deva in paradise

Vessel Name: Deva
Vessel Make/Model: Freya 39 sloop/cutter
Hailing Port: Ketchikan, Alaska, USA
Crew: Michael and Debby Spence
About:
It has been 40 years since we started sailing DEVA. We spent 12 years circumnavigating the globe, starting in 2007. We have been sailing about 6 months of each year, then returning to Alaska and visiting our friends and family the rest. [...]
Extra:
The circumnavigation was our second long voyage together. The first one was in 1988-89 when we sailed from Alaska to Hawaii and French Polynesia. The present voyage started in the Bahamas/Caribbean in 2007, then through the Panama Canal and the South Pacific, the Mediterranean, and eventually [...]
06 November 2012 | Near Bundaberg Australia
01 May 2012 | Bundaberg, Australia
05 February 2012
07 January 2012 | Whangarei
07 December 2011
02 December 2011
09 November 2011 | Whangarei
06 November 2011 | Whangarei Boatyard
22 October 2011 | 35 43.6'S
31 December 2010 | 35 43.6' S
15 December 2010 | Opua New Zealand
20 November 2010 | NukuAlofa, Tonga
13 April 2010 | Raiatea, Huahine, Moorea, Tahiti
17 October 2009 | Raiatea, Society islands, French Polynesia
29 September 2009 | Raiatea, French Polynesia
Recent Blog Posts
01 August 2022 | Jolly Harbor, Antigua

Sailing through a Pandemic

We started where we left off before the Pandemic. In the boatyard in Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia.

26 October 2021

DEVA's 40th birthday

Today, the DEVA is a humble little cruiser sitting next to mostly larger and more spacious sailboats in places we visit. She does not have the cavernous interior of newer boats, is narrower and has more varnished woodwork, which hints at her vintage design.

24 May 2019

Cyclo Cruising the Canal du Midi

Cyclo-Cruising the Canal Du Midi

10 December 2018

From the Gulf of Lyon to Spain

In Cap D Agde we tied up in another very large French marina, (with over 3000 boats) adjoining an amusement park-like area with a Ferris wheel and a roller coaster. The main attraction for us was that we could tie securely about a half mile inside a labyrinth of canals, far from the swell of the Mediterranean [...]

Sailing through a Pandemic

01 August 2022 | Jolly Harbor, Antigua
michael spence
We started where we left off before the Pandemic. In the boatyard in Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia.

We had flown home for a visit to our parent's and friends in Hawaii. By the time we returned to the mainland, it was March of 2020 and the Pandemic was affecting many places in the world. Before the restrictions eased up in late 2021 we had to be COVID tested 30 times just to travel on the boat and by air back to the USA.

A whole Year in Saint Lucia

We were lucky to be able to fly back to St Lucia before all travel was curtailed. Initially we were told be stay isolated on our boat in Rodney Bay Marina where it was moored. After a week or so we were allowed to venture out into the marina grounds, but no further. Fortunately there was a small store in the marina, where we could buy some basic supplies. Liquor was not permitted to be sold for several months, so our tropical lifestyle had to be modified a bit. During this period we met our neighbor Greg, on "Mile High Dream", with whom we shared an evening toast of old stock wine from our cockpit to his across the dock.
We were later to spend a lot of time with Greg and his friend Diane during almost three years of the Pandemic. Our initial plan was to sail the boat to Grenada, outside the hurricane belt, and put her in a boatyard. Unfortunately no travel would be permitted to Grenada, or even to any of the other nearby islands. The freeze on air travel continued with no end in sight. By June 1, the official beginning of hurricane season, we devised a plan to hook up with our cruiser friends and charter a repatriation flight on a small aircraft to Puerto Rico, from where we could fly home on a domestic for the Summer. We put DEVA into the Rodney Bay boatyard, where we stripped her of all sails and canvas, and strapped down with ratchet hurricane straps. We had to make an adjustment to our insurance to keep the boat in the hurricane zone for the Summer.

Post-voyage repairs

After we completed the transatlantic crossing, Mike noticed one of the chainplates, major structural members holding the rigging to the hull, was askew. Upon disassembly , it was clear it had to be replaced. So began a project that would last two years, to replace all 8 chainplates on the boat with new ones in Titanium and polished stainless steel. The first one had to be done before we even left St Lucia in early June of 2020, as it was cracked. The remaining ones were done one at a time after we returned in the Fall, and some of them in Grenada many months later. They had to be machined in the States and brought to the islands in our luggage.

Upon returning to St Lucia in November 2020, flights had finally resumed, but there were quarantine requirements for all visitors, to stay 14 days in a COVID-approved hotel. This was a costly proposition but we found a hotel with a large pool and a gym in Rodney Bay where we could tough out the quarantine. We were tested by a nurse every morning, not allowed to leave the hotel for any reason, even a few hours to prepare our boat for launching, with the boatyard being just a block away from the hotel.. So we had to book another, separate hotel for 3 days after our quarantine was finished, to allow us to paint the hull of DEVA and recommission her for sailing. It was a lot of work to put all the canvas back on her, but we did most of it before launching and moving to a berth in the marina. After a few weeks we ventured out of the harbor to nearby destinations, including Marigot Bay, Pigeon Island, and the Pitons. Greg and Diane joined us for what were the first of many buddy boating trips with Mile High Dream. At Marigot Bay and the Pitons we enjoyed snorkeling in clear waters. The Marigot Bay marina and hotel complex was closed for hotel guests but open for yachties like us. We luxuriated in its large pool, and took our dinghy across the bay to Doolittles, another hotel and beach bar which was once the location for the film Dr Doolittle. Debby always makes fun of Mike talking with birds, animals and porpoises, but over the years she has come to understand that it is not that silly. After all, people talk to their pets all the time, so why not animals that are not domesticated? Now even Debby talks with porpoises and dolphins when they swim alongside us.

Near the end of our time in St Lucia, the Rodney Heights aquatic center re-opened, with its 25 meter lap pool. It became a daily activity for us as we badly needed a exercise program after weeks of limited activity on the boat. It was just a short walk from the marina, and we enjoyed it immensely.
We also did some swimming in the ocean at Rodney Bay, Reduit Beach. On New Years Day of 2021 we swam under the fireworks at this beach.

Passage to Carriacou, Grenada

A whole year had gone by and we were wondering if we would ever make it to Grenada for the next hurricane season. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the next island South and between us and Grenada, had separate quarantine and COVID requirements that would have been very difficult. We devised a plan to skip that island group and instead sail directly in one longer passage to Grenada. Mile High Dream joined us and we staged the passage to the Southern part of St Lucia for one night at anchor in order to get a very early morning departure. It would be a pre-dawn to dusk sail all the way to tiny Carriacou, the nearest port of entry for the Island nation of Grenada. We arrived there just before sunset and reported to the authorities by radio that we would be complying with new Quarantine at anchor rules for a week. The next morning we went ashore in our dinghy to check in with Customs and Immigration and be COVID tested. We swam in the anchorage during that week of quarantine. Debby blew the conch horn at sunset when we saw the Green Flash. Other boats in the anchorage chimed in with their conch shell horns. It became a sunset ritual. After our Q week, were were tested again and permitted to go ashore in Carriacou. We provisioned at the small store, and made plans to visit nearby Sandy Island, a National Park, with white sand and Palm trees, known for snorkeling and the nearby Paradise Beach Club. Carriacou had just opened restaurants and beach bars to COVID-tested visitors and they had a free launch service to their setting on beautiful Paradise Beach. The host was a charming Carriacouan, Allison who had lived in the States for a while and had a talent for organizing events like live music and lobster barbecues and wine tastings at her club. It was the first time we enjoyed social gatherings in a year.

Onward to the main island of Grenada

We had spent nearly a week "roughing it" at the Sandy Island moorage, when we set sail for a more developed setting at the lovely Port Louis Marina in the capital port of Saint George. The last time Debby and I had been there was in 2009, and there were many changes. For one, the marina did not exist then. It was just a quiet urban anchorage. Today Port Louis a a 5 star marina with facilities similar to Rodney Bay marina on St Lucia. Restaurants, a swimming pool, and nearby markets and the attractions of the city itself. We booked a month in the marina and enjoyed every minute. At that time Grenada had a very low COVID virus count, one of the lowest percapita in the world. They accomplished that by rigorous restrictions to travel, strict testing requirements, and contact tracing at every store, restaurant, and market. We had to log in with name, temperature, and phone number every time we entered a business establishment. At Port Louis we enjoyed meeting friends Kate and Deaken on a beautiful 57 foot boat called Yankee.

Swim lessons at Grand Anse Beach

One very special activity we joined in St George was to be volunteer swim instructors at Grand Anse Beach. There we assisted children as young as 6 years old, up to adults in their 60's to learn their first strokes of swimming in the ocean. We did this for 2 days a week for a while and it was a really gratifying way to contribute something to the island community.

The Hash House Harriers

Another activity we enjoyed in Grenada was the weekly Hashes by the local club of the International Hash House Harriers. The HHH events are patterned after the ancient Hares and Hounds of British colonial days, with a main route and many false leads, dogs optional. We attended our first one in 2009 and looked forward to participating again. The Hash consisted of a different cross country course every week at different sites around the island. The club organized small buses to transport runners and walkers for a small fee to and from the events. The traditional event is accompanied by a post-race beer celebration, at which the "Virgins" are christened in a sort of gauntlet of other participants spraying them with beer. We had our christening in 2009, so now we were seasoned veterans and could observe others going through their initiation. Fun and a good fitness event for upwards of 200 people every time. We walked mostly with small bursts of running.

Sailing to the Southern Bays and Secret Harbor

Knowing that we would eventually have to end our season at a boatyard in one of the Southern Bays of Grenada, we sailed around the Southwest tip of Grenada and anchored in the Bay that we first visited in 2009, Prickly Bay. We found it to be much more populated by cruising boats than the last time we were here. Hundreds of live aboard sailboats occupied the half dozen or so bays on the South coast of Grenada. Mostly, we believe, because Grenada lies below the southern extremity of the hurricane belt as defined by insurance companies. Also because it has several good boatyards to store a boat for the season, and many shore side activities for cruisers. Unfortunately Prickly Bay was exposed to a swell from the ocean, and proved to be rollier than we prefer. We then sailed around the next promontory of land to nearby Secret harbor, where it was calmer. Secret Harbor has about 50 mooring balls and space alongside Med mooring style for another dozen or so boats. Since we are quite used to med mooring from our days in Europe, we chose to tie up in that manner inside the protection of a concrete dock.
It turned out to be a beautiful spot. A lot smaller than Port Louis, but having a nice restaurant and gym and easy walks to Prickly Bay beach.

