Spain 2018 - 1st Blog

August 2018

As I write this first blog of the season we are departing port Valencia, Spain. What an incredibly lovely city, a far cry from frantic theft-ridden Barcelona. Although we flew into Barcelona on our return from Texas this year, our visit to that city occurred in October 2017, on our way home from last year’s cruising season. But I’m getting way ahead of myself (or should I say behind?). Let’s begin with our return to Destiny and the little seaside town of Sant Carles de la Rapita, Spain. After this post I’ll do a catch-up on last year. After all, I’m only three or four years behind on this blog.

Our return to Destiny was met with a few surprises, not that we don’t expect that by now when leaving the boat for a season, much less on dry dock for 10 months. The first thing we noticed was the filth. The topsides and hatches were covered with red sand and what appeared to be splattered white dust or powder. The Med is known for its “red rain”, but not “white powder” rain. We presumed this might be wax residue. Apparently the wax guy got busy flinging wax everywhere but never came back to buff. What a mess! The British expat we had hired to do that work months ago (and some other repairs to our teak, canvas and Captain chair), had dropped dead last October, two weeks after we arrived back in Texas. His son was purportedly overseeing completion but we had no way to reach the guy. The only method of communication we had was through the email of Harry, the deceased contractor. 

Nest that blew out of our engine exhaust

Aside from that little hiccup, a fellow cruiser informed us that he had observed Starlings building nests up in our exhaust tubes and inside any little opening they could find. When we blew out the engine exhaust, a two-foot-long nest shot out like a torpedo, eggs and all. After rinsing the red and white dust, cleaning broken eggs, nests and feathers from the boat, cleaning lockers and surfaces inside and out, we set about testing all systems; replacing seized pumps, lubricating what needed lubricated and then worked on the to-do list from the surveyor. Our insurance company required a marine survey before we could launch the boat and begin our cruising season.

Nest in a rope bag

Frank up the mast before a storm arrived

During this time we had been anxiously, irritatingly and exhaustingly trying to connect with the deceased contractor’s son to hunt down our missing chair, dodger and bimini AND to get him to finish the work on our boat. He would occasionally answer us via his father’s email address, yet no matter how many times we asked, he would not give us his own phone number or email. He was nearly unresponsive. When he did respond it was with utterly unrelated excuses for not getting back to us letting us know that he was busy sailing with his son who was visiting from England, and that he was very sorry... We had to tread gingerly because we did not know where he had sent our canvas and our chair to be repaired, if we upset him we may never see those items again. Our thin thread of contact with him was precarious at best. I neglected to mention that we had pre-paid half the work before we left last October, so this guy had no incentive whatsoever to work with us. I eventually made contact with the widow, his mother, begging her to intervene on our behalf. At this, she apologized and then completely shut down. Although our hearts went out to her and to the son over their loss, we were beginning to feel real desperation and powerlessness. We eventually learned the first name of the upholstery/canvas maker, Gerardo. Progress - now we just needed to get in touch with him. At this point we were more than willing to finish the polishing and contracted work ourselves and just get our upholstery parts back. Frank finally received an email from the contractor’s son informing us he was leaving for England and was sorry but he couldn’t help us - BUT - he did give the phone number for Gerardo. We promptly contacted Gerardo to find that he had our goods but that they had been sitting in his shop for 10 months, since Harry had dropped them off but then Harry died leaving him no idea to whom they belonged. Hmmm...interesting. Our prayers answered.

Nasty storm suddenly caught us by surprise

As much as it could, everything came together. Destiny looks good and we feel ready to embark on this ambitious season ahead. Our plan is to cross the Atlantic Ocean at the end of  hurricane season 2018.

19 days after arriving back at Sant Carles de la Rapita, the date of our 17th wedding anniversary, we cast the lines and pointed the bow toward Puerto de Castellón de la Plana. 

