Well, we did it, we made it all the way to Sardinia as planned during our first of two, two month stints in the Mediterranean for this season.

While the pace of moving along has been, shall we say “brisk”, due to the extended time in Almerimar fixing stuff, we have enjoyed visiting a number of amazing places along the way. In particular, these harbors, most had dramatic cliffs surrounding them, along with some very nice beaches. And, where there are cliffs, there are young men jumping off of them.

As a parent, I would be alarmed if one of my own was doing this. Me? I might do it but it would be a simple “feet first” plunge. Not so for the guys.

After several revolutions, into the water. Not Olympic gold worthy but daring.

Ok, that’s the locals. We had also heard a lot about chartering in the Med and how “exiting” it sometimes gets to be in the same harbor with “skippers” with little experience. This one catamaran came in and was going to pick up what they thought was a mooring. It was a tiny buoy designed to show where the limits of anchoring were. The guy looped his mooring line around it with no idea that it was probably a small cinder block that wouldn’t even stop a dink from floating away.

I went over and explained that while I would have enjoyed watching them crash into the wall that was a boat length behind them, I thought it better warn them. Ok, good idea they agreed and moved. He pulled forward a hundred yards, slammed the boat into reverse and dropped his anchor, dragging it over the bottom for several hundred feet at full speed, only to end up on top of that buoy again. He did this time and again, each effort worse than the last.

One one of his attempts, he dragged toward several anchored boats, narrowly missing one as every other owner looked on with horror. The skipper of Chablis, no doubt enjoying his Chablis, had no idea how close his glass of wine was to being tipped over.

Overwhelmingly, these charter boats are jammed with many “old friends” with the emphasis on “old”. And, while being topless is common in these parts, many guys just don’t know better.

Local color aside, one thing that stands out from this first cruise is how much broken stuff we have endured, and in some cases, replaced.

Even though we have had a few weeks without anything new breaking, as we departed for our overnight run yesterday morning we discovered that the starting battery for the engine suddenly failed and no amount of charging seems to get it in shape. Fortunately, the builders had the foresight to set the system up so that there is a “combiner switch” at the helm which, when depressed, allows the engine to be started with the house bank.

And, on the very same day, the engine high output alternator completely stopped working. And, that’s the second one in a year to fail. When the last one failed, a day out of the Azores on passage to Gibraltar, I had a spare. No spare now as my attempt to get one while the boat was in Almerimar didn’t work out.

As planned, we also took delivery of the motor for the new winch, which was on back order and shipped to Milorca, but alas, it didn’t quite fit so some modifications will have to be made, hopefully by me, to get the new winch fully operational.

Fortunately, it is very sunny here and the days are long so the batteries have done pretty well so we are not at risk of having no power. Happily with 1000+watts of solar, we were fine, more or less and arrived here with 80% full batteries. When I discovered that the batteries were not charging, I was quite alarmed but we had to push on.

And, there is a long list of other projects, some large and some small, that will have to be completed while Pandora is on the hard in Bosa, Sardinia for the summer.

Another observation from our two months here is that there really isn’t a lot of wind in what is referred to as the “Motorterranean”. so we have basically motored everywhere with intervals of sailing. Gone are the days in the Caribbean where we motored in and out of harbors, only putting on a total of perhaps 60 hours of time on the engine during an entire season.

Since leaving Almerimar, some 600 miles, we have motored about 100 hours, also about on par for engine hours when I made a typical run from the US to Antigua, a passage that is about twice as far as this run. And, when I ran from Bermuda to Horta, in the Azores, a distance of 2,000 miles, I only ran the engine for less than 20 hours.

Anyway. we made it and arrived yesterday after an overnight run of 200 miles from Milorca. Brenda has never really warmed up to overnights or long passages, for that matter. As a result, she is very resistant to anything beyond a day passage.

However, after years of trying to figure out a plan that will allow me to get rest and yet not rely on her, I never figured out a solution, until now.

In the past my effort was to just tough it out and recover the next day, completely exhausted after a night without sleep. On this trip we have done three overnight passages and I got to thinking about folks that sail around the world solo and somehow manage to sleep and stay safe after many nights at sea.

As I have understood it, they take “cat naps”, setting an alarm to scan the horizon to determine if the “coast is clear” and then fall back asleep. So, I tried it.

