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Limerence Update 58Beginning of the Mediterranean CruiseJune 2004Lat.42d14N Long.03d07E We felt anxious and excited throwing off the dock lines after living
seven months in Barcelona. The wet rainy spring finally gave way to summer, and we were
more than ready to go. One gets very mixed feelings about leaving a place you have grown
to love. Barcelona is about as good as it gets. Because of our late departure, we were
able to tour the grand opening of the FORUM compound. It is a six-month world peace
conference hosted by Barcelona, with two amphitheatres, a marina, and many huge convention
halls built especially We made our escape from Barcelona on May 22nd. Suddenly out through the breakwater into the Mediterranean! We decided to take it easy on ourselves and cruise along the rugged Costa Brava of Spain. The Med is such a convenient place to travel on a boat. There are anchorages or marinas frequently so it is easy to day sail 4 to 8 hours to the next place. We looked forward to fewer overnights. We watched Barcelona fade away behind us in the mist of the coastal haze, reminding us of San Diego California. Every day the sun chases away the haze by noon. The seas were very calm and we had just enough wind to unfurl the jib for about two hours. Yes. . . motor sailing in the Med. We had been warned about this! When we told our friends Rudy and Faith on "Boundless" that we were thinking of investing in mainsail roller furling, they laughed. "You’ll hardly pull up the main, so don’t worry about it!" So as predicted, we motor sailed to our first destination, Puerto de Blanes. Along the way we tried our brand new Semrad wheel mounted autopilot. It didn’t work. Okay. . it’s still under warranty and we’ll get it fixed. After all, it is our backup. So we putter along up the coast with a cheerful attitude.
Puerto de Blanes is mostly an open roadstead anchorage along a protected beach. There was a marina, but we were dying to anchor again and really enjoy the freedom of privacy. We dropped anchor on the east side of the harbor just off the opening to the marina. It was comfortable despite the frequent water ferries dispensing day-tripper tourists. The next day we decided to forgo a trip in the dinghy to shore, and make for a quieter spot up the coast. As I pulled up the anchor, Doug yelled from the cockpit "I can’t get the engine in gear! Drop the anchor again!" Okay. . . our second repair job and we haven’t been away more than a day. Doug took the gear handle apart and found it had frozen up. He was forced then to shift gears by pulling up and down on cables. Nothing was wrong with the transmission. Good news. Shifting gears by pulling on cables isn’t pretty, but it works. So, in a slight swell we motor sailed up the coast to Puerto Tossa de Mar. In the back of our minds we knew we’d have to find a Volvo dealer eventually.
We stopped just before Tossa and inspected Cala de la Tortuga, which has a picturesque castle at the end. It looked charming in the guidebook. The anchorage, nestled in a crack in the steep mountains was very pretty, but it sure was tight. Considering that we were operating with a jury-rigged gearshift, we decided to by pass Tortuga, and anchor around the corner in the wide and beautiful Puerto de Tossa de Mar. We snuggled in behind some huge boulders on the far eastern side in a cove called Playa de la Palma. Tossa is a very old harbor and town that has been in occupation since pre-Roman times. We had a pleasant dinner on board celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary, and decided to go ashore in the morning to explore.
The next morning the wind started to howl. We were all alone in the anchorage so had plenty of scope out, but didn’t want to leave Limerence in such high winds. It was blowing about 20 knots with higher gusts. We were satisfied to have another quiet day on board watching a few stalwart tourists sunbathe on the beach nearby. Riding on an anchor in steady winds is very comfortable. The wind holds you in position to ride the swell just right. Boy did things change that night. Around 2am the wind died, Limerence clocked around so the incoming swell broadsided her for the rest of the night. It was pure torture. The swell seems to come in fives . . . a small roll, then a bigger roll, then bigger and bigger until that last roll slams the boat with a vicious paw. Things on board that never creaked or banged suddenly let loose. Doug went on deck to oil the boom at 3am. It was swinging slightly and letting out a yowl. He made three more trips topside securing halyards, flags, lazy jacks and rigging. I stuffed towels in the cupboards and secured banging table legs. Some creaks and groans were never identified. It was too late to drop a rear anchor to hold us into the swell, so we suffered until daylight. Cranky and frustrated, we decided NOT to see the charming town of Tossa, but get on up the coast and find a marina. We motor sailed into slight headwinds to Sant Feliu de Guixols. It is a well-protected fishing and commercial harbor with new pontoons and facilities to attract cruisers. When we entered the quiet harbor we called the Capitania de Puerto and "No. No habla Ingles." Okay, I take the radio mike and do my Spanish best. Soon we were directed to a long stonewall and helped to side tie. What a relief to be attached to something non-moving! We jumped on our new bikes and explored the charming town. There are many shops and restaurants that at this time of the year are empty. We have learned that vacation time in the Mediterranean really doesn’t get into the swing of things until July. Anyhow, we had a great time riding our new folding bikes all over and having dinner at the Yacht Club. We were the only ones there!