Waterfront area of Castello

We enjoyed a blissful 3½ hours of perfect sailing during the 8-hour trip. This port, known simply as Castelló, was vibrant and full of holiday-makers. We took a rest to clean up and recharge  our personal batteries. I researched the restaurant scene and decided upon C53 la Vermuteria del Grau for our anniversary dinner. Wow and double Wow! We were not disappointed in the fantabulously tastaliciousness this little gourmet bistro had to offer. We started with an  amuse-bouche of House gazpacho topped with crunchy prosciutto, then came the beautifully fresh Normandie oysters. These were so plump and delicious we ordered more. Then came the grilled Sepia...so tender! 









                   
Then followed a melt-in-your-mouth pork skirt steak, grilled to medium-rare perfection. Dessert was a combination of housemade delicacies. I managed to snap some photos of three of these but the pork and dessert went down too quickly, and I was too distracted eating to bother with the iPhone at that point. We nearly cried at the thought that we were only in Castelló for one night because we would loved to have returned to C53, but Valencia was calling us onward.

Grilled Sepia

 August 19th, we motor-sailed to Valencia. Typically for these waters, we started out with wind on the nose, then it tracked around abeam for about 4 hours before clocking back to a very close reach and then died. We take the bliss when we can get it. Arriving into Valencia was a thrill.  

The marina is adjacent to a massive and gorgeous beach. Interestingly, the only time we walked to the beach was for dinner that first night. Much like Italy, nothing happens in Spain before 8:00 PM. Most restaurants don’t even open before then. Even at that hour we are first in and by the time we are leaving, around 10:00 PM, the families are sitting down to dinner. So after the first night we did our dead level best to eat a large, late lunch between 2 - 4:00 in the afternoon and then snack lightly on board at night.  What did we do in Valencia? We toured!

 

Valencia Opera House

      

We shopped! We walked! We oohed and awed at the architecture and the incredible parks and botanicals. We originally booked three nights at the marina and extended to six. We shopped at Lladro for all 5 of our girls’ Christmas presents (God-daughter included). We purchased folding bicycles and rode all over the city. 

Unusual looking trees with thorny bark  and pretty flowers

   

  

We didn’t want to leave but we go when and where weather permits, so this morning we departed for Port Denia. Can you guess how our travel day went? 

Back in The USA - Nov 5th, 2013 – Feb 28th, 2014

We flew back to Texas and hit the ground running. Main objectives: Knee surgery for Frank and to finish clearing out Mom and Dad’s house so that it could be sold. I had begun this process in June and had only managed to clear out part of the house. There was much left to be done and it turned out to be a nightmare of epic proportion. At least I had help now with Frank there.

When we arrived at my parents’ home we were met with a grisly sight.  My mother’s pride and joy was her yard and her flower gardens.  These lovelies now resembled the gnarly grounds from the set of a horror film. Tall weeds covered everything. The lawn guy was taking monthly payments from my parents’ estate and probably pocketing the $ since he knew the home was unoccupied. On entering the house we were assaulted by a rank musty smell, and of course after a 23-hour international trip we were exhausted and just wanted to crash but we knew that wasn’t happening. Further into the house we saw that the entire ceiling of the formal living room had collapsed dumping wet sheetrock, rotten boards and insulation onto the piles of Nice Things I had previously sorted and laid out on the carpet there to either be donated or distributed to family members. There were leaks in the walls and ceiling of my parents’ bedroom, leaks in the kitchen ceiling and around the fireplace. What the heck had happened here?

From November 5^th to December 31, 2013, Frank and I literally spent nearly every day from sunup to sundown working on Mom and Dad’s house while roofing repairs, plumbing, painting, carpeting and sheetrock work was happening all around us. We did manage a visit to Dallas for my Mom and Dad’s anniversary.

In the middle of this mess Frank was recovering from knee surgery that had been performed the day before Thanksgiving.