I set the alarm on my phone for 20 minutes and laid down in the cockpit, as comfortable as is possible when wearing an inflatable vest and harness. Often I wasn’t able to fall asleep fast enough so after a few sleepless minutes, I would look out, scan the horizon and reset the alarm for another 20 minutes. After a bit of this I found that the alarm was waking me from a sound sleep, only to begin the process all over again. It worked and allowed me to get enough rest to feel alert and when dawn came I was able to face the day pretty well.

For sure, cat naps and all, by the next night I was ready for a full night sleep. Not ideal but this new arrangement has made Brenda a lot more willing to do the long runs. The fact that conditions here in the Med are generally calmer than the Caribbean does help. Yes, it can get really windy but those conditions are generally followed by calm so the seas don’t build like they do in strong trade winds that blow day after day, year round.

With the relatively calm conditions, Brenda did pretty well and with an audio book for company, she watched the water go by. Note the scarf? Always the Fashion Pony, that girl.

Conditions, when the winds are light are a lot calmer than the Caribbean where waves develop over thousands of miles by wind that is generally from the same direction. Yes, it can get rough here but it’s different, especially in the summer.

Several times on our run here we were visited by a tiny bird that landed and hopped around the cockpit, landing on everything including Brenda’s hand and my head. Here is Brenda trying to discretely get a glimpse of the tiny visitor.

Brenda caught one of the avian encounters when the little bird landed on her hand as he/she (the bird, not Brenda) hopped around the cockpit. Check out this short and very entertaining video.

It’s been a long time since we have had to contend with fog and never in the Caribbean. However, in the early summer, when the water is cold and the air warm, fog is common here. As we began our passage yesterday morning the sky was perfectly clear and yet on the horizon we saw the edge of a dense fog bank.

When we entered the bank, visibility abgruptly dropped to way less than a quarter mile. Ships and fishing boats passed and we could not see them at all. Very unnerving. Glad we have AIS and radar.

Another thing that is new to us is the fact that many of the harbors are not really harbors, just indents in the coastline that are only usable when the wind is from certain directions. This is also common in the Caribbean but with predictable trade winds, the “good” roadsteads safe most of the time. Not so here where the winds come from just about any direction over the course of a week. This unpredictability of when any given place is safe to anchor spawned a very useful website Navily, that gives really time estimates on the safety of any given anchorage based on it’s physical shape and the current wind and wave conditions. We use this site, www.navily.com every day to book marinas and check on the best anchorages.

Without the plotter to guide the way as we approached the coast yesterday, one part of the coastline looks about the same as any other.

We anchored in about 25′ in soft sand and good holding, which was good as the cliffs were only a few boat lengths behind us. Even a short anchor drag would not go well for Pandora. The spot, Cala E Moro, is like so many other picturesque spots along the coast.

We sat up on deck to watch the changing light as the sun set. It was magical. We were alone with the exception of a young couple on a small local boat. What you can’t see is that he appeared to be applying a liberal application of baby oil to every part of her body. And that body, clearly visible when she stood up, sported only the tiniest thong bikini bottom and nothing else to hide her well lubricated body. It was very distracting, I will admit. Oh, to be young and uninhibited.

Anyway, the scenery was grand. It is hard to imagine what forces it took to wear these cliffs smooth over millions of years. For scale, note the tiny figure on the top.

Huge cliffs just behind Pandora in the setting sun.

Before making the 200 mile crossing to Sardinia, we visited a number of charming harbors albeit for a lot less time than we had hoped for due to our abbreviated time left. Getting a good, or at least OK, wind for our crossing meant leaving after only one full day in Minorca. The harbor, Mahon, has been a major port for as far back as ships have been sailing the Med. It has been under control of both Spain and England over the centuries and has plenty of beautiful ruins to show for these occupations.

We didn’t have time to tour even one of the many sites, including the very first British Naval Hospital anywhere, and were bummed about that. However we did anchor in a beautiful cove. It was a large anchorage that could certainly hold two dozen boats. Even though the rest of the Mahon harbor is huge, one of the best in the entire Med, this cove, near the entrance of the harbor, is the only place that you are allowed to anchor. And, it is a two mile dink ride to town and you are not supposed to go fast. I sort of followed that rule and the run, each way takes about a half hour. Good luck to anyone that has an electric outboard. No way they would make it and it would take FOREVER…

As you approach you can see examples of fortifications built by the British. Very impressive and huge.