After a month at the lovely Secret Harbor, we sailed to Clarke's' Court Bay, where we had arranged to have DEVA hauled out for hurricane season. We rented an apartment in the boatyard for a few days to facilitate the work of decommissioning the boat and preparing it for storage without living on it. Then we flew back to the States for 6 months.

Return to Grenada, and Sailing up Island

We were not sure how far we could get sailing Northward, as the COVID restrictions were still in place on many islands, but not all. And we weren't exactly in a hurry to leave Grenada and the Grenadines.
To finish the prep on the boat after launching we returned to Secret Harbor for almost a month. Once again we joined our friends Greg and Diane for a few days in Grenada. From there we retraced our steps to Port Louis, and then back up to Carriacou. Port Louis was festive with the ARC transatlantic rally for cruisers from Europe, and we met some wonderful people. We arrived in Carriacou just in time for the Christmas and New Years holidays. Paradise Beach Club was every bit as charming as we remembered it. We were finally able to get our first COVID vaccine booster in the little clinic in Carriacou. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines had finally eased most of their COVID restrictions, so we were able to clear customs and immigration at Union Island, and spend New Years Eve at Tobago Cays national park. Later that week we sailed over to Canouan, which had never visited before. We tied up at a very impressive new marina with 5 star restaurants. We met a lovely couple from Scotland Tim and Anne, on their boat "Restless of Stornoway"which they had just sailed across from Europe in the ARC rally. We then spent a few days cruising to Bequia, which was our first visit since 2009. As with the Tobago Cays, we were a little disappointed with how crowded it has become with hundreds of cruising boats. Alas, many more people from all over the world want to sail the oceans like we have, and the Caribbean is a favorite destination.

A Birthday Party

In the second week in January, Mike wanted to pick up the pace a little so we could be in St Lucia for Debby's 60th birthday on January 20. We had a very short stop overnight in Marigot Bay to check in with the St Lucia authorities. Debby wanted to stay longer. Unbeknownst to her, our beloved daughter Carly, her husband Jansen, and our precious 3 year old granddaughter Goldie would be waiting there for us. As it turned out we actually arrived a day or two before they did into Rodney Bay.
For a few days we checked into the same hotel overlooking the marina as they stayed in for the next week. On Debbys brithday we went to the best restaurant in Rodney Bay, and little Goldie sang Happy birthday for her Mae Mae. We went to the beach, went sailing on DEVA for a day (of course), and enjoyed the hotel pool with them. Goldie had the most fun at Reduit beach with her Mama feeding the fish around her.. It was a fun way for all of us to celebrate the birthday of a very special lady .

A week passed too quickly, and Carly, Jansen and Goldie flew home to Washington, while Debby and I readied the boat to sail to Martinique and Guadeloupe. Those two islands, which actually make up a territory of France, had been closed to non-EU visitors for two years during the Pandemic. The surprising thing was that now they are the easiest to clear in and out of with authorities. In St Anne's, Martinique, we checked in officially on a computer terminal at "Cafe Bou Bou". It cost about 5 Euros and took 10 minutes! St Annes is a lovely place to make ones arrival in Martinique. Small and charming, with a church on the town square and many little shops and cafes. We later moved to the large marina of Le Marin in order to replenish our water and provisions. There we encountered the largest collection of cruising boats we had seen since our time in the Mediterranean. At least a thousand in the marina and another 500 at moorings in the Bay.

Things got a little more difficult in the days ahead, as the trade wind was very strong. A day out of Le Marin we pulled into the large Bay of Fort de France, the capital city of the island. We then had a very difficult time finding a sheltered harbor. It was gray and windy and rainy. We spent a couple nights anchored in a desolate little Bay where we could only go ashore for an hour or two. Then we sailed across hoping to go into L'Abricots marina, but every berth and every mooring was taken. We then spent another couple days anchored in another desolate small bay with few facilities, farther East.
Finally we learned by email that the marina had a spot open that we could use for a few days. We hurried over and spent almost a week. We enjoyed walking the neighborhood and bought some supplies at a tiny store and the boulangerie, and of course replenished our fresh water.
From Fort de France we sailed to the Western side of the Island, the beautiful Bays of Arlet.
Those Bays were also very crowded, but we did land our dinghy long enough to do some hiking and swimming. After a day we were informed by a police boat that the anchorage had to be vacated because of a special event to take place the next day.
By this time we were watching the weather windows very carefully as most of the time the wind force was over 30 knots in the passages between Martinique and Guadeloupe, and between Guadeloupe and Antigua. We staged ourselves at the Northernmost Bay next to a volcano on Martinique, before sailing across the Guadeloupe. We then had a three day window to make it to Antigua before the winds would become untenable again. Other boats were waiting at anchor just as we were. We then seized the moment and sailed all the way up the West coast of Guadeloupe to the somewhat protected Bay of DesHais. The anchorage was very crowded with boats just a few feet apart, but it was the only spot nearby where one could stage the crossing to Antigua, some 50 miles away.

A blustery sail to Jolly Harbor

We left Deshais with winds in the low 20's but by late afternoon it was pushing 30 knots. With reefed sails we were making 8 knots plus. We had to steer by hand most of the way because our autopilot was overwhelmed. This later caused problems as both Debby and I had sore left shoulders for months afterwards. In retrospect, we should have rigged our Aries wind vane as it would have been strong enough to steer in those conditions. We arrived just before sunset after leaving Deshais at dawn, so we anchored outside the Jolly Harbor entrance so not to have to deal with the authorities so late in the day.

Next morning we entered the protected waters of Jolly Harbor and went straight to the Customs dock, where we cleared customs and Immigration for lovely Antigua.

We stayed a month in Antigua, taking in the sights and meeting some wonderful people. We walked to Jolly Beach, about a 15 minute walk from the marina. There we walked the length of a white coral sand beach and finished the day at Sandra's Beach Shack. A special treat while in Jolly Harbor was a visit from Debby's younger brother Dan, who stayed a few days. We went to Stingray City, a snorkel tour where Dan and Debby swam with the wild Stingrays. We also took a taxi and a bus into the capital city of St Johns, for shopping and lunch.

By the end of March we prepared DEVA for another year in the boatyard during hurricane season. It was as always a lot of work getting her stripped of canvas. We rented an apartment for a week so not to live on the boat while doing the heavy work... Since Antigua lies in the middle of the Caribbean hurricane zone, we made sure our girl was tied down well with hurricane straps and a welded steel cradle. She would sit there for seven months.

DEVA's 40th birthday

26 October 2021
michael spence
Today, the DEVA is a humble little cruiser sitting next to mostly larger and more spacious sailboats in places we visit. She does not have the cavernous interior of newer boats, is narrower and has more varnished woodwork, which hints at her vintage design.

What surprises people is her original sistership was an all-out racing machine

At first glance, DEVA looks like a North Sea fisherman or nordic-inspired cruiser. Actually when first designed in 1963 she was a racing boat. Her oldest sister, named Freya, was tank tested and built by Norwegian-Australian brothers, Magnus and Trigve Halvorsen to sail in the Sidney-Hobart race. She won that race three times, a record not eclipsed by any other boat until the early 2000's.

DEVA's beginning:

It all started in 1977, when I was visiting my Dad in Sausalito, California. Driving by a boatyard I noticed a unique hull shape with a lovely canoe stern being fitted out in the yard. I stopped and turned around for a closer look. I met a young Swedish man named Stig who was building her. What I learned from him that day made that boat seem all the more interesting. He told me the hulls were being built in Petaluma and I should go to see the construction in progress there.

I drove up to Petaluma the next day, and met Jim Gannon, a Sydney, Australia sailor who was crew on the original "Freya". Jim told me he had a hull in the mold that I could buy if I was interested, but that I would have to finish it myself. After giving it some thought over a couple of days, I paid $8000 for the hull on the condition that I could keep it at his yard for a year on the assumption it would take that long for me to finance and arrange the rest of the construction.

It was a silly investment, but I was 26 and didn't know any better

To my Father and some of my friends the idea me getting a boat seemed absurd. I did not own a car or anything else but a few footlockers and books, but I had a sailboat, or at least the hull of one. I had a job in far away Alaska, but I was unmarried and had no debts. So began the construction of the Deva.

She is named after a Hindu Goddess

The first boat of her design was named after the Nordic goddess "Freya". In the 1970's most young people in the Western world, including myself, were interested in things like Meditation and Hindu theology. So I named the boat after a Hindu goddess, in keeping with the goddess Freya theme. Deva is a generic term meaning simply "god or "goddess", but I favored the Deva "Sarasvati" was the one, because she is the goddess of Knowledge, Music and Art. Devas are worshiped in many parts of the world influenced by the Hindu faith.

Over the course of that first year I arranged financing for the construction at a Seattle Bank. Just enough to cover the cost of materials and some of the actual construction of internal structural elements for which they had patterns at the Petaluma yard. I did car and truck deliveries from Seattle to California so I could ship 1 ½ tons of lumber, the engine, and other hardware at just the cost of the gasoline to drive there. Of course it took two days of driving every trip, and I made several. I drew the plans for the deck house and the deck to be built in white oak and epoxy laminated plywood, and hired a rowing shell builder, Ron Owens, to laminate the 30 deck beams. In 1978 I employed two friends, David and Beth Anderson, to help me fasten the deck. All of the work would have to be done on my week off, every other week, from the Alaska ferries. The hull builder, Gannon Yachts, put in the bulkheads, installed the engine and cast in 10,000 lbs of lead into her keel.

Set back by a Thief

Not everything went well in the construction. I hired a local shipwright, David Fleming, to build the deck house according to my drawings. After I paid him in advance for the bulk of the work, and left town to go back to my job, the thief left town a day later, owing rent on his shop where my winches and materials were left. I had to hire a lawyer to recover the materials from the landlords property as she put a lien on the items left behind by her errant tenant. I filed a report with the Petaluma police, even giving them details I had learned about his rental of a U-haul truck and planned destination of Seattle. Basically I was robbed, and forced to build the deck house myself after paying a crook to do it. Some three years later a lumber yard manager in Anacortes WA told me that Mr Fleming had set up shop there, indebted himself to many local businesses, and left town, just like he did in Petaluma. That experience taught me to be more careful about hiring workers and paying them in advance.

A journey across the country

The work continued on the deck and deck house, which I finished just in time during the Summer of and Fall of 1979, for the boat to be trucked out of the boatyard. I had taken a new job as a pilot trainee in New Jersey, so all my belongings had to be shipped there at my expense. My Dad knew a man that had just bought a truck and trailer, and offered to haul it to New Jersey for about $4000. What he and I did not know is the man had no experience with over-road permits and would take 28 days to tow the boat across country in mid Winter.

