kwilenacat
- Sep 24, 2021
- 8 min read

We are not sure where we will end up but we are on our way

A good traveller has no fixed plans,

and is not intent on arriving.” — Lao Tzu

We had a great crossing from Mallorca to Barcelona. We left in the dark before sunrise and were able to sail all the way. We saw some shooting stars again, very lovely. We arrived at dark in our anchor spot in front of the marina. Next morning we motored into it.

Barcelona

After 7 weeks in different anchorages we came to Barcelona to have some small warranty items done and also do our 6 months boat check (to keep up the boat warranty).

Of course we still had time to explore Barcelona and its surroundings. We started with a “Hop on, Hop off bus” driving past the standard sightseeing spots.

We heard many new interesting facts during our bus trip including details about death penalties. Did you know that in Britain, execution was by rope; in France by guillotine; in the United States by electric chair; and in Spain, for centuries, the chosen method of execution for murderers has been the garrote, an iron collar tightened from behind by a handle, both strangling the prisoner and breaking his neck….. We learnt that the last execution of any kind in Spain, was in January 1972.

Caroline likes Gaudi so we got off the bus to see his works including the No1 attraction in Barcelona – the Basilica de la Sagrada. The church has been under construction for 139 years already and is expected to take 144 years in total until completion. Photo of interior and back of Basilica is courtesy of royalty free internet photos.

There was of course Antoni Gaudi’s touch everywhere (the architect died in 1926). Just a few photos from Park Güell

and also one of Gaudi's many houses built in the city.

We just walked around until we saw something of interest like this street knife sharpener.

We were also finally able to get our first Pfizer “jab” in the coastal town of Sitges (35 km south of Barcelona). We took the train which was clean and surprisingly empty.

After our first vaccine we decided to explore Sitges and have lunch somewhere. We noticed immediately that it had a large “gay” community (apparently the largest one in Spain). Definition of the word “gay” is: happy and excited, cheerful and lively and this is how Sitges felt.

There was a great smell in the air. After closer investigation we discovered an erotic waffle shop. I am not quite sure how the owners can survive on these 2 male and female products, but it must work since these shops exist in different cities. But the people we saw passing by took pictures only of the shop and products just like we did..

We also hired a car for a day which was interesting since we have not driven one for 6 months. We planned a trip to Montserrat, a multi-peaked mountain range near Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain. There was not much parking but Sven always seems to find a spot (we are the white car). the picture after that is looking up from our " carpark"... its going to be an exciting walk!

Monserrat is known to the Romans as Mons Serratus (“Saw-Toothed Mountain”) and to the Catalans as Montsagrat (“Sacred Mountain”), it is famous for its unusual appearance and the Benedictine monastery of Santa María de Montserrat, The black Madonna can also be seen in the Monastery. In 1844, Pope Leo XIII declared the Black Madonna to be the patron saint of Catalonia. Many believe that the statue has healing powers and thousands of miraculous cures are credited to this sacred piece of wood. Most of the statue sits behind a protective sheet of glass, except for one hand.

Some believe that the statue changed the colour over time from lighter tone to black—either to prolonged exposure to candle smoke or a chemical reaction caused by a varnish used as a paint sealant. The statue was repainted black by successive generations of restorers. (Inside picture courtesy of royalty free internet)

The monastery below

There are many hikes for everyone. The one below looks pretty flat but you would not want to look down if you are scared of heights - check out the walking path.

We chose the longest hike with the best views. This meant a steep but rewarding hike up. This is a very special place (thanks Jake for the tip)

There were not many people walking to the top but we came across many climbers and spotted them on many of the rock walls and tops.

We took these photos when we arrived at the very top.

Below is our Marina in Port Ginesta (near Barcelona) . This is early In the morning on the way to the shop to get fresh bred and fresh squeezed orange juice. Walk to the shops is 3km one way and lovely walk along the beach. Sven was waiting for Tradespeople on the boat so Caroline definitely got the better deal. Caroline got an even better deal the day before when she simply stayed in bed and let Sven get the fresh orange juice and bred.

Spain to France

We sailed 26 hours with a perfect wind from Barcelona to Porquerolles Island (France). We took turns and did 4 hourly nightshifts each. It was pleasant at the Helm and I (Caroline) was reading a good book on my Kindle and of course also checking the water and boat instruments. Sven on his shift was reading the news and watching movies.

The AIS system shows other AIS boats including info of their size, distance away, their speed etc. At 1 am I spotted 2 tankers (250 m in length) running in parallel to each other but at different speed, both tankers crossing our path in about 30-40 Minutes. You never know if the Captain will spot you but I was not willing to find that out. I started to do some calculation over and over as I was not sure if both pass before or after or if we would have to go in between. Under engine I would have felt a little more comfortable but we were under full sail and we made good speed ourselves. For me (Caroline) it is still scary to see the lights of huge ships in the dark. I needed Sven’s opinion – lucky for me he was still awake. He also started calculating. In the end we ended up crossing before one and the other tanker passing before us. See picture of our boat instruments is on the left below. On the right is a photo taken during the day from one of these tankers and also picture of a sunken boat we came across (it could happen so quickly.....)

