Months ago I wrote of our plan to spend a week getting Pandora ready to splash after about a week and then head north to Cartagena from Almerimar, where Pandora was stored for the winter. From there, on to the Balearics and then on to Sardinia where Pandora will be hauled for the summer while we enjoyed our time at home in CT. Returning in September for another two months of cruising.

Well, if you have been following my posts you will know that that is not what happened at all as it’s been a month and Pandora has gone a total of NOWHERE. We have suffered, or should I say, Pandora has suffered setback after setback with myriad issues, seemingly one on top of another that has kept us from departing.

I won’t list them all, as I have already done so, except to say that tomorrow morning the, dare I say, final item will be checked off of the list, the replacement of the failed winch. The new one is the same model as the one that came with the boat but after nearly 20 years, it does look a little different. And, OH BOY, it is a LOT more expensive. And, add the 21% VAT tax to the bill and it’s really, really expensive. Sadly, as the model is “improved” there is no way to use parts from the failed winch, like the motor, which is just fine. Well, now I have a spare… I also plan on saving a few of the gears, which are beautifully machined. Paperweights anyone?

Between the furler and the winch, with the latter failing after so much use in putting up the new furler, this has been crazy expensive.

And while the worse is over, there is still more that has to be done when Pandora is in Sardinia for the summer. Think Inverter/Charger, some minor welding, and paint scratch repairs. And, if the adage “everything is broken on your boat, you just don’t know it yet”, holds true, it’s only going to get worse.

Brenda is still in Italy at a weaving retreat and it’s clear that she is having a great time as when she calls she either says “I can only talk for a minute, as I have to head out to the studio in a few minutes”, or she says “I can only talk for a minute as I HAVE TO SLEEP!” Good for her.

True to form, she’s been very productive and sent photos of the three projects she completed already. They are beautiful and quite complex pieces done on an antique Jacquard loom that is hundreds of years old.

This piece is a reconstruction of a pattern copied from the table cloth pattern in the famous painting by Michelangelo, the Last Supper.

Note the pattern on each end of the table cloth. I know that the loom is old. Wonder if it is the same loom that wove the one for Jesus? You see the resemblance? Me neither, well maybe. I guess it’s the diamond part, that is what I am told. Hmm…

Another very nice piece.

But wait, there’s more…

Today’s work.

All and all, I am very pleased for her and it does seem that she is having a great time. The class, which she is taking with three other weaver friends from her guild in CT, is over on Friday when she heads back to Rome to fly back to Almeria.

Will there be more product before she departs? I’m guessing yes. We will see…

And, speaking of Cartagena, which I was before I got sidetracked, it looks like we may be able to get underway, perhaps even with a nice favorable breeze, early on Wednesday.

Along with Brenda, our neighbors Jon and Kate, from CT will also be arriving to join us for a few days as we make our way up the coast but all the delays have cut into their time aboard but at least they have had a bit more time to do some exploring Spain as they made their way south from Barcelona. Unfortunately, they have to fly out late next week so it will be a bit of a rush to get to our destination, enjoy some time together and get them to their flight.

One side benefits of the delays is that I have had time to address a lot of little items that have gone un-addressed for a while including repairing some issues with the headliner. A constant issue, sadly as well as polishing stainless which always needs regular attention and there is a LOT of stainless on Pandora. At least dealing with that is less painful than varnish. With all the time on my hands, I have even resorted to using a toothbrush to polish some particularly stubborn tarnish (rust) on some areas.

Another issue that I’ve dealt with is what to do about propane for cooking. I was under the impression that while not easy, getting US canisters filled in the EU was possible and yet, here in Almerimar I have not been able to get a refill beyond “well, we can send it out and see what happens, and that will be a week”. Sure, I have been here plenty long enough but after a lot of back and forth, I looked into what would be required to just modify my system to handle EU gas containers and the appropriate regulator and fittings.

