Category: Boat (Page 1 of 2)

2004. A new year, and we are still here!

January 1, 2004 / deljones / 0 Comments

Out for a New Years sail with some good ‘new’ friends

In 2003 we sold our house, and gave up our jobs to embark on a new life on a boat. We have been living aboard a boat for 8 months now. We are now looking for a new home in the south of Spain where we will live having sold Stargazer and start a new chapter in our life. We take a big break from the boat and do a concert tour in the UK…! Well why not…?

Friday 2nd January 2004 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 93

A rather quiet start to the new year. Drinks with Jack and Tan, the boat light winners, on their boat. Very nice.

Saturday 3rd January 2004 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 94

Drinks today on Magellan cloud. It’s Steve’s birthday today there are 20 people on a 30 foot boat!! The boat is listing somewhat and sits 4 inches below the normal waterline. We do the short pootle from our boat and arrived by dinghy for the novelty of it, but when we come to leave, we find that 10m out we run out of fuel, much to the amusement of the rest of the guests. We have to now row to our boat.

Sunday 4th January 2004 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 95

Like everybody at New Year we decide that we should get fit and healthy, and do exercise, so we have a nice long walk along the beach followed by a bike ride.

We try to get into the Picasso Museum in the centre of town. It’s free today, but everyone else has the same idea, it’s packed so we decide to wait and go another day.

Monday 5th January 2004 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 96

Hayley is getting her haircut today, at last.

We go out for another bike ride today. Our favourite restaurant, the Bombeta is not doing a cheap menu today and it’s a holiday here. so we try a different one which is next to our regular Japanese restaurant. It was very good and very cheap Tonight it’s the Kings Day Parade. Tradition has it that the Three Kings arrive by boat, they give a speech, and are giving the keys to the city so they can deliver all the presents. They are then driven to the park where they start the parade, which goes all the way up to Montjuic hill.

What a great parade, full of mechanical animals and fabulous creatures with people throwing sweets from the floats for everyone to catch. A bright, colourful event. We all got some sweets.

We finish the night off with a kebab, the first in many years! Del manages to keep his down! These’s a story there somewhere…

Tuesday 6th January 2004 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 97

It’s Kings Day here today, so everything is closed…!

Wednesday 7th January 2004 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 98

Lunch out to day in town with our good friends Karen, Paul, Jack and Tan.

Thursday 8th January 2004 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 99

Spanish lessons today. We get to try different sweets in the lesson, but blindfolded. We have to describe the taste of them in Spanish.

Friday 9th January 2004 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 100

We went to the cinema today to see Master and Commander. Quite gruesome in parts. What those sailors had to put up with. Nice cinema. Very clean with no ‘odd‘ smells. Our cinema back in Harrow, a Warner Brothers cinema could learn something from here.

Saturday 10th January 2004 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 101

We were planning to finally take the boat out on a trip to another marina. We have been in Barcelna now for 100 days, and all we have done is local sails just outside the marina. We have forgotten how to sail properly.

Our plan is to go to Sitges, just south of Barcelona, but we get up too late and we’re not very prepared, so we will postpone it until tomorrow. Also the wind is a force 6 early this morning.

We still take the boat out for a potter. It’s a beautiful day, warm enough for us to put on our shorts and go barefoot around the boat. It’s January!

The sea is flat and we manage a sedate sail south.

We notice that we have a visitor. There is long ‘fin thing’ which is trailing behind the boat and stays there with us, not moving. Finally a long fish thing emerges which is 75 cm long, upside down, and showing a rather showing a large sucker, which is its mouth. He spits water out at. We both yell out! There are some strange beasts at sea…

Sunday 11th January 2004 – Port Vell to Aiguadolc (Sitges) 19 miles, 26 euros

Today we are finally getting away from Barcelona for a few days. We have a sailing boat so let’s go somewhere…

The weather is beautiful, so we get ready for our little two day escape from Barcelona. We get a good wind for most of the way, and Stargazer peaks at 6.5 knots, not bad. We have to get used to this ‘tippy uppy’ thing again that boats do. It’s been a while.

We arrive at three in the afternoon. The marina is lovely, a great place to be in the summer no doubt. It’s a bit like Lavendou in France with restaurants lining the quay.

We walk into the town up and over a bit of a hill and find it too is lovely. A grand palm tree lined promenade with a nice beach. We will come back tomorrow for a better look around and to have dinner. We feed the ducks.

Dinner tonight is Green Thai curry. Very nice.

Monday 12th January 2004 – Sitges – Day 2

Even though it was very peaceful here last night in Sitges, Hayley didn’t sleep very much.

The boat rigging was making some noise against the mast, and there are of course the ducks!

After a leisurely breakfast we walk into town past ‘Cat Square‘, there are lots of them. We have a couple of very expensive drinks by the sea, it’s a nice sunny day, just a little cool, it is January.

We have a cheap menu of the day in town and stagger back for a nap in the afternoon, which is rudely disturbed when we feel the back of boat hitting the concrete pontoon, so we let out the boat lines a little to create a larger gap between us and the pontoon, to stop it happening.

Dinner is a takeout pizza after much difficulty trying to getting H back on the boat as there is now a large gap.

During the night the wind starts to build. We are hoping to leave and go back to Barcelona tomorrow.

Tuesday 13th January 2004 – Sitges – Day 3

Today we wake up to a wind which is force 7, the cleats are creaking and groaning as we are in a very unprotected spot in the marina. The wind is hitting our starboard bow full-on. It looks like we will be staying here today, so we take advantage of the wind and do some washing, clean and air the boat. We spend some quite time and read.

Later we shop in town, and on the way back we pop in to the marina office to pay for our stay. We thought it was €13 a night, but we had read it wrong, it’s €26 and we are here for a few days. No idea how we got that so wrong.

We must get off from here tomorrow, but the forecast isn’t good. What a rip-off for a winter birth.

Dinner is Spanish stew

Wednesday 14th January 2004 – Sitges to Port Vell, Barcelona 19 miles

H wakes up at 8:30, and there is no wind so she gives Del a nudge and within 10 minutes we have cast off and are leaving.

There is a bit of a swell but things are okay, so we motor all the way back to Barcelona. En route we have some fried egg sandwiches and tea. The wind has now completely gone until we’re near Barcelona. We’re at the entrance. It’s now a force 6.

We decide to go bow in, but the wind gets us and we end up floundering in the channel. 2nd attempt we make it. Just.

Tuesday 27th January 2004 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 118

We have a friend on our pontoon today, a heron, we call him Harry. He stands about on the end of the pontoon, and sometimes wanders down the fingers of the pontoon where, if you frighten him, he runs at you to takeoff. It’s quite frightening. We’ve tried to give him pieces of bread but he’s not having any of it.

Wednesday 28th January 2004 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 119

30 of us are heading off to the archery bar today where we take over all four lanes. Our team wins. I have the highest female score despite much protesting from Paul about bouncing arrows…?!

Thursday 29th January 2004 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 120

It’s Karen’s birthday today, so after Spanish lessons we take her her present and head out to the Cava bar.

Steve with his daughter from ‘Magellan Cloud

Jackie, Steve and Emily from Magellan Cloud come too. After much cava we decide that it’s such a lovely day we should all have a game of Pétanque. There’s a couple of pétanque courts in the central reservation of a large road nearby. We bring the balls, Paul and Karen bring the Ricard. It’s a lovely two hours spent in the Sun drinking and playing games while the rush hour traffic speeds by.

We think we might have another toilet situation…

Friday 30th January 2004 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 121

Yes we have another blocked toilet situation, we thought that we had a problem last night. We now have raw sewage in the bilges.

What a stink…!!!! We did what we could last night, but it was dark and we both had headaches after all the drink during the day.

Today we have to tackle it. We empty the cockpit locker and flush the bilges with hundreds of litres of water and Milton. Slowly the smell is going away and we end up with the cleanest bilges on the marina.

Saturday 31st January 2004 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 122

Del flies to the UK today, when he calls in he says it’s grim, dirty and that nothing works, and that really we’ve made the right decision to leave.

Friday 13th February 2004

There are a few gaps here in the diary. We have started house hunting in the south of Spain.

We are flying back to Barcelona from Malaga.

It’s Friday the 13th and we are on Iberia flight number 666…!!!!

We are both going back to the UK for a few months to do tour with The Shadows to do their Final Tour.

The tour is a long one. Del is the Lighting Designer and H is coming along to work on the tour as a follow spot operator. Should be interesting…

Friday April 30th Scarborough

Well here we are in the Scarborough Futurist Theatre for the opening night of The Shadows Final Tour. H is doing one of the spotlights and has had a brief training from Del and has been coached in what will happen in each song including a rather complicated ‘Shazam’ which requires quick fades up and down on various band members. H is a little nervous.

The show starts and all goes well. H has a drum solo to pick up, it’s after about 5 minutes of gripping the light tight with white knuckles so it doesn’t move, that Del informs her that it’s an 8 minute long solo and she could have just locked the light off. Thanks Del.

Monday 14th June 2004

It’s the last day of the tour in the London Palladium. Cliff Richard joins The Shadows on stage for the last show. Fantastic…

Del has done a great show that has gone down very well and H is now a partly experienced follow spot operator.

Tuesday 15th June 2004 London to Manchester

Flight from London to Manchester.

Wednesday 16th June 2004 Manchester to Malaga

House hunting in the south of Spain continues…

Friday 18th June 2004

We think that we have finally found our house in Spain. We make an offer…

Wednesday 30th June 2004 Malaga to Manchester

Our offer has been accepted and we have signed the reservation contract today. We plan to fly back to our boat in Barcelona at the end of July. We think…

This is the first year of a diary that H wrote in here spare time. Yes there are lots of gaps, she did her best. The pencil writing is starting to fade 23 years in, so it was important that we memorialised our first year in Spain.

We have enjoyed our first year in Spain on our boat. Going forward the plan is to sell “Stargazer” and buy a house in Spain, and from there commute to and from Spain to work. We have become very attached to the boat and the boat life, and maybe we we have to come up with a new plan?

Christmas in Barcelona 2003

December 3, 2003 / deljones / 0 Comments

Karen, Del, H and Paul doing some archery. In a bar no less…?

We have now been in Barcelona for over two months and about to spend our first Christmas on our boat surrounded by boats and our collective of new friends. This month is also Del’s 40th birthday

Wednesday 3rd December 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 66

We are flying back to Barcelona today. We’re going to have a very confused moggy on our hands when we leave.

The flight back is very bumpy and H doesn’t enjoy it at all. We get a cab from the airport to the marina as we are carrying about 20 kg of books alone.

The boat is fine, and we soon settle back in.

We get a call today from Sue and Stanley who received our Christmas card. It was nice to hear from them. They will be returning to Rome in the spring to carry on their adventure.

Thursday 4th December 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 67

We have a lie in this morning, but eventually we do get up as we have Spanish lessons today. We shower and grab some breakfast at the Bombeta on the way.

Later on we stay on the boat as Del is trying to rescue his computer from some technical issue. Hayley does her Spanish homework.

Friday 5th December 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 68

We are up very early today, it’s nice and warm under the duvet.

H visits the gym on a day pass. It’s a huge place and easy to get lost inside. There is a view of the sea from the gym. Fantastic.

She has a sauna, jacuzzi and swims in two of the three pools, one is outside in the sun.

Later we stock up with food as the next three days is holidays here. Del is installing Paul and Karen’s new computer.

Later in the day we meet up with Chris again, from Lite Alternative and his girlfriend Marina for dinner tonight. Chris was with us a few weeks ago delivering Del a lighting computer.

The piece of flooring from our boat that we were going to make into a table has been dumped by the bins. Didn’t last long. The thought of constructing scissor legs was too much for Del.

Dinner tonight is at the rather excellent Indian restaurant with Chris and Marina then to the ‘Tranny bar‘ and then the ‘Hook bar‘.

We should explain that the Tranny Bar was in fact a bar frequented by transvestites with some drag acts on stage too. They made an excellent cocktail there and it was alway a good place to go. The Hook Bar was equally good. The bar had been themed on a pirate ship. It looked and felt fantastic inside. Very cheap with a great atmosphere. Very popular. Real flame candles everywhere and draped nets… Those were the days…

Saturday 6th December 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 69

It was 3am before we got to bed last night, so we are up late today. Again.

We drop off Paul and Karen’s computer, and go for a coffee and breakfast on the top floor of the local museum basking in the glorious late morning sunshine.

Later we sit on the beach and discuss the future. We have been here now for over 2 months. We didn’t expect to be here for so long, but we have enjoyed it.

Del has a tour of the UK coming for work which will be for a few months. Will we want to stay here until June? Who knows? We have some thinking and decisions to make. As Stanley used to say, (from the couple Sue and Stanley), “All will be revealed in time“.

Sunday 7th December 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 70

Today we are planning to go to the Torre de Collserola or the Collserola Tower, a huge communications tower that you can’t miss in Barcelona, but the weather is a bit cold and cloudy, so we stay in and do a bit of house hunting on the Internet to get an idea of what kind of properties we will be available to us later next year in southern Spain.

We go out later for a walk and look around the Christmas markets followed by a couple of tapas and some beers. It’s chilly but nice with a very festive feel around the city.

Monday 8th December 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 71

More house hunting today.

Chris and Marina. It’s been nice to see them.

Suddenly at around midday, the boat slowly starts to rock. we get this quite often as boats go in and out a little too fast. However it gets much stronger to the point she is almost leaping in the air, straining on her ropes and tugging hard against the pontoon. We are quite concerned, so much so, that we might have to get out and get onto the pontoon for safety.

Chris and Marina join us for a brew as they are leaving for the UK tomorrow.

Tuesday 9th December 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 72

Coffee morning, and a long discussion about the swell problems here, one of which was last night. The bad swells were caused by the local lifeboat going out in a hurry. The sea was quite big yesterday apparently.

Later we are visited, at the boat by Paul, Karen and Jack.

Jack is not too happy being on his leash, especially as the other cats on the pontoon have now seen him in it. He has lost all of his ‘pontoon cred‘. Still it’s great to have him here on board with us.

He settles inside our bedroom on Del’s jumper.

Spanish stew tonight for dinner. Delicious.

Wednesday 10th December 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 73

We are going to the popular ‘Cava Bar‘ with Paul and Karen for lunch.

The cava here is dirt cheap and in the end we end up with four bottles, and some pork rolls and some croquetas between us.

We get back to the boat to recover before going out again. We are going to the ‘Archery Bar‘ tonight. It’s a place where you can get drunk, and then pick up a full-size bow, and shoot some rather sharp full-sized arrows…! Only in Spain…

Before the Archery Bar we have a rather nice Chinese dinner to strengthen our arms.

Only in Spain would they think about mixing archery and drinking in the same place.

The score she says it all.

It was great fun though, nobody got hurt. We will have to return again soon.

Thursday 11th December 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 74

We have a lunch recommendation today for the Dolca Herminia. Sounds a bit like a handbag to us.

Great place, great food at a great price. A rare find

It’s great restaurant, just 15 minutes walk with an excellent lunch menu, lovely surroundings, and the food and very very cheap. By the time we leave people are queueing down the street waiting to get in.

We we are supposed to be Christmas shopping today, but with wine and a three course meal, it’s put us in the mood for a nap instead, so after a little walk around the town we return to the boat.

Tonight we hire a film, Gone in 60 seconds. We get a pizza and have a quiet night in with one of our bottles of Cava.

Friday 12th December 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 75

Today we are visited by a friend from the UK, Jason Goode and his girlfriend. They are here for just a couple of nights staying in a local hotel. We get the chance to show them around the city and have a rather expensive dinner…

Saturday 13th December 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 76

Its a nice day today, cool, but the sun is shining, so we decide to take a trip up to Tibidabo Amusement Park.

An interesting place with what looks like a bit of an unsafe funicular. We shall give it a go anyway…

The view up here is fantastic, and on such a clear, bright day we can see for miles.

Sunday 21st December 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 84

Our good friend Lars and the crew have returned to Barcelona with Elton John to do a piano only version of the concert that they cancelled last month.

We have been given four tickets thanks to Lars and we take Paul and Karen along.

The concert is in Palau St. Jordi, next to the Olympic Stadium.

We’ve never really raved about Elton John, but seeing him tonight has changed our minds. He is very talented. He does a long show, 2 1/2 hours, no interval just him and a piano – some showman…!

We leave a little early to try and get a cab. No such luck. It’s also pouring down with rain Barcelona style, so we end up walking the one hour home in the rain. Never mind, it was a good night.

Monday 22nd December 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 85

H wakes up early and can hear what she thinks is Paul and Karen attaching balloons to the boat. She wakes Del up in time for “The Net” our local community channel on the VHF where Karen announces Del’s birthday and tells him to look outside.

He sees his boat covered in 40th birthday balloons. Once dressed H offloads him onto Paul and Karen so she can get over to the cake shop sharpish.

She ordered a “congratulations” cake a few days ago in her best Spanish. She gets it back to the boat, hangs some more balloons, set a song up, and rigs some code flags saying Del 40th from the boat rigging.

Stargazer with signal flags that say “**Del 40th**“

She now get Paul and Karen to bring him back to the boat. He is very surprised. Peter, one of our neighbours, comes over and joins in the cake feast.

Later we have a drunken lunch at the now famous Cava Bar.

For dinner we can’t be bothered going out, so get a pizza and watch the film Terminator 2.

For his birthday Del got a Mont Blanc pen with a case. A handmade scarf, another one H started some time ago. “Zip the cat“, a stuffed toy from Jack and a sailor’s handy tool from Paul and Karen.

All in all a good 40th birthday… Happy Birthday Del…

Tuesday 23rd December 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 86

Christmas is coming, and so are H’s parents. They have brought with them a home made Christmas cake.

When they arrive and get settled in we introduce them to our new collection of boat friends with whom we are going out carol singing. One of which has an electric keyboard on a shopping trolley. Very ingenious.

We are off with plenty of drinks and in fine voice as we visit all the pontoons on the marina, carol singing. Along the way we ponce more drinks and food off everyone from their boats. A very drunken, but enjoyable evening. H’s mum is especially pleased as she is given a free pass to sing as much as she likes (which is usually advised against).

Wednesday 24th December 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 87

A trip into town and a look around the city followed by a good dinner.

Thursday 25th December 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 88 (Merry Christmas!)

The marina have organised cava and nibbles just outside the loo block. It’s Christmas Day!

We meet Jack and Tan who end up being new and very good friends. The marina hold a competition every Christmas for the best illuminated boat. Owners are encouraged to cover their boats with lights, and decorate them for Christmas, and for the first time Jack and Tan came second in the competition, though we thought they should’ve been first.

There is a prize giving ceremony. Runners up get a travel bag or a Port Vell rug. Our parents must think it’s always like this here.

Soon we are off to Nou Can Tipa for Christmas lunch. We pump up our dinghy and potter off to the restaurant. We have a long table waiting for us. We are all together, which is nice. Mum, Dad, H, Del, Paul, Karen, Winnie, Mark and finally Peter. It’s a fantastic lunch finished off with a walk in the warm sun along the beach past the sun sculptures. Fabulous.

Sunday 28th December 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 91

Parents leave to go home today. It has been great having them here for Christmas with us in Barcelona.

Wednesday 31st December 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 94

Today it’s the last day of 2003, and we are going over to see some American friends, Andie and Rob for a New Year spread and party games. Quite a few people are there already. After a while, and a few drinks later, we all head off to join in the action at Cathedral Square, which, when we arrive is dead! It’s empty. Where is everyone? We thought it would be crowded.

We start to hear fireworks coming from the direction of the marina. That’s life…! We are all armed with our party kit, bottles of cava, balloons, streamers, hats, and a can of 12 grapes each. It’s traditional here to put a grape in your mouth with each bong of the bells…

There are a few of us here and after a few cheers and the spraying of cava everywhere, another year passes.

This has been a good year for us. We have achieved more than we dreamed possible. Who knows what next year will hold for us.

Happy New Year!!! and best wishes for 2004. Or as they say here Feliz Ano Nuevo…

We are establishing some roots now here in Barcelona!

November 1, 2003 / deljones / 0 Comments

Out for a spin with our good friend John and his boat Marathon.

We have now been in Barcelona for nearly two months. We didn’t really expect to be here for so long, but it’s such a great place to be, and we have made a lot of new sailing friends. This month we secure a place here in Barcelona until the end of the year, a month that has seen its fair share of toilet capers…

Saturday 1st November 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 37

It’s the start of the boat show today here in Barcelona.