Adjacent to the harbor, an island that once was a quarantine facility built to house victims of the plague. It is hard to imagine what it took to build this all by hand. I imagine that the first plague was over by the time it was built. Clearly they took the need to contain things seriously. I guess that the govt did not think that it was “just a bad flu”.

The same walls at sunset.

This is what Chat GPT had to say about this remarkable compound.

“Lazareto of Mahón — also called Illa del Llatzeret or Lazaretto Island. It sits inside the great harbor of Mahón and is one of the most remarkable quarantine complexes left in Europe.

The facility was built beginning in 1793 under King Carlos III after repeated outbreaks of plague, yellow fever, and cholera arrived by ship from North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean. Ships entering Mahón — one of the Mediterranean’s finest natural harbors — were forced into quarantine if disease was suspected.

The word “lazaretto” itself means a maritime quarantine station. Before modern germ theory, isolation was the only real defense against epidemics. Entire crews, passengers, and even cargoes of cloth or cotton were detained for weeks — often forty days, which is where the word “quarantine” comes from.

What makes the Mahón lazaretto especially fascinating is that it was designed almost like a prison-fortress devoted to public health:

For sailors arriving in Mahón today, it is easy to miss just how important this place once was. In the 18th and 19th centuries it was effectively Spain’s maritime immune system.”

Here is an arial photo of the place. The harbor where we were anchored in in the upper area of the photo.

For more info check out this Wikipedia page. Fascinating. Sadly, due to weather constraints, we had to depart so we missed an opportunity to see this first hand. Perhaps next time.

We did visit town for a few hours to see at least something ashore. We also had to pick up the motor for the winch that was shipped to a local yacht club. We had hoped to spend a few days at their marina but had to cancel as we needed to leave very early the next day to head to Sardinia.

This view is from town, over the harbor and you can see how far it was to motor there. The cove was connected to the harbor by a narrow channel that is far in the distance, beyond what this photo shows.

I took that photo we were in the upper level of the town. Beyond the waterfront, the main town is hundreds of feet straight up a cliff and to encourage visitors to visit more than the dock area, they have a number of outdoor elevators. My first experience with an elevator that wasn’t part of a building.

The view from up top of the old town area. We would have loved to explore if we’d had more time. Have I mentioned that I wish we had had more time? Thought so.

So, here we are in Bosa with about a week until we fly to Rome and our flight to JFK and home. Lots to do with many boat projects that need attention and hopefully some time to do a bit of touring of Sardinia.

The plan for the fall is to fly back at the end of August for two months and to do some exploring of Sardinia, Corsica and then head south for wintering in Sicily.

While it’s not quite a “wrap” yet for the first leg of our 2026 tour, we are nearing the end of our first of hopefully many visits aboard Pandora over the next few years.

Season one, act one…

Now, with some luck, the next “act” will be more adventure and include less flexing of our Visa card…

Details to come as the list is long and will surely be expensive. No complaining, at least we are in the Mediterranean.

Could be worse…

We have been aboard Pandora since late March and after all of the gear issues and weather delays, there has been a near constant underlying anxiety that we would not make it to Sardinia by early June, when we are scheduled to fly back to the US.

While the winds in the Caribbean are consistent, nearly always from the East, the winds in this part of the Med are very fickle, constantly changing with hardly a 12 hour window to count on and yesterday we sailed for a few hours on our run from Palma to this lovely little cove on the eastern shore of Majorca. And, after basically motoring everywhere since leaving Almerimar, it was a great feeling. And, as the winds never got much above the low teens, we even had an opportunity to try out the new code zero sail. Even if it is a bit small (as I mentioned in earlier posts) it moved us along smartly.

Now that we are on the eastern side of Mallorca, only about 50 miles from Minorca, our last stop in the Balearics before we cross to Sardinia, our destination in less than two weeks, somehow the stress of “will we get there in time” is a lot less. Sure, there is still 250 miles between us and Bosa, where Pandora will be hauled for the summer, we are fairly confident that we will get there in time to catch our flight to Rome on June 2nd.

Finally, we feel like we are getting into the groove of cruising after spending so many nights in marinas and always worrying about how far we still had to go.

We had the place nearly to ourselves when we arrived in the early evening.