Deva arrived in New Jersey covered in road dirt in February 1980. She was unfinished but covered with a deck and deck house and a temporary plywood hatch. I was barely earning enough money to pay rent on a small apartment in nearby Sea Bright. My plan was to finish her to a degree that I could move onboard and not have to pay rent except at the harbor. On April 1 a few friends from New York came by: Dan and Virginia, and Greg and Lori, to help me launch the boat and step the mast. Once again not everything went according to plan, as the boatyard insisted they do all the bottom paint and zincs. They forgot to install the zinc anodes that protect the shaft and propeller, and the bottom paint was still wet upon launching, so red paint smeared up the white hull sides 2 feet at four places where the slings bared against the hull.

Her first Hurricane

My job became more complicated as I found I had to return to Alaska for work over the Summer to supplement income. I left the boat in Highlands marina for 4 months. When I returned in late September and moved back on board, I had to prepare for an approaching storm. It was the remnant of a hurricane, which brought a 10 foot storm surge into the harbor followed by a receding low tide about 10 feet below normal. (similar to storm Sandy in more recent times) It was a good thing I was aboard to tend lines, , as the high tide washed away the small pier alongside the boat, and the breakwater at her bow was submerged. Then the tide went out and most of the boats in the harbor went aground and fell over. Deva leaned up against a piling with tight moorings and stayed upright. When the tide came back in, many of the boats had flooded and sank in their berths. It took weeks to clear away the wreckage. Fortunately the only loss for DEVA was her two rub rails, about 25 feet long and solid oak, which had not been installed yet, washed away. I found them the next day about 100 yards away in the piles of wreckage in the marina.

Sailing to Florida

By late Fall it became apparent that my job was mostly training with very little income producing work, and at the same time I was offered a steady Summer job piloting in Alaska. It was clear that there was no reason to tough out an icy Winter in the Highlands marina when we could sail to warmer climes in Florida where I could finish the boat in better weather. My good friend Don Busscher, with whom I had sailed years earlier, had a home on the waterfront in Ft Lauderdale and he offered to let me tie up DEVA there for a while.

In early December 1980, DEVA was hardly finished. I had completed the sliding main hatch and temporary engine controls, installed a depth sounder, running lights,and bought a second hand genoa sail. I installed a temporary sail winch on the foredeck for heaving the one anchor. She had no windows, no sailhandling winches, and just a small kerosene cook stove and a diesel cabin heater. My girlfriend came with me for the voyage down the Intracoastal waterway. We mostly stayed in the shallow dredged channels, with just a few jaunts into the ocean where low bridges prevented our passage. It was bitter cold for a month or so, with no protection from rain or wind around the cockpit. So it happened Deva's first sailing was done with no mainsail, just one genoa and the 3 cylinder Volvo engine. Days were short so we often motorsailed in darkness.

The Building continued in Florida

Once we were tied up in Fort Lauderdale, I could resume the task of building. I hired a young man who was an experienced boatwright, Doug, to help build coamings around the cockpit. He had amazing talents for fitting pieces of teak and plywood together, and I learned a lot working with him.
By April of 1981 I was preparing to go back to Alaska for the Summer, so I put DEVA into a boatyard on the river in Ft Lauderdale, at River Bend. I thought I had done a pretty thorough job of preparing the boat for storage, but missed an important detail, making sure all food items were roach proofed.

Infested with cockroaches

Upon return to the boatyard in October, the boat was infested with large cockroaches. I discovered them when I turned on a light in the forecabin in the middle of the night. Yikes! They were everywhere. Thus began a 3 day program of fumigation, followed by cleanup. I traced the problem to a box of cereal that was unopened but had a wax-paper bag inside. The Florida heat melted the wax and provided a plentiful food source for insects during the months I was at work in Alaska.

During the Winter of 1981-82 I did not re-launch the boat, since it had become apparent that I would be returning to work full time in Alaska. It was a tough choice deciding what to do next with the boat, but it was clear she had to be transported overland a second time. Decommissioning and recommissioning a boat for trucking is a painstaking process, but I could not afford to pay anyone else to do it. The mast and rigging and all railings, pulpits, had to be removed and then reinstalled after the trucking to Seattle.

Overland again to Seattle

In early April, 1982, I hired a Canadian trucking outfit to pick up Deva in Fort Lauderdale and transport her to Seattle. Maple Leaf Yachts did the transport, and they were excellent. I flew to Seattle from Ketchikan and spent a few days re-rigging her and prepping for a voyage to Ketchikan. My Dad and a friend from the Alaska ferry, Barry West, joined me for that trip. I bought another used sail, a mainsail, from Hood Sails in Marblehead, so Deva would for the first time be fully rigged as a sloop.
We sailed North on April 15, right into a Spring snowstorm, heading up the Inside Passage to Alaska.
The diesel heater was put to good use as it was cold and wet most of the way North. Deva had little in the way of on-deck protection from the elements: no spray dodger. Our foul weather gear was all we had. My dad brought his fur-lined Winter hat from WW11 army days. He was a good sport during the 10 day voyage, never complaining about the cold. He was 70 years old and all of his sailing was in either California or the Caribbean, so Canada and Alaska was an extreme change for him. On one snowy day he looked at me with a tear in his eye and said "I'm afraid my sailing days are over". I did my best to cheer him up but it seemed he had made up his mind. Barry was also a good shipmate and endured the hardships in good spirit. Being a Marine Engineer, he brought a lot of technical expertise that was helpful on the trip.

1982-83, a year of many changes

The story of Deva is linked of course, to the story of Mike. We tied up DEVA in Ketchikan, my Dad and Barry flew home to WA and California, and I began an all-consuming career as a full time ships pilot in Alaska. On June 1, 1982, (my luckiest day ever) I met my wonderful, beautiful future wife Debby on a ship ship called the Statendam. Later in the Summer she came up from her home in California for a week visit in which we went sailing on the DEVA to the Misty Fjords National Monument. We swam in the frigid waters, saw whales and porpoises,and enjoyed a whole rare week of sunny weather. A couple months later Debby came back to Alaska to stay a little longer. We sailed to Port Townsend WA after the cruise ship season ended and wound up staying there for the Winter. . Our relationship grew closer as she joined me in flying back to Ketchikan during my periods of cargo ship duty. She accepted my proposal of marriage and we planned a wedding on the same ship we met on, to take place at the end of the cruise season.. We sailed Deva from Port Townsend back to Ketchikan in April of 1983. On that voyage we learned on a marine operator call that my Dad had passed away. It was almost exactly one year from his last voyage on the DEVA. We tied up at Comox, BC, and flew South for his memorial.

So began a year in which the DEVA would be tied up and not sailed anywhere.

Not long after our wedding, I was diagnosed with Testicular Cancer. Debby, we learned, was pregnant.
My surgeries and treatments would last for months. If those were to be my last days, I thought I would rather spend them with Debby and our new child. The boat became less important than everything else. We put on her stem-to-stern canvas cover and bought a condo ashore that became our new home. It seemed we might never sail her again.

The cover came off in 1985

With our new baby Carly a year old, Debby and I ventured out on the water again on the DEVA
We did some nearby cruising to Black Sand Beach and Rudyerd Bay, just a few hours from Ketchikan.
We also signed up for round the buoys racing in Ketchikan. We had racing sails made, a spinnaker and various sizes of headsails. DEVA was competitive and had a advantageous handicap rating because of her full keel and dated design. The local PHRF rating committee tried to change the rating because she was too successful! For three years, our sailing was mostly just around Ketchikan.

First time Across the Pacific

In 1988 We signed up a crew of 4 guys for a crossing to Hawaii in the Spring. John Larsen, Ron Keyes and Scott Golden teamed up with Mike for the crossing.
Debby was pregnant with our second child, so she flew with 4 yr old Carly to meet us there.
The passage was an opportunity to see what DEVA could do in the open ocean, and she did not disappoint. From Neah Bay, WA, she logged over 195 miles a day four days in a row. That's a 24 hr average of 8.5 knots, and not using a spinnaker to do it. We sailed into Kaneohe Bay after 17 days at sea. We rented a berth at a condo marina and held it for 3 years, so we could sail seasonally in the islands while Mike worked half of each year in Alaska.

Family Sailing in Hawaii and Polynesia.

In late 1988, Debby, Carly, and newly arrived Cameron, (age 6 weeks) arrived in Hawaii with Mike to see how we might manage sailing inter-island. We knew it might not be possible to get far from Kaneohe Bay where the boat was moored. As it turned out we were able to sail to Molokai, Lanai, Maui, and the Big Island with our new baby. Little Cameron, it turned out, loved the motion of the boat under sail, and 5 year old Carly was already an accomplished sailor.

In February of 1989, Mike enlisted two friends, Keith Stump and Rick Hardcastle, to sail Deva from Hawaii to the Marquesas. It took 15 days in tradewinds, on the same tack all the way, to make landfall at Nuku Hiva.

A short chronology

1977 Purchased Deva's hull while she was still in the mold in Petaluma, CA
1978-79 Built her deck and deck house in Petaluma with help of friends
1980 Launched in Highlands, New Jersey after I took a job there.
1981 Sailed New Jersey to Florida with one used genoa sail
1982 Sailed Seattle to Ketchikan Alaska, with two used sails. Finally finished building.
In June I met my future wife Deborah, who quickly became a sailor.
1985-88 Raced Deva in PHRF handicap in Ketchikan and Washington
1988 Pacific crossing Whidbey island to Kaneohe Bay Oahu, Hawaii
1989 Hawaii to Marquesas, Tuamotus, Society Islands and return to Oahu
1992 Hawaii to Ketchikan Alaska
1992-2007 Alaska, WA, and British Columbia
2007-09 Overland to Florida, then sailed Bahamas, Antilles, to Trinidad
2009 Trinidad to Panama, Galapagos, and French Polynesia
2009-10 French Polynesia
2011 French Polynesia to Cooks Islands, Tonga and New Zealand
2011-12 New Zealand and Australia
2012-13 Australia, to Southeast Asia, shipped to Turkey
2013-2019 Mediterranean, Turkey, Greece, Croatia, Montenegro, Italy, France, to Spain
2019-21 TransAtlantic, Spain to Canaries and Caribbean, St Lucia, Grenada

Gibraltar to the West Indies, across the Atlantic

08 January 2020
michael spence

We had six weeks to ready the boat for the sail across the Atlantic ocean. This sounds like a long time for a boat that is supposedly already shipshape, but the to-do list was long. It began with a keel to masthead inspection in the boatyard, including removal of the rudder, the most indispensable piece of equipment on the boat. Bearings were replaced, and the many through-hulls and the propeller were serviced. After launching we took a short trip to Gibraltar to load fuel and buy a new set of batteries, six in all, weighing some 500 lbs. Mike went up the mast and replaced two radio antennas and spent a whole day relearning how to solder circuits on the single side band radio. The ssb was once the mainstay of our communications on long voyages, but now it would be just a backup to satellite telephone. All the safety equipment including life raft and search and rescue beacons had to be inspected and serviced. A inside and out servicing of the engine including all filters and water pump impellers was also done. Before sailing, our crew had a two hour briefing on all the equipment and man overboard and emergency procedures.