Our deep sounder stops once sea under boat is 200 metres or deeper. But interestingly it often kicks back in at intervals showing something 35-60 m below the hull of the boat. We were wondering what is under our boat - large shoal of fish, submarine, whale? Who knows but feels always a bit strange.

Once we came closer to land we had a police Helicopter doing a few laps above us checking us out (no boats this time) – then taking off again.

After anchoring at Porquerolles Island we decided to go on land, eat, then sleep back on our boat . Last time in France we missed out on French restaurant food due to Covid lockdown and restaurants being closed. So now back in France we looked forward to some good French cuisine. It was not going to be that day. We needed a “Covid health Pass” showing that we have been fully vaccinated or at least had a recent negative Covid test (unfortunately you cannot do a Covid test on this island). We were also not allowed to enter a Castle on the top of the hill without any of these documents. This is definitely what our future would look like without being vaccinated and is just not an option for us travellers.

Sadly we also took our Australian flag down for now. French and Australian news headlines were strong such as “lies and treason” after Australia cancelled the

AUD 90 Billion submarine deal. France even recalling its Ambassador from Canberra. We have our Swiss and German flags back up plus of course the French courtesy flag.

Cote d’Azur (France)

St Tropez

We followed the Cote d’Azur, first stop St Tropez. We tried to do a Covid test but were told that this service was not available for next 3 days due to Staff shortages. We read in the news that unvaccinated nurses were not allowed to work. We therefore assume that there was some sort of protest. So, still without a health pass or Covid negative test we sadly ate a burger in a park from a St Tropez food wagon instead having a French meal! To compensate we indulged in a piece of “tarte Tropezienne / St Tropez cake from a bakery (take away only permitted of course) and watched people play bodega. Caroline was not allowed to use the toilette without the correct documents either - so public toilet it was..

St Tropez is as beautiful as we remembered it but so expensive. Enjoyed watching paintings of artists along the waterfront, the restaurants on one side and luxury yachts on the other.

If you are not too young you will remember Brigitte Bardot who filmed “And God created woman” on the Pambelonne beach in St Tropez in 1950. We did a walk to the Pambelonne beach (last picture below)

Brigitte Bardot still lives here and we anchored "in front of her house" (I am sure that Brigitte has other houses as well). We were not invited in.

Cannes

Our next stop was Cannes. We finally were able to get a Covid test (still negative) and were free to enjoy the French restaurants for 48 hours. As these things go... here nobody even asked us to show the test!

We are not city people and soon had enough walking around the city and looked forward to return to our floating home. We were able to watch the Canes fireworks at night from our boat.

We did not even check out the star studded floor in Cannes which include handprints of Meryl Streep, Sylvestor Stalone, Sharon Stone, Meg Ryan etc.

We are again surrounded by super yachts anchoring in the same bay and private jets flying in and out. Out of curiosity we googled one next to us called “Stella Maris Luxury Yacht”, a nice one with a Helipad, pool, gym etc. It had been sold as a second hand boat for EUR 75 Million (AUD 121 Million). We googled most expensive yacht in the world. What is your estimate?

Well the world's most expensive is a superyacht called History Supreme. It cost USD 4.8 billion (they used 10,000 kilograms of solid gold and platinum), And a really weird one taking 3rd place is called "Streets of Monaco" at just USD 1.1 billion. Google them on the internet if you are interested.

Some pics of Cannes below.

We stayed protected in a bay to let a strong wind and big waves pass. Wind map from "Windy" below. The other pictures with the red lines shows circles our boat did around our anchor. Wind changed and pushed us into different directions. We greeted some other boats during our Merry go round.

last picture below comment: Always read the fine print :-) - "Firing danger area" and drill down into lower zone with what you can do and can't do in each area (all written in local languages - so some language skills help).

Nice/Nizza

and a few pics of Nice - very beautiful colourful city.

We flew from Nice to Barcelona to get our second Covid vaccine (Pfizer). Another Covid test required for the flight. Sven hates these nose tests...

It was challenging to get vaccinated in a different country but we finally manged to do it - yeah!!. - now the next challenge is to get a certificate... (we are onto it)..

Monaco

Went to a lovely small restaurant on the water with Dinghy. Middle pic shows Sven lifting our dinghy back onto our boat which needs a bit of muscle power. We were surrounded by beautiful superyachts - we could not believe how many boats were in the bay of Monaco (see boat instrument pictures). We navigated around and between them to get to our anchor spot close to the beach.