SV Ostinato: Heading to Cartegena

August 28, 2017

A little walking, a little climbing

Maybe we should be down there in the boat!

King decided he wanted to go to the Pyrenees Mountains. King is not a walker so hiking was beyond my imagination. I'm envisioning a drive-by and having a very difficult time getting excited. His argument of "We will never be so close" was not swaying me. A 3 hrs drive there and another 3 hrs back.......I don't think so. "What do you want to do in the Pyrenees?" bought a response of "anything you want dear". After much research, I gave him the option of visiting a roman era town and then taking a gondola up the mountain to have a picnic lunch or a hike through the Mont Rebei Gorge. The man who hates to walk almost as much as I hate to drive, chose the gorge! Trish and Dave from SY Rob Roy arrived in Port de Badalona Marina as we planned the trip and immediately signed on for the adventure. We all dug out our hiking boots, filled backpacks with lots of snacks and headed to the train station where we would pick up our appropriate mountain hiking car. After several hours wait and still a car did not appear, they gave us a Mercedes Benz. Very nice but not exactly the rugged persona we were thinking of......oh well. Off we went to the mountains. The plan was to get an early start the next morning before the days heat set in but an 0800 breakfast was the best we could negotiate at our hotel. King and I arrived at 8 am sharp to find Trish and Dave already camped out in the breakfast room.....alone, without coffee. We didn't realize that 0800 meant what time the cook would leave her house.....it was another 20 minutes until she waltzed across the doorstep. She began a stream of dishes and breads to keep us quiet but only after a 2nd more forceful request did she understand that coffee was most critical. We finally rolled away from the table 30 minutes later and fell into the car for the 45 minute drive from the hotel into the canyon. The gorge reaches 500 meters or about 1640 feet vertically and is about 20 meters or 65 feet across. The Noguera Ribagorcana river runs below. I could provide a string of adjectives but they would not come close to the experience so I'll include a few more pics than usual. I'll just say "Wowzer!!!" And for the record, King hiked 80% of the trail....and back. Note from the editor: Not too bad except he pulled a muscle so the next time he be willing to hike is anyone's guess
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The crew from Rob Roy

Jaw dropping!

Entering the gorge

Time to replenish

The hike through the gorge is one of the highlights of our trip. No hand holds was a bit scary!

Where there were handholds everyone grabs on

September 3

After Barcelona and the Gorge trip, we were both ready to change our focus to land travel. It was time to head south to Cartagena where we would crochet Ostinato to the dock, pack our suitcases and head toward places that were more easily reached by planes or trains. Trish and Dave from Rob Roy and Linda and ........ our Canadian marina neighbors were out on the docks early for goodbye hugs. All went well until I untied the forward lazy line on the starboard side. It had somehow gotten itself wrapped around the mid cleat and as we move forward the line swept under the boat and firmly wrapped itself around the prop. Nothing like a bit

A long, hot wait for the bus

of drama to start the day. King rapidly threw on his swim suit and went for a swim, untangling us quickly but also learning the prop was full of barnacles, so it was probably a good thing....right? We waved good-bye once again an hour later and this time, without further embarrassment, we were off. A short 40 mile run down the coast to the small beach town Roda de Bara. The marina is surrounded by upscale holiday homes, slips were inexpensive, clean and the marina was half empty. We quickly learned the downside, public transportation was not as friendly as we have become accustom. The bus was a 30 minute walk and ran only once an hour, and then only part of the day. If you missed it, it was a looooong wait. The train was best reached by a 10 euro taxi ride. You could take the train to Barcelona or south to Alicante.

Knights Templars castle on the coast in Puerto de Peniscola

From Port Bara we sailed for 12 hours to an anchorage near Ebro Delta South. As we entered the protected water, we were elated to see a number of sailboats at anchor. It had been a long while since we had not been tied up in a marina over night. Our happiness faded as the sun began to set and boats began to haul up their anchors and head for shore. Ostinato spent the night with only one other boat at anchor. You always wonder....do they know something we don't? A few hours later, the wind changed from the south to the north and what had been a calm, peaceful evening turned into anchor hell. King set the anchor alarm before we slipped into bed. Next stop, Valencia, home of the Holy Grail.....maybe? On the way there, we did a drive-by of Puerto de Peniscola which boasts an impressive Knights Templars castle located right on the coastline and again makes me realize we have few cities with original names. We didn't stop but got a few shots of the castle.

The Holy Grail in Valencia.....who knew?

Valencia is the 3rd largest city in Spain and it has a marina to match. The 2007 America's Cup was held there. We followed the marinara to our appointed slip and prepared to med moor. By this time of year, we are pretty relaxed about this tie up from hell but this was to be different. Port side set like a breeze, starboard line was handed over but quickly ended at about 5 feet. Someone had cut the line. A new slip would be in order. Needless to say, the second docking was less to be proud of. Plenty to keep us entertained about Valencia. Cathedral's, reputed to house the Holy Grail, World Heritage buildings, art galleries, and covered markets. It was a good place to wait to learn the out come of hurricane Irma. Irma had already hit Trish and Dave's home in St. John's and was now reportedly heading toward ours in North Florida. Have I mentioned we have the best house sitters in the world! While not everyone in Florida was so fortunate, it was thankfully a miss for us.

The next few days were spent day hopping down the coast. The eastern coast of Spain does not boast many anchorages to entice you to stay. While not in a hurry, we were both ready for a new type of travel. We departed Santa Palo at 8:15 a.m. and after a 7 hour motor sail,