It’s also a very beautiful day so we go out for a sail, it’s sunny and there is a slight swell to the sea. There are few show boats out being filmed.

Once we get back in we have a quick lunch and a look around the floating section in the marina of the boat show. We go on most of the Bavaria boats, a couple of Moodys and we have a look at the gorgeous Island packets. In the motorboat section there is an Elegance 90 that we have a look at just for a nosy. Wow this boat is a palace. It has a Jacuzzi, a state room, four or five bathrooms and a full sized bath. It’s beautiful, it’s also £5,000,000+ tax

Oh well, at least the knitted scarf is progressing!

No 5 million dollar boats here, bit there is nice scarf coming along.

Sunday 2nd November 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 38

We are going to the boat show again today and then we’re going to go up Gran Via to see the inside part of the boat show at the exhibition halls. When we get there it’s huge, three halls of boats but not much chandlery to buy. We do buy a new mat after watching a great demo.

Bavaria have a 32 foot motorboat next to the 32 foot yacht. The motorboat is very nice, same fittings, but expensive. Strange to see them sitting next to each other.

Monday 3rd November 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 39

It’s another day at the boat show today where we get lots of look arounds on boats. Some are quite disappointing such as the Grand Soleil, which has an oven but no crash bar protecting it and the inside is all made up of cheap wood. Most of the French boats are a bit disappointing, except the Dufour range, the Moody 64 and the 54.

What we did like was the Island packet the Dufors, Nautica, X-yachts, and Bavaria of course, and the Contest.

We buy some key floats. Del by a nice pink cleaning cloth!

Today we will have a Japanese lunch.

Tuesday 4th November 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 40

Now that we’ve seen the boat show, it’s time to have a boat sort out of our own. Today all the cupboards are cleaned out, and redundant stuff is now stashed in the storage locker in the bow of the boat.

Of course in the middle of all the chaos we get some Beer Burglars visiting. Karen, Paul, their friends Max and Sue pop round. Max is looking for a new boat so has a good look around ours. He likes it.

We get a good feng shui feeling after the clear out. It needed doing.

Wednesday 5th November 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 41

Just as H is flushing the loo this morning, she hears a loud splash outside. It appears that our black tank is full…! How can this be? We emptied it only a couple of days ago.

We are going to go out for a sail later anyway, so we will empty the tank then. It’s a beautiful day today at sea. We actually have our shorts on again. We open the black tank seacock and wait to see the results at the back of the boat. Nothing. It looks like the tank is blocked. Nothing we do seems to free the blockage and as usual we can’t find any pump out facilities to empty it from our deck fitting.

We are worried because we see an evening using a bucket looming large over us. Del gets some help from Paul and Max, and after a couple of hours messing around with the tank there is a comforting rush of water out of the seacock. Well done lads!!! Job done.

H goes out the the Carrefour supermarket to buy bedding and a heater. Winter is getting close…

Thursday 6th November 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 42

The marina have agreed to let us stay until the 7th of January 2004. Hurrah!

We have a productive day today we fit a new bulkhead section under one of the benches that will stop all the food sliding about. We go shopping for bits and pieces.

Time is getting on by the time we finish and it’s late so we pop out for a Chinese dinner. Tonight there is a marina party. They have hired the floating bar nearby, it’s a free bar for all the Cava you want and some random chestnuts. Well it is autumn.

Once again we have too much drink and fall asleep quickly once home…

Friday 7th November 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 43

The toilet is not working again, it’s not flushing properly, it must still be blocked, so we try pressurising the whole tank again with the dinghy pump. Nothing, we fill the tank with freshwater trying at least five or six times, and each time it comes with a spectacular brown coloured 1 m high fountain. Yuk!!! This is disgusting work.

There are loads of pieces of calcium coming out but still the main outlet is blocked. After struggling for half an hour to remove the inspection hatch on the top of the tank we manage to free it open and there, right in front of us, is a problem.

The bottom of the tank is heavily packed with with layers of calcium and sewage. It has been going on for ages we think, slowly building up until the exit hole is just completely blocked.

Del pulls on the pink Marigolds and wrestles clearing the bottom of the tank with a hosepipe getting covered in the nasty stuff, and covering the boat it all finally comes free… Well done Del…

Finally we get the boat, and Del cleaned. We Milton and sterilise everything we have touched and have a welcoming shower. Bliss… We have been doing this tank thing all day and it’s now 6 pm, it’s out for dinner.

We think we certainly deserve it today.

Thursday 13th November 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 49

It’s the women’s coffee morning today Karen has persuaded H to go. Against H’s better judgement, she goes along. It’s okay, mostly Americans and she gets to see some new faces, but most of the talk is about Thanksgiving.

The meeting is in a very nice setting. It’s at the top of the Museum here at Port Vell called Museum of History of Catalonia which has a fantastic full view of the harbour and parts of the city. As she is already at the Museum she gives Del a call.

We have a look around. We’ve been putting this off for weeks. It’s quite good and after we have lunch in the Bombeta or favourite lunch spot.

Tonight Karen has organised drinks on her boat for a few of us including Steve Jacqueline, and their daughter Emily. It was a good night, but also quite late by the time we leave.

Lots of fuss of Jack the Cat tonight.

Friday 14th November 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 50

It’s Del’s turn, and he reluctantly goes to his coffee morning with Paul. It’s full of Americans being a bit dull. When he gets back. We are ready to go out for a sail.

Today we are taking pictures of John’s boat. John is our sailing friend next door but one, and he’s looking to sell his boat. We take over 70 pictures. The sea is flat, the sun is out and John puts his cruising chute out; it’s all very colourful.

He’s very pleased with his pictures and he invites us for lunch. He takes us to a lovely fish restaurant. The food is delicious and we meet a couple of his friends, two guys who are local boat brokers.

What a fabulous lunch, but now we are feeling rather full and can only think of having a nap.

We elect to take it easy for the rest of the night.

Saturday 15th November 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 51

Today we have a visitor who will be staying overnight, so we clean up the boat and make up the spare room at the stern as we are expecting Chris from Lite Alternative, who is coming with a laptop that has some lighting software on it for Del. He’ll be staying the night.

He arrives at 2pm and we dine at our local favourite restaurant and then have a potter out on the boat locally with a few cups of tea.

Back in the berth the lads get sorted themselves out with the computer. Tonight the dinner is on Lite Alternative, so we find a good fish restaurant in the nearby Port Olympic.

We have a large Perrillada each, nibbles, nice wine, some cava and delicious chocolate desserts. Del and Chris have an amazingly strong Irish coffee. the whiskey layer an inch thick… Wow!

All suitably fed and watered, we make our way back to Port Vell and bed.

Sunday 16th November 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 52

We go out for breakfast this morning with Chris. We just have a simple tortilla and coffee, followed by a walk around the Gothic quarter of Barcelona.

Chris leaves at 4 pm to catch his flight back to the UK, so we just tidy up the boat and do nothing for the rest of the day and the evening.

Monday 17th November 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 53

We have had a few issues with the boat since we picked it up in May, nothing major but at midday Jim and George from Opal Marine, the agent that we purchased our boat from, turn up with all the bits. New doors, which we rejected as they’re the wrong colour and have cracked, and a new floor.

They spend all afternoon sealing and tightening up cleats and sorting things out in general, so we should have a dry night tonight at last.

There is now a pile of boat floor stacked up on the pontoon. It seems a shame to throw it all away, but some of our friends have ideas about making it into tables and refurbing boats. Before you know it it’s all gone! Steve from a boat called Magellan Cloud, take some for his floor and a table. Paul takes a piece for his table. We also keep a bit for a table.

We’ll all have matching tables.

Saturday 22nd November 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 58

We are up late today so we go for a walk to freshen up. H realises that she’s not had a Big Mac in 15 years, randomly, so we decide to go and get one. It’s okay. She thinks she can live another 15 years until the next one. Del is not mad on them though, and he sits pulling faces outside the restaurant.

It appears that England have won the rugby as on our way we meet Karen carrying a rather drunken Paul. It’s now gone 3 pm in the afternoon and he’s been drinking since nine this morning so of course we buy him another beer, (sticking to coffee ourselves of course).

Del mentions that we are going out for a quick drink later and a couple of tapas and if they’d like to come along. So here we are again… Paul has recovered from his drinking and lead us straight into a pirate themed cocktail bar. This starts a slippery slope. We get to our boat late after half a bottle of wine each, then onto another bar for another cocktail, then another bar, then another bar.

It’s 1 am by the time we get back to the boat. Some quick drink that was.

Sunday 23rd November 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 59

Del is up at 8:30am to fly to England today for a meeting.

H is not, she’s not up at all. She feels awful and by the time she makes it out of bed it’s 4pm.

She staggers to the corner shop to get some water. She goes back to bed. She feels awful.

Wonder why…?

Monday 24th November 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 60

H still feels bad this morning, but by lunch she’s feeling a little bit better, and by dinner she’s round at Karen and Paul’s boat having a tasty Mexican dinner with Jack the cat on her knee.

Tuesday 25th November 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 61 (2 months)

Del is coming back to Barcelona today.

It’s a beautiful day. H goes to the coffee morning with Karen, then to the beach.

Apparently it’s raining in England.

Del is back, so we celebrate by going to the the local Japanese restaurant. Fantastic.

Wednesday 26th November 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 62

It’s 11 am by the time we get up, we are getting so lazy. Lars a good friend of ours gives Del a call; he’s in Barcelona with the Elton John tour, but it’s been cancelled, so they’ve got a day off.

We meet up with him for coffee, beers and nibbles eventually leaving hime to go sightseeing, and we leave to get some work done.

We catch Karen and Paul having a crafty Thanksgiving quiz rehearsal on the boat Los Ramblas. We all have tea together at ours.

Tonight we watch 24 and the film KPax.

Before you know it it’s 11 pm…

Thursday 27th November 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 63

There are lots of Americans staying here on the marina at Port Vell, and at last today is Thanksgiving. The Americans have been leading up to this for weeks all busy baking. We have cava courtesy of the marina, canapes, spinach salad, turkey, mash, sweet potatoes with stuffing, and for dessert, pumpkin pie of course.

All very nice with entertainment provided by Albert and Pam, from the boat Los Ramblas.

All in all a very good turnout. 80 people and nine countries represented.

Our first real Thanksgiving.

Friday 28th November 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 64

A busy day today of washing and prepping. Tomorrow we go to England.

Burnt pizza for dinner.

We have the world’s fifth largest mega yacht parked nearby Pelorus 377 feet long wow, the tenders are bigger than us.

Saturday 29th November 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 65

We are up early today and at the airport by 9 am.

The flight is okay and on time, but we have a windy landing back at Liverpool.

It’s grey and miserable, but back in Handforth we see H’s mum and dad and give Colin, a wonderful cat a big squeeze and cuddle. He’s lovely, but fat. He’s on a diet from now on.

Nice dinner and drinks then bed early, we’re knackered.

Del is here working for a few days. We will be back on our boat home in Barcelona in a few days. In the meantime we can get Christmas sorted out while we are here.

It’s a special birthday month…

October 1, 2003 / deljones / 0 Comments

By the time this month is done, we will have been in Barcelona for over a month. During that time, we ate a lot, fixed a toilet, had a haircut, and H started knitting a scarf and caught a cold

There is no map for this month as we have become rooted in Barcelona city. We still sail, however, going out locally whenever we can and when the weather is good.

Wednesday 1st October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 6

Finally, the rain has stopped. So I set out while it’s dry and go to the Maritime Museum. It’s very good, complete with an audio headset, then have a good lunch of fish and head back to the boat for a nap. A very quiet day today, really. I have a pizza for dinner and will watch Men in Black 2.

Thursday 2nd October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 7

The sun is out, and it’s a very nice day today, so I think I’ll visit Tibidabo, the amusement park high on the hill just east of the city. It involves a Metro train, a tram and a funicular.

I wait for the tram for half an hour, then overhear from fellow tourists that the tram and funicular only run on weekends. Great…! There is one of those tourist buses here, the hop-on, hop-off type for a city tour. I decide to get a two-day ticket and see the city instead of Tibidabo.

So far, I have ridden the bus twice around the city. It’s great to have the sun on my face and wind in my hair. I visit the Olympic Stadium, Diagonal, Sants Park, Pedrera, and plenty of other places on the bus. It’s a good value ticket.

I am told that the Magic Fountain is working tonight, but it’s not; it was a load of rubbish…, so by the time I get back to the boat, it’s quite late. The new wireless wind vane has arrived. The neighbour signed for it earlier today. It looks quite good, but doesn’t do everything we thought it would, and a bit of it is broken already!

Dinner is a quick steak, bed at midnight.

Friday 3rd October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 8

I have another day on my bus ticket, so I join the bus at the Port Vell stop. It’s packed already.

I get off at Placa de Palou, a very nice area with some lovely backstreets and a huge church, Santa Maria Del Mar.

After some walking, the district turns into the Gothic El Born District, which has a huge cathedral.

My legs are still aching after yesterday’s walk, so I ride the bus and complete the north circuit just to get a rest from walking. It’s amazing how time flies, and I get back to the boat just in time to do some laundry and get back out and go and catch the Magic Fountain. It is magic…, it’s fabulous. They have choreographed it to opera. It’s daft, everyone is standing watching a multicoloured, singing fountain. The things we humans do.

Saturday 4th October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 9

This morning mainly consists of shopping, washing and cleaning the boat.

Del is coming back this afternoon from his job in Benalmadena. The good news is that we are allowed to stay an extra night here.

Del finally arrives, feeling a bit worse for wear, so we just get settled in for a quite peaceful morning on the boat. It’s a nice warm day. H can’t be bothered with cooking, and as we are so near to a good Japanese restaurant, it would be a shame to miss it.

We have a delicious lunch, but it’s so easy to just pig out when there is so much sushi and dim sum coming past you constantly on a belt.

H is keen to show Del the Magic Fountains, so we hop on the bus to Plaza España. Del’s knackered, but H insists that it would be worth it, and that he must see it.

However, when we get there, it’s off… and finished… it ended at 9 o’clock.

Del is tired, so we go back to the boat, chill out and go to bed.

Sunday 5th October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 10

We can’t believe our luck… Wonders will never cease. The marina has let us stay for yet another day. We have decided that the best policy here is not to volunteer that you are still here and wanting a place; from now on, we will just keep quiet, pay the mooring fee and stay put until they tell us we have to leave. We like it here. We are getting settled and feel very lucky to be ‘camped‘ in the middle of Barcelona city!

We are up quite late, so by the time we check our email and do some paperwork, it’s gone 12. Today we are going to the IMAX again, this time to see two films, “The Human Body” and “Haunted Castle“. The Human body was very good and quite amazing, but Haunted Castle was a little strange.

By the time we get back to Stargazer, it’s late, and there is not much time to go out to sea and empty the black tank, so we stay in and have dinner, a very tasty Spanish stew

Monday 6th October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 11

We have a busy day ahead of us today, lots to do. We have some cheques to post. We need to call the makers of the now broken wireless wind vane, and post that back to them. We need to go to Port Olympic and also need to contact Opal Marine, the boat dealer, about warranty snagging repairs that need doing. Oh, and we still need to empty the black tank…!

We have to admit to the marina that we would like to stay another night, as we are expecting our replacement wind vane tomorrow. Good. They allow us yet another night. We finally get the boat out of the marina for a potter at about 7pm.

The wind is good, and the sea is lovely and flat. As we turn to go back in. There is a spectacular sunset over the hill of Barcelona, deep pinks and reds. By the time we finally get in and tied up, we can’t be bothered cooking and faffing about, so we go for beer and tapas in the local back street. Fantastic…

Tuesday 7th October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 12

At 11 this morning, we get a knock on the door. It’s the postman with our new wireless wind vane. That was quick!

We ask Paul from Antigua Lady if he fancies having a go at mounting it for us. He is happy to oblige, and soon he is with us, armed with a harness and some tools.

It’s terrifying to watch as we hoist him up on our tiny halyard. He’s up there for a couple of hours. There are problems with mounting the wind vane due to the plate at the top of the mast. After another hour or so, he finally gets it mounted. We are so grateful to him, and we celebrate with a beer. Paul and Karen are coming to us for dinner tonight. We will have a proper Spanish paella, so it’s off to the market to buy a pile of seafood.

A very nice evening was had by all. Too much wine was consumed.

Wednesday 8th October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 13

H is feeling decidedly iffy this morning. Could it be the 4 empty wine bottles we took to the bin this morning?

Oh, dear, we have breakfast out when she can stomach it, which is at 11. We also need long showers to wake up.

This morning we also find the new wind vane has packed up!!! (Not having any luck with this thing) The signal strength from the wind vane to the receiver in the cockpit is a bit weak, but we think something in the marina is interfering and overpowering it, since it works fine when we go out to Sea.

The marina is now letting us stay on a week by week basis which is a big improvement and allows us to feel more at home.

We will have another visitor tomorrow. Natalie, H’s best friend is coming to see us. It’s her birthday on the 12th…

Thursday 9th October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 14

We have now been in Port Vell for two weeks, and we’ve really settled in. During the time we have been here, we have seen lots of the city, and our friendship with Paul and Karen from Antuiga Lady has grown. We have met lots of other people here on the marina, so we have become quite a little community. There is a boat next door, but one called Marathon, the owner is a chap called John Pickworth, and we have become good friends with him, so we have become rooted here, we move around like locals, and we have made Barcelona our home.

H is off to the airport today to meet her bezzie, Natalie. We are a little apprehensive about whether Natalie will like the boat or sailing, but in fact, she loves both. Once she has been shown around the boat and met some of our new friends, we go out on the boat for hours.

Natalie loves it, not only that, but we see a fantastic show of dolphins as well as baby dolphins up close, which are dancing on their tails. A good day out.

We return to the marina under a red sunset and a rising full moon. Dinner tonight is Spanish. This is followed by movie night. Tonight we will watch “Signs“

Friday 10th October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 15

We all go out together to explore the backstreets of Barcelona this morning. They’re very interesting with some unusual and trendy shops. Natalie has now started dictating what the menu will be, and has decided that, tonight, we will have paella, so it’s off to the fish market to get some fishy goodies for it.

The Rambla is very busy today with all their regular weirdos of unusual buskers and artists. There are lots of these artists who dress up and pretend to be statues. Del gets a fright when a vampire statue comes alive and chases him and Natalie, grabbing her and, in one clean swoop, covering her in his cape. H knows better and hot foots it back to the boat.

A very nice evening on board. As requested…

Back at the boat, H starts work on the Paella for tonight’s dinner.

One of the jobs is to pull the insides out of the squid that we bought. Time is marching on, so there is no time for a sail today. Dinner is fabulous, a very nice evening.

Saturday 11th October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 16

After a quick trip to the supermarket, we get a move on and set off for another sail. Natalie loves it. It’s busy, with boats everywhere. She finally gets a chance to helm the boat under motor and sail, and did very well at it.

There are more dolphins out today racing and bobbing about in the distance.

Back at the marina, John, our next-door neighbour but one, invites us over for drinks on his boat. We have a nosy around it. It’s beautiful inside and very big.

After a few drinks, we leave John and go to the Magic Fountain. Del and Nat are impressed with it, especially Del, who is running around like a little kid. The music tonight is Barcelona, you know the one, the one by Freddie Mercury and the lady Spanish opera singer, whose name we can’t remember.

Back at the boat, we have dinner of pasta with chorizo and Lomo (thinly sliced pork). Another Natalie request.

Sunday 12th October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 17

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATALIE… Yes, today it’s Natalie’s birthday, so Del goes out to the local bakery to get her a secret chocolate birthday cake. We sneak it back, put candles on it and then present it to her. She had no idea we’d been planning it.

John Pickworth, our new good friend and neighbour.

John, from next door, calls in and has a bit of cake and invites us back to his boat for a sail out, which of course we accept.

We all have a go at helming under sail and motor. It’s fantastic, the winds are light, but we are moving along at a pleasant and peaceful 3 to 4 kn. John takes lots of pictures of us all. A great afternoon out on the sea.

Back at the marina, we eat in again. Natalie doesn’t want to eat out at all; she just loves being on the boat all the time. Dinner tonight is steak and lentils with peppers, just like the birthday girl ordered.

A very nice day today…

Monday 13th October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 18

After messing about for a bit this morning, we eventually go out into town to do a bit of shopping; however, all we manage to get was a few hooks, some CDs, and a couple of pairs of earrings.

