Nous sommes arrives!

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Sept 13-15, 2014 –

It is time to move on from Barcelona if we are going to see France this season, but we will be back.  We have adopted Barcelona as our home for the winter and are looking forward to returning.

Until its completion in the next two months, Marina Port Vell does not have a fuel dock, so we headed up to Port Olimpica to fill up on diesel.  Yikes – we paid almost $8/gallon for diesel.  May the westerly winds blow consistently!

What we meant by blowing consistently was 15-20 knots, not the 5-6 knots we had for the next 24 hours.  We motored about 30 miles north of Barcelona to the town of Puerto de Blanes.  We had read that it is a quaint tourist town, busy in the summer months.  We anchored off the beach in about 8 m of sand.   There were lots of tour boats going in and out of the nearby marina and the beach was busy.  The town was a long string of high rise apartment buildings and hotels.  The quaint part seems to have moved out.  We did not go to shore.

The next day was a slow day and night at sea, motoring with the wind and seas on the nose.  Late afternoon we heard a “may day” call on Channel 16.  It had our immediate attention as we tried to decipher what they were saying in Spanish.  They did not give their location by latitude and longitude, but rather by the towns they were near.  Fortunately, by the time we figured out their location, 50 miles behind us, the Barcelona Coast Guard, only 30 miles from them (and with power boats and planes) had taken control.  It was an interesting heads up on the fact that, at some point, we may be dealing with an emergency situation in a foreign language.

We did our usual night watch schedule.  Our AIS system is back to working properly and transmitting our signal so other boats know our position, speed and direction.  It is a great supplement to the radar which we always use at night.

bbIMG_4613By morning we were in French waters.  It was a frustrating day of increased winds and seas directly on the nose reducing our speed and lengthening our trip. We cruised along the south coast of France, east of Marseilles, an area with limestone ranges called “calanques”.  They are steep-sided fjord-like inlets that have been carved out by water over thousands of years.  Some calanques are hemmed in by cliffs of over 300 feet high.  Limestone from this region is used in construction and is shipped all over the world.  Sadly, the scars from quarrying the rock are seen in the cliffs along this beautiful and natural area.

bbIMG_4645We anchored off the Ile de Embiez in thick sea grass over sand.  Bob dove on the anchor upon arrival and determined that it had not set through the thick weeds.  We reanchored in another spot and the anchor took.

We have touched French soil – even if it is only the tip of our anchor!!

 

 

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