This morning we awoke to a sunrise over a very foggy harbor, our first fog of this season. I have no idea how common fog is in the Med but it seemed otherworldly as the sun rose over the nearby cliffs.

The water is an unreal color of blue and in the fog, ethereal with our dink seemingly suspended above the sandy bottom.

After sharing a drink up on deck…

We took a harbor tour in our dink. This ancient stone boathouse looked magical in the glow of the setting sun.

And the cliffs ringing the harbor.

There are a number of sizable caves big enough to pull our dink into.

It is hard to describe how clear and blue the water is. I never saw water this clear in the Caribbean and it rivals what we saw in the Bahamas.

We went ashore for lunch. The beaches are jammed with sunworshippers, some even wore swimsuits.

And speaking of lunch, this group reminded me of hotdogs on one of those gadgets you see in truck stops that cooks them on rollers. Turn me over before I burn. Sorry, too late.

There was a pathway along the cliffs between the two beaches.

By the time we got back from lunch, Pandora had plenty of company.

One rather large tour boat arrived, put out a ladder, slide and left as quickly as they arrived. No rest for the busy day tripper.

It’s a beautiful place, the sun is out and it is high time that we should be able to just sit, enjoy the scenery and relax.

No wait, we still have 250 miles to go and a deadline.

I won’t think about that today…

I’ll enjoy the scenery. Yes, that’s a good idea.

We have been in Palma for a few days and will be departing Tuesday, in part because the slips in this marina are uber expensive, think $200 night. As you can imagine, that means SHORT VISIT. However, it is indeed a nice place and there seem to be a LOT of boats that have no problem with the cost as the place is packed.

The other reason the visit will be short is because we are down to the last two weeks before we head back to the US. Our fight is on June 2nd and we are still 300 miles from the Bosa.

I will admit that with the month long delay in departing Almerimar, we lost a lot of the time we would have spent to enjoy some real exploring. With the compressed timeframe, it has felt like a forced march much of the time.

However, along the way, we have really enjoyed the places that we have visited.

After departing Cartagena we stopped in Ibiza for a few days and visited a lovely tiny harbor, Cala Llonga. It was very picturesque, surrounded by cliffs and a few big resorts.

There was a nice beach and it surprised both of us to see how many swam in spite of the chilly water.

There was a small cement “dock” where we tied up our dink. It was pretty rough and a bit of a scramble to get up to the walkway.

We enjoyed putting around the harbor, enjoying the scenery including this arch. It was chilly much of the time so we bundled up to try and stay warm.

Hard to believe the color of the water when the light is just right.

We rented a car one day and toured the island.

As the last stop of the day we visited the western end of the island and enjoyed the view. Very dramatic.

And, we were there…

As we approached Palma we spent a night in a small cove. It was beautiful, with a spectacular sunset.

The cove was surrounded by cliffs and a number of caves. There were some intrepid teens jumping off of the point on the far left. I am guessing that the drop was nearly 100′ to the water. The perspective makes the mast look a lot taller but the boat was far from shore. Note the caves to the right.

When we anchored a huge school of fish showed up to look for handouts. It was great fun to toss bread over the side.

One of the highlights of Palma is the cross island antique electric train. It is housed in an old train station in the city. Very quaint. The train cars are beautifully restored.

All aboard, including Brenda looking like a little kid barely peaking over the window sill.

We rumbled across the countryside on the hour long ride. It was a lot of fun.

At the other end, we boarded a trolly for the final trip to the seaside as it wound it’s way through the tiny town square, honking it’s high pitched horn to clear the way.

There were vendors in stalls everywhere. I loved the flowers.

And the ever-present olives…

This cheese seller helped you know what his cheesed were based on. Sheep on top of some, cows on others. Some with multiple farm animals. Not so sure about the one with a dog.

Loved these unique umbrellas along the beach.

The waterfront is completely lined with homes on the hillside.

There is a traditional type of fishing boats that are now used as recreational fishing boats that are everywhere. They are called LLauts. They won’t win any races but are plenty sturdy offshore. Traditionally they were sail powered but now have engines, some inboards but many outboards as well.

There were dozens of them in the harbor.

And, on the subject of traditional fishing boats, this one was particularly beautiful. At 100 years old, she is in great shape. We saw her at a sardine festival. Lot’s of tiny fish being eaten. Teeny tiny bones too. Not my type.

Another beauty. Slightly larger than the many smaller ones we saw.

