Barcelona

Skylark is now berthed at the Port Vell marina at Barcelona. We managed to get in significant sailing time after leaving Alicante for the open sea part of the journey. Wind was from the starboard beam and steady at 10 kts giving us boat speeds of between 5 to 7 knots. There were the occasional shifts but the boom preventer did the trick, no more slapping sails. Being short handed, we used a conservative sail plan - genoa, main and mizzen, although tempted to try the gennaker when the wind shifted. The seas were flat to moderate until the approach to Barcelona. Shipping traffic was quite heavy which made for interesting night watches. There seemed to be a continuing exchange of profanities between Indian and Filipino merchant seamen over the calling channel 0f the VHF. It was irritating as the insults continued to be traded all through the night and we wanted to keep Channel 16 open in case there were emergency messages from the authorities.

Arriving at the marina at Barcelona, Ed struck up a conversation with the attendant, a Cuban exile who could recite the entire United States declaration of independence. My American friend was mightily impressed.

After fueling and checking in, we were directed to our berth and tied up stern to. Other than the fact the lazy lines stank of bad marina water, our first experience with just me at the wheel and Ed tending the dock lines with winds at 10 mph went without a hitch. We are again squeezed between two large power boats with very high freeboard, and learning how to position fenders in these situations.

We're off to explore the town and perhaps catch up with Robyn and Colin who drove here via Valencia a couple of days back. More when we come back.