But first, a little fear-conquering exercise

Before leaving Gibraltar we took a tour of St Michael's Cavern, one of the biggest caves inside the "Rock". For this we enlisted the service of cave master Pete, who guided us about 4 hours through the dark and mysterious grotto. Our friends Rick and Kevin, the two guys who would sail across the Atlantic with Mike, and Rick's wife Laura joined in this adventure. The tour began with a rather scary narrative from Pete of all the things that could go wrong in a caving tour, and cautions against anyone with claustrophobia or heart issues. We gulped and accepted the risks. After donning helmets and headlamps we descended into the darkness.

Upon entering the many stalactite and stalagmite pantheons we realized there was actually a lot of color in the cave rock once it was illuminated.

Before entering the cave we also had another encounter with the Barbary Apes that inhabit the slopes of Gibraltar, many of which were congregating just outside the Europa Gate cave entrance. The little ones were playfully rolling on top of parked cars. Having been cautioned against getting too friendly with the animals that are known to bite, we watched from a few feet away.


The Ladies Tour begins

Debby and Laura parted company with the guys two days before we sailed out of Gibraltar. They rented a car to drive to Cadiz, then Seville, before meeting us in Canary Islands. After we sailed from Canary Islands, Debby and Laura flew to Marrakesh, Lisbon, and Madeira, later joining us again in St Lucia.

Deva sets sail to cross the Atlantic

Mike, Rick and Kevin set sail on November 16, a day later than originally planned due to high winds in the area. The Equinoctial gales of the North Atlantic had set in, with 40 knot northerlies sweeping down the coast of Portugal, generating large swells. The winds bent around the corner of Southern Portugal and Spain to become 40 knot Westerlies in the Straits of Gibraltar. Starting our transoceanic voyage in gale force headwinds did not seem like the right way to begin our adventure, so we waited.
We did not want to wait too long as there was a three day window before the winds on the coast of Africa would turn to strong Southerlies. Deva headed out into the Straits on the edge of the densely populated shipping lanes, just as the West wind dropped to a modest 25 knots. For the first 5 hours we were only making 3 to 4 knots against a strong current and headwinds...

Thankfully we found a Counter current

Passing the infamous Tarifa Point, where the forces of wind and current are known to accelerate, we changed our course to cross the shipping lanes at a right angle, directly towards Tangiers, Morocco.
As we crossed the traffic lanes and neared the African side of the straits, a wondrous 5 knot Westbound current found us. So we went from 3 ½ knots to 9 ½ knots under sail and engine, as fast as our sea legs could carry us. Deva plowed through tide rips and chop as she pressed outward from the grips of the Strait of Gibraltar. By nightfall we found ourselves in the open Atlantic Ocean, where we would spend the next three weeks frolicking along the wave tops. The winds lightened a bit as they no longer funneled between the European and African continents. We continued under sail and engine power for most of the next five days in order to stay ahead of the next North Atlantic storm coming across from America. Aside from the constant drone of the engine, this part of our passage was relatively easy. One of our crew was seasick for 2 days while the remainder ate very little as gained our sea legs.

Going South "until the butter melts"

The conventional wisdom, both in Atlantic and Pacific, when leaving the higher latitude Westerlies and seeking the Easterly trade winds closer to the Equator, is to go South til the butter melts. And so it was for us, as the morning we left Gibraltar it was 42 degrees F and we wore foulies and woolen caps. When we would approach the trade winds near Cape Verde islands the temperatures would be over 75F.
Closer to our destination in the Caribbean, the sea and air temperatures would be in the high 80'sF.

We followed the coast of Morocco only about 60 miles offshore, mostly because we could not sail closer to the wind...As we neared the Canary Islands in four days, the high outline of Lanzarote came into view.. For almost 100 miles we experienced a "bounce back" swell coming from the opposite direction of the Northerly Atlantic swells we had become accustomed to. This was a result of the big Ocean swell from the NW crashing against the shore of Lanzarote, and bouncing back. This resulted in a hobby horsing motion as the boat plowed into a shorter steeper wave pattern. It was uncomfortable and slowed us down on our final approach to Gran Canaria. As luck would have it we ran out of fuel about 5 hours from our destination at the little port of Pasito Blanco. Debby and Laura were hailing us from the breakwater only a few feet away, but we would have to spend the night at anchor because we would not enter the little harbor without an engine.

Despacito at Pasito Blanco

Deva came to her temporary resting spot in this little harbor after we transferred a few gallons by dinghy into her fuel tank. We were fortunate to find a tie up here as the entire Island of Gran Canaria was overcrowded with about 500 boats in the annual Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, or more commonly known as "the ARC". Mike booked this space 6 months earlier knowing it would be impossible later.
Debby and Laura had arranged a nice little apartment close to the harbor for 5 days so we could enjoy a rest stop before continuing across the ocean. Hurray for big beds, warm showers with abundant water, and air conditioning!...On Gran Canaria we took water and fuel and re provisioned the boat for the longer passage ahead. On November 24 we watched the grand departure of several hundred sailboats from all over Europe setting out to cross the Atlantic ocean, many of them for the first time...It was quite a spectacle, with a parade out of the harbor, live music and a DJ shouting out the names of each as they crossed the starting line... Our own departure two days later from Pasito Blanco would be without any fanfare. Just three guys on a little boat sailing away into the big ocean.

Crossing the Pond

There is a lot of lore about sailing the Atlantic. Most people have seen the pictures of storm waves and utter destruction caused by the Atlantic. Whenever we set out to sail on the big waters, we have to put our fears into context. Naturally we avoid places and times which are unsafe, either by delaying our departure, or steering a route that takes us clear of danger. Fear itself is often what keeps people safe in the wildest parts of nature. Rogue waves can be explained and understood and even avoided. For example, the largest ocean swells do not break in the open ocean, but only when they reach a shore. Standing waves can be dangerous in places where currents or points of land cause a collision of those forces of nature. We give such places a wide berth. When despite all our planning we find ourselves in gales or standing waves, we yield to these forces and go off the wind and the sea. Lastly we reason that people have been crossing oceans safely in small vessels such as ours, with much lesser equipment, for millennia. If they could do it, we can do it.

Our voyage plan called for a route nearly straight South towards the Cape Verde Islands, an island group off the West coast of Africa nearly at the same latitude as our destination. This strategy would take us directly towards the favorable trade winds, and offered a rest stop if needed. After five days, as we neared the Island group we found the weather forecast was reasonable and we had no gear malfunctions or crew illnesses, so we decided to continue directly to St Lucia. We would have lots of company on our voyage, as the several hundred boats of the ARC rally as well as others on independent voyages all left Europe headed for the Caribbean about the same time.

The ARC Phenomenon

The size and popularity of the ARC rallies is impressive. The transAtlantic Rally for Cruisers was the original ARC , started in 1986, with just over 200 entries. In 2019 almost 300 boats started and most finished within three weeks. The World Cruising Club is the organizer of 9 such rallies all over the world.

For comparison, the entire boat harbor complex in Ketchikan might have space for 300 sailing yachts if it was emptied of its regular occupants. Oak Harbor marina has about 225 slips that can accommodate sailboats.

So over 300 boat owners including families, couples, friends, and crews of 2 to 15 mostly just get together and sail across the Atlantic for fun. Average age of skippers is 55. Many of them return to Europe in the same year. Some of them continue in a second rally which starts in St Lucia where the ARC finishes, called the World Arc. Rally organizers sponsor lots of social gatherings before and after the events, so there is a lot of camaraderie among participants.

The world ARC is a multi-leg around the world rally that takes 15 months and has a defined schedule.
The start of the World ARC is today, January 11, 2020, in St Lucia. The participants expect to sail around the world with short stops in Colombia, Panama, Galapagos, French Polynesia, other Pacific Islands, Australia, and South Africa before arriving in the Caribbean in late 2021. So, in 15 months they cover the same distance (almost) as we did in 12 years. So how is this even possible, you might ask?

The answer is the World ARC participants do a lot of sailing, and not much else. Port calls are relatively short. There are no day hops, only long oceanic sailing legs. For people who can muster only limited time away from work or other commitments, a rally like ARC makes such a voyage possible. They sail according to a defined schedule. For example today the start of the ARC world rally it is blowing a steady 30 knots in St Lucia, with winds over 40 knots off the Colombia coast. Downwind sailing in tradewinds, to be sure, but still nearly gale force winds at the start of the event, predicted to last for 5 days or more... If they are not die-hard sailors at the start of the event, they will be in a few days.

The increase in number of boats and people undertaking long ocean cruises can be attributed to a few factors. One is satellite navigation, or GPS. A few decades ago a person desiring to sail trans oceanic voyages had to know how to navigate with a sextant, which required taking a course in celestial navigation and some math skills. Now anyone can buy a $75 gps receiver and plot a course on a map.
Many countries, like the USA, do not even require a boat drivers license to go to sea.
Mass production of yachts has lowered the price of cruising boats, such that many boats capable of long voyages are affordable to people of modest means. In Europe several thousand boats of over 40 feet are produced every year, and few of those boats are ever scrapped. They are resold again and again at lower prices (when factored for inflation), than boats cost in the 1970s and 1980's.

The Atlantic is still Bigger than All of Us

We sighted several cargo ships on the coastal trade routes off Africa, and checked our AIS tracking equipment by talking with them. We also started seeing some of the boats from the ARC fleet that left two days before us from Gran Canaria. Mostly we could see them on our AIS radio and computer navigation, showing their AIS beacons. Occasionally we sighted some boats visually, but none of them answered our radio calls. We settled into a routine of standing watches and resting, as the boat mostly steered itself. Occasionally we had squalls pass over in which the wind would increase to 30 knots or more, and we had to reduce sail accordingly. For two entire days we sailed with just our little stay sail and reefed Genoa sail.

It became a lot warmer, as the sea temperature gradually rose to 88 degrees F., and the sky was nearly every day sunny with puffy little white clouds. We did not wear our foul weather gear or long sleeves for two weeks. Despite our fans running 24-7, the temperature in the cabin was very hot and made sleeping difficult.