Natalie is desperate to have her last sail on the boat before she goes. We are given our orders!

It’s a good sailing day, a force 4 wind, slight sea, but a little dreary. We tack around outside the marina for a couple of hours, but there will be no good sunset today as it is too cloudy. We head back to the marina slightly disappointed.

When we berth the boat, John is there to help us in. He has photos for us from Natalie’s birthday. We have a bottle of wine for him, which he shares with us on our boat. Later, after he says his goodbyes to Nat, we dine again on spaghetti bolognese.

Natalie is depressed about leaving.

Tuesday 14th October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 19

We are up early today. Hayley is taking Natalie to the airport. We have breakfast there, then say our goodbyes. It’s been good having her. When she gets back to the boat, we get ready to go shopping again.

We have better luck this time on our own and spend hours accumulating nine to ten bags of shopping. We are being slightly extravagant, so we eat at the local Japanese.

It’s a relief not to have to cook. We decide to try our luck, so we go to the casino in Port Olympic. The casino is quite busy. We buy €40 of €2 chips and lose the lot at roulette despite some initial luck.

Wednesday 15th October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 20

Last night it rained a lot…! Heavy, noisy rain.

We have a new leak in the boat, which is directly over Dels’ side of the bed.

The rain was very noisy as it banged on the GRP of the boat; neither of us slept much, and we are surprised to discover that it’s now 10:30!

We drag ourselves out of bed and set off in search of some fresh air and breakfast. While we are out, we do some more shopping!!!

Thursday 16th October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 21

We have breakfast out again today. We then go for a walk, dodging the rain as we go. It’s time for lunch.

We find a nice restaurant near a church in the backstreets and have a Fideua. It was very nice, very tasty. We will have to come back again.

We have eaten a lot, and it kind of knocks us out for the day, so we have to sleep it off.

We can’t think about eating again.

Friday 17th October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 22

This morning we have breakfast out again… It has become a bit of a habit. We go to our favourite place on the seafront and have a look at the sea. It’s rough, and the spray is blowing horizontally across the front of you. You can taste the salt in the air.

We pop round to see Karen and Paul and have a cup of tea. We arrange to go out for drinks later, but of course it’s far too wet to venture out of the boat, so we postpone until another drier day…

Saturday 18th October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 23

It’s raining again today, so we sit around until there is a break and pop into town for a walk.

Tonight, we are going to an Indian restaurant nearby after a few drinks at a couple of bars with Karen and Paul.

The Indian is very tasty, but we have both had too much alcohol again. Again. We do need to stop this…!

Sunday 19th October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 24

It’s H’s birthday today… Happy birthday, Hayley…

Del cooks her favourite breakfast, scrambled eggs with smoked salmon. She has lots of presents from Del, and from Karen and Paul.

Unfortunately, the rain has started again; it’s heavy, so we watch one of my DVD gifts.

The rain keeps on and on and doesn’t stop until the afternoon when we pop out for a drink and a look at the sea.

The winds have ravaged the front. The boardwalk has been ripped up, and the beach showers are all bent over. The sea is a lot calmer now than it has been.

There are lots of surfers out now.

It’s nearly time to go out for dinner. We are going to the famous “Caracols Restaurant”, where outside, people are queuing in the streets for a table, but we have a reservation, so we walk straight in.

The birthday dinner is great. We have the roast piglet.

Diet tomorrow.

Monday 20th October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 25

Finally, the rain that we have had for a while now has gone. It’s sunny at last, and we might even get out for a sail today.

It’s such a nice day that Karen has set up a little barbers on the pontoon where both Del and Paul get their hair cut!

The finished look after two women have hacked away at him…

Tuesday 21st October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 26

Lunch today is at the place by the church that we went to last week. Today we have a tasty lentil and squid stew. It was delicious. There are two submarines moored in the harbour with some “iffy looking” Dutch seamen aboard.

We shall have to take a look.

Wednesday 22nd October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 27

The weather is not too bad today, and we have invited Paul and Karen to join us for a sail as they are too ‘installed‘ on their berth to go out.

Of course, it chucks it down with rain just as we want to go out, but soon it clears up, and we head off out to sea.

There’s hardly any wind at first, but eventually we get 5.5 knots of boat speed. We then realise that we are dragging a large plastic bag behind us, which looks like it’s caught on our rudder. At the speed we are doing, the water resistance is too much to have a fiddle and try and get it free, so we sail back into the outer Harbour.

We are reluctant to start the engine until it is clear, so H leans over the back and manages to free a long, twisted piece of plastic off the rudder; however, the engine is vibrating a lot when we put it into gear, so we crawl back in, dead slow towards our berth and put her bow in.

Someone has to go down to investigate, and H is the only one with a wetsuit who is willing to have a go! The water is freezing at first, but after a while it’s quite pleasant, so she says. Her diving skills are not up to much, and she has difficulty getting right under the prop, but she can now see the problem: a foot of plastic sheeting is still caught on the prop.

The light is starting to fade; we will have to leave it for another day.

Thursday 23rd October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 28

It’s a nice day today, but cold. We are going to Port Aventura. It’s a Universal theme park near Tarragona. Paul and Karen are coming with us too. It’s an hour and a half to the park by train.

Del, H, Karen, and Paul go to Port Aventura.

It looks like we’ve picked a good day to go. None of the rides have queues over 10 minutes, and most don’t have any queue at all.

I must be getting older as I find the first coaster, “Stampida“, which is like the Grand National in Blackpool, quite violent and scary, and I scream my head off. Karen keeps her eyes shut all the way. Next to the mine train, followed by the dodgems, a water shoot called Sea Odyssey and the Temple of Fire, which was very hot, and of course for Del, the Teacups, which are actually quite fast, with Paul and Del spinning the cup.

A good day was had. Karen won a stuffed toy that looked like Grover from Sesame Street. It was all topped off with a fine Chinese supper back at Port Vell.

Friday 24th October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 29

Back to more practical matters today. We need to get the offending plastic off the prop. Del doesn’t like H doing it, so we go and see Phone Card Bob, who does a bit of diving from time to time, but he has the flu.

We should explain that Phone Card Bob was a chap on the marina, a liveaboard, who had a reputation for selling international phone cards on the cheap.

Paul offers to do the job for us and goes in even though he has no wetsuit. A couple of seconds later, he has the rogue bit of plastic in his hand. We are very pleased, and we take him and Karen to lunch for a €7 menu del dia lunch, which is delicious. How do they do it for the money? A starter, main, dessert, bread, and wine?

A sleep is in order now for this afternoon. Later, we watched the film AI, which is a bit weird. We have sandwiches for dinner.

Saturday 25th October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 30

Where’s this sun that they forecasted for today? It’s cloudy and cold but still dry, so we might still get out and look for a big, warming lunch. Of course, we find a sweet little backstreet restaurant and have a three-course lunch for a staggering €6.50. We are full again. We just never learn.

We tuck ourselves up for a sleep back on the boat and sleep most of the afternoon. By the time H wakes up, she can tell that she is coming down with a cold.

We are going out to John’s place, our boat neighbor next door but one, tonight for pizza, so despite H feeling a bit under the weather, we get ready.

John’s lives in Barcelona and has a flat in the centre of town, which is huge. We have a very pleasant evening of drinks, pizza, and good conversation. John always has lots of good stories to tell. By the time we leave at midnight, both of us are feeling very ropey.

Sunday 26th October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 31

The clocks went back last night, so we get an extra hour in bed, not that it matters anymore.

H has a few extra hours in bed as she’s not feeling very good with a cold. She managed to get up for lunch, and we managed to go to our local restaurant, The Bombeta, for tapas, but she feels bad and can’t eat properly.

Back to bed for her.

Monday 27th October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 32

H stays in bed again today; the cold has really got a grip on her. Del is up, and he’s not feeling as bad.

We go out for lunch, where H manages to eat a large meal. Back on the boat, it’s the usual story. We just nap.

All the jobs that need doing are being put off for now. We don’t feel like cooking, so we just pop a couple of pizzas in the oven.

Tuesday 28th October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 33

Despite still not feeling very well, we were up late last night downloading loads of songs, so we’re a bit tired today. We have finally got wired internet on the boat which is a massive game changer.

The pump toilet needs fixing, so we will fix the toilet, wash the boat, and spray the bikes, as it’s a really nice day today; however, after lunch, again at the Bombetta, we have a large siesta.

There is a pattern emerging here.

Wednesday 29th October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 34

Our usual dining place, the Bombeta, is closed today, so we stand a chance of getting some of our boat jobs done. Del strips down the toilet and removes the suspect joker valve in question.

No wonder the toilet is backing up. This thing is caked in a hard lime substance. We clean it up, and things seem to be clear.

The boat is washed, but H is still feeling under the weather and flakes out, feeling worse for wear.

Thursday 30th October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 35

It’s shopping day today. We acquire a baking tray for the boat, a bath mat, some real glasses, and a mortar and pestle.

Later, we go into the town to look for a warm coat for H and a scarf. No luck, but she has an idea. Why doesn’t she knit a scarf seems easy enough, so plunging in we guess at the size of wool and the needles required.

Back at the boat, she tries to cast on. After a couple of attempts, she gets it and starts knitting with some help from the Internet. All is well until she runs out of wool, two lines in, and she has started at the wrong end.

Del can’t take the cursing, so goes next door to see Kate, another liveaboard who is an expert. She gets H off and running. It seems it might take a little longer than she thought to finish, probably next summer!

Dinner tonight is meatballs with a homemade sauce. Yum.

Friday 31st October 2003 – Port Vell – Day 36

We have a pumpkin ready for tonight. It’s Halloween, and we also have some Halloween treats in for trick and treaters, we are not sure if we will get any in the marina

H gets carving. Percy, our pumpkin, looks great when he’s finished.

Tonight we have cava, treats, and watch The Omen II with Percy. Afterwards, we pop out for a rather tasty Indian with Paul, Karen, and their visiting guests.

We get visitors. Again…

September 16, 2003 / deljones / 0 Comments

After a few weeks back in the UK we are back “home” and hosting more visitors. For weeks now we have been in the Barcelona area, and we are starting to make it a more permanent place as there are lots of places to visit in the city as well up and down the coast.

We spent a lot of weeks exploring this part of the coast

Tuesday 16th September 2003 – Handforth to Barcelona.

We have done all our jobs this month, which included a flight to Tenerife to check up on our flat out there as well as pay a visit to H’s parents, who are very kindly looking after Colin.

Colin is a beautiful black moggie that we took on when we lived in Harrow. We got him in August of 1998 from a cat rescue charity; we think he was born in January of the same year. We love him dearly, but of course, it was going to be a problem if we were to sell up and sail the Med. What do we do with him? We did, at one point, consider cancelling the whole idea of sailing. We couldn’t take him with us, although as we discovered last month, people do take their pets, including cats, on the sea with them. ‘Jack the cat’ was a perfect example, but back then, we didn’t know the ifs and hows.

We did think about asking H’s Mum and Dad if they would take care of him, as they too were very fond of him, so one day Del plucked up the courage and asked them. They didn’t hesitate and agreed to look after him while we were away. It was a relief. The plan was back on, and we moved full steam ahead knowing that Colin would be in safe, loving hands in our absence...

… So, it’s goodbye to Colin and ‘see you again soon’ to H’s parents, who we will see very, very soon. Dad drives us to Liverpool, after an uneventful flight, always the best way we find, we are soon back ‘home’ in Barcelona. The hotel for tonight is nice, and we have late tapas and beers at a local bar just around the corner. Tomorrow we will be reunited with Stargazer.

Wednesday 17th September 2003 – Masnou to Port Vell Barcelona. 12NM, 25 euros

Today we have the most uncomfortable part of the journey, up and down steps on the Barcelona metro with our heavy bags. It’s a nightmare. Stargazer is already in the water when we arrive at Masnou marina, so we settle our bill with the marina office and sort a few things out on board. She’s so filthy, but apart from that, everything is okay.

The sea is flat, and it’s a lovely, warm, sunny day for our trip to Port Vell, 12 nautical miles south of here. Two hours later, we are making our way up the very long entrance to the marina. The entrance is shared with huge container ships and cruise ships in and out of Barcelona, and the Port Vell marina is just tucked away deep inside.

It’s much nicer here than Port Olympic, plus we are right in the heart of the city. We have a lot to do. There is, of course, as always, laundry to do, and the boat needs cleaning. There are three trips to the shops and so on. A big reset.

It takes a while to do the reset; we are constantly traipsing up and down the pontoon, when suddenly we are shouted and waved at by a familiar face on the pontoon opposite. It’s Paul from ‘Antigua Lady‘, Jack the cat’s boat. What are they doing here…? It turns out they’re staying here for six months, and they pop round for a drink later with Jack to tell us all about it.

Dinner on the boat tonight: pasta and salad.

Thursday, 18th September 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona – Day 2

Today we get visitors… Again… H’s parents are arriving today to stay with us for a few days in the boat, so while Del sorts the boat out for visitors, H sets off to the airport early to meet them.

They are more or less on time, and they head back towards the boat by train and Taxi, getting pickpocketed on the way! They love the boat and the marina, so after a welcoming drink of cava, we take them out to sea for a sail after unpacking.

Mum and Dad get a go at steering the boat just outside Barcelona.

We have dinner on board and then turn in for the night after a stroll around the marina. Our bed is in the bow, the parents are in the back bedroom, which has a double bed and plenty of cupboard space. Hope they sleep ok back there.

Friday, 19th September 2003 – Port Vell Barcelona – Day 3

We are touring Barcelona today with our day passes for the Barcelona Metro.

It’s tiring work this tourist thing, but we see the Sagrada Familia, Arc de Triumph (yes they have one here too) the park and Plaza España. We get back to the boat exhausted.

Dinner on board tonight.

Saturday, 20th September 2003 – Port Vell, Barcelona to Premier de Mar, Barcelona. 10NM 24 euros

Barcelona is setting up for one hell of a party starting from today. It’s the La Merce Festival, a celebration of Catalan culture. There are stages, marquees and market stalls and fairs all over town. We are leaving the marina today to go to Mataro, which is just north of Port Vell. We will be able to see some of the activities just outside the marina.

We see two jet fighters and then the Spanish equivalent of the Red Arrows.

Six of them are flying and we have a great view at sea as they perform their display, fab. We decide to go to a different marina, Premier de Mar rather than Mataro as there is a lot of talk about big investment there. We shall see.

Oh dear… This place is a bit of a disappointment, no facilities, a dirty closed pool, one part of the marina filled in. It looks like a project that will never be finished.

For dinner. We eventually end up at a local beach restaurant after walking around town and finding nothing there. We have Escalivada while mum has half a cow!

Sunday, 21st September 2003 – Premier de Mar to Arenys de Mar. 35NM, 27 euros

We are up early today. We set out at nine. We are heading to Blanes, 23 miles away. The wind is patchy so we motor most of the way. We arrive at Blanes, eventually and radio in asking if they have a place for us to stay the night.

Sadly there’s no space for us unless we want raft and we don’t fancy that at all. (Rafting is where boats are tied up side to side, which means that you could be climbing over other people boats and they over yours, to get on and off!), so we fill up with fuel and head back to the nearest marina, which is Arenys de Mar, a favourite of ours. Its only 12 miles away. We sail for a while but the wind is too much on the nose, so we give up and get the motor back in.

The pool at Arenys de Mar is closed, which is a shame. We have dinner on the boat. The parents seem to be enjoying their temporary mariner life…

Monday, 22nd September 2003 Arenys de Mar – Day 2

As we can’t get into Blanes by sea, we will get there by rail. We have a nice lunch in Blanes while we are there, and look around the town and the marina. It looks like they have spaces today.

For dinner, we find a great local restaurant in the backstreet run by one man, H has stuffed peppers with cod followed by prawns flambéed in brandy. Del has a delicious butifarra and a potato starter. Tonight there is a storm which appears very quickly out of nowhere with heavy rain, thunder and lightning.

Tuesday, 23rd September 2003 Arenys de Mar to Mataro – 5NM, 20 euros

The sea is calm today. Visibility is good after the storm last night we anchor for lunch outside the town of El Balis before heading to Mataro. This is a nice marina, compared to the disappointing Premier de Mar a few days ago. It’s very neat here with new buildings and facilities springing up. It’s just a shame we are berthed on the far wall with about 1 mile to walk until the start of the town.

Dinner is on board tonight. Del has left the SSR (boat registration) papers at the last stop, Arenys, so he has to take a train to Arenys de Mar to get it back. We have solved a small gas problem. We had French bottles which is a different shaped bottle.

Wednesday 24th September 2003 – Mataro to Masnou. 6NM, 27 euros

It’s very windy today with a heavy black sky, so we decide to head to Port Olympic. At first it’s all fine, we have the red reef in and are moving along somewhat ponderously, but suddenly the wind and sea pick up and it’s a moderate sea with winds of force 6 to 7. Mum seems to be enjoying the journey as the spray washes over the deck, she has her Pac-a-mac on, while dad chooses to stay below decks keeping out of the weather.

We decide, as the sea continues to build, that Port Olympic is maybe a little too far, mainly because we don’t want to scare the parents, so we bail out and to Masnou.

Oh well, no matter. There’s a good paella restaurant here which we do indeed visit that night.

Thursday 25th September 2003 – Masnou – Day 2

At last Masnou is open for business and the chandler that was shut on our last visit in August is open to sell as a local sea chart and a new Windex, at last. We have been without a windvane since ours was blown off in our second week out during a strong wind.

We book the marina to fit the new windvane tomorrow. We visit Barcelona by train and see Port Olympic. The bikes that we left there, against a lampost many weeks ago, are still okay.

We have a nice cheap Chinese lunch together then walk the full length of la Rambla before heading back. We are all tired today so we have takeout pizza on board which is very nice, then to bed early-ish. It’s the parents last night tonight.

At 4 am we are woken up by the sound, and feeling of the rudder scraping the rocks below, so we get dressed and go out and loosen the back ropes allowing us to drift away from the wall. It turns out that it’s spring tides tonight and we were obviously on the borderline of scraping. No harm done, we think.

Friday 26th September 2003 Friday Masnou to Port Vell, Barcelona. 12NM, 25 euros

H leaves for the airport with her parents, early. Del stays behind as the new windvane is being fitted today… When H gets back she’s disappointed that she has missed the excitement of that as we set off for Port Vell.

We are planning to stay in Port Vell for three weeks while Del works and we will have another new visitor in a few days. Natalie, H’s best friend from school is visiting us in time for her birthday in October.

There is a largest swell out in the bay and we achieve 7.9 kn motor sailing. We are hoping to get a long stay at Port Vell, but unfortunately they can’t give us many days as they are full. The boat show is approaching so we book 2 days and start to think what to do.

We do the laundry but Del isn’t having a good day. He loses the laundry token in the machine then loses a towel which is now recovered as he is walking from the showers. He is now banned from doing stuff for the rest of the day. He also has his first taste of washer rage in the gents. oh dear.

Dinner is pasta pesto and salad.

Saturday 27th September 2003 – Port Vell – Day 2

It’s raining today – Brighton style – (just dull drizzle). There are great big black clouds surrounding us and it looks like the the rain is on for the day, so we get our ‘oilies‘ (sailors waterproof coats), and head for the dryness of the local IMAX cinema. We see a film called Space Stations 3-D and Alien Adventure 3-D both very good.

We are already soaking from our walk. H’s shoes have pools of water inside them, so we decide to walk up the la Rambla to the Easy Internet and have some tapas on the way. We end up in a basic fisherman’s bar with sawdust on the floor. where we have a delicious and differently done Patatas Bravas.

We get back to the boat and get dry clothes on, at last. Del goes to the marina office to try again and get more stay days form them. He is successful in persuading them to let us stay until he gets back from a job in the south of Spain at Benalmadena with Ian, the friend who came with Paula a few weeks ago.

Dinner is a Spanish stew. Yes it’s still raining.

Sunday 28th September 2003 – Port Vell – Day 3

The rain has stopped and the sun eventually makes an appearance. Today we are going to head off to Port Olympic to pick up the bikes that we left a few months ago. H’s shoes are still wet and they’ve started rubbing her. The bikes are pretty rusty now but we spray them up with a few squirts of WD-40 and pump up the tyres. Good as new. Well not quite. Del keeps skidding to a halt when he tries to coast. His chain has seized up, but we get back safe.

