Skipper's Log 2006 part 5 - Barcelona to Sete

Skipper’s Log 2006 –Part 5  Barcelona to Sete

                                           

The intended stay of three nights in Andraitx turned out to be seven altogether. This was partly so I could rest my arm in a sling – (I had pulled a muscle in the upper arm), and also we liked the place so much. Rie made a big mistake while shopping. She bought what she thought were frozen fish fillets. When thawed out they turned out to be squid! We had a recipe for stuffed squid so all was not lost – but it was not our favourite dish.While in Andraitx I managed to install the “lazyjack” system I had bought in Palma, it should make it easier to drop the main sail.

Ruth & Søren

The day before we left, a Danish boat came in- “Sheer Magic” – from Lynetten harbour, near Copenhagen. She was a Vasa, about 45 ft long, and we quickly became friends with Søren and Ruth. Eventually on 31st August, we moved on to Soller, where we found the public pontoon almost empty – the main season was already over. We only intended staying one night, but Søren and Ruth arrived next day and moored next to us. We stayed an extra night – Soller is a difficult place to leave. Ruth and Rie went off swimming together while Søren and I visited the maritime museum – which did not impress us much.

On 2^nd September, we decided to move on, but we were invited to lunch aboard “ Sheer Magic” before setting off. We departed, bound for Barcelona, in bright, hot sunshine and little wind. The sea was flat calm, and we saw some dolphins an hour later.

The night sail was uneventful, but in the first few hours of darkness, we had a bright moon to light our way and phosphorescence in our wake. We arrived in Barcelona around 10 in the morning and found a berth in Port Vell, right near the city. We stayed three nights in Barcelona, and the highlight of our stay here was our visit to the Sagreda Familia church which was designed by Gaudi and is still under construction over 100 years later!. It was a very special experience seeing and hearing the stone masons at work. It was, to say the least, a very special design. The pillars represented the trees of the forest, and the ceiling the forest canopy. Gaudi worked on the project for 40 years until he was run over by a tram. They hope to complete the roof in 2010.

Gaudi’s church

Interior

Unfortunately Rie’s purse was stolen outside the church, while I was up the older towers. She lost credit cards as well as cash and her health security cards.

Another day we visited Barcelona’s cathedral, which is near the roman walls. In the cloisters were 12 geese that represented the 12 apostles.

From there we walked over to Las Ramblas, this is a long , broad pedestrian way through the city. There were many stalls along the way, selling flowers and pets. Also there were street musicians and human sculptures – some of the best we have seen. There were also many pavement restaurants and very many people.

 On Las Ramblas

From Barcelona, we sailed to Blanes, a large harbour, where we found a berth alongside a Swiss boat. The weather was still sunny and flat calm, so we motored all the way. The next day, we continued to L’estartit which is another good sized harbour, and we moored bows to the mole.The harbours around here cater very much for dive boats. There was also a good beach and the town is a holiday resort. The next harbour we came to was Port Vendres – we were now in France – strange to have left Spain. We noticed that most tourists were now French, not foreigners.

Up goes the French courtesy ensign.

Gruissan was our next port of call. Here we moored alongside a quay for the night – another large harbour, run by the local Chamber of Commerce. When we came to Cap d’Agde, we decided to stay a week while we hired a car, and drove to Provence to visit Rie’s niece, Stine and the children in Montauroux. While there, we bought a cheap mountain bike – for use along the canals.

 Rie with Stine, Magnus and Matilde.

We felt Cap d’Agde was a good secure harbour to leave the boat. It was a very touristy place, with holiday apartments surrounding the multiple harbour – but security was good. We were the only non-French boat in the Centre Port!

On our drive back from Provence, we experienced a heavy thunderstorm, with torrential rain which brought motorway traffic to almost a standstill. We called in at the Intermarché in Agde on the way back and stocked up while we had the car. On the Saturday, I returned the hire car in Agde and cycled back to the harbour, mainly along cycle paths. We checked out of Cap d’Agde marina after lunch and sailed over to Sete, with just the genoa up. We had a moderately strong wind and uncomfortably big following waves. The forecast for the next week was for stronger winds, so we made a dash for it. We found a berth in Sete’s Vieux Port and made enquiries about dropping the mast. They said they could do it on the Tuesday (19^th Sept). This was  fine as it gave us time to get the mast and supports ready, and as Poul was due to arrive on the Monday.