After 19 days at sea we made landfall, sighting the islands of St Lucia and Martinique on our port and starboard bows. On the last day, around ten sailboats were converging with us in the straight between those islands. Most of them were going towards Rodney bay on the North end of St Lucia, just like us.
We rounded the headland and sailed into the calm lee waters of Rodney bay, the first moments DEVA would stop rolling in nearly 3 weeks. It would take her crew a couple of days to stop leaning to and fro with the motion of the ocean, even after it was completely calm.

Welcome to St Lucia

It was anticlimactic at first. We were allowed only to come to a dock temporarily to clear customs and immigration. The crew celebrated with what was left of our Spanish supplies of Rum and Tonic. Then we had to leave that dock and go to a mooring ball in the lagoon because there was no space in the crowded harbor. We untied the many lashings on our dinghy that kept it attached to the deck in the open ocean. Upon trying to start the outboard motor however, it would not start, so we rowed to shore. A kind local fisherman came to our rescue and towed us the last hundred meters or so.
Then we tried to make contact with Debby and Laura, who were arriving about the same time at the airport two hours away. We paused for more celebration at one of the eateries in the harbor, and tired the rum punch that the West Indies is famous for....

A Celebration

Once we rested a day we started to celebrate our crossing. This was also a celebration of Deva "closing the loop", or crossing her outbound track of 11 1/2 years ago, when she sailed South and West across the Pacific. Our instruments showed 33,395 miles had passed under her keel since then. We visited 43 countries in that time. The voyage actually began in Florida on Dec 1, 2007, over twelve years ago.







Barcelona to Gibraltar

15 July 2019
michael spence

Each time we return to Europe we have exactly 90 days to get where we are going. This time it seemed fairly simple, just750 miles down the East coast of Spain with a possible visit to the offshore Balearic Islands. Simplicity is often complicated by details, however...

Our stay in Port Ginesta near Barcelona was longer than planned or expected. We had the usual maintenance jobs upon returning from our 90 day absence in March, such as painting the bottom, replacing the floorboards in the fore peak, and getting our rigging inspected. We had an apartment for two weeks while this work was done, on the waterfront not far from the boat. And then we had the week-long bike tour in France that took us away from our boat preparations. Upon returning from France, our friends Mark and Merrily from Houston visited Barcelona and we joined them on a few days' of recreation in fabulous Barcelona and nearby Sitges.

The last delay was the weather. After months of calm, warm and dry, suddenly mid April unleashed a week-long torrent of wicked winds and rain. Our first leg was hope to be from the mainland to Mallorca, a distance of 100 miles nonstop, which required a good weather window. It finally came in late April, and we reached across the water in good speed into the lovely anchorage of Soller on the largest of the Balearic Islands.

Mallorca and her sisters

Mallorca has everything, Big mountains, picturesque towns and villages, nice beaches. We arrived on the mountainous side of the island, sighting land at 50 miles away, and slipping into the protected little port of Soller just as the sun set behind us. The initial problem was finding a calm spot in the anchorage which was crowded with other yachts. As sometimes happens the only calm spot was right in the middle off of the busiest dock...sandwiched between a motley collection of other craft. We knew as soon as we arrived it would not be for long..as we wanted to see the more remote fords to the North of Soller and time would be limited... The next morning we sailed out of Soller and a short distance up the coast to the magnificent “Calas”or bays of Tuent and Calobra, just 15 miles away...Since the two bays are close to each other we cruised inside of both before deciding which one we would stay overnight. Both of the bays resembled the Misty Fiords Monument of Alaska, with vertical shores going up more than 3000 feet. Calobra had a hotel and a tour boat landing which was very busy, with boat wakes churning the waters like a washing machine. So we chose the calmer Tuent to drop our anchor off of a lovely beach. A coastal road accesses this area from the more populous parts of Mallorca, so it was not exactly desolate. We landed our dinghy on the beach with enough distance from the sunbathers so not to annoy anyone. Then we went for a hike around the shoreline where we could look down on our anchored boat from the hills above. Orange and olive groves dot the landscape.

From Tuent we sailed about forty miles, or nearly all day, down the coast to the SW corner of the island. We thought we might anchor in one of several coves on tiny off lying Dragonera Island, but found them too small for even our little boat. Instead, we cruised into the larger bay of Adreatx, pronounced with a “ch” at the end. This bay was quite populated both on shore and on the water, with many yachts and many villas. We chose to tie up at a mooring buoy off the marina after the marina office told us by radio that they were quite full. It turned out to be a very calm and restful spot, with easy access to all the activities ashore. Adreatx is one of several larger communities on the developed S coast of Mallorca. Lots of nineteenth century buildings, restaurants and tavernas line the shore. We found we could easily take a bus into the larger town of Palma just a few minutes away. We spent several days in Adreatx as it enabled us to take a closer look at the culture and life on beautiful Mallorca. It became immediately apparent that German, English, and Dutch languages were heard as often as Spanish. Their is a thriving expat population on Mallorca with folks from all the Northern European countries living their either in retirement or seasonally. The boat marinas in Mallorca are massive, with several thousand boats lining the shore of Palma and nearby bays. Palma itself is a modern resort city with centuries old architecture. The large Gothic cathedral of Santa Maria dominates the city. Many narrow winding cobblestone streets emanate outward from the center. Recreation is the dominant theme of Palma, with people from all over the world milling about its restaurants and shops. We toured the cathedral and wandered all over the narrow streets. This part of Spain is part of Catalonia, as is Barcelona and places farther North. Catalan is the dialect of Spanish most widely spoken, but we found that most locals spoke 2 or 3 languages. While in Mallorca we consulted with a yacht agent about the clearance requirements for our boat in Spain as it was nearing the end of its 18 months customs permit in the EU, which started when we entered Italy from Montenegro. The agency called the Spanish authorities and then informed us that we had to exit the EU to one of the North African countries by May 16 or face a fine of about $25,000. This put pressure on us to make speed Southward towards Morocco as we had about 12 days to cover nearly 600 miles.

From Adreatx we sailed a Southerly course to the island of Ibiza. Most known for its beachfront resorts and many night spots catering to the the 20 to 30-something young people of Europe, Ibiza is the smaller sister to Mallorca and Minorca. Both islands have a milder climate than the mainland of Spain. Warmer in Winter, cooler in Summer, and predominantly dry. Great for wine and olive production and enjoying the outdoors. With limited time to dally in the Balearics, we chose to anchor off of a white sand beach on adjacent Formentera Island, where we lingered for several days. We anchored next to our old friends Love and Angelica on Sigma from Sweden, who we met in Greece and later Sicily. We had some fun beach combing with them and enjoying a few sips of wine, and comparing notes on our travels since we last saw each other... Formentera is one of those anchorages where one can see every feature on the bottom in about 10 to 20 feet of water.. It reminded us of the last time we were in such a lovely anchorage in Poquerrolles, France about a year earlier... There was no village on the island, so it was really a spot to enjoy the water and the beach. The water unfortunately was still too chilly for swimming.

Back to the Mainland

Deva showed good form covering the distance quickly back to the mainland of Spain. With most of the harbors on the Costa Blanca being breakwater ports, not natural harbors we had to be careful to arrive during daylight .. Ideally we would not be in such a hurry that we could not venture ashore for exercise and to view the attractions, so this called for some early morning departures... We covered the 62 miles to Morayra harbor in a little less than 10 hours.. The town was hosting a music and food festival as we arrived, so we had instant entertainment ashore! Tapas and Sangria and wine of every type at food stands lining the harbor.. We could have stayed at Morayra several days as it was very pleasant, but our deadline meant we had to sail the following morning.

From Morayra we had a shorter sail to Alicante. Michael had sailed from Alicante before in 1972, so it was a nostalgic visit. The wide boulevard with stone mosaics on the pavement was still just as beautiful. The port has grown up a lot, with three marinas and a large commercial harbor for cruise and cargo ships. We spent a couple of nights as there was much to explore. We even found a nice well- equipped gymnasium next to the marina.. so we could get some exercise after several days cooped up on the boat.

From Alicante we had a fairly long day in stronger winds. We rounded the notoriously rough Cabo de Palos and rode a large swell into the large commercial harbor of Cartagena. We found shelter inside one of the marinas inshore of a large cruise ship dock. Sheltered from wind but with a persistent surge from swell coming in from the open sea. We stayed another couple of nights in Cartagena, to rest after the long day, and because it is a city with much history and places to walk and explore. It was the principal port of the Carthaginians in the Iberian peninsula in the time of Hannibal, or about 235 BC.
Most Americans know that 1492 was the year that Columbus sailed to America. What is less commonly known is is that year also marks the beginning of Spain as we know it today. For 800 years prior to 1492, the Southern half of Spain was controlled by the Moors, the Berbers, and other Sultanates based in Africa.

Leaving Cartagena we motorsailed towards the “Costa del Sol”... Coincidentally it became more Spring or even Summer-like as the temperatures rose with longer days. We spent one night anchored off the breakwater of Garrucha. With no time to even go ashore, we pulled anchor the following morning to sail Westward along the vast agricultural area of Almeria. The coast has a surreal appearance, with miles and miles of plastic-covered greenhouses, with hardly a space between them. When we looked at Google Earth to visualize the area before we sailed there, it appeared almost as if giant rectangular areas were erased from the picture. They appear as large white blocks. We visited the port of Almerimar, a resort community covering about 10 square miles. We walked to the edge of town, where the plastic greenhouses covered the landscape as far as the eye could see. We read that the area of the coast of Almeria is a major source of hydroponic vegetables for Northern Europe..The good part of it is that the yield of vine ripened produce is exceptionally high. The bad part is that artificial fertilizers and pesticides are added to the water may not be adequately regulated for food safety. The other food source that we saw along this coast is fish farms. Bream and Sea Bass are the principal species that are farmed. The fish and produce markets we visited throughout the region have vast quantities of seafood, but rarely is any of it marked as farmed or wild caught. We learned to look for small labels on the few fish displays that say “Sauvage” or “Salvaje”. Tuna and Cod became our favorite seafood as they are abundant and wild caught in the Mediterranean.