We think we may dump the bikes when we leave Barcelona as they will drip rust on the boat and that’s not good.

Monday 29th September 2003, Port Vell – Day 4

We are taking the boat out to sea today for a potter about, so we can empty the black tank ready for my few days alone. It’s a good sailing day and we get 5 knots out of her, but the best bit is that we see some dolphins, about 10 of them ,they’re beautiful and graceful and a couple approach the boat surfacing just 10 m away. This is the closest we have seen them in the wild. They hang around at a distance almost all the time until we go back in when they jump clear out of the water in front of us.

When we get back to the marina we clean the boat, she’s filthy from the rain. We take a walk and a train up to Park Guell. How do tourists find this place. After a kilometre trek and a slog uphill we arrive and it’s packed, we see the tile lizard and the pillars. There is a great view over the city today.

We order a TackTick wireless wind indicator. Dinner tonight is with Paul and Karen, who have found an all you can eat Japanese restaurant, a kaitensushi. What more could you want? What a great find…

Tuesday 30th September 30, Port Vell – Day 5

Today Del is off to work in Benalmadena. He leaves early. H goes back to bed once she has seen him off.

All my plans for the day are binned off as it is pouring down, the heaviest I’ve seen it yet, it’s relentless until about four when it eases to a normal rainstorm…!

I seize my chance to pop to the supermarket. I get my oilies and wellies on and head off to the local supermarket, but half of it’s flooded out! I have dinner with Karen and Paul on their boat, “Antigua Lady“, a very nice spaghetti bolognaise. The rain has finally stopped just long enough for us to eat outside. I get to see Jack the cat as well. All very good…, until it starts raining again…

Spain. It’s just around the corner…

August 1, 2003 / deljones / 0 Comments

We have come a long way this month, as we are to meet some good friends. We leave the Camargue area of the south of France and sail to Barcelona in Spain. Along the way, we meet some new friends. This month sees Stargazer being taken out of the water for a month.

SPAIN, HERE WE COME!

AUGUST 2003

Friday August 1 2003, Port Gardian to Narbonne, 60NM, 0 euros (a free night!)

The weather seems okay today as we wake rather later than we wanted, so we slip our berth at 8:30am, just after Anna II.

Our Danish friends are off to Port Vendres, which is 80 miles away. The sea is flat, and there is a nice wind. Perfect, we sail as much as we can, then put the engine on after Camargue.

As we near Sete, our intended destination, we decide to go further; the sea and the wind are in our favour, so we will try to make Cap d’Agde, which is another 10 miles, so 40 in total.

We begin to sail well at a comfortable 5.5 kn. As we near Cap d’Adge, we question whether we should push on for Narbonne; we would arrive at 8 pm, almost 12 hours at sea. Surely we would be mad, 12 hours sailing and 60 miles, but hey, what the hell, the weather is holding good, so why not.

We sail the rest of the way, even through a near fishing pot flag disaster as they loom out of nowhere in their 10s. There are lots of flags bobbing about here that mark lobster and crab pots, and if you are not careful, you can wrap the line around your prop. Some are marked properly with flags, others are marked badly with old plastic bottles. Narbonne is in the distance, not too far now. We drop our sails at the entrance and motor in. It’s very shallow here; we have a 0.1 m reading on the depth log, so we try again. It’s shallow everywhere. We get in, just, with a reading of 0 m inside the mole. We actually have a 50 cm offset, but that is close enough.

We get in, and the berth is posts to attach to, just what we have been dreading, but it’s okay as there’s no wind.

(Some of the mooring that we have been doing has been side on, a finger pontoon, very easy if the wind is in your favour. Other, more common, moorings have been ‘Med moorings’. This requires you to reverse into a wall while picking up a line in the water that you connect to the bow, stopping you. Once in, you tie the back of the boat with two lines to the wall. H does the steering, and Del does the leaping about the boat, securing lines and setting fenders. It works. We are a good team. Sometimes.)

We have a delicious spag bol, and then wash the boat. Time we stretched our legs so we have a walk around the local area, then it’s off to bed. We are exhausted, but it’s been a good day. 60 miles!

When flushing the loo tonight, we get phosphorescence, little specs of bright green marine organisms whizzing around the bowl and up the pipes!

Saturday 2nd August 2003, Narbonne to Port Vendres 38 NM, 24 euros

There is little wind today as we leave and brave the shallows of the entrance again. The sea is like a lake. Amazingly, it’s the same water that a few days ago was moderate and bumpy, and gave us a rough, soggy ride

It’s Saturday, and there are quite a few boats near shore, but there are only one or two near us, so not too much wake. We are heading due south and a couple of miles from shore. We would like to sail, but there’s not quite enough wind. We must keep at 5 knots to keep the journey to a manageable eight hours, so it’s on with the motor again.

It gets rather busy with boats as we near Port Vendres, which seems to be cut into the rock. The marina is very protected and lined with restaurants, a bit like Cassis.

We treat ourselves to a fish dinner tonight. I have calamari, and Del has Dorada.

There is an English boat next door to us in the marina, and they have a cat on board, a black-and-white moggie called Jack. Very sweet. The guy is from Cheadle Hulme. It’s a small world. They will now be called “Jack the cat’s boat”, as we don’t know the names of anyone else in the boat.

Sunday 3rd August 2003 Port Vendres to Llanca 10NM, 39 euros

FRANCE TO SPAIN

We set off at about 9:30 this morning with our new shiny, unused Spanish courtesy flag at the ready.

We are going to sail to Llanca, which has been a bit of a dream of ours as we used to visit there on holiday and sit watching the boats come in.

We try to sail on a broad reach but aren’t getting anywhere very fast, so we take in the genoa sail and motor the rest of the way. It’s very busy with other boats around here, but finally, we reach Llanca. We’ve never seen it from this angle before, but we recognise it immediately. We pick up some diesel first before heading to our allotted berth.

The channel into the marina is like the M25, with boats coming in and out all the time.

There are a few cats near our boat, so after a nice “kit pizza”, we tempt them with a tin of cat food that we just happen to have on board. (Don’t ask). They love it. Even though they already have food that is brought in for them by a kind German lady who looks after them every day.

We wander around and then head up what we have called “Cat Mountain” due to the number of cats on it. We watch some boats come in as we used to when we came here on holiday by car, this time we won’t be going back to a hire car, but to our own lovely boat right here in the harbour.

The Jack the cat’s boat from our previous stop, Port Vendres, are here today as well.

Monday 4th August 2003 Llanca Day 2

Today will be a day of jobs. We need to do the laundry, phone people and use the Internet, if we can find some. We do find a great Internet café and manage to get all our flights booked for jobs back in the UK and to Tenerife to check on our flat.

A productive day today. Tomorrow we will anchor somewhere.

We have a delicious Spanish stew on board just as the sun is going down, the sky is red-tinted, and the water is like glass, reflecting the shore lights. It’s so beautiful.

Tuesday 5th August 2003 Llanca anchorage 0 euros

We head towards Port De Selva this morning. We want to drop anchor and have lunch there.

It looks like another pretty bay on the Costa Brava with a little town. We ‘drop the hook‘ and stop for an hour. After a good lunch, we motor back the 3 miles towards Llanca and pick our anchoring spot for the night.

After repositioning, we settle, and H tries out her new flippers, mask and snorkel. It’s great, she can see the sandy bottom much more clearly now without the mask filling up with water.

Okay, so it’s not the best diving spot, but she gets a good look at the boat keel and the prop once she gets her confidence up.

At 6:30pm, we jump in the dinghy, leaving Stargazer at anchor to go to the hairdressers. At last, a haircut after three months. Feeling more presentable, we have a dinner of pork and mushrooms in the twilight on the back of the boat. Del needs to check his email later, so H will taxi him ashore in the dinghy.

Wednesday 6th August 2003 Llanca to Empuriabrava, 22NM, 39 euros.

The sea is like a mirror today, and there is no wind, so it looks like a long day on the motor as we go around Cabo Creus. There are lots of boats out today, even though it’s midweek. This coast of Spain seems busier than the Riviera (and more expensive).

As we go around the last corner of the headland, I can see the tower of the Empuriabrava marina. It’s strange seeing from this angle, as we enter the marina wall, people are sitting watching us just like we used to when we came here on holiday.

The entrance is busy, lots of boats nose to tail, but it’s even worse in the basin where we have to pull up at the fuel pontoon. We need to turn around, and boats are coming from all directions. It’s quite windy, and the depth log now shows 0.0 at the pontoon. We have to hover to wait for someone to move with only one foot clearance behind us and little in front. This is a mad place.

Boats are just inches away from each other in some cases. Finally, we get allocated a berth and managed to get parked. It’s mooring poles again, but we now know how to handle these. They are quite easy.

We set out for a walk and get some provisions. We repair the lifejacket that was set off the other day. We have decided tonight to revisit the El Moli hotel in a town called San Pere Pescador. We miss it, it was a regular place for our summer holidays. We shall go for dinner, the food there is excellent.

We get a cab there and walk through the town. Nothing much has changed here at all. We then walk onto El Moli. The owners, Elena and Engracia, her mum and her father, Lleando, are surprised to see us. We feast on a delicious fideua. Nobody does it better than here. We have a few drinks on the terrace and a chat with Elena, where we tell her about our new life on a boat. She very kindly drives us back and comes aboard for a look around the boat. It’s half one in the morning when we finally turn into bed.

Miles travelled so far: 749 nautical miles.

Thursday 7th August 2003, Empuriabrava to Palamos, 27NM, 49 euros.

We both feel a little hungover today, maybe it was the beer, half a bottle of wine, brandy, local wine from roses and then the Pacheran (a Spanish liqueur). We are not drinking again!

It’s the same weather as yesterday, so we will be on the motor again. Trips on the motor can be a little dull, with the constant noise of the engine and no ropes or sails to play with.

There are loads of boats out again. Why is this coast not more famous as a cruising area? We motor past L’escala and the Illes Medes. We carry on past Aiguablava and Llafranc and into Palamos. Good, it’s a finger pontoon so parking is relatively easy. Del has been to visit the office, and we have found that the cost to stay here tonight is a whopping €49, a new record, and this place is hardly Monaco. We have a view of cement hoppers and can’t see the town, and to top that, they can’t help us with a water adapter for their unusual connector. We consider leaving, but we can’t get a definite answer from any of the nearby marinas as to whether or not they have space, so we stay, fingers crossed the weather stays okay so we can escape tomorrow…

Friday 8th August 2003, Palamos to Blanes, 19NM, 30 euros.

There is no wind this morning; it’s very still as we leave Palamos, the most expensive marina on the trip so far, at 9:30, so we have to motor again at 5.5 kn. It’s not too far today.

Whilst on our way, pottering along, we see a boat going the same way with a red dinghy at the back, similar to the boat in Port Vendres.

“*Jack the cat’s boat” with their little red tender.*

Could this be “Jack the cat’s boat“? We investigate with our binoculars; it is them, and we can see them looking at us with their binoculars, so we all wave at the same time to each other. We get a bit closer to them and find out that they are heading to Blanes as well.

By coincidence, they have the same cockpit cushions, and bought them from the same boat jumble sale at junction 17 of the M6! We tell them we will see them in Blanes, they put their sails up and start the long slog tacking in the slight breeze while we just motor straight there.

We get a space. Del sees ‘Jack the cat’s boat’ come into the marina, but they turn around and leave, probably because there is no space. We will catch up with them again somewhere, no doubt. We have photographs that we have taken of each other while at sea, so hopefully we can exchange these and get a fuss of their cat!

We dine tonight on sepia (cuttlefish) and chicken. Blanes is quite nice. It looks bigger than Lloret from the sea, but it’s quite civilised once you are here. It’s a lot bigger than H remembers it from 20 years ago when she was here nearby on a holiday with her parents.

Saturday 9th August 2003, Blanes to Port Olympic Barcelona, 34NM, 27.50 euros.

We are up and about early this morning, around 8am, and there is still some breeze, which we take advantage of until the sun warms up the air and the breeze subsides, then it’s back on with the motor all the way until Barcelona.

The coast here is pretty with long sandy beaches, a contrast to the cliffs of the Costa Brava further north from where we are now. The Costa Dorada starts just outside Blanes.

Port Olympic has a space for us, and they are quite friendly. The marina is nice and secure.

Tonight we will have steak and pasta, we have a night in, and there is plenty of time to explore Barcelona. It’s quite noisy here as the marina is surrounded by nightclubs, which are still going on, loudly, until 5 am!

Sunday 10th August 2003, Port Olympic Barcelona. Day 2

Today we are expecting Ian and Paula, good friends of ours from the UK and our first guests from home, so we are spending the morning sprucing up the boat, getting her really smart for their arrival.

They are with us around midday, so we show them around, which doesn’t take long; then we have a welcome drink followed by a spot of lunch. It’s very hot today.

Ian’s itching for a sail, but before we go out, we get the dinghy down, and we all take turns and have a potter around the marina.

H and her friend from college, Ian, pottering around on the dinghy.

After securing the dinghy onto the pontoon, we set out to sea where we get full sails up and manage a good 6 knots at one point. After a good hour, we head back into the marina and get berthed up again.

We have acquired new neighbours while we have been out. They’re British, and they kindly offer us all a glass of cava so we spend some time with them chatting. How nice and friendly is that. Boating can be like that, you can say ‘hello‘ to someone in a marina or on a boat, and the next thing you are sharing life stories and on and off each other’s boats. Fabulous.

Tonight we will go into the centre of Barcelona. We find a rather good restaurant where Ian and Paul treat us to a lovely dinner. How very kind, a big thank you to them…!

It’s a bit of a long walk back to the marina; we are all worn out. Ian and Paula have been up since 4 am this morning to get here, so we hit the sack…!

Monday 11th August 2003, Port Olympic Barcelona. Day 3

We want to get to the shops today, but we are not so quick this morning, as by the time we leave and stop faffing about, it’s 12 o’clock.

On the way out to the shops, we see the biggest, most disgusting jellyfish H has ever seen in the marina basin. It’s about 2 feet long and 8 inches across, yuk. Ian and Paula seem quite interested. H won’t go near it.

Shopping done and put away, we set off to visit the Sagrada Familia in the afternoon. Yes, they are still building it; the cathedral is covered in nets. We have a good walk about the city. It’s very hot again, though.

We get back to the boat at around six for needed cold showers. We shall have dinner on board tonight. Pasta and salad. We stay up drinking until we’ve had enough, which is around 11:30pm. What a bunch of lightweights.

We are leaving our bikes chained up here against a lamppost for a month. We find that they are getting in the way a little, so we want to see what life on the boat would be like without them. We shall pick them up again in September if they are still here, that is…?

Tuesday 12th August 2003, Port Olympic to Masnou 5NM, 27 euros.

The weather is good today, and the sea is like a lake, so we set off for Masnou, which is a small town just north of where we are in Barcelona. To H’s horror, there are lots of ugly jellyfish hanging around the beach.

We anchor just outside Masnou for a spot of lunch and a swim. The water is freezing, and H is persuaded to go in despite the jellyfish sightings just 3 miles away.

Let’s hope they can’t swim fast… Paula and H exhaust themselves trying to mount an inflatable jet ski, well, why not…? Paula ends up swallowing too much sea water which leaves her feeling a bit… well, yuk! So we pull up the anchor and go into Masnou marina.

As we motor in, we see four seaplanes out at sea diving down and picking up water quite close. The area is having a lot of fires inland, which is no surprise. It’s so hot..

Masnou is not bad, but a long walk from everywhere remotely interesting. Tonight we have a steak dinner and drinks… Again…

Wednesday 13th August 2003, Masnou to Arenys de Mar 12.5NM, 27 euros

Our guests have been with us for 4 days, it’s been great having them, and the boat is busy with 4 of us in a 10m boat! We’ve been told by the locals how good the town of Arenys de Mar is. It’s north of here, not very far and it has a swimming pool!

We all get ready and set off north for Arenys. The sea is flat again, but eventually we do get some wind and manage to get nearly 7 knots of speed near the marina.

We see a familiar face and a boat on the pontoon. It’s the lady from “Jack’s boat“; her name is Karen. They’ve been here for a while. We are introduced to her husband, Paul, and they have their son temporarily with them. The marina does look very nice. There’s a swimming pool right next to us, free Internet and free laundry. It doesn’t get better than this!

After, the four of us pop into the town and do some shopping, we have a dip in the pool. It’s a perfect temperature, fantastic. All six of us are now in the pool having a good chat until we turn wrinkly. Karen and Paul recommend a local restaurant, so we may try that out later.

While relaxing in the sun after the swim. Karen appears with Jack the cat in her arms. She’s brought him over to see us because she knows we are pretty daft about cats.

They stay for a good hour, and Jack sits on H’s knee and gives her little cat nose bumps. He’s very cute…

Dinner is a delicious seafood paella. H and Paula feed the stray moggies around the marina.

Thursday 14th August 2003, Arenys de Mar – Day 2

We all have a lie-in this morning as we’re not going anywhere today, so we have a relaxed breakfast and then stay by the pool reading. Life carries on with a boat, visitors or not, so after lunch, we use the laundry. Later, while we are chilling out by the pool, we see another Bavaria Yacht coming in.

When we were getting our boat delivered and commissioned in Port Napoleon back in May, we met a couple there, Dave and Norma, who had just taken delivery of their boat at roughly the same time. The boat’s name was Quintet, and amazingly, it’s them pulling in here today…!

We pop over to say hello, later they come to us for a quick drink, then it’s back over to theirs for another drink. There are now six of us on the back of Quintet. Their Bavaria 38 is beautiful and huge. Del wants one already.

They seem to be having a struggle with Opal Marine, the agent, over faults. We have a few niggling faults, but they have no fridge working!!! That won’t do at all.

Del and Ian set off to the shops, as Paula and I have to sort out the laundry from earlier on, but what the lads don’t know is that we sneak off for a quick swim and run back to the boat when we see them coming back, pretending that we had been grafting hard all the time.

We eat in tonight, and afterwards the boys start hitting the Gin, they demolish 2/3 of a litre between them with beers and wine.

We watch the Royle Family outside in the cockpit when we are joined by Dave and Norma from Quintet, carrying more beers. Now there are six of us on the back of our boat!

We finally retire at 1:30 am after Del, half cut of course, walks about the boat naked, giving Ian and Paula a right eyeful!!! It was a good fun night in all.

Friday 15th August 2003, Arenys de Mar to Masnou – 12.5 NM, 27 euros

Del and Ian are the worse for wear this morning, especially Del, but we all know why. After saying our farewells to our newfound friends, Dave and Norma on “Quintet” and Paul and Karen on “Antigua Lady” we slip our berth from Arenys, having had six hours of sleep. Ian and Del are flaked out below decks, leaving Paula and H to helm us out of the marina and on to Masnou, 12 nautical miles south.

The two hungover louts get woken up 1 mile from Masnou marina.

We are all up on deck for the arrival and get securely berthed and settled. The boat is staying here for a month, both in the water and on dry land, so we have been given a berth on the residents pontoon. Del and H are returning to the UK to visit parents and Colin the cat and then on to Tenerife to check on the flat. We have been away for 3 months.

Del is still feeling a bit yuk, so he goes back to bed while the rest of us have lunch on deck, followed by a nap. By 5pm, everyone is up and about and feeling more refreshed, so we set out for a walk. It’s so hot in the marina!

Dinner tonight is takeout pizza and Chinese, and an odd mix of Italian and Chinese. A very strange combination. It’s Ian and Paula’s last night tonight, so we are not staying up all night again. We are up at 7:30am tomorrow to take them to the station for their trip back home. It’s been really good having them here.

Saturday 16th August 2003, Masnou – Day 2

After a good breakfast on the back of ‘Stargazer‘, we get Ian and Paul to the station and say goodbye. It has been really nice having them. They have seen first-hand how we live and joined us in meeting new sailing friends along the way. A very nice few days.

Then it’s back to the marina to finish off some laundry and see if we can get some dry storage; no luck today with that.

It’s been a bank holiday here, so it’s a “puente” day or a bridge day, – more days off after the bank holiday. We go to get some provisions.

When we return, we find that someone has pulled our water cap off its chain and nicked it! On the back of the boat, there are two metal caps, one on each side; one is for the diesel tank, the other for the fresh water tank. The boat was on a pontoon waterside, so someone who needed one saw ours, unscrewed it, yanked it real hard to get it off the securing chain and made off with it. We just can’t believe it. We are furious, so we botch a cap with a wooden bung. We have a collection of different-sized bungs that are in our kit of parts, just in case we get a leak… the chandlers here are shut all month, so we won’t be able to get a replacement!