These tanks, the little blue one, are generally sold as a swap of an empty one for a full one. Not too big, I guess less than half of the volume of my 20lb US tanks. Note that the regulator is on top of the tank. It’s different than the one on the propane system and butane, is stored under less pressure than propane and has somewhat different characteristics than propane. However, I checked and learned that my Force 10 stove would be able to handle both types. Note that these tanks are actually designed for camping use and the regulator screws directly into the top of the tank. They have tanks that are large like the ones I have already but getting them filled means sending them out and waiting to get them back. With all of the complexity so far, I’m going for simple…

Well, it’s all hooked up now and seems to be working just fine. I plumbed the new hose, orange, directly to my shutoff solonoid valve so there is always a positive shutoff in the line when it’s not being used, a very important safety feature. I also left the US regulator in place, which I can swap back into service in about 30 minutes. that’s important as my second 20lb US tank is basically full so if I run out of the blue tank when I don’t have easy access to a new bottle, I can still reconnect my full US tank.

The full setup, tank, regulator, hose and connector to my shutoff solenoid was about 80 euros and when the tank is empty, a refill tank, swapped for the empty one, will be about 20 euros. All and all, a simple solution, I think. No need for cold coffee.

While I would have much preferred to be on my way already and meet Brenda in Cartagena, like we hAD planned during one of our “intermediate” plans, it’s nice to know that we will likely be underway soon with what I hope will be a good weather window late Tuesday or early Wednesday. With about 100 miles in total, between us and Cartagena, we may opt to stop somewhere along the way or push directly thru. With Jon and Kate flying out on the 1st, we don’t have a lot of time.

And, speaking of time, generally twice a day I walk around the marina and this morning I passed a newcomer, a beautiful ketch. She’s not likely to make any speed records but it is pretty clear that she is fresh, really fresh, from a major refit. Sadly, I wasn’t able to find any information online about her. She calls from Hamburg, Germany. What nice lines. Actually only 60′ long and yet looks a lot bigger. I stopped to see if I could get information from someone but nothing beyond confirming recent refit. The AIS track shows that she just got in from northern Europe, I think beginning in the Netherlands.

It’s hard to believe that Pandora has been sitting here for nearly a month but soon, I hope.

This marina is huge, with over 1,000 slips and is known as a good stopping point when entering the Med. At about $25/day on the dock, it is very inexpensive compared to marinas in the US. Actually, a mooring in the US is now about three times this.

Witness a very full marina.

But with some luck, there will be one less boat in the place come next week. I don’t want to jinx it but hopefully, Pandora will be moving on soon.

It’s about time. Well, that’s if we can actually leave as planned.

I’m counting on it. Really, trust me. I hope…

It’s hard to believe that we are in the second half of April, nearly a month after we arrived, and Pandora is still in Almerimar. Our total “cruising” so far has been from the the launch dock to our slip, a few hundred yards.

When we first arrived in late March, I was very focused on the weather and how unfavorable it looked for our 100 mile run to Cartagena but little did I know that weather delays would be the least of our worries.

As it turned out, we have had a string of gear breakage and other delays that have kept us here.

First, there was the concern over the inverter/charger but after learning that getting a replacement was going to take a very long time, I gave up on that and thought it best to leave that part for when Pandora is hauled in June for the summer.

Then I learned, to my great disappointment, that the person I had hired to keep an eye on the boat and manage needed repairs fell short on a number of key issues, most distressingly, on taking measurements for the new code zero sail. It’s hard to know exactly what he measured but somehow the luff measurement was off by 3′. I had questioned him a number of times about the various measurements needed and he assured me that they were correct.

When I returned with the new sail, I was shocked that the size was off by THAT much. I had asked him to do what he understood himself and to hire out the other jobs to experts. Sadly, when I questioned him on who assisted with the measurements, I learned that he had just snagged someone off of another boat in the yard who told him “sure, I know what to do”. But, clearly it was the blind leading the blind.