As we neared Malaga it became apparent that we would have to clear customs and immigration there and sail across to Morocco to make the deadline imposed by EU customs. The guidebooks told us that it was an official port of entry/departure, and there were government offices there. The same guidebooks told us that yachts were not welcome in the port as it was too busy with commercial traffic.
We continued Westward a few miles to the “porto turistico” of Belamadena, which was close enough to take a taxi to Malaga, and actually shortened our next sail to Morocco. The same afternoon we entered Benalmadena and tied up, we took a taxi to the busy Malaga port. When we arrived at the area where a phone call to customs told us to go, no-one knew of the existence of a customs office. After an hour of wandering the waterfront, we found a immigration office in the Ferry terminal. There two officials said they were willing to stamp our passports, but could not give us clearance documents for the boat.
We found this confusion annoying but not entirely surprising as we had seen the same situation when we looked for customs in Corsica a year earlier. So few non-EU boats transit the area that the law enforcement agencies do not have a place set up to process the papers. We took a taxi back to our boat with the stamped passports and reasoned that perhaps the papers from the marina that would reflect our last port in Spain would be sufficient when we arrived in Morocco the next day. Early the morning of our last official permitted day in the EU, we set sail for a 70 mile passage to Tetouan, Morocco..

A brief Passage to Africa

For the first time in her travels at sea, Deva would visit the continent of Africa. We could actually see the high coast of Ceuta and Morocco from 50 miles away. We put up all sails and motorsailed to make maximum speed across the shipping lanes in the channel between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean. Two long lines of ships, one Westbound, and one Eastbound, with each vessel spaced about 12 minutes apart from the next, reminded us of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore Strait where we had traveled several years earlier. We altered our course to cross the traffic lanes at a 90 degree angle, to get out of the way of the big ships as quickly as possible. As we neared the prominent headland of Ceuta, we started to encounter a predicted adverse current and tide rips. Because of the high evaporation in the Mediterranean Sea, the currents flow nonstop from the Atlantic into the Med.
It was nearly dusk when we entered the breakwater of Marina Smir. No one answered our radio calls but we were met by several soldiers at the clearance dock when we arrived. We were directed to a small office where several officials conversed with us in Spanish and French, while talking among themselves in Arabic. One of them asked “You are from United States?” and “we have few visitors from your country” They were very friendly and explained that we could stay at the clearance dock as long as we liked.

The following day we were visited by a man named Jamil who introduced himself as the guide to the harbor. He could take us by private car to see the interesting sights in nearby Tetouan the following day. We walked a mile or two along the road towards Tetouan, and notice the hotels and shopping areas were mostly closed. We spoke with some locals who informed us that during Ramadan nothing would open until sundown. We did manage to visit one small store that was open to buy some mint tea.

Jamil and his driver showed up at 11 the following day as promised, He took us for a nearly 4 hour tour of the small city of Tetouan, his home town. We visited all of the historical sights and the central square, and had a lunch in a lodge that catered to non-Muslims. The food was good, mostly vegetarian.
Jamil then took us to two of his shopkeepers connections. This was a practice we observed in Sri Lanka and elsewhere, in which the tour guides had contracts to bring customers to certain shops. Ine was an herb shop, where the salesman spoke good English and educated us about many herbs that were indigenous for food and medicinal purposes. The other shop was a rug merchant, where we were given a similar demonstration of all kinds of Moroccan and Berber rugs, with offers to buy them at “special prices”. We felt a little adventurous and negotiated a price for one small rug, which was to be shipped to the states. In Morocco as in Turkey, the government has developed a shipping for free scheme to promote their products. After we were taken back to the boat we realized we had not agreed with our guide and his driver on the price for the tour. It turned out to be more expensive than we expected at $120 for the two of them.

When arriving at the dock where we left the boat several hours earlier we had an unpleasant surprise that our Deva had poppped her fenders above the dock and was rubbing against the rough concrete...like a giant carborundum stone. It had worn through the gelcoat to bare fiberglass in an area about 2 feet by 6 inches, which I would have to repair in our next port. Not a major damage, but the first time in nearly 4 decades of sailing that it happened. The guards at the check in dock told us it had happened but for some reason did nothing to replace the fenders while it was happening...

After 3 nights in Marina Smir we had a relatively calm window to sail across the channel to Gibraltar, some 20 miles away. We left early enough to encounter any early and still make it in time to check in with the authorities in the British enclave. We encountered the same tide rips, adverse current, and vast numbers of ships as we did a few days earlier. We also had quite strong winds on our beam, such that we were making nine knots for most of the passage, with spray coming over the bow. The massive and iconic Rock of Gibraltar loomed ahead as we got closer. We got very close to Europa Point, so called because it marks the Southern tip of Europe, where again we encountered sloppy tide rips. Finding our way through the big ship anchorage crowded with cargo and tanker ships of all sizes, we checked in by radio and entered the little marina of Ocean Village. The staff of the marina were very businesslike and efficient and cleared us both with Immigration and Customs at one time by internet. Surrounded by mega yachts and restaurants, we stayed at Ocean village for a week and enjoyed all of the attractions of Gibraltar.

We took the cable car to the top of the rock where we could see many miles towards Algeciras, one of the largest ports in Spain, and the whole Moroccan coast to the South. We walked all over the fortified inner city, and took a tour of the tunnels that penetrated seemingly endless miles of the mountain.
Gibraltar has a long and storied history of occupation by English, Moorish, and European countries,because of its strategic location at the narrow choke point of the Strait of Gibraltar. Literally the gateway to the Mediterranean Sea. Similar to Malta, farther East at the entrance to the Adriatic, many seiges were carried out by enemy nations and pirates, and much blood shed to defend the ramparts against invasion. Underscoring its strategic importance even in modern times, as recently as July 2019 a super tanker full of Iranian oil was seized by British commandos as it entered the Gibraltar Strait on its way to Syria.

Despite its imposing appearance, the land area of the Rock of Gibraltar is quite small. The border with Spain is open for easy transit by Gibraltarans and Spanish alike, as they are both member states of the EU. We walked across the border several times in the course of our stay as we found it necessary to do certain things. Car rentals, for example, are mostly done on the Spanish side by the airport. The airport runway, large enough for big passenger jets and military aircraft, lies right at the British edge of the border. When planes land or take off, the road an sidewalks close with audible alarms, and foot traffic, cars, motorcycles, and bicycles all stop for a few minutes. When the all-clear signal is given, the busy thoroughfare opens again and throngs of people stream across in both directions. While the border is relatively open, everyone has to show their passports, and occasionally have them checked and stamped. Out of about a dozen times we crossed, we were stamped only once.

After a week in Gib, as its called, we motored about a half mile across the border to the large yacht harbor of Alcaidesa Marina. Spacious and modern, it is one of the few marinas we have found in Europe that has pontoons on the side of each boat, similar to marinas in the USA. We found this refreshing as it prevents the constant wear and tear of boats rubbing ups against each other. We had another 2 ½ weeks left on our visas but we decided to keep the boat in this harbor for the duration for several reasons. One, we found there is a modern aquatic center/gymnasium about a 10 minute walk for the harbor. Another was it is a secure place to leave the boat while we made overnight excursions, or rented a car to travel to nearby attractions in Southern Spain. In our necessary haste to make it to Morocco, we did not have time to visit Granada, Ronda, or other places on the mainland. We also needed a few days to prepare the boat for a 100 day haulout in the boatyard when it was time to fly back to the states.

We took full advantage of “staying put” as we drove on the modern highways to Granada and saw the Alhambra Palace and the gypsy neighborhood of Sacromonte. We visited one of the “cave taverns” in Sacromonte where we watched a soulful performance of Flamenco, in the place where it originated in Moorish times... We were utterly enchanted by Granada. On another day we drove to the mountain village of Ronda, famous for its bullring and the high arched bridge over the gorge in the middle of the village. Ronda was popularized in the writings of Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles in the early 20th century. We also toured Mondragon palace, a prize of the conquest of the Moorish empire in Spain by King Ferdinand in 1492. Much of the architecture and art of both the Alhambra palace in Granada, and the Mondragon in Ronda is from the 800 years of Arabic occupation prior to 1492.
Another attraction we experienced in Ronda was the hike to the bottom of the gorge under the famous bridge. There we wandered through some 17th and 18th century ruins, where the trail meandered through basements of ancient buildings with the stream running underneath and tree roots descended from above.

As we approached the end of our visa permits in the EU, we rented a small apartment in Gibraltar to facilitate working in the boatyard. For our last week we walked twice a day across the runway and the border in and out of Spain. The ride to the airport to catch our flight to London and back to the USA was a mere five minutes.







Cyclo Cruising the Canal du Midi

24 May 2019
michael spence
Cyclo-Cruising the Canal Du Midi

The Canal du Midi is one of the oldest shipping canals in Europe. Originally started in 1666, over centuries it became the subject of much romantic lore and even some impressionist paintings.
It was planned to join the two seas, the Atlantic, and the Mediterranean, and in the 17th century it was considered an engineering marvel. Mike had read about it for many years and thought we could transit on our Deva. Unfortunately it is only 1.3 meters deep, and Deva draws 1.6 even without the weight of her mast and rigging. We decided to instead ride bikes along the route of the Canal, which conveniently has paths along each side for its entire length. The reason for the paths was not for pedestrian or bike access, but for the simple purpose of a towpath for horses and mules to pull the barges along the waterway. One has to consider that navigation on this canal started 150 years before the advent of motorized and steam driven propulsion. Since many bridges and at least one tunnel were of necessity included in its design, a height restriction of about 2.5 meters limited sail power, although some of the early barges did have masts and sails that lowered to deck level when passing under them.

We learned that we could easily organize an unguided tour by hiring a French company called "Relax bike tours", that provided the bikes, luggage transfers and all lodging arrangements. All we had to do was take a train from our boat in Spain to the start of and at the end for the week-long journey. And of course do the cycling for 120 miles in the middle. So began the journey from Ginesta, Spain to Carcassonne, France by train. Sounds simple, but it took all day. Taxi to train station, 1st train into Barcelona transfer to another train which made several stops and we had to transfer trains twice in route. Finally another taxi to our hotel.

Our first day was spent exploring lovely Carcassonne, a medieval city in the Languedoc region of Southern France. Carcassonne has a history too long and complicated to describe here. It was originally fortified by the Romans in 100 BC, increasingly rebuilt and by the 8th century AD was known to be one of the strongest fortresses on the route from Europe to the Iberian Peninsula. Many kingdoms and fiefdoms occupied the fortress over centuries. In 1258 it was a border defense between France and The Kingdom of Aragon. Because it lies on the Aude River and the present day Canal du Midi, it was a port city for the woolen trades and wheat transport and more recently wine transport in the Languedoc valley.

It was a windy 42 degrees F on the morning we met with our tour organizer Timo. He delivered our bikes, provided maps and took our luggage we began our journey from the hotel to the canal where we would officially start. We made it about 6 blocks before needing to stop. Our hands were so cold we knew we wouldn't be able to go the distance. We began our search shopping for gloves. We had biking gloves, but they were inadequate. After finding hand protection our next big decision was made: To wait until noon when things warmed up. Therefore, our next stop was to a cafe where we enjoyed tea and coffee while waiting for the kitchen to open for lunch. Fortunately we only had 45k to travel so leaving at 12:30 was not a problem.