And speaking of old stuff, this olive tree has certainly seen it’s share of change in the square where it has grown for hundreds of years.

Well, that’s about it. We’ve been here for four days now, run up a pretty big marina bill, spent hours watching the world go by as we sipped cool drinks in the afternoon and enjoyed not doing a lot for a few hours. So now we head to the eastern most island of the Balearics, Minorca, where we will spend a few days while we wait for a weather window for our over-night run to Sardinia where Pandora will be hauled for the summer while we enjoy time at home in CT.

Tomorrow morning we will fuel up, no doubt at a horrific price, compliments of a little “excursion” in the Middle East. And we think that $5,50 a gallon for diesel is high in the US? I expect that it will cost nearly twice that here. The Europeans think Americans are a bunch of crybabies, complaining about how much we pay, a bargain compared to what they have paid for years and now it’s way worse.

It would have been fun to take a slower pace to get here but with all that happened to delay our departure from Almerimar, our leisurely two month run was compressed by half. All and all, it’s been a wonderful trip, well at least since we fixed everything that was broken at least. But hey, we are aboard in the Med…

Expensive or not, it’s been nice to be here for a few days with the “big kids”. Note this “dink” from a 60 meter yacht. It is longer than Pandora and has her own slip. The big boat is somewhere else in the marina. I can only imagine what it cost as it’s all carbon fiber.

The docks are built for boats that are a lot taller than Pandora. Note how sharp a downward angle our boarding ramp, passarelle, is. It’s a bit of a leap of faith to go up at low tide.

Hopefully our time aboard in September and October when we return will be less “exciting”.

That’s about it for now, it’s “opening time” and I think I will make a negroni (plural) for me and Brenda.

It’s hard to believe that we have been in Spain since late March and we have only been underway for a single 100 mile run.

We are heading into our second week here in Cartagena and while we are enjoying our time here, we are getting a bit anxious about getting to Sardinia to haul Pandora for the summer by late May, only three weeks away. We had planned on spending a month in the Balearics and now it’s going to be a rush job. That is a bummer as it’s one of the highlights of this part of the Med.

We would have moved on early this week, during a nice weather window, but were waiting for a new AIS to arrive. And, of course, when we realized that the unit was kaput, it was the beginning of yet another holiday in Spain. How about Labor Day, a celebration of when Spain drove out Napoleon and Mother’s Day to top it off. They do love their holidays in Spain and between the current trifecta and Easter in Almerimar, we’ve lost about two extra weeks due to gear delivery delays.

One way or the other, delays have been based on broken stuff, holidays and weather. I guess we should feel blessed that at least the broken stuff has not happened when we were underway. But, only being underway for a single day in all this time is a bit sobering. For now, we are now stuck in a beautiful place.

And, on top of the broken AIS, we discovered that the main halyard was seriously damaged. I have mentioned that already but it wasn’t until we had the new one that I realized that the damage was caused by it rubbing against the spreaders over the winter and that combined with the ever present Sahara dust, acting as an abrasive, chewed right through the covering. Well, a half of a “boat dollar” later for the new halyard we are ready to go. Well, as soon as the weather says ok.

The good news from all these delays is that we are seeing a lot more of the city than we had anticipated. And a lot of tapas and sangria 🙂

This harbor is one of the finest in the Med and it has been occupied for more than 3,000 years so in a single day you can see a Roman amphitheater and a modern navy ship only steps from each other. Such a contrast and a testament to a long and varied history.

How about a partially disassembled submarine?

I expect that there are some interesting ships in these sheds.

Immediately adjacent to the harbor is a very nice Naval history museum.

The museum isn’t very large but there are models and displays that represent the entire history of the Spanish navy.

Of course, not navy per se, but sort of close to home with the Santa Maria.

And a nice painting of the same. Not the sleekest of craft.

And, speaking about weather, which I was earlier in this post, I spoke with Chris Parker, the weather router, we have worked with for more than a decade, about the very strong winds and dead calms here. His comment was “Bob, have you noticed that the ancient Greek ships had tiny sails and a LOT of oars.” Well, there was a model of a ship of that period. Many oars.

And, one with somewhat fewer oars but with cannons.

And models through the ages. The newer they are, the more guns.

Lots of guns.

And then, the transition to steam and you can see the lean hull design, close to that of a sailing ship, to allow the relatively small engines of the time to drive the hull.

