The 2 Richards…like the 2 Ronnies but much funnier!!!
Author Archive: Manuela
Passage to Valencia
OLYMPIC Marina – Barcelona
30th August
We left Barcelona in the rain, first rain we had for weeks. Guess we had not missed it,,, it was not welcomed with whoops of delight… we had to put on our jackets and I even went as far as putting my bottoms on… Don’t like to get my bum wet.
Unscheduled stop – Barcelona
28th Aug 16
Ian’s worry about the engine had not abated during the night and he had a bit of rummaging around to find the leak in the morning. It had not worsened and the wind was favourable so we decided to make our way as far as Barcelona, only a day sail.
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Carnival in Blanes – Spain
We arrived in Blanes in late afternoon, greeted b a flock of orange jellyfishes. I had never seen so many in one place. The port itself was quite small but boasted the best facilities so far in the trip, with the exception of Cecile’s in Ajaccio, which to date are topping the chart of all the onshore facilities we visited.
First port of call in Spain – Blanes
Passage to Blanes Spain Aug 16
So we left Port Camargue on the 26th Aug 16, aiming to do a long passage to Valencia (approx180 miles – 3 days if the winds were favourable). In the event, with no wind we had to motor for most of the day and night which was not so pleasant.
Valencia – Spain
!st Sept
Next day was a bit of a wash out. Ian spent more time with his head in his engine while I cleared up. We ended up going for a walk in late afternoon; the heat was still extremely strong. We stumbled on the beach just outside of the marina: huge expanse of white sand and still loads of people swimming in the warm sea.
Visiting Valencia
2nd Sept
Day off today, we are going to explore Valencia. This time we pick up a map from the information centre booth and we set of to find the dry river bed which will lead us into the centre of town without having to cross a street or contend with the traffic.
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Passage to Cartagena – Spain
4th September
We are off this morning, aiming to reach Cartagena, we are meeting Richie on the 7th and Hallahala on the 8th and we are a good 160 miles away.
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Visiting Cartagena
In the inner harbour, we found the P&O liner (an enormous one with the Union Jack on the bow) we had seen moored up 49 hours before when we left Valencia…. Bet it did not take him as long as us to get there.
Leaving Port Camargue- France
Leaving Port Camargue
That’s it, we have had nearly 3 weeks in France and it is time to continue the journey. It has been great to see and catch up with family and friends over the last few weeks. We have had a ball and loads of nice food and wine.
Tomorrow we leave Port Camargue. Nice huge marina but very welcoming and secure, we were able to leave the boat for a few days to visit family without any issues. The facilities are good and you can get free bicycle which was useful to go to the Grau du Roi (a lovely little port), all on the sea front . There are beaches but they are packed and the sand is not great, you also have to walk for miles to reach swimming depth. Plenty of shops both in Port Camargue and the Grau du Roi and the fruits and veg are excellent, so is the bread and cheese and the rose wine. Ian has been able to spend some time in the chandlers, looking for bits and pieces and he has had a few days to fix stuff, so he is happy. And he was absolutely ecstatic when he met Jayne and Graeme from Southampton, on Scarlett, moored on the same pontoon as us. Finally, after 2 months, he could converse with strangers without having to think and translate… Scarlett is coming from Spain and bound for Italy so we were able to share experiences over aperitif.
We are aiming to reach Valencia in 3 to 4 days depending on the wind or the engine, cutting across the Golf du Lion. Well that is the plan anyway…