Next, I hired a rigger, to address the failed roller furler that broke when Brenda and I hauled up the jib and after he installed the new furler and headstay, we worked out a way for the sail to be adjusted so it set well. According to the sailmaker, we only lost 5% sail area. Not a lot but not great as we are now in the low wind “Motorterranean”. The good news is that the furler did not fail when we were underway which turned out to be good timing. It took more than a week to get the new unit here but it is all fixed now.

You can see the blown bearings under the drum. Had I not noticed this issue, the furler would eventually have jammed and that would have been a huge problem. Note the brown area near the arrow. There isn’t supposed to be a gap there. It’s a sealed bearing, not sealed anymore.

As a result of hauling the rigger up the mast a few times, the primary power winch failed. I had noticed that it wasn’t working quite right for some time but had no idea that a total failure was pending. That hurt but I am so happy that it happened when Pandora was tied up at the dock. I guess you could say that this photo cost more than a few “boat dollars”, a lot more actually.

All completed now.

After we were done and I was furling the sail in, the power winch started running slower and slower and finally bound up completely. This was bad news, the worse so far. I learned that as I pulled the rigger up the mast, and he is a big guy, to prepare the new forestay and install the new furler, the gear box on the power winch, overheated and damaged itself fatally. I don’t understand why it didn’t blow a fuse but the gear box became so overheated that it completely fused after a few trips up the mast. And, as the winch was installed when the boat was built in 2007, and is now obsolete, I have no option but to replace the entire unit, winch, gearbox and motor. And, Anderson tells us that to get a complete new unit will take 3-4 months. Yesterday I completely disassembled the unit and discovered that it was a series of tiny pin bearings that failed and looking back on this I can see that there were symptoms of damage before the final break this week. And, in the spirit of “the cup is half full”, I’ll again take comfort that at least it didn’t happen while we were underway.

However, as luck would have it, the rigger has the exact model in stock but with a motor that is 12v vs the 24v that I need. The next step is to check to see how quickly he can get the new motor sent here, from who knows where. After a bit of back and forth, we decided that we’d install the new winch on Monday and if the new motor can be sourced in a few days, wait here until it arrives. If not, I will just use the winch manually and reroute lines to the remaining good winch. This will allow me to get going and take delivery of the motor somewhere along the way. It’s not an ideal option but will be fine and at least allow us to FINALLY get out of here. Well, out of here unless something else breaks.

This is all so crazy and to be here for nearly a month and still be somewhat unclear about next steps is unprecedented in our decades of cruising.

As I have mentioned before, Brenda has a workshop in Italy for a week and we had assumed that Pandora would be in Cartagena by now so we booked a flight to Rome out of Alicante, north of Cartagena for last Friday. Alas, Pandora is still here in Almerimar, so instead of a short drive, from here it was a 3.5 hour car ride, which we did on Friday. Long trip or not, Brenda made her flight and I had a very picturesque ride.

Last week, when the scale of delays became clear, we decided to rent a car for a few days and take a trip to Grenada. A sort of “when you have lemons, make lemon aid moment.” I was able to find a small three room B&B, which we just loved and had a terrific three day visit to that incredibly picturesque town.

As the US makes a big deal out of it’s upcoming 250th anniversary, it is hard to describe what it is like to visit a place that counts it’s age in the thousands of years. The home where we stayed is 400 years old and yet had been beautifully upgraded without loosing it’s historic charm. With only three guest rooms, the owner, Damian, who lives there with his young family, was very attentive and worked to make sure that our visit was perfect. He keeps a very low profile and doesn’t advertise, relying on word-of-mouth to get visitors. Apparently, he has found his way into a number of guidebooks and things are going well. We felt so lucky to get a room on very short notice. Interestingly, I used Chat GPT AI to explore options, asking for an reasonably priced room, central location in the historic area, and Casa del Aljarife Granada was the top recommendation. I heartily recommend staying there.

