Tom
August 13, 2007, Marina Port Vell, Barcelona

Tuesday, August 7th:
In the morning Mahsa and Chema left us to catch their bus to Barcelona and plane to Madrid. Moona and I sailed out from Sant Feliu de Guíxols towards a next harbour: Palamós. The weather has become completely unstable, unlike any other month of August. Climate change? Anyway, anchoring in a little cala with turquoise clear waters, seems difficult this summer. In a few hours we reached Palamós. Palamós has two ports: an important commercial and fishing harbour and at the north side a modern marina. We entered the latter and where assigned a quite unprotected berth against the breakwater. In view of the cloudy weather, Palamós is the ideal stopover to do some tourism. We went for lunch at 'La Vostra Llar', and had some delicious black rice. After a siesta on Iris, we went walking through the little shopping streets of the village.
Wednesday, August 8th:
We got up late, went for breakfast in a bar in the marina, and spent the rest of the morning in Palamós. At noon, the weather seemed to start improving and it got sunny again. We decided to do a long walk along the beaches and calas to the north of the village: la fosca, cala s'Alguer, and the beach of Castell. Back in the marina the boats at our berthing place were moving and shaking a lot on the waves that entered the marina directly onto our pier. I had to call some marineros to secure the abandoned boat next to us, which was banging constantly into Iris. Luckily, a few hours later when the sun set, the wind lowered, the sea calmed down, and we could have a quite night's sleep.
Thursday, August 9th:
The weather being so unpredictable, I didn't feel much for sailing further northward. So we paid our stay at the capitanía of Marina Palamós, and started our descend back towards Barcelona. It was a cloudy morning with not much wind, so we motored all the way back to Sant Feliu de Guíxols, where we spent another day.
Friday, August 10th:
Moona had got news from our friends Katy, Niko and son Nikan, who were on their way by car from Belgium. We decided to meet them in an easy to reach point: Blanes, the southmost starting point of the Costa Brava. We sailed again by Cala Canyelles and an hour later reached the harbour of Blanes. We got the last available berth. At around 6pm, our friends arrived, loaded with food, drinks and presents. After driving for so many hours, Niko and son Nikan really enjoyed a swim in the warm mediterranean waves. At night we had dinner on board of Iris, I took my guitar out and we had a splendid time.

Saturday, August 11th:
Of course we had to show the Costa Brava to our friends, so we left Iris in Blanes, took the car and drove back up to Cala Canyelles, where Nikan spent most of the day in the water. We had a fantastic paella at the club, where I used to work as a divemaster. In the afternoon we visited the medieval village of Tossa de Mar and on the way back we stopped in Girona to buy some camping equipment for our friends who had decided to give the adventurous life a try. That night all five of us slept on the boat.

Sunday, August 12th:
There was a swimming competition announced in the harbour of Blanes and at 10am the harbour entrance would be closed- So we hurried up, temporarily said goodbye to our friends, and sailed out southward. We proceeded well and reached the marina of El Balís after 5 hours. El Balís is a very big and cheap marina. Unfortunately there is not much to do in the surroundings. Moona and I took a long walk and ended up finding a nice Mexican restaurant where we had dinner. On the walk back, we noticed how the sky was getting very dark and thunder and lightning was approaching. We got back to Iris, got ready to go to sleep but half an hour later the thunderstorm was right on top of us. The wind started to blow at over 40 knots and the firmly moored Iris heeled over dangerously under the force of the wind. Lightning struck all around us. This was one of the scariest moments I've experienced on Iris. One hour later, all was calm.
Monday, August 13th:
When we sailed out of El Balís in the morning, we found a mirror flat sea, for the first time in two weeks. There was almost no wind and Iris motored rapidly over this flat sea. After 5 hours of motoring, I considered it would be better to let the engine rest a bit and enter Marina Port Vell in Barcelona, the last marina before Iris's hailing port Port Ginesta.
In Barcelona we met again with our friends who had camped the night before in Canyelles and had now also descended towards Barcelona. While we were waiting on board of Iris we got the visit of a kitten that seemed to be perfectly used to boat life.
In the afternoon, we showed our friends around the Ramblas, had dinner in 'Les Quinze Nits' on the Plaça Reial, and being so close to home, we all went to sleep at my place.

