heading to Sardinia (again)

Had our first cloudy and rainy day since leaving Bermuda. I loved it!  (Must be my mom's North German blood coming through.)  Good time to catch up on homework for the kids and bouncy conditions in the anchorage made it perfect for some great swinging on the halyards in harnesses for the kids.  Then at night we had a big storm with lightening and wild gusts...glad to have a good anchor and all chain.  Now we head out again...

 

 

 

No joy on reaching Sardinia

Leaving Cartagena was a rough start...the waves were bouncing off the steep sides of the bay and coming every which way, wind blowing right on our nose...slamming up and down....within 20 minutes Hugo was curled up in a ball in the cockpit trying to sleep it out, Maggie was communing with the trash can, and even the cat was throwing up.  Got everyone situated and then had my own private discussion with the sea gods over the back rail. 

Finally mellowed out and we surfed along at 9+ knots all day, but overnight the winds changed and we were motoring into the waves and wind at 4 knots.  Ugh.  But that's why we always try to research several other options before and after our planned destination - that way we can adjust as needed. 

So here we are now, anchored in a lovely little bay on Ibiza, one of Spain's Balearic Islands.  Hard to believe that just a few miles from here are the infamous clubs of Ibiza, home of the rave.  One club has 20 bars and can hold up to 10,000 people!  I'm quite sure we'd never see Maggie again if she was a bit older...



Anchored in Ensenada de Xarraca on Ibiza, Balearic Islands

next stop Sardinia (Take II)

Everything was stowed, last goodbyes done, ready to cast of lines...flipped on Raymarine instrument switch (depth, wind, autopilot etc)...nothing.  Tried again...nothing.   Two days later, the corroded wire is fixed and we're ready to head out tomorrow again. 

No complaints here though, I was glad to stay for more of the Punic War festival - great chance for Hugo to practice more Spanish interpreting for us, and I absolutely love free theater at night on the dock with all the flaming torches and music.  And more water fights with the other boat kids!

The culprit: corroded data cable

 and detached ground

 

 

Battle of Sagunto



Wedding of Hannibal and Himilce

epic water battles on the dock with other boat kids



Even Romans sometimes need a

Frankfurt Speedy Hot Dog

after a big day at the festival


 

In Cartagena Spain, next stop Sardinia Italy

Sailed overnight from Almerimar and spent the last few days in Cartagena, exploring the incredible museums and ruins.  Unbelievable layers of history, from Carthaginians to Franco.  Saw our first Roman theater and baths, likely the first of many over the next year. 

We arrived just in time for the huge Carthaginian and Roman festival, so we are all also getting a great history lesson in the Punic Wars and the entire cast of characters from Hannibal and Himilci to Scipio.  Glad to have good internet connection and History channel documentaries on YouTube to supplement.

Tomorrow we leave Spain and head to Italy.  First stop is Sardinia (will take a few days to get there) and then Sicily.



Roman theater, view from the castle

\

Inside the Roman theater, almost all to ourselves

Museum exhibit on the geometry of Roman theaters



Roman baths - complete with foot bath, cold plunge pool,

steam room and hot tubs...



Front row seats for the opening procession

 

Scipio and Roman troops

 

Out exploring, joined by two other boat kids -

the only other American kids we've met since

leaving the Azores. Our kids are really

enjoying the company!

prop fixed!

Tenho came out of the water this morning at 9am, and we had one hour on the slings while the travel lift crew went to get coffee.  Strike Team Alpha all the way...within one hour John had the new propeller blades on while the kids changed all the zincs (the sacrificial metal rings that are desgined to corrode from electrolysis before the propeller, thus saving your prop). Tomorrow we're on our way again!  Many thanks to the great support from the propeller guys at Flexofold in Denmark. 

Funny story of the day...I lost my balance (note to self, no more G&Ts before noon) and dropped two loads of freshly washed laundry into the water next to the boat. Many thanks to kids & hubby who quickly grabbed boat hooks, fishing lines and net and fished almost everything out of the water as it sank. Only loss was a towel and my favorite pair of lime green and white polka dot undies.  I can only imagine the surprise someone will get someday when they float up on a mooring line.



Tenho coming out of water

(note only 2 prop blades)



Tenho pit crew

 

Fishing for...uh...laundry?

 

road trip to Granada

Prop just arrived, wish us luck tomorrow as we haul the boat out and put it on. While we were waiting for it to arrive, we rented a car and spent a couple nights in Granada. Very amusing drive to get there, because our GPS kept trying to have us turn onto highway on-ramps that were either closed or didn't exist.  We’re assuming the debt crisis cancelled the completion of long sections of the new coastal highway, but only after the plans were submitted to the Tom-Tom folks. We passed beautiful bridges that didn't connect to anything, and more of the omni-present deserted half-finished building construction sites. 

The drive also gave us an up-close look at the sea of plastic we’d seen from the water.  It's like the California Central Valley meets the Godzilla of Glad wrap:  mile after mile of coastal scrub desert blanketed in plastic greenhouses. We also were in the nearby town on market day when a march against austerity measures came through, complete with communist and Che Guevera flags…what an opportunity for the kids to learn about all sorts of issues.