Well, at least the restaurants are open, so we treat ourselves to the most delicious paella ever at a rather nice restaurant. A very nice night, despite getting our water cap nicked…

Del is leaving tomorrow for the UK to do some work. H will join him on the 23rd.

Sunday 17th August 2003, Masnou – Day 3

The weather here has been quite hot and muggy. Last night we had a little bit of rain, the sky this morning is quite spectacular, but it’s brewing for a storm. There are black clouds all around us. When it hits, it’s quite a relief, half an hour of heavy rain, wind, thunder and lightning, very Spanish.

It eventually clears up for us to walk to the station. Del is flying to England today, and H is coming with him to the airport. The train turns up on time but takes an hour, weaving through the slums on the outskirts of Barcelona. The airport is packed, it’s a Spanish bank holiday weekend, so we have a quick lunch together and say goodbye as it’s nearly Del’s boarding time.

Oh dear, little did he know that he would still be there three hours later after H left due to massive delays…

Back at the boat in Masnou, I have a big sleep. I was bitten all over last night by mozzies and kept awake. Dinner is pasta, I watch a film, then bed. I spent 40 minutes chasing a mosquito in the bedroom just in time for the disco to start up at 4 am..! Grrrrr….

Monday 18th August 2003, Masnou – Day 4

I get up late after a bad night’s sleep. After breakfast, I sort out our boat insurance, ready for the lift out. Stargazer will be on hard standing for a month while we are both in the UK and Tenerife. There is a lot to do today, but first I go for a walk on the mole, followed by a good walk of about a mile to the supermarket for provisions and buy, in my best Spanish, a mosquito repellent.

Still tired from no sleep last night, so I nap some more and do some reading. After lunch, I start the handwashing of the sheets… There is no laundry here at this marina. Washing double sheets in our small boat wetroom sink is as hard as it sounds, very difficult. I still have four more to do and three towels. Best get on with it.

Dinner is Spanish stew. Very tasty.

Tuesday 19th August 2003, Masnou – Day 5

A very lazy morning, more hand washing. Does it ever end? There is a large swimming pool here at the marina, so after lunch I go and check it out. It’s fabulous, very big, clean and with a view of the beach. After a few lengths, I’m worn out, so I head off for a nice cold shower.

Dinner is Spanish stew, again. I miss Del, who is in Aberdeen doing a show for the oil exploration company Cooper Cameron. Sounds great…? Not…

Wednesday 20th August 2003, Masnou – Day 6

I’ve been on my own now for a few days, and I’m getting through books at a fast rate.

It’s 4 pm, so I wander up to the pool and have a refreshing swim. It’s so hot here.

Chinese for dinner tonight, there’s no more Spanish stew left. Bed early.

Thursday 21st August 2003, Masnou – Day 7

Tomorrow, the boat is being lifted out of the water and put into hard standing until mid-September. There are still a few more jobs to do, more washing and some packing to be done and the boat prepared for the lift out at about 10am tomorrow. Best get on…

Friday 22nd August 2003, Masnou – Day 8 (Last day!)

I’m hoping that we will be lifted out today at around 10-ish. We have been in Masnou now for 8 days… I’m glad to be leaving now but I will be doing this all on my own. At 9:30, I slip from the pontoon and gently motor to the other end of the marina to the crane lift and hope that someone will be there to catch my lines in for me, and that they will also understand my dodgy Spanish.

If all goes well, I will hopefully be departing for Barcelona around midday to check into a hotel in the Plaza España. The lift all goes as planned. There is someone there to help me get tied up, and they do indeed understand my dodgy Spanish.

Excellent. It’s strange seeing our home being lifted out of the water and then placed on wooden stilts where she will stay for a month. I’ll miss her, she has been a good home these past few months.

All done. Now it’s off to Barcelona, where I walk around for a couple of miles, lost, and with heavy bags too. I’ve had it now, though; it’s no good, so I end up having to buy a map to find the hotel, which I finally find and get settled in.

Tomorrow I fly to Liverpool.

Meanwhile, up in Aberdeen, Del is having a great time. Very interesting… Don’t ask…

Remember that in 2003, Google Maps was not a “thing”; in fact, the only navigation around then was in a car. Tom Tom and Garmin provided all that. The smartphone didn’t really get going until 2004 when the Apple iPhone came on the scene. So you had to rely on common sense and paper maps… Those were the days!

Many of our daily entries have no photographs. Taking a picture for a blog back in 2003 was an event. ‘Blogging’ hadn’t been heard of then either. You had to have a digital camera that you kept charged. You also had to have a computer to transfer the pictures from the camera. The only way to share pictures back then was by email. There were no messaging platforms, only SMS and MMS for pictures, and because we were in Spain, sending an MMS cost a fortune! It’s all so very easy today.

Our boat life picks up again on September 16th 2003. See the next post.

That’s enough of Italy. Let’s go…!

July 1, 2003 / deljones / 0 Comments

Captain H plotting out our next month’s route

We are getting confident with our new boat, but we have a few stormy experiences that give us pause for thought as we discover the strength of the Mistral wind that blows hard over the south of France. This month, we get into some hard gambling, we meet new friends and achieve some high speeds and stay in the smelliest marina ever!

JULY 2003

Tuesday 1st July 2003 – Rapallo anchorage to Lavagna 6 Nautical Miles, 29 euros.

6 am – We are suddenly disturbed (we haven’t slept again) by the sound of a diesel engine and someone honking a horn right outside. We quickly get dressed. There is a guy on a boat shouting at us, “Move, move”. It transpires that they want to put a firework barge right here, where we are! Thanks for telling us!

So we prep the boat and pull up our two anchors while being hassled at the same time to get a move on – unbelievable! They just don’t care. There is no room in the marina, so we head for the fuel pontoon and lash up there.

There is an American-flagged boat here that was anchored near us yesterday, he dragged his anchor in the night. It’s a tight squeeze in for the three boats. We have to hold off the front of the American boat until they are secured!

Still tired, we have a quick cup of tea, and have just turned in for a quick sleep, when there is a knock at the door. The authorities want us to move again; there is a fireworks display at 9 am!? A fireworks display at 9 in the morning! Never heard of such a thing, and here we are on the fuel pontoon. We plead to stay, but to no avail, and they throw us out along with Sue and Stanley’s boat into an impending storm with nowhere to go.

As we leave the entrance to the marina, there is a tornado outside, a proper waterspout in the distance touching the water! Shit, are these people serious?

Yes, they have already started the festivities. We both anchor outside St. Margarita and figure out what to do next. The forecast is for a force 7 wind (nearly gale force). We find two places at Lavagna, 6 miles south of here, and set off, but the wind and sea are building, and it’s getting big!

The short journey across the bay is awful. It’s our first real experience of proper bad weather at sea. The sea is rough, and the boat goes over 45 degrees with each wave. We are being tossed about like a cork, and we are both the most scared we have ever been. It rains, and there is a strange smell coming from the engine space, which is just under the steps. We think it might be coolant. If the engine packs up now, we will be swept into the rocks. (It turns out that the smell is spilt cleaning fluid, as we discover 2 hours later).

Finally, we make it to the marina after one of the worst 40 minutes, and we get berthed up safely. We are thinking that we want to leave Italy now! Everywhere is packed, the weather is not great, and we have found the Italians not very helpful or even hospitable.

(We have arrived here after being awake for 28 hours, not having eaten. We feel awful and are still shaken up an hour later.)

Wednesday 2nd July 2003 – Lavagna. Day 2.

We go for a walk into the town to check out facilities, we need a laundrette, but can’t find one. Guess we will do some hand washing later.

It’s quite windy today, still, predicted force 6s and 7s.

Sue and Stanley kindly invite us over for dinner on their boat as they think they might depart tomorrow, continuing south. We have decided that we will be turning around and heading back to France.

Dinner is delicious yet again, steak with a delicious sauce.

We have had a squeaking toilet for a while. The toilet is basically a plunge flusher. You do what you do in the toilet, and there is a pump handle on the side that you pump up and down. The pull up sucks sea water in, the push-down flushes out the toilet bowl into the holding tank, which can be legally emptied 3 miles offshore. Stanley has fixed our toilet from squeaking – is there anything this man can’t do?

Thursday 3rd July 2003 – Lavagna. Day 3.

It’s still stormy, still a turbulent, frothy sea. Sue and Stanley have decided against leaving today after all (We thought they might. It’s still a bit wild out there). The boat is being pushed and pulled on the pontoon by wind and water, and the fenders are hitting the quay. We have discovered this is because we are in a berth for an 8m boat; we are 10m, and we can’t get the chain at a good angle at the front to pull us far enough away from the pontoon. Italy… Really…

We stay in today, a quiet day reading and doing odd jobs around the boat.

We have drinks on the bow with Sue and Stanley later, who show us their (in their words) useless boom tents! (A boom tent is created by using a large sheet, throwing it over the boom and fastening the sides of the sheet to each side of the boat, thus creating a nice tent to shade under.) Well, theirs were no good…

Dinner tonight: Kit pizza while watching the film “Contact”.

Friday 4th July 2003 – Lavagna. Day 4.

Yes, we are still here. The wind and sea have calmed a little, but we have decided to stay another night. Sue and Stanley are continuing south, next stop Spezia. We are going back north towards France and Spain, so we will both be leaving tomorrow, but in opposite directions.

Another quiet day in the marina today. Washed petrol off the dinghy that was spilt in the anchorage from a few days ago. We take another walk into the town and find that it is quite a pleasant little place, now the wind has calmed down, and the sun is out!

After dinner on board, we invite Sue and Stanley, around for some drinks and give them a box of chocolates, a small gift for the journey. It’ll be sad leaving them after spending the last 12 days together. Very short, but very nice. We also give them a chart of the area and a book about Tuscany. (We were maybe a bit optimistic with that one!)

Saturday 5th July 2003 – Lavagna to Genoa 17 NM, 35 euros.

We are up early this morning, at 8am. Sue and Stanley are preparing to leave, and we want to say goodbye to them.

They slip from their morning and set off. It’s very sad to see them go. We slip our berth half an hour later, and they radio us on our channel 77, they want to make sure we are alright as there are still some largish swells. Bless. Next time we radio, they are out of range – that’s it, they’re gone – off to Spezia.

We have learnt a lot from them – how to trim our sails properly, anchoring, maintenance and much more.

After a couple of hours, we arrive at Genoa again (the place where we had a large bag around our rudder), and get tendered into our berth. (It’s a bit quieter here this time; the beer festival has gone.) We have just seen more dolphins outside on the way in! Once in and settled, we go to the laundry.

There is an aquarium here, so we visit it. It’s probably the best aquarium we’ve ever been to.

We get to stroke some stingrays. They flutter their wings and let you tickle them. Dinner is veal and lentils, followed by a visit to the band in the square playing 80s hits.

The parrot is still here, asleep under a parasol. (Don’t know how he can sleep through this racket.)

(Our log reading, the distance travelled so far – 348 nm)

Sunday 6th July 2003 – Genoa. Day 2.

It’s a peaceful morning, and we have a bit of a lie-in. At around midday, we go out to search for some food in the rather seedy backstreets of Genoa, but no luck.

We give Stargazer a wash down and clean her inside and out, and just relax on board.

Dinner is vegetables and potatoes. After dinner, we get the bikes off the boat and cycle around the large marina. More music here on here tonight. There is a country and western band on.

Today is obviously cruise liner departure day, we have watched 4 huge cruise ships leave in 35 mins.

Monday 7^th July 2003 Genoa to Savona 19 NM, 18 euros

We are leaving Genoa today, so we are up early. There is hardly any wind, and what wind there is is head-on, so no sails. We get the motor on.

Today we are going to a coastal town called Savona. The entrance to the marina looks very industrial, big dirty ships listing and loading up with gravel and coal. We wait for a bridge lift at 2:30pm and enter the marina. Once we get in, we discover that it’s tiny. The channels are very narrow. It’s a bit nerve-racking parking the boat, but we get in next door to some British sailors in an old boat.

This is a very friendly and very cheap marina, 18 euros, the average stay per day is 30 in Italy!

Del comes back from the office after paying, with a free guidebook and a flag that we can hoist up into our spreaders, bless. And to top it all, they deliver breakfast focaccia to your boat in the morning – now that’s service.

The town is lovely – full of character, with lovely buildings, cute backstreets and lovely gardens. We get stocked up on provisions and have a pesto feast. Too full and sleepy to go out for a walk, we turn in.

( Distance on the log shows 367nm)

Tuesday 8^th July 2003, Savona. Day 2.

We are doubting this focaccia delivery to your boat thing, but sure enough, this morning at 9.30am, 2 marina guys turns up with a bag labelled ‘Stargazer’ with 2 pieces of focaccia inside – what a nice marina this is!

Our local bread delivery. From shop to boat…

After breakfast, we go for a walk and explore more of the town. This is our favourite place so far – very pretty, and the people are friendly. Maybe Italy is not so bad after all.

We fall asleep in the afternoon, and before we know it, it’s dinner time, which is a Chorizo and potato fry-up. Very tasty with a 2 euro carton of red wine…

Wednesday 9th July 2003, Savona to Loano 17 NM, 29 euros

We are up at about 9am this morning. Our focaccia has already been delivered, so it’s a quick breakfast, then we prep the boat to leave on the 10.30 bridge lift.

It’s a tight departure but OK, and we motor under the bridge and past container ships. The wind is light and dead ahead, so we stick the engine on.

We arrive at Loano early in the afternoon. We need some stuff for washing the boat, so it’s off to town. Back at the boat, we just relax in the cockpit in the late afternoon sun. It’s nice.

We are treating ourselves to a dinner out tonight, a rare event on our budget. We visit the restaurant that we went to the last time we stopped here last week. We have the house starter and a plate of mixed fresh fish. After a good dinner, we have a walk along the seafront. H has brought her guitar with her, so it’s a nightcap on the back of the boat while H has a quick tinkle on her guitar, then it’s off to bed.

The seagulls are amusing here. There are lots of them, and they all sit on the wall at the entrance, all facing the same way!

Thursday 10th July 2003, Loano to Andora 15 NM, 32 euros. Fill up 35 euros

H wakes up this morning, a bit groggy after a few nightmares last night. (Might be the drink though?) We slip our berth, fill up with diesel and head out towards Andora. Hurrah! We manage to get the sails up in a nice light wind, and manage to get 3 – 4 knots. (5 miles an hour!)

We arrive in Andora and get a berth right next to the entrance. There are lots of small racing yachts prepping for a race. We watch a few races in the bay after shopping.

Dinner tonight: Turkey, potatoes and onions.

Friday 11th July 2003, Andora to Imperia (Maurizio) 6.5 NM, 24 euros

We leave Andora this morning, and there is a bit of a breeze. We manage to sail halfway to Imperia, with a good beam on wind (that’s the side of the boat), halfway on ‘a run’ goose-winged (That’s the wind behind with the two sails on opposite sides of the boat).

The sails look massive! We reach our fastest speed downwind, 5.7 knots.

We sail nearly all the way up to the marina until a motorboat with a woman driving it causes us to swerve, which causes us to gybe (the boom swings violently to the other side of the boat, you have to duck, and quickly!) We’ve found that a lot of motorboat users don’t really know the “rules of the road”. They think that they are driving a car on the water. On this occasion, we don’t think that they were even watching where they were going, so we pull the sails in and head into Maurizio in quite a stiff wind and get berthed up on the visitors’ quay.

Dinner tonight: Steak and lentils.

We have a walk on the mole and looked at the sea. It’s like glass with the moon reflecting on it. We are starting to think about anchoring again. The boat next door has two very sweet Labrador retrievers on board. What a handful that must be.

Saturday 12th July 2003 Imperia Day2

The “Stargazer” *dodgers* hinder our movements. They have to go…

We set off for a walk around the town before getting back and cleaning the boat inside and out. It’s a little windy this morning, so we decide against anchoring. Of course, after paying for the night’s berth, the wind has dropped, and it is another lovely evening for dinner on the back of the boat.

Today we took the dreaded dodgers off from the side of the boat. They were a bit of a pain.

We buy a couple of pizzas from a local takeaway and take them back, oven fresh, to the boat and eat them on the bow while the sun sets.

We get very little sleep tonight. There is a bar behind the boat, and the locals are there until 3 am. Being quite noisy. Oh well…

Sunday 13th July 2003 Imperia to Degli Aregi anchorage 6.5 NM 0 euros

We have left at a leisurely hour today, as we are not going far. Once we are out of the marina we hoist the sails and sail all the way to a little anchorage at Degli Aregi marina.

It’s a lovely Sunday afternoon as we swim, read and drink some beer in the sunshine. We decide to stay here for the night, but move closer to the marina. We are the only boat left here now.

H cooks up some spaghetti bolognese, which is easier said than done, as there are some little waves beam on, so we are getting pushed from side to side. Thank God for gimballed cookers. Dinner is nice, later we sit watching the sunset, then retire for the night. The wind has picked up a little during the night, so we are rolling about a bit in bed.

We can’t sleep. So we decide at 4:30 am to take it in turns to be on anchor watch to make sure the anchor doesn’t drag. At 7 am, we both turn in and sleep until 9 am.

Monday 14th July 2003 Degli Aregi anchorage to Menton Garavan. (ITALY TO FRANCE) 18 NM

This morning, we have woken up to a bit of a strong wind, so we weigh anchor and depart for San Remo on a beam reach. It’s at this point that we realise that we only have three weeks before we expect to be in Spain. We are meeting an old college friend of H’s in Barcelona, so after a discussion, we decide to skip San Remo and press on further to Menton, which is just over the border in France. We stayed there on our second week out with the boat. We sail as long as we can until we finally lose the wind and motor the rest of the way.

We leave Italy and change over the courtesy flags. It’s a bit sad, really. Italy was beginning to grow on us in the last week, and was getting better on our journey west. Oh well, it’s just luck what your first impressions are, which marina you go in first and the people you meet, and so on. We had some of our best times in Italy. Sailing and dinners with our good friends, Sue and Stanley, dolphin sightings,(we saw a whale/shark thing today), anchoring and swimming off the back of the boat and many more things besides.

So we are now back in France. The next country will be Spain. It’s so hot here. What is it about the French heat? We now have the fridge full of French goodies and a baguette at last… Vive la France!

Dinner tonight: Tuna steaks (that nearly broke the bank.)

Today is Bastille Day in France, and there is a fireworks display next to the marina. Someone on the anchored boats outside of the marina is letting off flares to join in the festivities. Not the best idea… One lands near our boat. We see it fluttering down on its parachute 2m from the fuel pontoon, glowing, white-hot. Hmmm…

Tuesday 15th July 2003 Menton to Fontvielle (FRANCE TO MONACO) 6 NM, 44 euros!

We call ahead to Fontvielle Marina in Monaco, and find that they will give us a place. At last, a night in Monaco. When we arrive, we are squeezed into a very narrow, tight berth, but the surroundings are beautiful with tall cliffs covered in trees and vegetation. Very nice. We walk for miles up through the gardens where we have a peaceful lunch with the birds singing. We walk around the cathedral and the old town, then down and around the marina and end up in Monte Carlo. We will come back here tonight and fulfil another one of our dreams, and that is to play in the Monte Carlo casino… To be continued.

We have got our best clothes on, which is not much, and set off to the casino, which is quite a stunning building. A beautifully ornate building in a gorgeous square. We changed €50 of our meagre budget into chips and watch the roulette wheel, watching it carefully until we think we know what we were doing. We play, and at one point we have €70, but then gradually we lose it all…! Never mind, it was a fun night and quite an experience. Not many people can say that they have had a flutter in a Monte Carlo casino.

Wednesday 16th July 2003 Monaco Day 2, 44 euros

It’s quite windy again today, but the weather forecast is okay, so we slip the berth and make our way to the marina exit. Even at the exit, it’s quite choppy. When we go around the corner and see the sea, we find that it’s very rough, so before we even get clear of the marina, we about-turn and go back in. Parking the boat again takes a few goes as the wind is stiff. The bow keeps blowing around.

Eventually, we get in with the usual 3 inches to spare on either side of the boat. Trust us to be wind bound in THE most expensive marina in the south of France.