Damian’s inn is located on a tiny street in the historic district and just getting there meant walking down a winding series of alleyways and narrow streets. Even the parking garage was tucked into a narrow alleyway. To be sure that we didn’t have any difficulty in finding his place, he offered to meet us on a busy street a few miles from his home, jumped into the car and guided us the rest of the way.

After that, he grabbed our luggage and off we went.

What a lovely spot, the door on the left. He told us that the street was over 1,000 years old. Hard to get my arms around that thought.

And the front door has a small barred opening so you can confirm who’s knocking. Phew, only Brenda.

And, for Brenda, a bathroom that looked like it had never been used. She was happy as she likes her potties new :}

For a home that is centuries old, it has seen plenty of updates and is in lovely shape. The central courtyard is very charming.

The view from our room of nearby Castle Alhambra.

Even more beautiful at night. Amazing to think that this town and the castle date from the 13th century, with constructon beginning in 1238.

Step outside and every street was beautiful.

A few steps away, hundreds of tiny shops.

We were tempted by these lights but did our best not to be caught up in the moment as we had no idea where we would install something like that. Good decision Bob…

The castle is THE place to visit in Grenada and most buy tickets months in advance. We, on the other hand, had to get them with one day notice. As a result, we had to purchase them from a “reseller”, meaning that we paid twice the cost to a scalper. It was worth it.

While the castle is in wonderful condition now, it was left to ruin for hundreds of years but now has constant care and upgrades, all true to historical records. The most impressive thing to us was the gardens. It’s hard to decide how to start…

You have never seen hedges like these and they were everywhere.

In spite of the fact that the area is arid, there are plenty of springs channeled to fountains that do not need pumps to run. As you can imagine, not a lot of pumps in the 13th century. Water everywhere.

One more beautiful than the last.

And more…

Pretty impressive towers. The higher they were, the less crowded the spots.

With amazing views of the city.

Zoom in and some amazing rooftops. I would live there…

Some of the areas were not fully restored. These are the remains of troop barracks. In the lower right is Brenda in her white raincoat. She opted to sit it out when I climbed up to the highest tower.

There she is.

And a LOT of wisteria.

Everything was so lush.

The compound had so many amazing buildings. The exterior decoration on this buiding was unmatched.

Inside, an equally impressive courtyard. This was to be a residence but the guy who commissioned it didn’t live long enough to move in. It’s never been occupied. Actually, not a particularly cozy place to call home.

We also took time to tour the Cathedral of Granada, an impressive structure. Construction did not begin until 1518 after the Muslims were driven out. It took hundreds of years to build and is still not complete. A concise history here.

It’s hard to believe that this was constructed by hand, using levers, pullies and a lot of brute force. And, a LOT of time, centuries.

A lot of gold, even more than the Oval Office.

And a ginormous organ. And this photo is only the half of it.

As you can imagine, any dining spot adjacent to such a popular attraction will get a lot of “drop ins” looking to use the bathroom. How about a toll? Like the Strait of Hormuz but cheaper. Actually, I learned that it was “fake news”, just there to keep out the rabble and not us as we had a glass of wine.

Tapas is a big thing in Grenada, small food plates. And, what’s even better is that when you order a drink you get a free tapas. Sometimes they just bring whatever is on their list that day and sometimes you get to pick. It was recommended that we visit this place. It was a beautiful setting.

Our visit, if only a short three days, was a nice break from Pandora who has kept us busy with her own “breaks”.

So, here I sit, Brenda’s in Italy for a week and I’m still looking at the weather. And, it’s not looking like fair winds are any time soon.

As long as something more doesn’t break…

When we were in the Azores last summer we were struck by the remarkably large number of holidays. It seemed like every weekend there was some sort of, mostly religious celebration, going on and many spilled into the weekdays.