Love the detail in the bridge.

Another lovely model.

Some really nice detail.

A trio.

I guess I like details.

Over time man has found more and more efficent ways to kill each other. Thinking of what’s going on in The Strait of Homuz and the mines. Here’s a diorama of mines over time.

And when there is stuff going on underwater there is diving. And lots of ways to do it. Note the boxes with wheels to the left. These are primitive hand cranked compressors to supply air to hard hat divers.

And where there is diving there is the risk of the bends and the need for a decompression chamber. Pretty Medieval looking.

Beyond old stuff, there are plenty of excellent ship and yacht repair yards in the harbor. With my repair needs, I have had plenty of trips to buy stuff. Adjacent to the chandlery is a fish market. Very nice building.

And some pretty big ships. Not a lot of big yachts but one that stands out is Arctic. She’s a converted salvage ship, and at nearly 300′ long, she’s the largest explorer yacht available for charter in the world. I walked out on the dock last evening and took some photos. She’s really impressive.

Quite imposing from the dock.

A great view from the bridge I bet.

She can go anywhere an it seems that she has. And, with seven tenders, no shortage of options to explore once you get there. This video surely shows her in a way that makes me want to go for a ride. And, if you want to sign up, they are offering an option to head north to watch a solar eclipse in 2027. Don’t wait, book now. Check out this charter site for more details on this remarkable yacht.

Beyond Arctic, this is a salvage boat, and plenty tough she is.

Clearly set up to rescue the largest ships in need. Look at this crane on the aft deck. Note that the bridge has windows in front and back.

But, there are also plenty of small fishing boats in the harbor.

There is so much to see here in Cartagena but I’d say that we are ready to leave and move on to Ibiza, an overnight sail from here.

However, one key issue in picking a weather window is to look at two different models and see how many days out they look the same. That “congruence” is key in picking a window, otherwise you don’t know which model to trust. Normally, a day out they generally look pretty similar but in this case, even one day out, tomorrow, not the same at all. Note how different the lower model is. We are the white dot and our destination, 140 miles to the NE is the first island, Ibiza. The dark red is a LOT of wind.

However, the very next morning, a lot more benign. Somehow it seems that a departure is always a day away…

But for now, and I hope it’s only for one day more, Pandora snug in her berth. Pretty nice view of the mountains in the distance.

Weather or not, at least Pandora and her crew are ready. If it wasn’t for the wind.

It’s Sunday and we are in Cartagena, where we have been for a few days now. It is a lovely city and our timing could not have been better as there is a major festival going on here. Actually, it seems that there is just about ALWAYS a festival going on in Spain and this week is no different.

As festivals go, this one is a true “double header” as it is Spain’s Labor Day and also a date that commemorates an uprising against Napoleon in the 1800s. I have to say that to be here and see such a solemn event was very moving. We had a great spot to view the events but sadly, you can’t see us. We were right next to where they laid the wreath at the end of the video below. It’s a two minute piece and is worth seeing. I loved the cannons. I think we need one in Essex…

Here is what the local information says about that event.

“The traditional military parade pays homage to the heroes of the uprising against Napoleon and his troops, Artillery Captains Daoiz and Velarde, along with other military personnel and the people of Madrid in 1808. The ceremony included speeches commemorating the anniversary, a wreath-laying ceremony in memory of the fallen, and a striking and moving gun salute, which concluded with the march of the participating troops. The formation began its march from the old Artillery Park in Cartagena, proceeding to the port through the streets of the city’s historic center, watched by Cartagena residents and numerous cruise ship passengers.“

That event was separate from the Labor Day events and there has been a lot going on. Street performers, and a particularly big concert in the plaza, near the waterfront, by Maki & María Artés. It seems that they are a very big deal in Spain with billions of views. It was fun to watch and very polished. Also, crazy crowded. Most of all, fun.

All of the crowds, combined with a massive cruise ship disgorging thousands, added to the crush of people and with big crowds comes pickpockets and one found Brenda. We aren’t certain how it happened but somehow someone ended up with her wallet and within less than a half hour tried to charge several thousands to her two cards and debit card. Fortunately the banks caught them and texted us.