Since we are back here again, we set off and discover more pretty gardens and walk past the heliport, then it’s back to Stargazer for lunch. It’s very hot. We have a siesta and then visit the animal park that’s nearby. The noise of the animals has been waking up Del, so we thought we’d go and see who or what is making all the racket.

There are lots of sweet animals here to see, (the pig and a rabbit enclosure, being quite funny), a black panther, a hippo and wallabies.

Dinner tonight: Veal, lentils and salad.

We are quite exhausted. H bought some flippers today.

Thursday 17th July 2003 Monaco Day 3, 44 euros

Another day in sunny (expensive) Monaco! We have lunch in one of the many parks and feed the ducks and the terrapins who surround us and feed out of our hands.

We walk around to the old port and find an internet café. At last – Internet! It’s so hard to find… (Remember that this is the very early 2000s. Internet or email on your phone was not a thing to have, and all the lovely things we have today. Internet cafes were like gold dust and could be expensive...!)

We are researching our Spanish residency, so we need some information. The sea is still too rough. A 60-foot Sunseeker goes out and turns around and changes his mind. We walk through the Japanese gardens. Monaco is full of beautiful, perfectly manicured gardens. There is no litter anywhere; it’s gorgeous. We then go on to Monte Carlo. We must have walked miles every day that we have been here, and in 30° of heat. It is very tiring, not to mention the aching feet…!

We are really hoping to leave tomorrow, but the force 6 winds haven’t appeared yet. This is a costly place to be stranded, but we are not too disappointed, really, as it’s one of the best places so far.

Friday 18th July 2003 Monaco Day 4, 44 euros

First thing this morning, we get up and have a look over the wall at the sea state. After a lot of indecision, talking, humming and harring, and watching other boats struggle, we decide that it’s still too rough and that we will have to stay another day.

We have worked out that it will take 13 days of constant sailing, doing 20 to 30 miles a day, to get to Banyuls Sur Mer, where we have suggested that Ian and Paula, H’s friends, meet us on the 9th August. We really don’t need this strong, windy weather, but we still have some spare days in hand, just in case of this kind of eventuality.

Dinner tonight: Roast chicken followed by a walk around the marina looking at the huge boats and superyachts. How the other half lives.

Saturday 19th July 2003 Monaco to Golf Juan 21NM, 22 euros

At last, the weather is cooperating, and we leave Monaco. We will miss it as it’s beautiful, but it was draining our reserves, financially.

Outside the entrance, there is every type of big motor yacht, and the wake from all the activity is terrible. Del nearly falls off the bow. Few of them seem to have read the rules of the road at sea or even know the rules exist. On the way, we are passed by two superyachts. One has the owners sitting in a Jacuzzi, and the second has a helicopter on the back. Wow!

At Golf Juan marina, we are shown in by two girls in a dinghy, and we are given a document bag and guides of the area (we like this free gimmick thing). A very nice welcome, Del thought so especially! We finally get a chance to do the laundry.

What a relief to be on our way again, so tonight we treat ourselves to a Chinese dinner out. It’s delicious, and after dinner, we get a surprise phone call from Sue and Stanley, how nice of them. They are in Elba, a small island just off Italy, where they have had force 7 winds, so they were just checking in on us. Unfortunately, after five minutes, we are cut off. Great to hear from them.

Sunday 20th July 2003 Golf Juan to Raphael (Santa Lucia), 20 NM, 27 euros

After some difficulty getting up this morning, we slip our berth at 10:30am, and motor sail towards San Raphael, where we are allocated a berth there at 2:30pm, it’s a finger pontoon. We have not seen one of these since Port Napoleon. The marina is peaceful, and we settle down to read the Sunday papers that we have bought. How novel.

After dinner, we wander around the town, just like everyone else; Europeans come out for an evening walk after dinner to look at the market and eat ice cream. It’s all very pleasant.

To end the day, we have a quayside drink at a bar where a couple of musicians are murdering some English songs!

Monday 21st July 2003 Raphael (Santa Lucia) to Cavalaire-Sur-Mer 20 NM, 32 euros

There is a little bit of wind as we slip our berth this morning. Once we leave the marina, we find it’s more like a force 5. We put in a reef (a reduction in sail size) and set off. The waves are beam on, and we are dipping our toerail occasionally, but we decide to press on.

It calms down a little as we round the headland, and we shake out the second reef to the first. We achieve our fastest speed yet, 6.9 knots! Fast…

Cavalaire is a nice French holiday town at night. There are people playing boules, and live music plays in the restaurants. It is packed with people having an evening walk about. There are two sausage dogs on a boat opposite, they are brown and black, very lively, very sweet.

Tuesday 22nd July 2003, Cavalaire-Sur-Mer, Day 2, 32 euros

There’s nothing like the sound of someone hitting your boat to wake you up. Our Italian neighbours have left and clipped us going out. No damage. A simple rub or tap on a boat can sound quite loud and nasty inside, more so when you are in bed.

The wind has built overnight to a force 5- 6; no one forecasted this. The boat next door, but one, has swung 45° into the space next to us now, but they don’t even seem to have noticed. Eventually, they notice that they have drifted in their berth and come out to sort it out, but only after we hold off a possible collision. We have decided that one of us must boat sit all day; otherwise, we may end up with some damage, especially when we get a new neighbour. There is some dodgy boat handling around here.

We watch a boat being helped out of its berth by the marina, and they still mess it up. We are staying here today. We get a lot done, though today, phone Opal Marine, our boat dealer, as we have a few issues that need sorting out. We organise a police appointment for residency, sort out health insurance, buy a little table for the cockpit plus a fancy tablecloth for it, and finally, we find a shop that will make us a boom tent for a reasonable price, which will be ready tomorrow morning!

To celebrate, we get pizzas and eat them on our new table, then sit there all night, listening to the live band nearby and wittering. Lovely.

Wednesday 23rd July 2003 Cavalaire-Sur-Mer to Hyeres, 26 NM, 26.90 euros

No wind this morning in the marina, so we set off after collecting and testing our new boom tent. A perfect fit. We motor sail most of the way. Some strong winds are coming.

As we approach Porquerolles, we radio to check that they still have a space. We are told they have; just look for the “Zodiac” boat once in there. (A Zodiac is a make of rubber dinghy).

There is no Zodiac to be seen, so we radio again, and now we are told they don’t have space!!! Can’t believe it. We are faced with the decision of carrying on to Toulon, another three hours in a stiff wind, or going backwards to Hyères (5 miles). So, Hyères is it.

It is very windy in the marina, and it’s tricky parking, but we do it. It’s almost perfect. However, the row along the berth wall starts to fill up. Next to us, a boat trying to berth breaks its stanchions on our pushpit and scrapes on our anchor. Clumsy…

(Stantions are the upright metal posts that run down the side of a sailboat with wire threaded through them, creating a kind of fence; a pushpit is the solid metal safety railings at the rear.)

We watch cock up after cock up happen with boats hitting the quay and each other. We have a new saying, don’t relax until you have neighbours!

Our new boom tent is fab. No sun today, though.

We could be here for a couple of days. Again…

Cock-up of the day. English bloke, jumping off a Bavaria 40 sailing boat and missing the pontoon. Splash!

Thursday 24th July 2003 Hyeres Day 2, 26.90 euros

Overnight, there is rain, thunder and lightning of the likes we’ve never seen before, incredibly bright. But by the morning, it’s lovely and calm, so we go to pay and to look at the printed weather forecast. The forecast is force 7 in the afternoon. At first, we decide to stay, then we change our minds and set off for Toulon, 18 miles away.

It’s all going well, but the wind picks up earlier than forecasted, and the water starts to chop up, so we turn around and head back to Hyères marina. Our next thought turns to parking our boat in a force 7 wind and into what, no doubt, will be a tight space. We get into the berth ok, but we do get blown around a bit. Del fends us off other boats with our boat pole and hook. Oh dear, we now have a rather bent boat hook. No damage to the boat, though.

Having put us in this berth, the marina is at our door, saying that we have to move. The wind is gusting now to a force 8. They can’t be serious? We are the only ones that they are asking to move.

After discussing it in detail, with the aid of diagrams, we decide that it’s too risky. Once in the channel, we will be blown onto the other boats very quickly. We are nervous. Del goes to the Capitainerie to ask for help, but while he’s away, the marina guy returns to tell us that we can now stay. Too much stress for nothing.

Let’s hope the weather is calm tomorrow, and we can get out of here.

Friday 25th July 2003 Hyeres to Bandol 25 NM, 288 euros

We get up early this morning as we are determined to leave this damn marina. The forecast is for force 4 wind in the morning and 6 in the afternoon, so we set off as quickly as we can.

Once we round the headland nearby, we find the wind is more like a force 6 to 7, good job we are reefed in on the sails. The sea is quite lumpy, but we press on to Toulon; it should calm down once we are in the bay. The sea is now quite big, with lots of spray flying over the boat. One wave hits us and completely soaks H.

She goes downstairs to hastily change. Her hair is dripping, and the boat is slamming down hard into the water as we come off large waves. She is thrown about; soon she has the full kit on, waterproofs, harness, lifeline and lifejacket. After a couple of hours, and finally a good gentle sail, we enter the bay for Toulon but decide to carry on further to Bandol as the weather and sea has been quite good in the past half hour.

The sea is now very big again as we push head on with the wind. The boat is slamming down hard; inside, it sounds like someone hitting her hull with a sledgehammer. Poor boat. She is really taking a hammering, but we feel safe.

We arrive at Bandol after a not too comfortable ride and get berthed. The boat is a tip inside and out, safety stuff scattered all over the place, things on the floor and covered in salt crystals, even up the mast. We shower and then have our first meal. It’s now 3:30 pm; we have a sleep. That journey has taken it out of us.

Del managed to accidentally inflate his lifejacket at sea, so we play around with it for a while and find out how to recharge it. Later, we discover that we have wet bedding and mattress with saltwater drips on the inside of the bow. This is the hardest we have pushed Stargazer, and us, so we shall keep an eye on it. We are not quite sure how the water has got into the bow bedroom.

We have decided that we don’t really need a second anchor, so we are leaving it behind here tomorrow.

We also had our wind vane blown clean off the top of the mast while at sea. The dealer on delivery didn’t really secure the wind vane very well at all. We are now relying on Del’s super stick-on tell-tales (bits of strings on the sail that indicate the correct angle of the sail).

Earlier, we helped a lone French chap with his red and green boat (painted on each side) to get berthed. He comes over to our boat to thank us, and he brings some rather ropey rum with him. We politely accept his kindness, even though the ‘moonshine’ is burning our throats. A nice chap, we chat for a while about the Mistral wind and other such weather matters. We are sailors now…

Saturday 26th July 2003 Bandol to Cassis 12 NM, 37 euros

Another early start today as we leave Bandol via the diesel pontoon and a fill-up.

There is quite a swell on the sea outside the bay remaining from the previous day’s wind, but it is okay. We can do this… Cassis, our next stop, is not too far, and we motor for a couple of hours. The wind is head-on again, and we enter the marina in Cassis at about midday.

This is another tight marina with a lot of traffic. Our berth is an add-on to the end of a pontoon, so we have to jump off onto the corner of the pontoon as there is nothing behind us; it’s a bit of a rip-off for €37. Found a great place in town, though. A “cyber laundry”. Talk about killing two birds with one stone. We can do the laundry and get some internet time.

After all the hassle with berthing, getting a water and electric connection, etc., we are too tired to clean the boat today, which she badly needs as she is encrusted in sea salt from all the recent heavy seas, so we say “sod it!” We can’t really afford it, but we’ll treat ourselves to a meal out tonight.

The town is lovely, very neat, with a nice beach and a bay with restaurants along the quay, and some of those lovely French patisseries with cakes in the window that are amazing works of art.

Sunday 27th July 2003 Cassis to Port Bouc 28 NM, 18 euros

The weather is good today, force 4 to 5, so we get out at 8:30am and head for the Port Napoleon area, the place where this journey started back in mid-May.

It’s quite a swelly sea, but the waves are almost behind us; sometimes big ones twist us. As we turn the corner into the Bay of Marseille, we see our ‘old friend’ Port du Frioul. It’s a relief to us as it finally disappears behind us in the mist; we won’t be going there again. We were wind-bound there for 5 days. Our first real stop after getting the boat, not a great experience.

We decide on to go on to Port Bouc, and 10 miles off, we put some sails up. This is much more comfortable now, and we actually get an amazing but brief 7.9 knots out of her. Unfortunately, H misses this as she is on the loo! C’est la vie. Heading up the Gulf de Fos towards the marina, we get 6.8 knots on a run.

The marina is next to an oil refinery, very picturesque (not) and smelly. We don’t know what to expect here. Once settled, we get off the boat and go for a walk; amazingly, we discover a ‘Festival of Sardines’, an array of fish stalls, food tents and music. We shall have to check this out.

It’s fabulous. We have muscles, calamari and fried little fish, delicious. There is also a singer here, and it is packed with locals. Where have all these people come from? A little cat and a huge dog are living on the boat next door to us tonight.

Monday July 28th 2003, Port Bouc Day 2, 18 euros

A Mistral wind has come, so we are stuck here for at least the night, but we make the most of it and shop for provisions and sort out various issues and stuff.

Del cleans up the bikes, and we have a bit of a cycle about the local area. The fish festival is still on; it’s on for another month, and it’s packed again. There is nothing here, just a marina and a smelly oil refinery. And it is smelly. Where do all these people come from?

A boat we saw in Cassis has berthed on our pontoon, a rather nice 49-foot blue hull boat with British registry. H helps them with their lines and gets them tied up.

We have a chorizo fry-up for dinner tonight that has been postponed every night until now.

There is a colony of cats living on the mole. They look a bit underfed. Poor things.

Tuesday July 29th 2003, Port Bouc Day 3, 18 euros

Still here after a night of really vicious winds courtesy of the Mistral, which kept us awake all night. It looks like we will be here tonight as well, so we pay for another night. The weather is not too good for the next few days. Our margin of safety for arriving in Banyuls is decreasing day by day.

The boat gets a comprehensive waxing today, mostly by Del. She is so shiny that she is slippy. We get chatting with the people from the British boat who are, in fact, Danish, but they speak perfect English. They invite us for a beer later, so we take some Belgian beer; they live there. We have a nice pre-dinner chat. The boat is beautiful and fully automated (Anna II).

Dinner is at the “Festival of Sardines” again, a massive plate of all sorts of seafood. The refinery glows in the sunset. Lovely.

After dinner, John and Lena, from Anna II, invite us for a drink at the festival. Far too much drink has been had!

Wednesday 30th July 2003 Port Bouc to Port Gardian 31 NM, 27 euros

Got up, reluctantly, mouth is dry after those drinks last night. The weather is okay today, so we say goodbye to Anna II and head off.

We are reefed to the red reef (large reduction in sail size), followed by the blue (less reduction is sail size), then none. We have full sail up! Soon, we have to put the reefs back in as the wind picks up again. The wind is up and down, and we are having trouble progressing 10 miles into the journey, so we motor. The waves are slamming into the bow again, which could mean a wet mattress again, but 10 miles later, we manage to sail again, which is fantastic. A real good sail. She’s heeling and flying along.

We enter Port Gardian and get tied up quickly with some help. We have just finished washing the boat when Lena from Anna II appears with Isabel the dog, along the pontoon. They overtook us at sea and got in half an hour before us.

We invite them for a beer and later, after dinner, they come, and we have a nice evening with a few drinks, again. These Danes like a drink! They have offered us the use of their internet, as we are finding it a technological desert around here.

We are eaten alive by mozzies as we sit outside. There are hundreds of mosquitoes. The Camargue is a large lake area, and there are also 2 to 3-inch-long blue flying things. Scary.

Thursday 31st July 2003 Port Gardian Day 2, 27 euros

After looking at the weather report, we decide to stay. We both need internet access, so we pop over to our new Danish friends, Lana and John’s boat and use their laptop. H needs flights back to the UK, and Del is waiting for some important emails. We are unsuccessful however as Del’s mail hasn’t arrived and H fails to find flights.

Their boat is huge inside, with everything from radar to a freezer. We sit around on the boat, the wind grows again towards the evening, and it’s another fierce Mistral. Other boats are coming in and really struggling in the wind. We hope it will die down as it is tedious being buffeted about and listening to the howl of the wind through the masts. Very desolate.

We are still hoping to leave tomorrow, but if it is like this, we will have trouble leaving the berth, never mind the next 30-mile journey.

We have found a fantastic restaurant that does paella and garlic squid, so we have these with a delicious salad.

Italy is closed…!

June 1, 2003 / deljones / 0 Comments

Our first month on Stargazer has gone well as we took our time exploring the south coast of France in the blistering heat, so hot that many people died in the heat which made national news. This month we plan to sail to near Pisa, where along the way we meet new friends, anchor for the first time and pay for a diver to fix our new, limping boat, but what a bonus, H gets to see the Monaco Grand Prix free…

JUNE 2003

Sunday, 1st June 2003, Cannes (Day trip to Monaco)

With Del in the UK, I leave the boat at 8 in the morning to catch the 8:33am to Monaco. I can tell I’m on the right platform by the sea of red (Ferrari t-shirts). The train is packed, so much for my 1^st class ticket – I end up standing on the 2^nd class stairs all the way!

Monaco is a beautiful town, especially up in the old part of Monaco, with beautiful gardens.

It seemed, though, that my idea of casually standing next to the track will not happen – every bit of view of the track is fenced off, even from the hill – you have to have a ticket, and they cost hundreds of euros!

All the vantage points are closed off. You can’t see anything…

So eventually I find a bit of the hill where I can see 30m of track from half a mile away and stand and wait for the start. What a racket – forget Concorde taking off – this is the loudest thing I have ever heard, ever…

Then, just as I am about to lose interest in the dots moving around the track, somebody opens up the barrier, and we all dash it. Now I have a view of most and the track and the marina – absolutely stunning! I can’t believe I’m here watching the Monaco Grand Prix – Live!

After a while, I walk down the hill to get a better idea of the noise. Wow, and I’m standing next to the gate for the seating (trackside) when a man comes up to me and says, “Here, take this ticket. My grandchildren have gone back because they don’t like the noise – just follow me”! What…? Really?

Thanks to a very kind man, I had the best view of the Monaco Grand Prix 2003…! So lucky

Before I know it, I’m trackside with some earplugs and 10m from the action (3 rows from the front). I have never quite seen anything like this; the noise is immense even with earplugs. We are after the hairpin where the track forks to the pits – and we see Schumacher have a pit change. (He has been and gone before my camera was ready!).

I can’t believe my luck. I will never forget this! Or the kind man (father of the inventor of the ‘Pharmajet Injection’, who is also a sailor – from Lymington).

It’s only when I return to the boat that I notice my ticket value of 390 euros…! I’m so grateful. What a nice man.

(Oh yeah, the blue and white one won!)

Monday, 2nd June 2003, Cannes

A quiet day today. I do the laundry and walk up to the local church on the hill. I go back and sit on the back of the boat and sunbathe. It’s a nice day today.

There is a traffic jam of superyachts trying to squeeze into the port – wonder where they’ve come from…? One has snagged his anchor and needs rescuing.

I get my hands dirty, oiling and cleaning my bike

Dinner tonight: Pesto on deck

Tuesday, 3rd June 2003, Cannes

I take a bike ride west out of the marina; there’s another beach – Cannes is huge, lots of shops, lots of lovely beaches. It’s so hot this afternoon that I have to shelter inside the boat and watch some films until it’s bearable outside, which is around 5 pm. Phew! It’s so hot…

Tonight, I am going to try one of those Chinese food places that have an endless counter of goodies laid out, buffet style. A staggering 10 euros for a salad, 3 spring rolls, red Thai curry and vegetable rice. A quarter litre of rosé, Bargain! With the added entertainment of a fight right outside, the police turn up and send a bloke packing. He comes back, and some undercover police turn up with nasty batons. Time for some dessert. I think the chap had lifted someone’s bag, then the victim argued with a different man. Complicated – oh well, it passes the time.

Wednesday, 4th June 2003, Cannes

I’m off to the beach this morning with my bag of essentials. I have a paddle, but it’s not quite the same on my own. I walk all the way to the next marina and back, but it’s so hot. (29 degrees C in the boat).

There is a siren going off, like an air raid siren, all over Cannes, and it’s very loud. 15 minutes later, it stops – no idea what that is about.

I have a new friend, a seagull who stands on the pontoon near the boat and makes seagull noises occasionally. I tried to give him a bit of sliced bread, but he’s having none of it. He is, after all, a French seagull – a gourmet seagull no less.