After a great night’s sleep in absolute silence, a cruiser from Belgium stopped by our boat. He asked what we were paying and we said "$46 Euros". That seemed rather high considering we were on a "wall" in the farthest corner of the harbor, and had no electrical hook up or water. He said it is outrageous and his friends wouldn’t stay here. He said in past years the price was half. We had noticed boats coming into the harbor, tying up, and suddenly leaving. Now, the mystery was solved. We were feeling like the new kids on the block. Doug inquired with the Port Captain about why the rate was so high for no services, and got the standard "NO SE, es Costa Brava". (I dunno – this is Costa Brava!) After two nights we were off again. This time we headed northeast toward Estartit. The guidebook made it sound so charming we could hardly wait. We sailed with the jib out in light headwinds. After only a few hours we arrived in the area, so decided to push on to the Golfe of Roses. We read in the guidebook that Puerto de Roses was a commercial fishing harbor, but a new marina should be finished by 2003. By the time we went through the breakwater the wind was blowing 20 knots and sailing was getting exciting. The skies darkened very suddenly and our beautiful sunny day turned ominous. When we approached the fuel dock we were waived off. The marina isn’t finished. "NO YACHTS - Go across the harbor to Puerto Empuriabrava!" We did a 180 turn and pulled back out into the choppy seas. Doug hurried below and put in the GPS waypoint for the marina and it was two miles from our position. Finding man-made breakwaters in strange areas can be hard to see, so we always put in a GPS position and use that to guide us. We threaded our way in a surge through the narrow stonewall opening that twisted into a figure S. It was calm, and eight feet deep! Within two hours the front passed and it was sunny again. Empuriabrava is a tourist development built on land reclaimed from the marshes between
the Rios Muga and Salinas. It is very shallow with miles of canals lined with homes and
condos. Empuriabrava is the third largest sky diving airport in the world! Continuously, from morning until night, teams of skydivers are released from three prop jet airplanes. We can sit in our cockpit and watch the colorful chutes slowly circling their way to earth. Doug couldn’t stand not taking part, so he rented a plane with pilot, and enjoyed sightseeing over the coast and Pyrenees from the seat of a 172R. He managed over an hour of time for his logbook and three take offs and landings! The first log entry in European territory!
Just a word about communications. We have our Winlink email on board that operates with a Pactor III Modem through the SSB radio. That means instant email on Limerence anywhere at sea. We also bought Vodafone’s 3G GPRS system that plugs into the computer and uses cell phone radio waves. We can access the Internet anytime we are close to the coastline where there is cell phone coverage. We are smoking to get the Internet on board!! Now is that sexy or what? Plus, we have our European cell phone. Next stop will be France. We have learned to have several destinations in mind as we
travel along the coast. We expect to coastal hop our way around France and Italy. We have
decided to forgo Corsica for this year. We just couldn’t bear to miss the French
Riviera and mainland Italy. Since we don’t have a schedule and are enjoying what we
are doing, we’ll just make up the rules as we go along. Fair winds friends, Doug and Judy
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for the event. We saw the Terra Cotta
Warriors exhibit on loan from China. The life-sized warriors were carved 2200 years ago to
be the funereal honor guard near the tomb of Ch’in Shih Huang-ti who died in 210 B.C.
Discovers in 1974 uncovered thousands of the warriors and horses arranged in columns. Each
one is different. The fourteen warriors we saw were artfully displayed in a darkened and
mirrored hall. It was impressive!
There is a pleasant town with conveniences
and a long sandy beach along the Med. As we entered the harbor and bumper pooled into our
position between four posts in the water, we saw a huge sign across the bay "VOLVO
DEALER". Okay. . . guess this is the place where we fix our transmission gearshift
handle. And that is what we did. The Dealer even had the part. Sometimes things just go
right! The next few days were relaxing and jobs got done on Limerence. Then the wind began
to blow. We had been watching a weather system heading into our area. The infamous
Tramontana winds arrived – shrieking down from the Pyrenees Mountains into the Golfe
of Lion and Golfe of Roses. All the boats in the marina strained and tugged at their lines
in the 25-40 knot winds that howled for three days. It was unnerving even though we were
tied up! No boats were moving in or out. We were grateful to be in a secure place and glad
not to be hanging on our anchor. The winds finally gave up and we had a pleasant weekend.