Easter is a very big deal in Spain and when we discovered that our furler on the inner-forestay as kaput, ordering a new one ran right into the Easter celebration. We discovered the problem last Tuesday and by the time a rigger was out the nex day, it was Wednesday and just about every business had closed for Easter and not opening up until the following Monday or even Tuesday.

Like everything else on a boat, parts often have to be ordered and in this case, getting a new furler that matched what was already on the boat was a “special” order and had to come from Denmark, I think. You’d think that someone would stock it in Spain but NO. Well, here I sit a full week later and I am still not certain that it has even been shipped.

The biggest issue we face is that Brenda flies to Rome next Friday and the hope was that we’d be in Cartagena by the early part of next week, at the latest but after loosing nearly a week to the holiday, I still don’t have confirmation on the delivery.

When we arrived here two weeks ago, I was mostly concerned about the early spring strong north and east winds holding us up. So, now that we have been here for such a long time, conditions have lightened up a lot so even if we only have a few days before Brenda’s flight, we should be able to make it. However, we were counting on having a few days to explore the city which isn’t looking very likely.

If we had a tracking number to see when the package will be delivered, we could at least rent a car, go to Cartagena and spend a night or two in a hotel but until we know when it’s going to arrive, we really can’t leave.

With all of our new found free time, we have also been thinking about fun things to do in the Balearic islands, where we expect to spend most of our time before heading to Sardinia in late May. These islands are part of Spain and are very popular during the summer, leading to tremendously high dockage rates. Think $300+ a night, if you can get a spot.

Fortunately, the rates are a LOT less, perhaps in the $50 range, in the early season, so that’s pretty appealing. Normally, we anchor and hope to much of the time, but with the early season winds stronger and very changeable, we may opt for more time in marinas on this trip.

Whatever our timeline, we are thinking of the fun stuff that we hope to do and have been watching some YouTube videos. I came upon this short piece about a wonderful antique train ride in Palma, a must for us when Brenda returns from Italy.

I had no idea that there would be a train on the island. Can’t wait.

Anyway, here we sit, with no real idea of when the new furler will arrive. The good news is that once it’s here it’s a one day install and then, weather permitting, we are on our way the next day.

Sadly, it’s not just the two of us that are unclear about next steps, as our neighbors from Essex are flying over around the time that Brenda departs and will be aboard while she is gone and then for about a week when she returns.

At this point, there are now four of us that are wondering where we will meet up so learning more about delivery soon will surely help.

Thinking ahead I struggled to find an affordable place to leave Pandora for June through August, the high season in Sardinia, and was quoted rates that would curl your hair, well mine anyway. The only reasonable option I could find was to haul her in Bosa, on the west coast of Sardinia, which looks like a spot we would want to visit regardless.

This short piece gives some highlights of this charming town.

Well, if it wasn’t clear already that I am working hard to keep myself occupied, watching videos on YouTube is proof enough.

To be clear, there’s more to life aboard Pandora beyond YouTube as we also spent much of yesterday clearing out years of clutter that had found it’s way into all of our lockers. Fortunately, there is a thrift shop in town so we headed over there with three bags of stuff to donate.

Still more spring cleaning on the horizon as my “shop” is a total mess and sorting thru a decade of tools and “stuff” will surely take some time. And, sadly, I have time…

For now though, sitting and waiting…

No matter how long we own Pandora, it seems that every time we return from time away, there is a litany of issues that come up and need attention, broken stuff. With Pandora on her own since last August surely provided enough time to have the gremlins at work causing havoc on systems.

When Brenda and I re-installed the jib a few days ago we discovered that the roller furler had reached the end of it’s life and we will have to have another entire unit installed this coming week. And, of course, we discovered that on Wednesday afternoon after everyone was closed for the rest of the week to observe Easter. While the rigger came out yesterday to access the situation, he can’t move forward until Monday when things open up again.