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Tom
August 7, 2007, Sant Feliu de Guíxols

Ok. Here we go. There is a lot to be told after this first week of cruising from Port Ginesta towards the rocky Costa Brava. Photographs of the cruise can be found here.
Wednesday, August 1st:
In the morning Moona and I went to Barcelona airport to pick up our friends Mahsa and Chema who flew in from Madrid to join us on our sailing cruise. From there we drove to Port Ginesta where Iris was ready and waiting to set out to sea. After a short briefing for the newcomers, at around 11 o'clock we motored out of Iris's hailing port. First destination was El Masnou, a village just north of Barcelona with a well-equiped marina. This first sailing day went all according to the book. We covered the 24 Nm in just over 5 hours, an average of 4,5 knots, almost entirely under sail. At this speed we would be at the Costa Brava tomorrow. If only the rest of the days could have been so perfect. In El Masnou marina we got a berth next to the Capitanía building, had a few beers at the beach, showered and went for dinner at an Italian restaurant in the marina.
Thursday, August 2nd:
This morning a strong NE wind is blowing, just from where we ought to go. I checked the weather forecast on several internet sites and we decided to stay another day at El Masnou. With the current wind Iris wouldn't advance much anyway and in a few hours the waves would have grown uncomfortably high. The forecast for the next day was slightly better. So we spent the day on terraces and shopping streets and had dinner at the chicken restaurant Guirigall in the marina.
Friday, August 3rd:
The wind had dropped and we sailed out early in NE direction. After about 4 hours of slow-speed sailing covering a distance of only 13 Nm, the NE head wind started blowing again. Combined with waves and swell, our speed dropped even further, so we decided to enter the harbour of Arenys de Mar. The next harbour, Blanes was still a bit too far away in these circumstances. Arenys de Mar is a nice fishing harbour and a modern marina. We got access to the Club Nautic's swimming pool, where we all got a refreshing swim. Visiting the busy fish market in the fishing harbour we spotted it's restaurant, and later that evening we went there to taste what the local fishermen had captured. Delicious.
Saturday, August 4th:
Today seemed to be a better sailing day. Only 17 Nm separated us from Cala Canyelles, our first anchoring place at the Costa Brava. We sailed out at 9am and 4 and a half hours later we reached our destination. We anchored without problems over sand, 8m deep, 30m of chain out. Iris stayed perfectly put at here anchoring place, but the sea swell caused quite some shaking on board, a bit uncomfortable for some of our guests. So we got the tender out, and in turns we rowed to the nearby beach. The water was crystal clear and Moona and I enjoyed snorkeling around the rocks and observe the banks of fishes underneath us. This was the Costa Brava at its best. We had dinner at the beach restaurant from where we could easily observe Iris. The girls rowed back in the tender while the boys enjoyed a night swim back. At night Chema and I organized watching shifts in the cockpit. Iris circled a lot around her anchoring position, but she didn't move from it. From the cockpit it was a pleasure staring at a sky full of stars, now and then a shooting one.
Sunday, August 5th:
The idea from now on was to sail just short distances to a next anchoring place. So, after breakfast we raised the anchor, motored a bit towards sea, and raised sails. We past by Tossa de Mar, but unlike described in the pilot guides, we didn't spot any suitable anchoring place. A bit further up, the attractive Cala Futadera was full of yachts, leaving no space for an extra boat. So we continued. Then suddenly the strong head winds appeared again and in no time the sea state worsened. We had other choice than to enter the marina of Sant Feliu de Guíxols. Entrance and berthing was quite complicated under the heavy winds and among the amount of traffic that had gathered in the marina to find shelter.
Of all of the about 20 marinas I visited along the Spanish coast this year and last year, Sant Feliu de Guíxols is definitely the worst! It is the most expensive marina of them all. Berthing Iris for one night costed us 50 euros, almost the double of many other marinas! You might expect good services at an expensive marina, but what you get is a scandalous shame. The toilet and shower facilities would scare off many visitor. When you're lucky and the showers are not cold, you have to stand on the borders of the shower plate in order to avoid the basin full of dirty, smelly water. When Moona and I unavoidably had to return there a few days later, the situation was so desastrous, we wanted to file a complaint. Instead of handing us the mandatory official governmental complaint forms, they handed us their own piece of paper (which they probably threw in the waste paper basket right after we left). We met many other cruisers all scandalized by the swindle at Sant Feliu.
That night I prepared some delicious spaghetti on board of Iris. A pity only 3 of us could really enjoy the food. Moona got a sudden heavy belly spasm and had to lie down for a while. Fortunately, some strong pain killers did the job and in no time she was better again.
Monday, August 6th:
Again a cloudy day of bad winds and swollen seas. Not a good idea to go out looking for anchoring places. So we spent the day doing local tourism in the village. We also made a long walk along the rocky coast south of the marina, where the real Costa Brava can be admired in all its splendour. While I enjoyed a Belgian beer at a terrace, Mahsa and Chema reserved bus tickets back to Barcelona. They would leave us the next morning to catch their flight back to Madrid.

