Log 4, 06-03-03

Now, when we are in March, the warmth is slowly returning back to Barcelona but the night are still rather chilly. During the days we can have agreeable 18o .

Since the last log I, Håkan, have been in Sweden for a 10 days visit. It was ten very busy days with a lot to do. Every day was full of visits of friends. I also visited my dentist and optician and made a trip to Gothenburg for buying equipment for the boat.
It is much easier to find proper shops in Sweden and above all they are much cheaper.
An exemple - a tree ways pipevalve costs 64:- € but in Sweden only 20 € and the list can be made much longer.
I also brought 2 bottles of remedies against mould. During our stay here we have got mould on the teak deck. The Hallberg-Rassy yard recommends their customers this remedy.
I was a little bit nervous bringing these bottles on the plane because they were marked as poisonous bottles. But everything went alright.
I also brought some cans of "the soldier´s pea-soup" - a dish they definately don´t serve here in Barcelona. Some cans of herring- compulsory for visitors- were also in my bag so the weight of my luggage was 200 g below the allowed weight

I flew back with Ryanair - a company very careful with the weight of the customers´luggage. Ryanair fly directly to Barcelona from Skavsta, Nyköping, and you arrive in Girona -100 km outside B. From Girona you go by bus directly to the centre- very convenient.

Anna-Karin will go on with her project until the middle of April. I must admit that it was very good to be back in Barcelona. In Sweden it was full winter and very cold and I hadn´t clothes suitable for the cold climate in the boat so I had to search in the stored boxes at home in my parents celler.
I have just now treated the teak-deck with the content in one bottle. The result I will tell you in my next log.

At last I can report that we have got a new neighbour here in the marina. A big Australian motor-boat - Ilona - 73 m long. The owner came as a refugee to Australia 1952 and started as a taxi driver. To day he is one of the richest persons in Australia owning shops all over the world.

Here you can see some pictures of the boat- one year old and with a crew of 15 persons including the pilot polishing the helicopter every day.

Ilona.JPG (67702 byte) Ilona2.JPG (106726 byte) Ilona3.JPG (139864 byte) Ilona4.JPG (68135 byte)

Hasta siempre
Håkan