The guy next door is giving him a bit of his lunch. I think he prefers ham and foie gras to manky old sliced white! And who can blame him? He could teach the Brighton Seagulls a thing or two.

Friday, 6th June 2003, Cannes

I’m back on the beach again today. We need more supplies on board, so I head off for an exciting trip to the local supermarket, followed by some lunch, and a sunbathe on the back of the boat. It’s so hot here, though, and I have taken to having a siesta recently as the boat temperature is 31 degrees C in the afternoon…!!!

There is a film shoot on the pontoon, and they keep blocking our way. It’s probably someone famous. No idea who it is.

Friday, 6th June 2003, Cannes

Phew, it’s even hotter today – it’s official; according to the radio, it’s summer. (And National Day, Sweden, of course). I’m going for a wander this morning. After a coffee, I buy some boules. We will learn to play petanque when Del gets back.

There is a baby dead shark in the marina this morning – and next to him a jellyfish (no doubt alive, unfortunately). I am beginning to wonder if our swim ladder will get a lot of use…?

Another quiet day – I want to go sailing – never has the weather been so stable! It’s very bouncy here, moored in the marina – not looking forward to tomorrow. Saturday is the bounciest day as every man and his dog break the speed limit in the harbour.

(The temperature in the shade today is 31 degrees C.)

Dinner tonight: Shark and lentils. Kidding… Steak and lentils

Saturday 7th June 2003 Cannes

Del comes back tomorrow! So it’s off to the laundry and to the supermarket.

Everything is closing early today, maybe because it’s a bank holiday weekend here – Ascension or something. I even wash the boat whilst not trying to soak the neighbours; it’s not as good as Del’s effort, but it’ll do until he gets back. It has reached 32 degrees in the shade today – I just can’t drink enough water, and when I was spraying the boat with not much on I just sprayed myself with the warm hose water.

I’ve just watched a fantastic fireworks display tonight on the beach.

Sunday 8th June 2003 Cannes

Dels back today! It’s very hot again; Del is surprised by the increase in heat since he left. The heat here is just incredible.

We treat ourselves to an expensive dinner tonight at a seafood restaurant near the beach. Lovely. We play Pétanque with the boules I bought the other day. We don’t know quite what we are doing, but I won anyway.

Monday 9th June 2003 Cannes

It’s a bank holiday in France today. Most places are shut.

We actually go out sailing today, which is nice. I have a paddle sitting on the swim deck. On the way back, we see a shark swimming in the bay. We make our way back into the marina, where the wind picks up, and I do my worst attempt at berthing yet…!. We are doing well… Not. My first attempt was spot on, but we have to come out and try again; the next time, I trash the life ring on the bow of another boat. It’s wrecked, polystyrene gouged out and the cover split wide open. Oh dear. No damage to anything else, though.

Del has an awful headache, so I am left to eat delicious veal, lentils and courgettes on my own tonight. Shame.

Tuesday 10^th June 2003 Cannes – Golf Juan. 9 miles (the long way). 18.60 euros (6-night deal)

The knees are knocking this morning as we prepare to leave our berth in Cannes. H’s confidence is faltering after yesterday’s mess-up, when we just went out for a potter. But it is a success, as we leave and negotiate the exit to the marina with no problems!

We have a good sail around the local islands and then set off towards Golf Juan. We gently motor into the marina. It is quite pleasant here, and much more protected and more comfortable than Cannes. We have managed to secure a 6-night deal as Del leaves again on Thursday (until Sunday) to do a “Westlife” video at the O2 Arena.

It’s good old kit pizza night tonight!

The dinghy has been blown up, ready to play on! Thanks, Del. After dinner, we zip across to the beach in the dinghy and have a cold beer.

Wednesday 11^th June 2003 – Golf Juan day 2

It’s another hot day today, which means we didn’t sleep last night as we couldn’t open the window properly because of pesky mosquitoes. One got in anyway and kept flying past our ears, so the first thing we buy today is some net for the hatch and botch a way of creating an anti-mozzy net. We’ll see how that goes later.

We do some laundry and set off for a quick sail, which is nice and refreshing as it’s much cooler on the sea. It’s lovely.

A successful boat berthing on our return! We are doing better. It takes practice. H does the steering and all the controlling of the boat into a berth, which is not easy; it’s nothing like driving a car. There is wind and water current to deal with. Del does all the rope work, which requires leaping about the boat, securing fenders and jumping on and off the boat. We watch other people berthing where it seems to be the man doing the steering and the berthing, while the woman is expected to do all the stuff that requires strength etc. We think they have it wrong.

Tonight we plan to dinghy to a restaurant on the beach, which we do, but the only one that is open is very much way out of our price range, so it’s back to the marina to haul out the dinghy before we can walk and to find a cheaper restaurant.

Diner tonight: Calamares in sauce and fruits de mar spaghetti.

Thursday 12^th June 2003 – Golf Juan day 3

Del leaves again today, for another job that he’s already committed to, but we wake to news of strikes here in France, luckily not the air traffic controllers, but this time the buses and trains are not running. Luckily, the airport bus turns up..

H goes off for some shopping, but everything is closed. It’s a very hot day today.

Dinner tonight: Steak and aubergine

Friday 13^th June 2003 – Golf Juan day 4

Friday 13^th! Today is supposed to be a lucky day in France, so there’s a big queue at the lottery vendors. It’s also the hottest day yet at 35 degrees C in the boat with the fan on and the windows open!

We need to arrange our first engine service, so I walk to a very hot phone booth to try to book one, but no one speaks English or understands my poor French.

I’m going to walk to Vallauris tomorrow. Picasso lived there for a few years. Maybe there is an internet terminal there, because there sure ain’t one here!

Dinner tonight: Steak and veg

Saturday 14^th June 2003 – Golf Juan day 5

I have tried to walk to Vallauris today, but I’ve had to give up in the stifling heat. It’s two miles up a hill and a dual carriageway – I think I’ll skip it.

I need my internet fix!

Sunday 15^th June 2003 – Golf Juan day 6

Del returns today, which means it’s a cleaning day. Launder the sheets, clean the bilges, wash the boat – it’s too hot.

I actually see Dels’ plane flying over and putting its wheels down. The airport is not far from here.

He’s back – with sunglasses at last – except the sun’s gone in! Since we started, he has not had any sunglasses. The boat is white, and the sun has been strong every day, so he’s suffered a bit.

Dinner tonight: Lobster.

Monday 16^th June 2003 – Golf Juan to Nice. 25.60 euros.

That’s Golf Juan done. 6 hot days there, Time to move on today. Today we are sailing (or motoring) to Nice.

We have managed to sail a bit and with a little bit of motor while keeping an eye on the engine hours; we are due for our first 50-hour service soon, which we have to do to comply with the Volvo warranty.

We have finally arrived into Nice. The harbour has big ferries in so we feel quite small. On a second attempt, we find our pontoon opposite a stunning super yacht called “Perfect Persuasion”. We have seen her a few times pottering along the coast here.

We have our first ‘hands-free’ shower in a month, at the marina showers. We have a wet room on board Stargazer, which has a hand shower. It’s good, but it’s nice to be able to stand under a shower for a change and not have to kick out and dry out the wet room.

We have a walk along the seafront for a while. Nice has a rubble-type beach – funny, we always imagined it to have long golden sand.

Tonight we have a steak dinner before another walk. Later, we sup wine on deck, but the fumes from “Perfect Persuasion“, who are running a generator, get too much for us, so we call it a night.

Tuesday 17^th June 2003 – Nice to Menton Garavan. 27.50 euros.

We have a good sail all the way to Monaco where we plan to stay. A few phone calls later we realise that it’s not going to happen, everywhere is full (and it’s only 2pm). So we speed on under motor to try and secure a place at Menton Garavan – the last marina in France and we mean, literally, the border is 200m away!

We shall walk to Italy after dinner!

We have found a guy here who can do our engine service.

Settled in we set off for a walk. It’s only a short walk to Italy! But it’s shut!!!

There is nothing here and what little is here is closed. There is nowhere to get a drink, a snack, nothing, so we have drink in a candlelit waterside place back in France.

Thanks for nothing Italy!

Wednesday 18^th June 2003 – Menton Garavan day 2

H got bitten badly last night, damn mosquitoes.

We get the bikes off the boat and have a cycle around, and get back as the engineer “may arrive” at 2pm. He doesn’t turn up. It’s all very easy going… So we just sit on the back of the boat, chill out and do some paperwork.

Dinner tonight: Tagliatelle and seafood.

Thursday 19^th June 2003 – Menton Garavan day 3

Today is the day… At 9:25am our Volvo engineer arrives and services our engine. Very efficient – 2 and a half hours and he has fitted our new replacement vacuum valve as well.

We wash the boat down – the heat is too much for H, so her bikini is on and she gets a hose-down of cool water from Del during the boat wash – ahhh the relief.

We see four planes flying low over the bay and returning over the hills repeatedly. We think they are seaplanes that are scooping up seawater and dumping it on forest fires. This is worth a look, so we cycle at high speed to the beach area. They dive down quite near the beach and slide along the water, still fast, then take off – quite something to watch. Skillful flying. They’re not kidding when they warn you about this on the chart. Pity any poor boat coming around the headland!

We go for a paddle, its 9pm, and the water is warm.

Friday 20^th June 2003 – Menton Garavan to San Remo. (Porto Sole). 35.00 euros

*FRANCE TO ITALY*

It’s goodbye France – hello Italy today!

Better get the our courtesy flag ready.

Goodbye France – Hello Italy. A courtesy flag swap over.

We cross the border and the flag goes up. You can already notice the different styles of buildings even from the sea. We arrive at Port Sole – San Remo and after a hair raising experience trying to get off the windward waiting pontoon (we are being pinned on by the wind), we are piloted to our berth.

We’ve never had the honour of a pilot boat before. It’s quite exciting.

Our first attempt to park goes wrong, again. The wind is beam on (that’s the side of the boat), and we swing around when we slow down. The second attempt is ok until we swing around again and nearly gouge someone’s boat with our anchor. No damage fortunately, but almost!

Finally and thankfully, we are pulled around into place with some help from marina staff. We feel terrible. H loses all her confidence and is embarrassed at her terrible parking skills until some Swiss neighbours turn up and do exactly the same thing. So, she’s not so bad after all! It’s not easy steering a boat. It can very tricky, as we are finding out. Especially as the bow of the boat is large and catches the wind and we don’t have a bow thruster (a propeller mounted in the bow to move it left or right).

Dinner tonight: Pasta. (Well we are in Italy, which is now open!)

Saturday 21^st June 2003 – San Remo Day 2

A quiet day today after another bad nights sleep. H’s feet look like elephant’s feet after being bitten a couple of days ago by some rather aggressive mosquitoes.

Del is keen to wash the hull of the boat today, so we get him into the dinghy so he can reach it all, while H has him on a tether back on the boat. That’s it! I’ve had it with these dinghy name letters, there’s only two left – we pull them off.

Diner tonight: Pizza

Sunday 22nd June 2003 – San Remo to Loano 1^st night free! 32 miles

FUEL FILL-UP: 40 euros

We are up early this morning and slip from our berth at 09:10am. We intend to go to Alessia, 24nm away. There is no wind but the sea still has quite a swell. We motor all the way and park up in Alessia to get fuel. The marina is full tonight. Oh no, what are we going to do…?

The next marina along is Loano. We get a berth here where the first night is free! We soon learn why. Maybe because it’s a bit of a building site, they are doubling the size of the marina. We are getting low on provisions, nowhere is open, looks like another meal out. How ostentatious of us.

The Swiss are here today, the ones we saw yesterday making a dog’s dinner of their parking as we did. They see us and wave us over to berth up next to them.

Del has made friends by sorting everyone’s electric and water out for them – and I thought we were the inexperienced ones. We have quite a collection of water and electricity adapters, ready for any eventuality.

We are just relaxing on the back of our boat when suddenly we see a British couple arrive on a rather sleek sailing boat, approaching the pontoon rather fast, 3 boats down from us. We jump off and help them out as they are approaching the pontoon with speed so we help slow them down and take their lines to secure them. We do some introductions, and shake hands with Sue and Stanley. They are not an old couple, but they are no spring chickens. Stanley looks rather sporty in his wide open neck tie-dye t-shirt and wrap around sunglasses. They’re a nice couple, and we end up chatting with them for a while before leaving them to it and going back to ours.

Monday 23rd June 2003 – Loano Day 2

We look out of the windows this moring to find that everyone has departed except us and the British boat with Sue and Stanley on. On the pontoon we get talking to them and find that they are going the same way as us. We have decided to carry on around and down until Pisa.

It’s another warm day so we invite Sue and Stanley for drinks on the boat, we learn from them a good idea – that a simple cheap parasol fits perfectly into the hole that’s in the middle of the winches, which will then give you good shade at sea and in a marina. What a great idea…, so it’s off to the town to buy a snazzy blue and white one.

Today it is two years exactly that Del proposed to H, so to celebrate (or commiserate), we have a drop of Italian fizz on the bow of Stargazer. Cheers..!

Dinner tonight: Pork and lentils

Stanley and Sue have invited us to drinks at a nearby bar. Very nice of them. We seem to enjoy each others company, with similar interests and humor. They are from Yorkshire and have been sailing for a while. The have an X-Yacht 332, which we are invited to have a nosy around. It’s a lovely boat. A fast boat. Probably too fast for us.

It’s 12:30 by the time we say goodnight, but we have agreed to get up early and sail to the next stop along the coast, Varrazze.

Tuesday 24th June 2003 – Loano to Varazze. 19 miles. 28 euros

It’s 9:00am. We have a good wind today to get to Varazze, although Sue and Stanley burn us off in their sports yacht which is more of a racer than ours, which is more like a caravan at sea.

Sue and Stanley with “Havre” at full sail, full speed

We end up reefing our sails in, but still getting 6.5 knots out of her. Sue and Stanley turn back a few times to let us catch up, and to see that we are alright. Bless.

There are quite large waves hitting us beam on and we are not far away from dipping the toe-rail in the water! We get our first glimpse of dolphins on this trip! Six of them, quite small, but beautiful, surfacing and diving together, but they don’t stay long and soon disappear.

We arrive into Varazze together. It’s very shallow here, just 20cm left under the keel in some parts. We are half expecting ‘Harve’, Sue and Stanley’s boat, to ground with her deeper keel, but they make it in, and we get berthed. The berth is quite bouncy, but definitely calmer than the ride we had getting here.

There is nothing here except lumps of concrete and diggers.

Wednesday 25th June 2003 – Varazze to Genoa. 21 miles. 30 euros

We have a late sail today, 11am as we only have a short hop to Arenzeno. Del calls ahead in his best Italian and reserves our spaces before slipping from the berth and we are off.

The sea has calmed down a bit from yesterday, but we still get a good wind in patches. We break our record for shallowed depth yet! 10cm under the keel! as we are coming out of Varazze.

We arrive at Arenzano but we are told there is no space! Del has an argument with the marina guy (a different one from the one on the phone), but to no avail, so we decide to press on to Genoa another which is another 10 miles (more by the time we have tacked our way there!)

A helping hand from the locals as we limp into our berth

This Marina is like a maze! H is following the plan on the chart, but thinking of turning around as the deeper we get inside the more ferries we are having to negotiate with, but we find our berths eventually and get piloted in. We have noticed that the rudder is pulling hard to the right but carry on as there is nothing we can do about it right now. So we go bow in to turn around and back into the berth, as we go into reverse the engine vibrates and packs up!

We must have had something around our rudder after all, because now it’s wrapped around prop! We have to be towed into our berth. This could potentially cost..

Tomorrow a diver is coming by to investigate what’s happened to our rudder, prop or both…

Sue and Stanley take us to dinner to console us. We have really bonded in just a short amount of time, enjoying their friendship and hospitality.

Thursday 26th June 2003 – Genoa. Day 2

There is a change of plan today with the diver. He can’t make it today, but has promised tomorrow. Very Italian…There is a beer festival being set up here for the weekend. Should be interesting. Noisy?

Tonight we are having Sue and Stanley around for dinner, but decide to simplify it to pasta, as cooking a big meal for 4 in our little galley might be a struggle.

We’ve had a good night, plenty to eat, drink with a few stories and laughs.

Friday 27th June 2003 – Genoa. Day 3

We get up at 9 am feeling a bit foggy, after last night’s drinking on our boat. We are expecting the diver anytime this morning. This being Italy though, the diver finally arrives at 1 pm, and spends about two minutes underwater.

A big blue bag caught on our rudder and prop. Nasty.

We feel like we are getting value for money though, as he has flippers, air tanks, the whole works. The water stinks here, rather him than us.

After some time in the water, he pulls out a huge blue bin bag from our prop, we take some pictures and ten minutes later he’s gone and we’re 50 euros lighter.

We take a look around ‘Neptune’, a huge galleon – used as a set for the film “Pirates”. There is a very sweet parrot here (blue and yellow) who lives on a boat nearby, he sits on the shrouds and squawks and travels on a perch on his owners ‘Go-Ped’.

Sue and Stanley have invited us to dinner tonight on their boat. Beef stroganoff – absolutely delicious!

Saturday 28th June 2003 – Genoa. Day 4

After breakfast and later in the morning we go for a walk into Genoa. It’s a bit scruffy really, but we eventually find some nice bits. It’s not too bad after all.

Stargazer needs a clean, so after our walk we set about cleaning the decks, cockpit and the inside. H is quite an expert at cleaning the toilet!

Diner tonight: Peppers, potatoes and aubergines etc.

We can hear the music starting up at the beer festival where a band is playing. We set off and see how it is. The band are quite good so we have a beer or two, but after an hour the wind picks up and the lightning is flashing like a strobe light. A storm is brewing… The poor band are ‘washed‘ off stage as it proceeds to pour down – a proper rainstorm. Very heavy rain.

Sunday 29th June 2003 – Genoa to Rapallo (anchorage) 17 miles. 0 euros

The air this morning is a lot fresher after the storm last night. We depart Genoa at 9am but quickly find, by phoning ahead, that there are no spaces for us at any of the marinas ahead. So we decide that we will try our first go at anchoring. Gulp…!

While on route we try to empty our holding tank but find that it is blocked and nothing will shift it. The holding tank is a large tank at the back of the boat which is the “black water” tank. We shall leave it at that, but it’s blocked. This could be a problem.

Both boats arrive near Portofino at an anchorage and for the first time on Stargazer we actually anchor! In 10 meters – quite deep.

Our first anchorage in Portofino with our friends, Sue and Stanley

Sue and Stanley come over on their dinghy, and we all have a swim. It’s lovely and warm as we swim around our boat. Fabulous…

Later in the day, however, after a failed attempt to get to shore in the dinghy, we decide that the sea is kicking up a bit, the boats are getting tossed about a bit, so we move to a more protected anchorage inside the breakwater of Rapallo. This is gorgeous, peacefully anchored – with a lovely Italian town as a backdrop.

Diner tonight: Pesto (with a fantastic sunset.)

We are on the back of our boat, Sue and Stanley are on the back of theirs as we gently bob up and down in the early evening light. Suddenly, to finish off a lovely day and night, Stanley starts to plays his pan pipes, the gentle music drifts over from their boat. Nice. Didn’t know he played the pan pipes… Don’t know anyone else that does, so that’s a first. The Mediterranean dream.

It gets better. The holding tank has fixed itself!

Monday 30th June 2003 – Rapallo anchorage

We had a very peaceful night at anchor last night.

We need some provisions so we hop across in the dinghy to the marina. This place is expensive – good job we’re not paying a mooring fee here!

After lunch, we potter back round to Portofino where we had the swim yesterday. We dinghy across to shore to get ice-creams and then back to the boat before they melt.

We pull up our anchor and go for a little sail, it’s a lovely day. After a while we go back to our last anchor location in Rapallo to settle in again for the night again. After a bit of dragging of the anchor, it finally bites. There is a force 7 wind forecast for tomorrow with no time given, so we lay a second anchor just to be sure.

For dinner tonight we dinghy ashore with Sue and Stanley and have pizzas. Excellent pizzas though.

On the way back to the boat after dinner, we are aware of a building swell of the sea, and once at the boat it is a bit bumpy. Could be an interesting night tonight, trying to sleep. The wind builds some more, but then drops to nothing, so we turn in. It’s still a little ‘roly poly’. We can’t sleep. We are rolling back and forwards on the bed, it is quite uncomfortable. Nothing like last night.