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Tom
July 30, 2007, Port Ginesta

The old RM69 Marine toilet on board of Iris was up to a replacement. It leaked and smelled and in view of the upcoming holiday cruise with ladies on board, I decided to replace it with the newer model RM69 "Sealock", which can be locked to avoid incoming seawater when the seacocks are open.

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Tom
July 27, 2007, Port Ginesta

The second phase in the companionway refurbishment project concerned the sliding hatch itself. The old varnish on the hatch was in pretty bad condition after several years of sun and salt.
First thing to do was to get the hatch removed. For that, I had to dismount the sprayhood and remove the fiberglass cover with the navigation instruments housing. As can be seen on the photograph, the sliding hatch was attached with a piece of steel cable to the back of the housing. I thoroughly cleaned the entire area of dirt and caulk and replaced the cable with a piece of strong rope and a pair of shackles in order to be able to easily remove the hatch afterwards without having to dismount the whole housing on top of it.
While the cover was removed, I had the bad luck that in that short lapse of time it started to rain a little bit and some water dripped in through the screw holes and found its way right onto my radio-mp3 player at the chart table! I was afraid the thing was lost for good as it didn't want to play any of my music anymore. Luckily, after unmounting, drying and mounting again, it miraclously revived.
Then for the refurbishment of the wood itself. Slowly, I removed all of the old varnish by means of a combination of a heat gun and a chemical paint stripper. After sanding, I managed to turn the entire hatch into clean fresh teak wood.
Next, using a small screwdriver I removed all the old, hardened black caulk separations between the planks of wood. When all the rests of caulk had been removed and the grooves were completely clean, I applied a special "Sika Primer 290DC" to them.
After the primer had dried I could then fill up the grooves with new black Sika 290DC caulk. I made sure to put on a generous amount of caulk, as once hardened it could easily be machine-sanded level with the wood. The result was perfect.
Left to do was to finish the hatch with 6 coats of marine varnish, just as I did with the frame and handles as explained in a previous post.

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Tom
June 24, 2007, Port Olimpic, Barcelona

Last night was Midsummer Night (or Saint-John's night as it is celebrated here). Unfortunately this year the bank holiday falls on a Sunday, so we didn't have more than two days to make a sailing trip as we did last year to the Costa Brava. Hence, yesterday Moona and I sailed out form Port Ginesta towards Port Olimpic, Barcelona. We covered the 17 Nm in a little less than 4.5 hours, an average of 4 knots. There was just enough wind to maintain speed, but annoying waves set the brake on Iris from time to time.
At Port Olimpic, we could make use of the berth of my friend Eva, who had sailed out for Menorca. Thanks Eva!
We stopped by at the supermarket and bought food and drinks for this magical night's party. Three of Moona's friends joined us on Iris and we partied till late.
The next morning, with a bit of a hangover, and two extra sailors, Mahsa and Judith, we sailed back to Port Ginesta. There was much less wind than yesterday and it took us about an hour more to cover the same distance, while we even had to use the motor several times. The sun shone generously, giving us all a good tan.

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