No one else in my family was available to help us out so I took it on. We were on our own for Thanksgiving so I dragged Frank on crutches along with my friend, with my friend Marianne Bullock to Luby’s for Thanksgiving lunch. Other than treating my daughter and grandson to Christmas brunch at the Galvez on Christmas Day, no one was available to spend any of the holidays with us. Therefore, our holidays were a bit depressing to say the least. Everyone is so busy these days. It’s tough when you are retired but everyone else is still working and has no spare time. I felt like this was probably a good thing because I felt relief at having the opportunity to devote myself to this task. It would have been too overwhelming for anyone else at the time. By the end of December, I wanted to stamp this project PAID and to move on. We couldn’t, but we did manage to break away for a while.

We drove to Denver for the month of January, to spend time with Frank’s kids and our Colorado friends. Patty and Tim Daly generously offered us the use of their downtown loft for the month. We enjoyed kicking up our heels and being away from boat work and the pressures the family home issues. Having had nearly every day and night booked with friends or Frank’s kids, our time there passed quickly. On the way back to Texas we stopped in to visit Sandy and Debra Sandoval at Pagosa Springs.  During the drive we felt a strong conviction to try to find a USA-based home so that when we say we are flying home, we will actually have a home rather than living like vagabonds. We planned to meet up with a group of our sailing/cruising friends to attend the Miami boat show in mid February, and thought perhaps we should spend a little extra time there to look for a possible future home where we could eventually sail into with Destiny.

Back at Mom and Dad’s house we once again felt the weight of the house problems pressing upon us. I took some time to be with my daughter and grandson in between trying to wrap things up there, and then we were off to Florida for 10 days. The Miami Boat Show was fabulous as always. Getting together with friends we hadn’t seen since the S. Pacific was a special treat. We reunited with Brian and Isabelle of “Wasabi”, Jim and Martha of “Special Blend”, Mark and Laura of “Sabbatical III”, Kim and Bob of “Northern Winds”, Suzie and Tom of “Priscilla”. When the show ended we followed Rick and Robin over to Tampa, staying as their guests for several days while they took us around to look at real estate areas of interest. They made great tour guides. While we were in the area I managed to get in touch with my buddy Ryan Parker, who was captain of a large local tour boat, M/V La Barge. He invited us along for a group tour. Everywhere we went was beautiful, exhilarating and fun. Real Estate prices on the other hand were a bit overwhelming to us. We left Florida thinking that it will probably get marked off the list of potential home destinations.

Returning to Texas one final time we had one week to wrap everything up, including final visit with family, doctors and last minute shopping for Destiny. The house was on the market and was now out of our hands. Thank God!

Next adventure – the very long trip back to Fethiye.

A Farewell to Remember for our Visitors & The end of a Season - Oct 1 – Nov 4, 2013

We have had terrible weather here, in Gocek.  We think a small cyclone came through Tuesday night; it was a nightmare. The lightening was like a fireworks show, the seas were very high and choppy - shooting up through the docks ten feet in the air. It had come on in the late afternoon and raged for a while. We were anchored and planning to go in to meet BeBe for dinner on shore. We had decided not to go, but then around 7:30, it becalmed so we went in. After getting seated and chatting for a while the rain and wind came back but we were indoors and couldn't hear the howling. Apparently what we thought was the end of the storm was only the eye. The winds were now fiercer than before and coming from the other direction. After dinner, we walked out to a horror show. Boats were violently pitching and slamming at the wharf. Locals told us they had never seen this before in Gocek. Our dinghy was gone from the cleat we had tied to! We found it half deflated, slamming up against and under the little footbridge to Skopea Marina. BeBe was tossing up and down so much; their passerelle was pitching about 4 feet up into the air. A catamaran moored next to them was full of drunken Russians who were partying and singing, the girls looked as though they were pole dancing on the shrouds without a care in the world as they came perilously close to slamming into Bebe. Frank and Jaime got on board to help Judy & Bill get BeBe secured, but some other boats didn't fare so well sustaining stern damage and damage to their passerelles.

We were now stranded on shore with no means to get back to Destiny. We couldn’t even see if she was still where we had left her. Eventually the captain of one of the mega yachts deployed his dinghy (looked like a Navy seal tender) and jetted us out to our boat. Sure enough she was there but pitching like a mad bull making it extremely difficult and more than a little scary trying to get on board. The captain was kind enough to return to shore for our crippled dinghy, towing it back to us. Frank raised the prune-shriveled tender on the davit, and we all hunkered down inside trying to ride the rest of the storm out. None of us had seen this on the weather forecasts.

