Leaving Tarragona

After many days of watching weather systems and watching our winter community friends leave the Port of Tarragona (first two pictures below), Toucan Tango prepared to leave too. We said a sad goodbye to the Port staff, who had been so very helpful to us. Especially Helena, whose English helped us learn so much Spanish over the 5 months we were there. We did a last hose-down of the boat and a last water fill of the tanks. On March 20, 2002, we let her lines go and headed north.

Malcolm and Jan, just about to cast off from Tarragona	Roger and Sylvia, sorting out a fouled slime line, just before leaving Tarragona	Garry, Helena and Ann, just before heading out

There was very little wind, so we motored most of the first half of the day. Eventually we got the sails up, but continued to motor-sail, as our speed slowed to less than 3 knots with only the sails pulling us along. Five month's worth of barnacles and slime were definitely keeping a brake on things. Only about an hour later we took the sails down again, as what little wind there was had shifted, and the sails were actually slowing us down.

We had made reservations (!) at Port Ginesta, and we arrived there about 5pm, as planned. Note that this was to be the ONLY marina at which we actually arrived, either on time or not, as planned. More on that later. Port Ginesta is a large marina just 12 km south of Barcelona city, and is very popular with cruisers who don't want to stay in the city of Barcelona, but who want easy access to it. It's less expensive than Barcelona proper, but its charges are still high, even in winter season. We were only there for the night, however, so we didn't take advantage of the proximity. There were, however, a couple of good chandleries, so like any good cruisers, we bought a couple of things that had been on "the list" that we hadn't seen elsewhere.

We left Ginesta early the next morning, headed for Port Balis, some 35 miles north. About half an hour out of the port, we were stopped by the Guardia Civil, who wanted to know everything about us. We politely told them, and gave them our papers. Fortunately they didn't try to board us, as the sea was getting quite lumpy by that time. Took about 45 minutes out of our day, which we weren't happy about, but there wasn't much to be done about it. The sea continued to build, and the wind turned dead ahead. We decided that our planned destination was too far, and so we turned into Port Olimpico, the newer harbour just north of the main harbour in Barcelona. We called, and they could take us - YEAH!! Tied up at the fuel dock, registered, paid our fees (high), and filled up with fuel. Then the interesting part, working our way into a 30-meter berth between two 80 footers. Garry's steering skills had been steadily improving, and we got in without incident. Not that we had a choice, but we then realized the downsides of being between two big guys. For one thing, we cringed when we realized one of them was a floating bar, though we were lucky in that it was only open during lunch. The other was mercifully unoccupied. Secondly though, they towered over us, and we had little sunshine on deck. The dock is also VERY high (too high to use our passarelle), there was a lot of surge in the harbor, and there was only 100-amp electrical service to the boat. This meant we couldn't get off the boat, and had to go without heat for the night! We were glad to head out early the next day to head further north.

We targeted the Port of Palamos, some 30 miles south of Cabo Creus for our next stop. Mid-morning, we were stopped AGAIN by the Guardia. This time they gave us a paper that showed we'd been "checked". Still, it took at least 45 minutes from our planned sailing day. We did get going eventually again, and with lots of motorsailing, we arrived about 5 pm. They had room for us, and after a day of motoring over 50 miles under overcast skies with no wind, we were glad to tie up. Their fees were quite modest in this winter season, and with the next day dawning bright and sunny, we stayed to explore the town. It's a very picked-up seashore city, with lots of focus on tourism. We found the local market, and a great bakery. (Does it seem that we are continually focused on food?) Based on weather forecasts, we decided to try to round Cabo Creus the following day.

The wind turned south that night, making our berth at Palamos a bad lee "shore", so we were up early, and ready to leave at 6. We thought we would have a following wind, which we did for about an hour. But, the trusty wind turned north again, and we were heading into it. We had planned to round Cabo Creus by about noon that day. Creus is the Point Conception of the Spanish/French coast, and the winds generally howl around it. The word is that one should never try to round Creus, in either direction, in strong winds, and if necessary, go at least 5 miles offshore. Well, we tried for a short while to make it around, but the winds were just too strong, and they were building. So we headed into Porto L'Escala in the Baie of Roses, and with only a bit of excitement, found a secure berth there.

Entering a port along the Spanish coast is always an interesting experience. Most of them require you to head into shore, and just before going up on the beach (it seems), you make a sharp 90-degree turn into the entry. It's usually completely calm behind the breakwater, and it's always a relief to be there - but there is often that moment when you think - did I read that chart correctly?

We wondered to ourselves when the excitement and tension of mooring would give way to a more relaxed attitude. Soon, we hope.

L'Escala is a wealthy, tourist mecca, with a charming old town, lots of good beach areas, and at least 100 pizza joints. As it happens, we arrived there on the weekend of Semana Santa, also known as Easter. In many of the tourist areas, half the town shuts down for the winter, EXCEPT for the week of Semana Santa. So, there were lots of people, and lots going on. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate, and it rained much of the time. However, with a break in the winds not forecast for at least 3 or 4 days, and VERY reasonable winter rates (€14/night). We took the opportunity to relax and catch up on some sleep.

Fortunately, just a few miles by bus up the road, there was a set of ruins that we had been advised to see. There had been a Greek city built there, and then later on a separate Roman town adjacent. There were remains of both, and it proved to be a very interesting tour. The pictures of the ruins are less impressive than the real thing, as the terrain was very flat, but there were some stunning fruit trees in bloom on the site that begged to be photographed.

Eventually, the wild winds calmed, and we left L'Escala very early one morning. Virtually no wind around Creus, and in fact, no visibility - fog surrounded us much of the way!

Finally in the afternoon, the fog cleared, the sun came out, and we motored in to Canet at about 2 in the afternoon of March 31. Phew - home again!

Beautiful old fruit trees in Greek and Roman city ruins near L'Escala	Perspective on the flat ruins of the Greek and Roman cities	Hand painted tiles on a small home in L'Escala