Our first very pleasant discovery was there is no shortage of interesting cafes and eateries along the Canal du Midi. The hard part was not spending the entire day sitting in one of them!

The old towpaths along the shores of the canal where we were to cycle were often challenging and sometimes closed. Traveling throughout the country side along the meandering Midi was however beautiful and interesting. We were fascinated by the engineering of the many locks and aqueducts along the route. We also met a lovely couple from Luxembourg, also cycling along the Canal . They were a little older than us but were covering more miles than we were each day, often not arriving to their hotel until after dark. It was always a treat to run into them along our route.

We ended our first day in Homps just in time to catch the winery still open at 5:02. They hadn't locked the doors yet but we could tell they were getting ready to go home. After tasting several samples and getting the history of the region, the shop owners drove off in separate cars as we packed up our 4 bottles into our panniers. We were pleasantly surprised when we finally found our hotel. Our host and hostess showed us to the courtyard garden which was beautiful and handed each of us a glass of champagne. The hotel was the former mansion of a wine merchant, and the town of Homps and the Canal was important in the shipping of their product. Our room was amazing, with it's high ceilings and large size. The furniture,including a king size bed, desk, and sitting area, looked like dollhouse furnishings.

Day 2 We road from Homps to Narbonne which was a hard ride as we were going into a strong headwind most of the day. After a good night sleep we explored the city which turned out to be a real gem. Our favorite was the cathedral of Saints Just and Saveur which dates from the 13th century. The exterior is striking with it's buttresses and gargoyles, the inside is glowing in light from the stained glass and the museum and treasures kept us entertained for several hours. The cathedral was built in 1292, and to our eyes seemed really, really old. (After all we come from a nation that is less than 300 years old) Curiously, as sometimes happens in this part of the world, a time capsule emerges that is several centuries older. In the square in front of the eight-century old cathedral is a recent excavation about 50 feet square that reveals a section of the Roman "Via Domitia", the ancient highway connection the Roman Empire with Spain, built in 100 BC, a thousand years earlier..

We would have stayed several days in Narbonne, but we had miles to cover ahead.

Day 3 Narbonne to Beziers. Getting out of the city and onto the secondary roads was a real challenge. Mike had to follow the map very carefully, street by street and at one point our road came to a dead end where a new large highway was being built. We cycled up to 3 old men and showed them the map with the direction and they said yes, over there and pointed across the construction zone of a four-lane highway. It had rained the night before so we were looking at an area of mud which lead to loose gravel inclines on both sides of the project. There were several small tunnels under the motorway but they were all flooded to a depth of a foot or two. Not having an alternative route we headed out across the mud. We didn't get far as this mud was like cement. With each step our shoes would gather half an inch. The following step another half inch until our shoes were heavy and it felt like we were walking in platform shoes. Our bikes had similar troubles as with each rotation of the tires the mud was so thick it caught under the fenders causing the wheels to completely stop. We finally had to carry the bikes one by one to the other side where we had to use sticks to poke out the caked on mud.

Noteworthy that the bikes we were given for the tour were heavy mountain bikes, weighing about 25 lbs each, not the light road bikes we are used to that area bout 16 lbs. It was appropriate to have them, though, as our road bikes would not have negotiated the many
rutted paths, and the mud. Our daily mileage was about 30 to 40 kilometers, less than the 50 plus a day we averaged in November along the Rhone, but about right for this Canal.
Once on the other side all went smoothly until we reached our hotel for the night. Mike caused some drama when in the dark hallway which lead to our room he (while feeling the wall for a light switch) accidentally hit the fire alarm which sent the front desk gal running up the stairs. Inside our room we listened to the alarm for what seemed like a very long time while we sipped on a bottle of the wine from our bag. C'est la vie!

Day 4 in the morning we walked around Beziers in the rain. We saw the 14th century cathedral and the old bridge before heading to Marseillan where we spent 2 nights. Marseillan is a small, quiet town known for it's mussels, oysters, clams and other shellfish, farmed in the vast marsh of Le Etang De Tau.... We enjoyed our day walking through the local open market and riding our bikes to the beach.

Our final day we road along the ocean from Marseillan to Sete where we would meet up with our tour organizer and return our bikes. Sete, on the Mediterranean, marked the area we had sailed past a few months ago near where we tied up at Agde and saw our first view of the Canal du Midi. Sete is also called the "Venice of France" as it is a city built along canals and waterways.

The train ride from Sete to Barcelona the following day was very fast, with the train silently reaching speeds of 180 mph. Through its windows we watched as the coastline of France and Spain that had taken us several days to traverse in November went by in an hour and a half.

From the Gulf of Lyon to Spain

10 December 2018
In Cap D Agde we tied up in another very large French marina, (with over 3000 boats) adjoining an amusement park-like area with a Ferris wheel and a roller coaster. The main attraction for us was that we could tie securely about a half mile inside a labyrinth of canals, far from the swell of the Mediterranean Sea. It also features a "naturiste" harbor which is dedicated to clothing optional sailors. We were also interested in getting close to the famous Canal du Midi, which goes across Southern France to the Atlantic and maybe cycling along the ancient towpaths on the canal. Just for fun we had to ride the Ferris wheel up about 200 feet over the harbor, from where we could see many miles in all directions. We walked to the nearby old medieval town of Agde, about 4 miles away, where the Canal du Midi joins the Canal du Sete that travels inside the coast all the way to the mouth of the Rhone River. The Canal du Midi, considered an engineering masterpiece at the time was finished in 1672, a time when the canal barges that traveled on it were powered by draft horses or oxen towing ropes from both sides of the canal. After the industrial age steam and motor powered barges carried freight across the agricultural and wine making region of Languedoc. Today the only vessels transiting the canal are small tourist barges and yachts, and none of them can draw more than about 5 feet. We gazed wistfully at the canal in Agde, and started planning a side trip to come back in the Spring and take a barge and bike tour on the canal when the weather would be better.

From Cap D Agde we thought we were going to make our final push across the Gulf of Lyon, so not to risk being stuck in port due to the high winds so often encountered there. We had observed the Fall pattern of longer periods of high winds from either North or South, with fewer and shorter windows of better weather for sailing. The day we picked to sail Southward started out nicely enough, with gentle Northerlies and sunny skies... We were averaging seven knots plus for the first five hours.
Then Mother Nature gave us new orders, as the wind clocked around 180 degrees to the Southeast, and over a 20 minute period increased to 30 knots. We went from a leisurely pace with a full genoa out to bucking into strong headwinds with decks awash and reduced sails in seconds, and changed our course to go to nearby St Cyprian, a small marina about 15 miles closer than planned.

Saint Cyprian was small, but sheltered enough under the circumstances. As we tied up it became very rainy and windier yet. We decided to stay a couple nights and wait for the wind and sea to settle down. New friends and fellow sailors, however, were getting ready to sail out in the late afternoon to make a nighttime crossing around the fabled Cape Cross that marks the spot where the Pyrenees meet the Sea... I chatted with one of the crews as they were readying to go, and they told me they were going to Guadeloupe, over 3000 miles away in the Caribbean.. and they weren't going to let a little Mediterranean squall spoil their plans. "Bravo and Bon Voyage" I replied, as they let go their lines.

It seems that Guadeloupe was on other people's minds as well. Later that same day I chatted with one of the other boaters that tied up overnight, with a young French couple aboard. They too were departing for Guadeloupe, and hoping not to make any more unscheduled stops... So it seems that late November is the sendoff period for hundreds of yachts setting sail to cross the North Atlantic bound for the Caribbean.
Leaving St Cyprian, we said goodbye to our sailing in France.

Sailing around the edge of the Pyrenees.

Unlike the sailors we met that were on a schedule to get to the Caribbean, we had time to make our crossing into Spain with comfort. From Saint Cyprian, once the clouds cleared away we could clearly see the snow-clad flanks of the Pyrenees just a few miles away. The weather forecast for the area around Cape Cross showed a daily cycle of high winds during the daytime and lighter ones at night. The Cape is a confluence of current and swells that makes transit in high winds uncomfortable or unsafe...So we contemplated a passage in darkness even though there is a nearly 20 degree F. temperature drop at night, from the mid 60s to the mid 40's. We staged our crossing by first sailing over the the quaint natural harbor of Port la Selva (literally translated :"Port of the Jungle"). We anchored in the mid afternoon and barbecued an early dinner, so we could get underway at 3AM, when the wind was forecast to be light.

Crossing over or around the Pyrenees is the subject of some historical significance and much research.. In 218 BC, the Carthaginian general Hannibal from North Africa is recorded to have taken his army through the Iberian peninsula all the way to the outskirts of Rome in present day Italy, in order to conquer the Roman Empire. It is thought by many that his route across the Strait of Gibraltar, then the Pyrenees, and then the Alps, necessitated some travel on the water. Somehow this was accomplished with his complement of ten thousand plus soldiers, two thousand horses, and some 50 battle elephants. Yes, battle elephants, which at the time were widely respected and feared, like the Abrams tanks of their time... There are paintings of the turbaned Hannibal with a saber and a dagger on his hip, sitting atop one of the elephants as his army made its way across Southern Europe. Scholars still debate the route most likely taken, with scientists today searching for elephant dung in the centuries old footpaths through the mountains. As with most human migrations, the water route is often the most likely, and this gave us something to think about as we navigated through a clear cold night around the Cape of the Pyrenees.

Morning brought us before dawn into the palm-lined Bay of Roses, where we put our anchor down in calm waters to rest and recover before going in to the port itself. Around midday we moved the boat alongside the marina and ventured into the lovely little Catalonian town of Roses, where we were surprised to see and hear flocks of parakeets fluttering from tree to tree. For the better part of a week we enjoyed staying alongside within the comforting protection of a breakwater harbor. We found a very nice public aquatic center and took advantage of swimming in warm water. Most people we met could speak in at least two and often three or more languages. Catalan, which is more similar to Portuguese, is the first language, and the one used in signage on the roads... Castillian Spanish is the national language. Everywhere we saw the flag of Catalonia, and rarely the flag of Spain, reminding us that only a year ago the region of Catalonia passed a referendum vote to become independent from Spain. After the referendum passed the popular vote, the central government of Spain based in Madrid declared it null and void and arrested some of the leaders of the separatist movement. No one we met however, expressed any passion or political ire. Life goes on as it has throughout its long history being part of many Kingdoms and Fiefdoms. After all it was only 1939 when Catalonia first became part of the Spanish nation. In Roses we saw the beautiful tree-lined promenades that most of the cities of Spain are known for. People were out walking every day, and most of the shops and restaurants were still open despite the advent of Winter.