The next morning of course the skies were clear and the day beautiful. The dinghy was taken to the hospital with a rip (above the waterline) and some cracks in the fiberglass bottom. Jaime and Christine left on the 3^rd. They certainly had some adventures to write home about.

After the dinghy repair we leisurely returned to Yacht Classic in Fethiye, via the lovely islands on the way, to get Destiny ready for her long Winter’s nap.

We had gotten so lucky with our summer cruising here because it was quite mild and then our trip back up from Kas was one of the best sails we had here, which is amazing since we've heard that it is a bash coming back up. So I guess the odds were heading us toward a really bad day, eventually. The cold has settled in here as well, which makes nice sleeping weather. Today the winds are unmerciful but skies are clear and the temp is cool. I guess when the season starts it comes in with a bang!

September 14 – 26, 2013 – American Visitors, Some History Lessons, a Scare from the Turkish Navy, and a Dreadful Storm…

Two happy men at Wall Bay

Jaime and Christine Tate, formerly of s/v Morning Light, came for a visit. We covered quite a lot of ground during their short time here and packed away some precious memories.

Cleopatra's Baths by Wall Bay

Of course we spent several days in the Gocek/Skopea Limani area. Jaime wanted to float like Frank in his birthday photo, which pleased Frank immensely. 

While at Wall Bay we noticed several yachts shining huge spotlights onto the shore area the first night. The next morning we asked them what that was about. This bay is home to giant porcupines that come out at night, raid the rubbish of the restaurant and often abscond with their watermelons. A watermelon-stealing porcupine you ask? They must be massive! And they are. We sat vigil the following night, and eventually one of the spotlights illuminated a huge creature that in my mind resembled ALF from the TV series, at first I thought it was a large boulder on shore, but it soon began to amble about. I jumped up and pointed, “There’s one! My God, he’s enormous!” There were actually two of them, but the lights frightened them away, so I only got a quick glance. Frank, Chris and Jaime razzed me, saying I must’ve been either hallucinating or exaggerating. No porcupine can be that large. Well…we went hiking the next morning, and as we approached the area around Cleopatra’s Baths Jaime bent down to pick up something. It was a porcupine quill about a foot long. Now they believed!

Jaime's quill find

 Next stop was Amigos for wild boar casserole and fresh baked bread, and then Fethiye. There is so much rich Christian, Lycian, Byzantine and Roman history here it is mind-boggling.

We then sailed down to Kas where Bill and Judy had recommended that we rent a car and drive south one day then north the next day to the ancient towns and villages of the Lycian way; 1) Myra/Demre, home of the church of St Nicholas and ornate tombs built into massive cliffs, the once the capital of Roman Lycia, and a well preserved Roman Theater, 2) Patara the alleged birthplace of Apollo and St. Nicholas also home of a beautiful sand beach where St. Paul boarded the ship for Rome (I think to attend his trial), 3) Xanthos and Letoon a UNESCO archeological site that is astoundingly large and intact. Great advice! We spent two full days touring these areas and enjoying the scenic drives after spending a day discovering lovely Kas with its ancient winding streets, markets and cafes.

J & C in Kas

Stones at Myra

Myra Tombs

Emperor Frankin Myra Amphitheater

Dome at St. Nicholas Church

Walking Patara Beach where St. Paul walked

Patara Beach from the road above

Tombs at Xanthos

Xanthos

We then sailed down to Kekova Roads where the water is crystal clear and you can see an underwater city. The surrounding hills are peppered with sarcophagi. It was wonderful except for three things that nearly dented our fun.  We were swimming around, marveling that there were no dangerous sea creatures in these waters when Jaime shouted, “OUCH!” A small fish had bitten his nipple! It really did hurt him and his nipple swelled up but we couldn’t stop laughing long enough to feel sorry for him. After that we were wary of the wicked Nipple Biter Fish! Not long afterward an intense windstorm suddenly came along nearly ripping our canvas awning to shreds before we could get it taken in and move the boat into a safe cove that was so overcrowded with yachts rushing for shelter we nearly met with catastrophe. Then to top it off, poor Jaime got stung on his finger by a bee, causing it to turn black and swell up.