WOW…! She’s Beautiful…!

May 11, 2003 / deljones / 0 Comments

After months of planning, the time has finally arrived when we are brought together with Stargazer, our beautiful 32′ sailboat. The first month of our new adventure sees us attempting to berth our brand new boat for the first time on our own and being wind-bound on our first stop on an island in the south of France, before finally making it to Cannes.

MAY 2003

H started to (badly) draw small pictures of our time on the boat. These she used to draw in pencil in the diary, not every day, but most days. We have included them here for your amusement.

Sunday, May 11^th 2003 – Cheshire to Nice

Well, today is the day, it’s finally arrived. We are packed, and we depart from Liverpool Airport with 5 bags! Destination Nice. Our baggage is well overweight! We will stay in the Excelsior Hotel in Nice tonight.

Flew over Paris on the way! Saw Notre Dame and the Seine – Ah Paris, c’est belle.

Monday 12^th May 2003

Travel on SNCF 1^st class, to the town of Arles (not Ales!! We made that mistake by getting on the wrong train!) and H has her first French conversation with two nice ladies sitting opposite us.

We get a cab to the middle of nowhere – Le Sambuc. Hotel ‘Longo Mai’. The only thing open in town is one bar, so we have a drink there. We found this place on the internet, can you believe? (Yes, back in 2003, finding things on the internet was completely different from what it is in 2026.)

The frogs (the small amphibian thing with long legs that sits in ponds, not the people) are noisy tonight – what a racket! It must be all the paddy fields. (They grow Camargue rice here.)

Tuesday 13^th May 2003 Port Napoleon – Free berthing for 2 weeks

TODAY IS THE BIG DAY!

We get packed up at 8:30 am and leave the hotel to travel to the boat by cab and ferry and on to Port Napoleon, where our new boat has been delivered to and commissioned by our UK agent. We arrive at the marina and do the short walk from the entrance to the pontoon, our hearts racing at what we are about to see and do. – There she is! She looks beautiful, and she’s ours.

Our brand new boat is sitting there in the water, gently bobbing about, tethered to the pontoon. What a sight. Our heart does swell with pride that all the months of planning and hard work, being apart for weeks on end, have finally come to this. No house, no jobs, just a flat in Tenerife and a beautiful boat in the Med ready for our adventure…

Steve and Chris are the two guys from the UK who will hand the boat over to us. They take us out on a short sail. We are nervous as hell as we stand in the cockpit and look up at the height of the mast and the size of the sails. Our old Pippin 20 was tiny compared to this. We must be mad…

Very soon, our driver Lee from ‘Transriviera’, a transport company, delivers our stuff for the boat from the UK! It’s chaos as we end up with a mountain of marine stuff from cushions, plates, buoys, life jackets, outboard motors and a dinghy, all manner of stuff that we will need to make our one year aboard comfortable and safe.

12 boxes of stuff, 2 anchors, a guitar, cushions, 2 bikes, poles, etc all over the pontoon. We get two free weeks here to get ourselves sorted out.

We all toast ‘Stargazer’ with some champagne before Lee, Steve and Chris leave us alone. We get our first night on the boat with our blankets and perfectly ironed bedding.

The chef at work on our first dinner aboard

Dinner tonight: Pasta and sauce with peppers.

Wednesday 14^th May 2003 Port Napoleon

H building a model train gift from her good friend

Our first morning after a really windy night on board Stargazer, it’s still windy as we try out our new bikes and cycle to the nearby town of Port St. Louis. The bikes will be lashed to the side of the boat on the deck. It will be interesting to see how we do with that at sea. We have seen many boats do it, so….

Back at Stargazer, we apply her graphics, her name and her SSR number, attach flags and get her ready for the sea. A quiet day pottering around on the boat, exploring her many cupboards and storage spaces. It’s all very exciting.

Dinner tonight: Local sausage with potatoes.

Thursday 15^th May 2003 Port Napoleon

We wake up today to much less wind; it’s dropped significantly, so we decide to take her out to sea on our own. Nervously!

Once we are clear of the marina entrance, we get the sails up, but there is no wind. We are going nowhere under sail. We get the engine back on and make our way back to the marina. We have tried out the GPS, the autopilot and all her toys. H does her first berthing of our new boat, Del is on deck with lines ready, and she does a perfect berthing, backed in. It’s easier that way around to get in and off the boat.

Dinner tonight: Salmon Tagliatelle

Friday 16^th May 2003 Port Napoleon

It’s a nice day today, so we get the spray dodgers attached, and Del washes her. She gleams in the sunlight and looks fabulous.

We are staying in the marina today, so it’s back on the bikes and cycle into town for some essentials, a baguette and wine!

Today, we mount H’s brass clock that she was presented with when she left ‘This Morning‘. It’s mounted in the cabin inside. It looks great.

Dinner tonight: Pesto pasta

Saturday 17^th May 2003 Port Napoleon

It’s raining this morning! But not for long. We have a play around with our tender, a small dinghy with an outboard motor and emergency oars. Who needs the gym?

We have been here almost a full week now in Port Napoleon. We can stay another week if we want, but we have done all we can. We think we are ready to set off, so we lash up the boat for our departure tomorrow to Ile du Frioul (Port du Frioul), bikes, tender, and outboard have all been tried and tested. Let’s go!

Dinner tonight: Steak, mushrooms and courgettes.

Sunday 18^th May 2003 Port Napoleon to Pt du Frioul. 21 nautical miles(NM) (18 euros)

We will now keep track of our distances each day and the cost of our marina stays.

It’s a lovely day for our first proper sail to our first destination. A light breakfast, and we set sail at 10 am. The wind is perfect for our first day at sea, we get full sail up, which looks massive, but we soon get used to it, and we are moving along at 7 knots and heeling. She feels fantastic!

H gets her bikini on for the first time…!

PORT DU FRIOUL

The wind has picked up quite a bit en route, but we manage our first ‘med mooring’ in a gusty wind, which didn’t go quite well the first time. On the second attempt, we get it right, with a little bit of help from another sailor.

Dinner out tonight as we feel flush; however, we did get stung for 50 euros by the restaurant. We are not feeling so flushed now, but rather drained!

We meet our first 4-legged friend, a rather sweet black Labrador who insists on following us. Not sure if he’s a stray or belongs to someone, but he seems to like us.

Once we are back at the boat, with the wind slightly down in strength, we can hear a noise under the boat. It sounds like chains moving about in the water. A mystery, as we didn’t hear it in Port Napoleon.

Monday 19^th May 2003 Port du Frioul

Wow… We wake up this morning to strong winds. It’s howling through the mast, so we decide to stay for a couple of days as the weather forecast is not so good. Force 7-8. Not good, that, not for us newbies anyway.

We get the bikes off the boat and set off for a good cycle up to some local ruins.

The views are fantastic with some pretty bays around the island. Del got stung again. (By an insect, not a restaurant).

Today it’s ‘kit pizza’. It was good. (Kit pizza is a pizza base that is pre-made and kept in the chiller at the shops.

You spread it out, put your own toppings on and stick it in the oven. Smashing.)

The wind has started blowing really hard now, and with heavy rain, so halfway through the film “Jackie Brown”, we get kitted up and brave the weather to make sure her lines are tied up good and proper. How grim!

With the boat secured, we go to bed listening to the wind and the rain.

Tuesday 20^th May 2003 Port du Frioul

We have some neighbours moored next to us. A charter boat of Germans who tell us that the winds are building to force 11, one off hurricane strength. We feel a bit sorry for them, really, as they have chartered a boat for a week and it looks like they will be stuck here in a windy Port du Frioul.

We put some more ropes on our boat as the wind is snatching against her cleats, and it sounds terrible. We have 7 ropes in total, securing the boat.

Not much to do today, so we take walks on the small island, drink beer, read and help some distressed French sailors with their boat.

There is a supermarket here; it’s not ideal, but we have plenty of supplies for now. There are more strong winds due tomorrow. You can never have enough rope. We watch the seagulls enjoying the wind. They are a bit mad seagulls.

It will be a noisy night tonight.

Dinner tonight: Chorizo, potatoes, onion and peppers. All cooked up together. Proper boat food.

Wednesday 21st May 2003 Port du Frioul

This morning, the wind is a gale force 8 and has been like that all night, even with the seven lines we are listing hard over in gusts.

Fed up with the noise – the noise of wind can get on your nerves after a while – we decide we can’t take it anymore and take the ferry to Marseille.

We visit the church on the hill. ‘Notre Dame de Grande’, which is quite a hike, the wind whistles through the church eerily.

We have a spot of lunch and walk around the town before catching the ferry back to Stargazer.

*Rough crossing to Marseille for a day out.*

The ferry back is quite a ride. The strong wind has whipped up the sea, and it’s rough.

Massive rollers, people are screaming on the boat, this is the biggest sea we’ve ever been on!

The wind is now really fierce; we are heeling in our berth, and the boat is creaking and cracking on her lines; in fact, it’s that bad that Del ends up with his dinner and wine on his lap and all over the seat, and this is in the harbour! It will be another long, grim night. Too worrying to concentrate. The hours tick by slowly.

An interesting first week aboard.

Thursday 22nd May 2003 Port du Frioul

After many sleepless nights, we wake up to a calm day, at last. The forecast is for a force 6, decreasing to 4 tomorrow. We decide to spend another night because we are late getting up today. We are tired. So it’s off for a walk up to the local fort.

While we are up there, the wind starts to build again (Del gets seagull poo on his clean t-shirt). Back down on the boat, the wind quickly changes again to a force 9, and the water is very choppy. After asking for help, we decide to try to make for the corner of the marina for a bit of peace. We are very exposed where we are; we are getting the full force of the wind and the sea.

*No wind protection as our boat strains against a force 9.*

We are doing this move across the marina in a force 9. A French guy very kindly offers to helm while we do the ropes. All this while the boat heels and spray is flying off the water, and H now has stomach cramps! We make it to safety, and the boat is more stable, though the wind is still violent over here. When is it going to stop!?

Our new wind indicator has had enough of the wind and packs up! Great!

Dinner tonight: Pesto

Friday, 23rd May 2003, Port du Frioul to Bandol. 20 NM (15 euros)

Today there is no wind…!

After breakfast on the deck, in the heat, we cast off and set sail for Bandol. We have to motor most of the way as the wind has dropped. It seems it’s feast or famine with the wind around here.

Another ‘Med mooring’ in Bandol, this one slightly smoother with only half the amount of shouting at each as the last one. We think we are getting the hang of this! The marina and town are nice, 15.50 euros for the night, excellent.

After a rather large dinner of chicken, garlic, courgettes, onions and potatoes.

We have a zip around on the dinghy and even out into the bay – what fun! The letters of the name are starting to fall off the dighy!

Saturday, 24th May 2003, Bandol

Wake up to a little bit of wind; the boat is hitting the pontoon. We’re a bit scared about the wind, so we stay another day. Sailors being scared of wind… Is that good or bad? After we pay for the night, the wind settles down, and it turns into a rather lovely day.

We now need to do some laundry, so we spend a few hours getting that done. Everyone has to do it.

Once the laundry has been done and lunch has been had, we fall asleep in the cockpit under the afternoon sun to be woken by customs men wanting to see documents.

We eat out tonight. Well, it is Saturday. Del has moules, H has pork and lentils

Toulon tomorrow. Hopefully.

Sunday, 25th May 2003, Bandol to Port de Hyères. 28 NM

We set sail for Toulon in a very swelly sea. The storms have gone, leaving us with a rather large rolling sea, with swells that are about 2m high. STARGAZER is surfing, and it is quite challenging to weather them. By the time we reach Toulon, the sea has calmed, and we decide to push on as it’s still early.

We decide to move on to a realistic destination of Port de Hyères. We arrive at 4:30 after our longest sail yet. The capitainerie directed us to berth 1353. After a hunt around, we find it, it is the width of the boat with an inch to spare!

A discussion breaks out on board along the lines of ‘you think I’m backing the boat into that?’, but H does it; we are that close that the bikes are catching either side of the other boats. We get covered in chain gunk.

Dinner tonight: Pork, lentils and mushrooms on board.

Monday, 26th May 2003, Port de Hyères. 13.10 euros

Despite going to bed with no wind, we are woken up by the sound of the boat hitting the concrete block of the pontoon; a vicious wind has blown up again, and it looks like, yet again, our front mooring line isn’t tight enough. So we kit up and go outside. It’s 3:40 am and there is a force 8 wind blowing, rain and lightning. (This isn’t how we imagined Med cruising!)

We retire to bed, then 20 minutes later, H is back on deck again, moving fenders around the boat. Nice.

The weather forecasters have chickened out of forecasting tomorrow’s weather, so who knows what will happen. We want to push on to Lavandou, just 19 miles away, but the sea is moderate with strong howling winds.

Dinner tonight: Gnocchi and sauce, salad with our 2 euro rosé wine.

Tuesday, 27th May 2003, Port de Hyères to Le Lavandou. 14 NM 22.50 euros

We set off today for Le Lavandou. It seems like there’s either too much wind or none at all, and today is the latter, so we try to sail for a while but abandon it for the motor.

We arrive at Le Lavandou at lunchtime, so we tie up for an hour or so until the capitainerie office opens. The French like their long lunches!

We are allocated a berth, but it’s our worst parking attempt yet, very near a bridge with no control in reverse and hitting a stray chain on our keel (we think). Despite all this, the place is beautiful and charming – lovely shops, a clean marina, and people are playing petanque. The nicest place yet.

We get a chicken from a takeaway called “Poulet à Go-Go” and have a big chicken feast on board. After dinner, we take a walk on the beach, but watch for those jellyfish!

Our first proper sighting of scary ones, and we also saw this morning on the way here the sailing type of jellyfish, close hauling across our stern!

Wednesday, 28th May 2003, Le Lavandou to St. Tropez. 25 NM. 25 euros

A nice morning as we set off from Le Lavandou at 11 after some engine checks. The sea is like a mirror, and the sunshine is hazy. Again, we have to motor most of the way and don’t pick up any wind until we round the headland near St. Tropez, where we achieve our fastest speed under sail yet – 6.5 knots.

We arrive at St. Tropez, and after a couple of attempts to find a space, we get one. Our first impressions aren’t good; the marina is a bit tatty and expensive. What do people see in this place?

We were not crazy about St. Tropez at first sight, but after a while, we thought it was fabulous

However, after dinner we head into town and have a look around; it’s actually very pretty with little back-street restaurants all lit up.

On the big harbour wall, there are some of the biggest luxury boats we’ve ever seen (most with British flags).

It’s a nice evening as we watch the sun go down.

Dinner tonight: Sausages and potatoes.

Thursday, 29th May 2003, St. Tropez to Cannes. 25 NM. 23 euros

It’s quite warm this morning. After a morning walk in the heat, we set sail for Cannes, same old story with the wind – There is none… Good job, we topped up with diesel in Lavandou.

We arrive at Cannes hoping we can get a place; we’ve heard that it can get pretty busy – but we do; we are lucky. Some of our monster yacht friends are here from St. Tropez. We have seen the boat we want (apart from this one and Pippin, of course). – It’s called ‘No Escape’ – it has Dutch owners and is beautiful! The town is still in the process of packing up the film festival, even though it was 4 days ago.

Our plan is to head for Antibes. On chatting to some British Neighbours, we begin to think if our plan to sail blindly there and hope they have a place for 10 days might be a bit optimistic, so we ask here in Cannes if they have a place for 10 days – no is the answer.

Better get phoning round tomorrow! Del leaves for England for a pre-booked job on Saturday.

Dinner is a meal out, and H has an enormous plate of calamari. Del has a calzone.

After dinner, we have a walk along the famous promenade here – Cannes is quite beautiful.

Friday, 30th May 2003, Cannes. 18 euros a day (10-day deal)

We set about phoning around every marina in the area, which all brings a resolute ‘non’. Oh dear. H may have to move the boat on her own? – It’s bad enough when there are two of us!

After going to the marina office and pleading with them, Del finds out there is a space – we just have to move berths. Phew!.

So H will be stranded in Cannes for 10 days. Ha! Ha! What a place to be stranded in. Cannes in the summer. We have a quick sail, re-park, and dine in the cockpit.

Dinner tonight: Steak & lentils with garlic mushrooms.

Saturday, 31st May 2003, Cannes

Del leaves for the UK today – Oh no! We have quit work, but he is honouring jobs he was asked to do before we dreamt up this crazy plan.

Up early at 7 to get the 8 o’clock airport bus. H sees him off, then walks to the station to get a train ticket for tomorrow. She is going to Monaco to see the Grand Prix! Wow!

Back at the boat, she just chills out, sunbathes and reads etc., and watches the boats go in and out. Maybe we aren’t the worst at berthing a boat after all. A boat comes next door and actually hits our hull! Wood on fibreglass, no damage though.

No Escape, our favourite boat, leaves – probably on the way to Monaco too…

H does wonder if she is being foolishly optimistic about being able to:

1. Get a seat on the train.

2. Get even close enough to see any of the track tomorrow.

Poor old Del is in Luton, wish he was here with me in the sun watching the superyachts etc. He likes that.

Time for some training…

March 9, 2003 / deljones / 0 Comments

MARCH 2003

Sunday 9^th March 2003 Handforth – Portsmouth

H is doing a Day Skipper sailing course this week which will enable her to get an International certificate of Competence to be completely legal whilst in Europe. The course is in Portsmouth, a 6 hour journey away on many trains.

She checks in on the boat. 3 other students are doing different courses at the same time: a girl called Cag with her other half, Nick doing competent crew, and Phil doing his yachtmaster, plus Andy, our instructor, 5 of us on a Bavaria 37.

Monday 10^th March 2003 Portsmouth to Cowes

We set sail to Cowes after a familiarisation in the harbour. H will navigate there. We get there OK. She is very proud to be sailing into Cowes at last. We tie up on the Thetus pontoon and have a heavy night pub crawling…! We need it

H has had too much to drink…!

Tuesday 11^th March 2003 Cowes to Lymington

More practice. We tie up in Lymington to the waiting pontoon not connected to shore, so it’s out with the dinghy, and Cag rows us all to the pub. More drinking and pool. Andy tells Phil not to do his Yachtmaster – he isn’t ready. Oh dear…

A drunken row back in the tender to the boat.

Wednesday 12^th March 2003 Lymington – round the island – Cowes River Medina

We leave Lymington under my navigation with 2m under the keel for a sail around the Isle of Wight. It starts fine, but by the time we reach St Catherine’s Point the wind has built and by Shanklin it’s a force 7 (touching 8), and Cag is throwing up over the leeward rail every 20 mins. Round the Nab tower and dodging the ferries, we re-enter the Solent and head for Cowes River Medina. It is bitterly cold and we share a pair of heated motorcycle gloves for whoever is helming.

Having recovered, we all take long-needed showers and hit the pub again (The Folly Inn). Andy teaches me how to play darts, but we can’t keep up with him, so we turn in at 11 pm. Andy turns in many hours later.

Saw the Kingfisher yacht today motoring past Cowes. The Ellen MacArthur boat…

Thursday 13^th March 2003, Cowes to Portsmouth

More practice and the dreaded ‘picking up a mooring buoy under sail’, or rather “Man over board“.

We anchor in the afternoon, a few miles off Portsmouth. The sun sets over the Solent – spectacular! When it’s dark, we set off – this is my night sail – I am to navigate us using lights. The only problem is that it’s like Blackpool illuminations round here. There are buoys flashing, forts flashing, loads of boats, ferries and hovercrafts, and the shoreline is bright too.

We get there ok but are pulled up by the water police – our nav lights at the front are broken.

More drinking in the ‘Lightship’ at Haslar. Amount spent on drinks this week – £50.

Friday 14^th March 2003 Portsmouth to near Birmingham

Phil leaves early, and we practice man overboard again in the harbour.

A large aircraft carrier (are there any small ones?) comes in with the sailors lining the deck, followed by 2 jet fighters flying over low. We are told we have all passed; we wash the boat, swap phone numbers and depart.

I am on my way, via Basingstoke, to a mystery location near Birmingham. Many hours later, I turn up at a lovely hotel which has been organised by Del. (I am still scruffy and have a sleeping bag in tow!) Del is here, at last, after 7 weeks away in Australia and New Zealand working. We have a lovely evening.

I am now ICC qualified and ready for the Med…!