bare poles.

 

We spent time on board doing various jobs including making new mosquito nets for the main hatches in the saloon and forward cabin and for the companionway hatch.  The brass got polished, we repacked various cupboards and lockers, throwing away unused junk and generally read too many books.  As the wind began to ease we did venture out and took a walk along the coast one afternoon,went kite flying another day and on the final day we managed to have a bike ride. 

 Eventually, the wind died away and we had a day in the marina to clean up the boat and stow everything away before we left yesterday (6 September) with a few days in hand before we have to be in Badalona to meet up with my sister, Susie.   I should mention that we stayed away from the beach throughout most of our stay in Roses to avoid being sand-blasted but J was obviously missing her daily swim because the day before we left she suddenly, without warning, threw herself into the water.  We were supposed to be heading for the supermarket and a replenishment of our supplies, prior to departure but this had to be postponed while she had a hot shower and recovered her equilibrium.

 

J looking soggy after her unscheduled swim in the marina

 

Our intended anchorage was to be Cala Fornells, about 20 miles or so south of Roses where we had stopped with Maggie and Colin on the way north about a month before.

 

Now we come to the International Rescue bit…..  As we entered the cala, we noticed a pair of men in a small inflatable struggling with a reluctant engine, so we headed over and asked if we could help.  They accepted the offer and so we passed them a line; they asked if we could tow them about a mile back up the coast as that is where they had left their car. 

Towing the fishermen’s dinghy – note the bottom which is threatening to come away completely.

We started the tow but I noticed they were looking uncomfortable in the boat, so we stopped and got them and some of their kit on board “Rampage” and restarted.  Soon after that, I noticed that in addition to a reluctant engine, most of the bottom of the inflatable had come away from the tubes, so we stopped again, shortened the tow so the boat was mostly out of the water and retrieved the last of their possessions.  We then made good speed to where they wanted to be; we picked up a buoy and used our dinghy to tow theirs to the shore and then to deposit both of them safely on land.  Job done. 

 

Duncan tows the first of our rescued fishermen ashore in their damaged dinghy

As a thank you, they offered us their day’s catch; we declined most of the fish, as it was simply too much for us to eat before it would have gone off but we did get a fine pair of sea bream, which we had for supper that evening.  J also insisted on going for her usual swim now we were finally back at anchor and found it rather more pleasant than Roses marina.

 

D prepping the fish for supper

Today, we are in a small bay just south of Tossa de Mar anchored with a couple of other boats and just a comfortable day’s sail from Badalona.