Relaxing at a Kekova Roads cafe

Poor Jaime!

We departed Kekova roads early two days later for another day in Kas. On September 23^rd, I made the following notes in my journal:

“Turkish Navy Monday, Sept 23, 2013

We had some big excitement this morning - we left Kas for Kalkan hoping the winds and seas would be kind for the trip back up and actually picked up some fantastic sailing wind and were flying! As we passed Kalkan, Frank decided we should go for it and get as far as the good weather would allow when all of a sudden a Turkish warship started heading toward us. Our cockpit mic is out so we didn't hear them hailing us at first "sailing yacht on our starboard side, this is Turkish Warship calling" they got more urgent until we realized they were calling us! I ran down to the VHF and answered them. They told us to turn immediately to 180 degrees for 10 miles and then we could turn to 270. They are clearing the area for live fire exercises. They diverted all traffic up and down the coast from Kalkan to ??? We heard them talking to lots and lots of yachts. Several were asking permission to go into Fethiye or Gocek and permission was denied because of the exercises, so we know it went at least as far as Gocek for 10 miles off the coast. Frank is angry and insisting that we must at least get into one of those ports because we had guests on board who needed to catch a flight tomorrow. They couldn’t believe we were arguing with them and we couldn’t believe our rotten luck. Having no choice we diverted, and can hear the booms of weapons fire from time to time.

At least we caught a good angle and now are sailing again - amazing to be sailing back up the coast! It's awesome!!! At 2 PM they finished the exercises so we are all heading back toward shore. We can see at least 5 warships out here. We are wondering what they are preparing for…is something going on here we should prepare for?”

 

The Warship that hailed us

We never found out whether that was just a standard exercise or an emergency drill. We did make it to tiny Gemiler Island. On arrival a man and woman came along in a little boat offering to help us stern-tie to shore. Afterward they cooked up some golzeme pancakes for us for a few TL each. We relaxed a bit and then wet exploring. During the Byzantine period the island housed 4 churches, one dedicated to St. Nicholas who was rumored to have lived here, ruins of tombs, houses and hostels for weary travelers. It’s really beautiful. We hiked all over this little island that rises straight up out of the water to a high peak that gives magnificent 360° views of the bay and beyond.

On the 25^th we returned to Gocek, sliding in on the toes of a nasty looking weather system. Bill and Judy had BeBe berthed there on the wharf at Skopea Marina and had made a reservation for the 6 of us at Blue. Tonight was two-for-one dinner night. We dinghyed into the Skopea dinghy wharf, and all looked fine and good, weather-wise. We wore our foul weather gear just in case. While at dinner, however, the storm we had hoped to avoid hit Gocek with massive intensity. We watched as yachts slammed against the town quay, praying that Destiny was ok out there on the hook, not giving any thought to the safety of our dinghy. The storm was not showing signs of letting up any time soon so we bundled up and headed out to check on the yachts. We arrived to utter chaos. The dinghy wharf was in splinters and our dinghy had been slammed up under a small bridge and was repeatedly pierced by jutting nails sticking out of he concrete. We felt physically ill watching it deflate to nothing, the motor barely above water. Frank managed to fish the painter out and walk it to shore but there was no way we could use it to get back to Destiny. Bebe was getting bumped by yachts on both sides, and her stern was slamming up and down violently. Judy and Bill managed to board her and to get the lines secured while trying to fend off the Russian catamaran that was wildly tossing about on Bebe’s stern side with the crew and passengers drinking and partying not worried a bit about damage. They were pretty far-gone, stoned or drunk and could care less. It was a hellish scene. The temperature had dropped several degrees, and there we stood freezing and in shock. The night was pitch black and we couldn’t lay eyes on Destiny, nor did we have a way to get back to her. Eventually the captain of one of the super yachts offered to give us a lift to our boat when it was safe to deploy his tender. Getting into his tender took monumental effort in slamming waves that drenched everyone. We found Destiny still afloat but furiously bucking the anchor chain. We nearly broke our necks trying to board her but did manage to get aboard safely. No one slept well that night until the storm finally abated in the early morning hours. Gocek’s wharf looked like pick up sticks the next morning, and our dinghy was a mess. But the skies were clear and the day was beautiful for Christine and Jaime’s departure. They got a cab to the airport and we sent Destiny to the dinghy hospital.