In Granada, we stayed at a lovely little hotel with a view of the Alhambra from the roof-top terrace.  Our first night we walked over to the old Muslim quarter of Granada called the Albayzin and went to a unique flamenco show, sort of an artsy new-age version.  We were all in awe of the metal flying saucer-shape instrument, which we later discovered is called a "Bell" and was just invented a few years ago. And with kids, we were given front row seats…what a treat. 

The next morning we got up bright and early to get our first opening of the day reservations for the Alhambra – the lovely quiet cool uncrowded part of the day – the perfect time to go.  The kids loved all the flowing water and the amazing designs covering every surface (although I’m guessing that in 10 years, they’ll only remember the leaf-boats in the water).  We have a couple books on Islamic art and had fun trying to recreate some of the designs with protractors and rulers.  Our favorite book is Islamic Design – A Genius for Geometry by Daud Sutton if anyone wants to give it a try.

Our new favorite instrument:

the "flying saucer" hand pan

Alhambra garden

Geometric wall design

Maggie drawing wall design

Courtyard of the Lions

 



Leaf race down an Alhambra waterway

Trying out geometric Islamic art

1. draw overlapping circles from the intersection points, same diameter

2. connect the points of the"flower petals" into a hexagon

3. connect the midpoints of the hexagons into interlocking triangles



Ode to a broken propeller

Back in Spain and approaching the pier,

Maggie’s question was so very clear:

“Hey Mom, what’s that terrible shudder? 

Did we lose our propeller or rudder?

Our boat shouldn’t shake

like a blue jello cake!”

 

Within seconds we knew Maggie was right,

so John went to confirm our sad plight.

We put down the swim ladder

to see what was the matter.

His dive wasn’t long,

he knew just what was wrong.

Our voyage has come to a stop,

we lost a blade on our prop.

It had three when it was new

and now it has two,

and makes a terrible sound

when we motor around.

So we’re stuck here in Almerimar,

thank goodness there’s more than one bar!

Ice cream for the kids, for us it’s just rum,

while we wait for the new prop to come.

Morocco



Woke up the other day and sailed to Africa...life doesn't get much better.  Went with the kids to Tetouan, a Moroccan city at the base of the Rif mountains, and walked around the medina, through the souk (market) and kasbah.  My favorite part was the utter chaos of the border as we left the small Spanish enclave on the African coast where we left the boat and entered Morocco, along with dozens of old women scurrying across under staggering bundles of clothes, guys on bikes loaded with food, well-to-do people in dark shades and clean cars, and everything else in between, all accompanied by frantic yelling and honking.  Only a handful of (obvious) foreigners, hardly any women without head coverings, and even fewer women driving cars on the highways.  The Tetouan medina was a winding maze of little streets, where one minute we were in quiet whitewashed passageways lined by intriguing little doorways, and around the next corner, we entered the chaos of the souk.  It was filled with tiny little shops of every kind imaginable, from carpentry, to leather goods (with the vats of acid for tanning right behind it), spices and other food, the oddest assemblages of electronics, random articles of clothing...you name it, it was there, along with what seemed like half the city's population.  People either ignored us or were very friendly, with none of the badgering to buy things that I expected.  Definitely a great experience and worth going back to explore more of the country.  But need to keep going to make it Turkey for winter, so now we're back on the southern coast of Spain.

Leaving the Rock of Gibraltar behind and sailing to Africa



 
 

Crossing the border into Morocco

 

Morocco:  Tetouan's medina and Rif mountains

Maggie buys a rug while Hugo drinks mint tea

 



photos from Gib and bike ride inland

We must have walked 10 miles all over Gibraltar from the windy windy top down to caves, a Moorish castle, and Great Siege/WWII tunnels...what a history-filled rock.  And everywhere we went, there were Barbary macaques (like little monkeys without tails) hoping for a handout. Then we rented a car, left the cat with a big pile of food, and drove  north up into the mountains to a beautiful little town of white-washed houses draped over a pointy hill, topped with a Moorish castle and 1800's church.   Our first night on shore in 3 months! We rented bikes and rode 36 km (22 miles) along a train track converted to a bike path through  30 tunnels and over 4 bridges, past hills covered with scrub and olive trees, with the occasional white ranch house.  Most of Spain seems to still be on vacation at the beach - we didn't see a single person the whole ride.   We're slowly getting used to the Spanish time schedule...many businesses close down completely in August/early Septemeber when everyone is on vacation, tourist sights also close on Mondays, and  particularly in small towns, EVERYTHING closes for several hours every afternoon for siesta.  And as in Portugal, a lot of empty houses and half finished construction projects due to the construction boom and European debt crisis.  Tomorrow we leave Europe for awhile and sail across the Straits to Morocco.

Hugo and Gibraltar's Barbary apes



Olvera, the town where we spent the night




Scenery on our bike ride on the Via Verde de la Sierra



The kids swear they can navigate

the tunnels by using echolocation.

I like hearing them go "boop...boop...boop"

the whole way through because then at

least I know they are somewhere

ahead of me in the dark.

One of 30 tunnels, this one is 990 meters long

 (and one of the few with good lighting)