Sailing Almazul

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Week four at Port Ginesta has been brimming with firsts… ”primeros” in Spanish.

Some new experiences this week included:

• Our first departure from the jetty! Yahoo!! First motor, first sail, first anchoring… at last! A short motor/sail to Sitges and a couple of hours anchored in perfect sand really felt like we were making progress towards our goal of casting off for a long sail sometime soon.
• First visitors! Our gorgeous friends from England; Steve and Sonia, stayed with us for the weekend, and their presence prompted us to leave the boat. Having so many first outings etc made us realise that maybe we have actually been working a little hard on the boat – and maybe should get off the boat more often!
• First dinner out – (absolutely fabulous seafood BTW) at Santos Marisqueria in the port.
• First Sangria prepared by the Captain.
• First G and T; actually a delicious rhubarb and ginger gin courtesy of our English friends.
• First jetty party! Our musician neighbour will leave this week, so several live aboarders gathered together on the jetty with food and drink and music to celebrate our different multicultural food, and our new friendships. A gaggle of Croatians, Germans, Lithuanians, Brazilians, Spaniards, a Swede, and an Aussie, oldies and toddlers alike, all eating, talking, laughing, singing…
• First REAL rain. Of course this coincided exactly with when our visitors arrived, as we were walking to the beach. The rain was torrential tropical rain, and we had to shelter at a beach bar for some time! The canvas roof had to be emptied of water with a broomstick every couple of minutes to prevent a complete collapse. The rain and wind were such that no one could stay dry even under cover – but we all optimistically huddled together anyway! In the middle of the huddle, my rain wet hands were clasping keys, hat, phone, pen(??) and a plastic cup of shandy, and at one moment a key item slipped, resulting in an impromptu juggling performance, which ended with me tipping the shandy onto gorgeous Sonia`s new top. She was kind enough not to let this affect her “Trip Advisor” style review in our visitors book – her only constructive criticism was that the Captain may like to work on his jokes a little before unleashing them on future guests…
• First visit to the beautiful holiday town of Sitges. The colourful beaches, lively cafes, and pretty winding streets require many further visits I think. I will never tire of the joy of arresting seaviews suddenly apparent through doorways, while wandering through undulating sandstone laneways, decorated with vibrant pots of pelargoniums.

• First trip to the hairdresser, and leaving with some hair, after getting an arduous abdominal work out as the enthusiastic young hairdresser hauled the knots from my hair, and in the meantime, much hair from my head!!!

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WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS:

BEST

• Leaving the jetty!! Woop woop!
• Jetty party
• First visitors
• Still having some hair!
• A kind boat neighbour retrieving my dropped car keys with a magnet!!!! I was dreading, but prepared to go in with goggles to find them but the water is not inviting here in the marina….shower required immediately!

WORST

• Mainsail traveller explosion… now sorted.
• Hours over days spent removing the old registration numbers and ADHESIVE…. Designed to stick for life I think….aaarrrgghhhh!! 37 degrees and sun on deck probably not perfect conditions for this unexpectedly arduous and time consuming task.
• Dropping car keys into the water off the pasarella…

FUNNIEST

• Shandy juggling??

• Being invited to put my bike inside at the hairdresser – safest place apparently! Before arriving, I was lost in Castelldefels and therefore SUPER late! But if you’re going to be late, Spain is the place. Appointment continued unimpeded – as there were no other clients at all!!

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FOOD AND BEVVY HIGHLIGHTS

• Dinner out at Santos – magnificent seafood, including prawn stuffed cod, cod in honey sauce, and chargrilled prawns, crayfish, razorfish, lobster… this was the secondo course of a very well put together meal.

• Fresh churros made as we waited ….. what can be better than dough, fat, and sugar all together, crisp and warm!?

• Rhubarb and ginger gin? Who knew?

• La Mancha salsa

• Coventry “eggy bread” – thanks Sonia!

BOAT WORK

• VHF installment complete
• Dinghy hunt ongoing
• Furler servicing complete
• Flags up
• Registration numbers on the boat
• Main sail up

Overall a less frantic boat work week, but friends company much enjoyed, and some local sights seen! A very nice change of pace.

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