The little bridge that ate our dinghy. looking closely you can see nails sticking out of the bottom.

August 2 – Sept 13, 2013 – Happy 65th to Frank and exploring Gocek to Fethiye

Wall Bay is the perfect setting for relaxing in the crystal clear, cool water. This is exactly what Frank did for his 65^th birthday, floating on his inflatable lounge chair with cigar and beer in hand tethered to the stern. The weather is glorious! 

In the afternoon we sailed – yes! We actually sailed into Fethiye, berthed at the Yacht Classic Marina, and gathered Bebe, Scallywag and our friend Riza together to celebrate Frank’s birthday dinner in YC’s rather famous dockside restaurant. Bill and Judy prepared a doozie of a gift pack for Frank. They presented him with “Entitlement wine”, an official certificate of entitlement (welcome to the Old Fart’s club!), a disc of their favorite movies and a gourmet birthday cake. I wish I had a photo of the certificate but took it home to Texas, so I can’t show it here. I brought some tacky noisemakers, a sparkly hat for Frank to wear, and treated everyone to dinner. We had a grand old time roasting the Captain. Bill and Judy’s granddaughter Elizabeth was with us, probably wondering what she did to deserve the company of this wacky, childish bunch of adults.

Bill Rouse reading Frank's certificate to Riza

Elizabeth and Judy

Paul and Glor (catamaran Scallywag)

We took Bill and Judy’s advice to book Yacht Classic marina for our winter berth. The price is great and we really like Fethiye. Their market is by far my favorite of anywhere we’ve been and the town has everything we need. Although larger than Marmaris, it feels homey and much less touristy. 

A few days later we took off to explore the coastal anchorages of this gorgeous area, and to do some recon because guests would be arriving soon.  We sailed down to Kas, visited with Laura and Mark Pitt (s/v Sabbatical III). It is just beautiful with a lovely town and nice marina but too far from any airports for us to have considered wintering there. We spent the majority of our time in the Gocek/Skopea Limani  and Fethiye areas because the anchorages around there are just perfect for hiking, swimming and eating. Nearly every bay provides homemade fresh “village bread” and olive oil or honey for sale. In many anchorages a small boat will putter up beside you to cook made-to-order golzeme (sweet or savory). There is even a market boat that makes daily trips out of Gocek, selling a little bit of everything from fresh fruits and veggies to alcoholic beverages. Speedboats in the area offer parasailing, kayaking, skiing; you name it! It is Utopia.

Fethiye waterfront

Lunch on our boat
Love all the fresh fruits and veggies here! 

Destiny with her tent up and Scallywag at Gemlier Island

market boat in Ruin Bay

Ekincek

Just to the NW of Gocek  is “My Marina” at Ekincik. Great swimming area; med moor to the wharf, which is free if you eat in the very pricey restaurant.

Gemlier Bay on the way to Kas from Fethiye, with the island full of ruins of churches and a monastery that is said to be the home of St. Nicholas. There is nothing there but good hiking through the dilapidated monastery and the tombs. We med-moored to shore, backing up over sunken homes. Around the corner are several good restaurants.

The downside – great hiking but the trails are basically goat trails with sharp rocks in many places. I blew out my good New Zealand trekking sandals.

Med mooring is very stressful because the wind invariably catches you abeam making it nearly impossible to back up with our full keel. Watch for sea urchins when mooring to shore or coming into shallows.