It was with some melancholy that we sailed South from Roses after nearly a week of enjoying its many attractions. We steered nearly straight South, past several picturesque little harbors. As we passed latitude 42 we realized we were in a distinctly more friendly climate with softer winds and clearer skies. We arrived in the late afternoon at the town of Blanes and found a welcome resting spot. Next to us was tied up a 55 foot motor yacht with a French owner and a Guadeloupe captain, who we befriended instantly. They were also headed for Guadeloupe, like the boats we met in St Cyprian, but their route was going to Mallorca where they would be taken aboard a ship for the trans Atlantic voyage. We swapped some stories with the Guadeloupian captain about our memorable stays on his island in 2008 and earlier. We waited two days for a passing squall to blow through before sailing again towards Barcelona. In that time we toured the nearby Botanical Gardens. Finally we had some real brisk sailing weather on the stern, so we flew along at 8 plus knots.

Beautiful Barcelona

Badalona is one of several large marinas in Barcelona area. It is just a few miles North of the heart of the city, with a fast and quiet electric train going into town every 20 minutes or so and taking just ten minutes to get there. We picked this spot to nest for a week or two and enjoy all the attractions of the city. We are not sure that was long enough, so many are the eye-popping things to see. We started with some jogging and walking along the beachfront promenade of Badalona itself, which goes for many miles to the North. As with Roses, it is lined with Palm trees, and the flocks of monk parakeets screech happily as the fill the sky with a green blur. On our first train trip to the city, we got off and walked the wide promenade of the Rambla into the Gothic quarter. We marveled at how the Rambla is over 100 meters side, but only about a quarter of it is for vehicles. Pedestrians rule in Barcelona! We spent some time wandering the Gothic Quarter, especially the Cathedral, a masterpiece from the 14th century with spires reaching hundreds of feet into the sky. We got lost for several hours in the Gothic quarter simply to admire the many shops, cafes and street artists in the area. Somehow we made it back to the Rambla and towards the waterfront where several superyachts were ties up next to a replica of a 15th century galleon and rows of cafes and tapas bars.

The Senegalese Market

Actually there are several "markets" where the Senegalese vendors lay out there wares for the passing public. On the floor of the central train station at Plaza Catalunya, on the grass lawn of the Ciutadella park, and in several spots along the waterfront. They arrive and depart en masse, with twenty or thirty men carrying all their wares in large blankets like knapsacks over their shoulders. Their "wares" are knockoff shoes, ladies purses, football jerseys, baseball caps, and outerwear., mostly "genuine fake" We stopped to visit them a few times in various places and found them to be good natured and friendly business people. Debby bought a jacket from one man, and we learned a few things about their country on the Atlantic coast of Africa. There were also some musicians playing beautiful Senegalese music. In several places we found their markets, the mostly male vendors were all from Senegal. Despite competing with each other selling many of the same products for negotiated prices, there was no appearance of jealousy or bad behavior. It reminded us a little of the Rastafarian market in the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent, where one vendor said we should buy from the others to "spread the love"...

A City of Monuments

At the foot of the Rambla stands the enormous bronze statue of Christopher Columbus, looking out to sea, atop a hundred-foot tall obelisk. This monument was one of several that were erected in time for the 1888 Universal Exposition, or Worlds Fair, as it is now known. That year marks a significant moment in the history of Barcelona when many of its modern features and even the "Modernisme" movement in art and architecture were started. A few blocks off the Rambla, on another one of our walks in the city, we toured the Ciutadella, a neighborhood where once stood a military fortress. The fortress had become a symbol of oppressive Spanish authority over Catalonia which was very unpopular in Barcelona, so it was razed to the ground and a modern park-like neighborhood erected in its place. The park incorporated a Zoo, a museum of Art and Science, and a Cascade with a gold-clad bronze monument to Aurora, the goddess of dawn, atop a chariot pulled by four horses. Most importantly, the Ciutadella represents the new course of planning undertaken by the city to large green spaces and parks. The shift in urban planning that occurred in the late 19th century is clear when looking at a map of the Gothic Quarter with its three-meter wide streets and comparing it to all the surrounding areas with boulevards a hundred meters wide.

The Majestic Sagrada Familia Basilica

One of the last landmarks we visited in Barcelona is the grandest of all: The Sagrada Familia basilica. Seen from a distance, it looks like an enormous sand castle made by dripping sand mixed with water. ti is different from any cathedral we have see in Europe and almost surreal in appearance. Little wonder that now it is the most visited attraction in all of Spain. It had a humble beginning in 1882, when the cathedral of Barcelona was already 300 years old and a grand structure in its own right. It was conceived as an "alms church", or a church for the poor, funded by charitable donations. The now-celebrated architect Antoni Gaudi labored with its design from his 30th birthday until he died over 40 years later, run over by a tram when he walked nearby. Gaudi had dedicated his last years to the project and received no money for it. Today it is still unfinished, with a completion date estimated around 2026. It costs 25 million Euros a year to maintain and continue the construction, and all of the money comes from donations and visitors who pay to see it.

It took us a whole day to see the Basilica. We marveled at how the internal columns seen from the ground floor are like the trunks and branches of Redwood trees, yet made of stone pieces erected one by one. It is said that Gaudi drew his inspiration from nature, since all of nature is a creation of God. The outside stoneworks and bronze panels are carved with many creatures of the natural world, from lions and birds down to the smallest insects. The story of Gaudi also says he studied other religions and their places of worship, and included features from Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. One can easily see the resemblance of his onion shaped turrets to mosques in the Middle East. More unique to Mr Gaudi is his use of colored and enameled mosaics covering the many domes at the tops of the structure, making them look like fruit or ice cream cones. The sheer size of the Sagrada familia, nearly 600 feet tall, is impressive too. It is nearly twice the height of the majestic Barcelona Cathedral. Sagrada Familia cannot be called a cathedral because that title is given to the older Catholic structure which is the seat of the Bishop of Barcelona. Both churches have been visited and blessed by Popes of the Catholic church several times.

Antoni Gaudi was regarded as a genius among architects in Barcelona when he was still a young man. He was commissioned to plan several smaller structures throughout the city, and in particular a planned residential community now called Park Guell, named after the wealthy patron who started it in the late 1880's. The lots in the community are triangular, seemingly the favorite geometric shape used by Gaudi as a building block for his many mosaic coverings. Only one fifth of the land area in the triangles was allowed to be occupied by buildings, the rest was deliberately left open for green spaces.
Many of the Park Guell buildings had the characteristic shiny ice cream cone shapes of enameled tile mosaic. We walked away from our day spent admiring the buildings of Mr Gaudi with our brains saturated.

Our last day of sailing for 2018

Once we felt we had given Barcelona a fair amount of time and several visits by train, we had to take Deva to her nesting place for our 90 day mandatory leave from the EU. The place we chose is a small harbor near Barcelona's airport. It was just a few hours away, and we picked the perfect day for it. Clear blue skies and light winds carried us to Ginesta harbor, which is best known as a beach community. Miles of clean sandy beach stretch in both directions. Tapas bars and coffee shops line the boardwalk. The Senegalese shoe and clothing vendors have spots to sell their wares. There are bike and jogging paths with many people out every day using them. We have almost two weeks to prepare the boat for the boatyard, a very civilized schedule. It was sunny almost every day, despite cooler nights with the onset of Winter. This section of the Spanish coast is oriented East to West, such that we can see both the sunrise and sunset over the same ocean, a rarity in our travels..






Deva's Photos - Main
Over two years passed as DEVA was confined to to sailing only short passages in the Caribbean.
81 Photos
Created 1 August 2022
a short history of our boat
13 Photos
Created 26 October 2021
Sailing from Europe to the Caribbean, across the Atlantic
68 Photos
Created 8 January 2020
95 Photos
Created 21 July 2019
98 Photos
Created 24 May 2019
122 Photos
Created 10 December 2018
we launched our bikes from the boat in Port Napoleon
40 Photos
Created 10 November 2018
106 Photos
Created 31 July 2018
On our way back to the USA from Europe, we sailed on the beautiful 4 masted bark Sea Cloud
35 Photos
Created 7 March 2018
65 Photos
Created 30 January 2018
95 Photos
Created 20 November 2017
65 Photos
Created 28 October 2017
51 Photos
Created 11 July 2017
170 Photos
Created 14 May 2017
76 Photos
Created 22 April 2017
73 Photos
Created 2 December 2016
19 Photos
Created 8 November 2016
287 Photos
Created 3 March 2016
115 Photos
Created 17 January 2016
90 Photos
Created 11 December 2015
127 Photos
Created 19 November 2015
60 Photos
Created 17 November 2015
36 Photos
Created 26 October 2015
41 Photos
Created 5 May 2015
30 Photos
Created 19 April 2015
28 Photos
Created 19 April 2015
40 Photos
Created 8 March 2015
21 Photos
Created 15 November 2014
16 Photos
Created 15 November 2014
117 Photos
Created 26 April 2014
119 Photos
Created 12 April 2014
68 Photos
Created 11 April 2014
68 Photos
Created 7 March 2014
28 Photos
Created 7 March 2014
38 Photos
Created 8 February 2014
17 Photos
Created 6 February 2014
42 Photos
Created 16 January 2014
22 Photos
Created 15 January 2014
25 Photos
Created 31 December 2013
3 Photos
Created 22 December 2013
43 Photos
Created 13 December 2013
55 Photos
Created 3 December 2013
27 Photos
Created 13 November 2013
Sailing up inside the Great Barrier Reef
19 Photos
Created 23 October 2013
69 Photos
Created 7 April 2013
16 Photos
Created 16 March 2013
27 Photos
Created 2 March 2013
24 Photos
Created 14 February 2013
49 Photos
Created 13 February 2013
9 Photos
Created 25 January 2013
74 Photos
Created 23 January 2013
5 Photos
Created 23 January 2013
41 Photos
Created 23 January 2013
we just returned from 6 months in the USA
2 Photos
Created 6 November 2012
some images form our first days in australia
10 Photos
Created 24 May 2012
32 Photos
Created 1 May 2012
January and February 2012 in New Zealand
23 Photos
Created 5 February 2012
more new zealand
14 Photos
Created 7 January 2012
we couldn't fit all the pics into one album!
20 Photos
Created 30 November 2011
2009-11
122 Photos
Created 27 October 2011
Dec 2010 to present
123 Photos
Created 24 October 2011
about Deva
9 Photos
Created 17 October 2009
Our voyage from the Panama canal to the Marquesas, Tuamotus, and Society Islands
64 Photos
Created 4 October 2009

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01 August 2022
81 Photos
26 October 2021
13 Photos