Log 10. 2005-11-10 BARCELONA

Hello again!
At last I have time to sit down and write a new log. It´s now over a month since the last log was published.

On the 4th of October A-K came back from her 2 weeks´ stay in Sweden. We spent a couple of days looking around in the area of Pollensa.
On the 8th we got a good prognos for sailing to Barcelona and in the afternoon we left Pollensa after 3 weeks in the marina. After 2 hours by motor we could sail by a good wind. With hardly no wawes we made between 3 and 6 knots depending on the strength of the wind. After 24 hours we arrived in Barcelona and to the marina Port Vell, where we are going to spend the winter.

We got a very good place not far from the Historic Museum. The security in the marina is very good. We have to pass 2 gates with magnetic code-locks and besides there is a guard at the main entrance so we feel safe in spite of lying in the centre of a big city.

Very soon we found a railway station nearby and bought 2 tickets to Tarragona. Our friends Agneta and Anders have their boat lying there during the winter and they were down for a short visit. Of course we would very much visit them before they went back to Sweden. Unfortunatelly the weather was bad - raining all days(3) - and that was a pity as Tarragona is a beautiful town with many ruins from the Roman period.
Before they left Tarragona they had time to visit us shortly in Barcelona.

After this Håkan´s parents came for a 10 days visit. For Håkan´s father it was interessting to see how Barcelona had changed since he was here 51 years ago.

There is a lot to do learning to know all people here in the marina. About 100 yachts are lived in so the social life is very active. The British boats are in majority followed by the American boats. Some British boats seem to stay constantly at the dock and the crews have their boat as a home.
These crews seem to have their own social life not so interested in new contacts.

It takes time to know where all necessary shops are situated. There are many super-markets within convinient cycle distance so our bikes are very useful. The net for roads of bikes is very much developed and it is often much better and faster to bike than go by car or bus.

We have also begun a course in Spanish and try to learn as much as possible.

Every morning we can listen to a radio-net in the marina and get many tips about all kinds of activities. For instance there is a Dutch treat every Sunday which gives us a good opportunity to know the other crews. Every Friday the men have coffee together and every Tuesday it is the ladies turn.

Besides us there is only one Swedish boat here but the crew is working ashore so we don´t see much of them.

We like it very much staying here in Barcelona - a fantastic city with many things going on. Last week there was a boat show going on. As tenents in the marina we got VIP-cards with free enterence to the lounch including free food and drink.
The week before the region of Andalucia had a big exhibition here in the harbour. Every evening there was an outdoor concert with many famous artists and we could also taste food and drink from the region.

Once every month there is free enterence to all the museums in the city and of course we take the oppurtunity to look at Picasso, Miro and the works of other artists including the masterpieces of Gaudi ond so on.

One day I took down the stern-stay to shorten it and put on isolators to improve the installation of the short-wave radio. I have checked everything from the mast top and down and all seems to be in order. So now we can listen to the Swedish radio with perfect reception.

We have also wire-less internet onboard. For 20 euro/month we can send unlimited on internet.

Under all circumstances our days are full of activities from morning to evening and we get on very well. Our choice of winter harbour couldn´t have been more successful. The weather is still very agreeable whith a daily temperature between 22-24 degrees - at night 15

All well!
Anna-Karin and Håkan