The big issue to us was that our BOA travel card has the same account number on both of our cards so when hers was canceled, so was mine. However, for safety reasons, we also have a travel card from Barclay bank and fortunately the numbers are different so my card is still ok. Getting cards hacked has happened to us many times over the years but this is the first time that someone was able to get the physical card. Until I knew that her card and mine had different numbers, I thought that we were in very tough shape. So much for Brenda’s wallet, drivers license, credit cards etc. Oh well, everything but the 100 euros she was carrying are recoverable.

But wait, there’s more. I can’t say that when we finally got everything fixed in Almerimar, that I was confident that “all was better” and I was right. The question in the back of my mind was “what would break next” and that turned out to be our AIS, a system that allows us to show our location to other boats and ships. It also allows them to see us and for us to gauge exactly where they are what the “closest point of approach” will be when someone is getting close. The unit failed in the middle of the night and to suddenly not be able to tell with certainty where the ships were going, light patterns aside, was unsettling. Being suddenly blind made the use of our radar suddenly super important.

As others aboard, Brenda and our friends Jon and Kate, weren’t very experienced with navigating at night meant that I had to stay up all night. I was tired for sure but with the added “excitement” of a failed AIS, I did pretty well. Part of what helped was an extended session with Chat GPT AI, trying to diagnose what was wrong with the unit kept me plenty awake. There were basically two options as to what had happened, a voltage drop at the electrical connection or something internal as it would turn on for a few minutes and then cut out. After a few hours of messing with things, I was able to narrow it down to an internal failure.

The good news is that I can order a new one and have it here on Tuesday. Had it not been for “Labor Day”, I would have had it on Friday but with everything closed, well another delay. What else is new?

I also discovered damage to my mainsail halyard but fortunately, it didn’t completely break, just the line cover was damaged. And, there is a rigger here so I will pick up the new halyard on Tuesday. For some reason my main halyard has chafed more than a few times. I will have to have a rigger look at the shiv, pully, at the top of the mast as well as the opening to see if it is rough. I’ve had it reviewed at least one other time…

It is indeed always something but at least we have been able to get things fixed and nothing major has put us at risk while being underway so far. But, I don’t want to jinx it…

Another issue face is that we will have about three weeks to make it from here to Sardinia and without a major push, something that we don’t want to do, it’s going to be hard to fly out as planned in late May. The problem is that it’s either blowing too hard or not at all and often from the wrong direction so adhering to a schedule isn’t all that easy, and a lot less predictable than the Caribbean.

But we are here and the city is quite beautiful and busy.

And even more amazing after dark.

The good news is that, being delayed, but this time in Cartagena, isn’t all that bad and we have enjoyed some really nice food and drink, can you say “two sangria please”. Somehow English gets the point across just fine. I do take good pictures of my sweetie, don’t I?

Or, and often, white wine and food! After struggling for weeks to adjust to the idea that dinner is after 8:00, we are in the groove. This dinner was at 11:00 pm.

Of course, holidays mean getting dressed up and everyone was in costume. Mothers and daughters, both happy to pose for the camera.

And a few in Victoria era costume. Also happy to mug for the camera and I wasn’t the only one to ask.

Pandora is right on the waterfront. Here with a full moon rising in the distance. Does the moon see me?

Quite a view of the mountains in the distance. This photo doesn’t do it justice

Along with everything else, this is a major naval port with drydocks all around. I’ll bet that they find a lot of broken stuff too.

And a few yachts in for refit.

As we approach the 250th anniversary in the US, I am struck by this sign, commemorating the history of Cartagena, spanning three thousand years. That’s a long time.

Well, that’s it for now. It’s nearly noon and we have to do a bit of strolling.

Sadly, even though I will have the current “issues” resolved as of late Tuesday, the window to get out of here actually opens Monday and closes Tuesday so that means we won’t have time to make the 36 hour run to Ibiza.

And, the next opening to get out of here isn’t until later in the week. Unlike the Caribbean, the weather changes nearly every day with a “long” window being no more than two to three days, so here we sit.

Perhaps I will close with a moment that particularly moved us, the laying of the wreath for those that defended Spain from Napoleon. Sadly, over the centuries, there have been many leaders that thought that they were smarter than they were. But, it’s good to know that more often than not, they don’t change things for ever. Having said that, it does seem that part of the human existence is that many forget.

Soon, I hope, we will be underway with stuff that’s thinking hard, I hope not, of breaking.

Wish us luck? If recent history is any guide, we need it.