The jib furler has been an issue for a number of years now but we have always been able to work out something to keep things moving. No more… It is a major system and it has to work as the sail it controls is the one that we use most of the time.

Another sail “issue” is that I ordered a new code zero, the larger headsail for use in light air, in the US based on measurements taken for me by the person who was watching the boat. Unfortunately, after waiting for months to get him to take the measurements, it appears that he took the ones off of the shorter jib stay so the new forward code zero is several feet too short. That is supremely annoying as the sail is for very light wind and it needs to be as big as possible. Sadly, there is no way that I can get it fixed without tearing it up completely, which is not worth the effort. In retrospect, I should have hired a rigger to take the measurements. Now that I have the rigger working on the furler, he would have been the perfect guy to take measurements. Lesson learned, as painful as that is.

The new code zero is about 2.5′ short on the luff which means that the sail area isn’t as large as it should be and this will certainly affect our speed in light winds, which, of course, is what the sail is for. I made the decision to have measurements done here and the sail made in the US to save money. That didn’t turn out to be a good decision, it seems. Oh well…

Additionally, the same guy, while he did a nice job of keeping the boat clean, he did not follow up properly on a number of fronts, including sourcing a new high-output alternator and getting the house inverter checked out. By the time I was able to get his attention, it was too late to do anything about any of the local techs who are very busy with other customers. I gave him the failed alternator last summer to use to source the new one and after telling me that he could get one months ago and even gave me a ballpark price, now he is telling me that the specific size isn’t available here. Had I known before I left home, I could have brought one with me. The good news is that I owe him money for the work he did, right or wrong, but I do need the failed alternator back and owing money will at least give me some leverage to get the unit back. “No ticky, no shirty”. Dead or not, having the unit will make it easier to source a new one, wherever that turns out to be.

The good news is that the one in place now is working fine but I really wanted to have a spare to ensure that if something happens. I like to have spares for everything possible aboard.

All and all, I do recommend Marina Almerimar as a great spot to leave a boat for the winter after entering the Med. It’s only 150 miles east of Gibraltar and has a good base of services and reasonable prices. The only downside is that it is about an hour drive from the closest Airport, Almeria about a $100 cab ride or you can rent a car. However, no local drop is possible for cars so, one way or the other, you’re going back to the airport. The bus ride is pleasant but does require two transfers. As confusing as that proved to be, the locals were very helpful as I stumbled around looking for the right bus. And, it’s very inexpensive, I think less than $10.

This brings me to the question of when we will be departing Almerimar. The need to have the new furler installed has complicated things a lot but we hope to be on our way, likely to Cartagena by next weekend. Fortunately, the long term forecast suggests that while it is unlikely that we will be able to sail the entire way, at least there should be a few days without headwinds. This time of year, winds in this area tend to be from the east followed by a day or two of dead calm. Not great for sailing.

The forecast that far out isn’t very trustworthy but the two weather models that I use are in pretty good agreement that conditions will be benign at least some of the time. Let’s hope that everything goes well and we can depart next weekend.

So, with another week to spend here in Almerimar, we are enjoying sampling many of the restaurants as well as the terrific food from the very nice market that is close by.

Unlike many of the cities and towns we have visited, this is not historic but more of a resort with long beaches, loads of condos, hotels and golf courses. It is very well kept, with lots of palms lining all the roads.

The marina is huge, with over 1,000 slips and lots of businesses to support whatever you might need.

Pandora in her slip and right across the street are many places to eat out.

The yard where Pandora was hauled for the winter has room for about 150 boats. I expect that some of them have not moved for many years. for that matter, the same applies to those in the water. Some of the boats in the water are so derelict looking it makes me wonder if they are even paying rent anymore.

The yard two large travel lifts but oddly, they only launch a few boats in the morning and that seems to be it for the day. I expect that it is because they don’t have enough staff and there are mechanical jobs that have to happen too. The equipment is clearly well maintained and when it came time to launch, five guys showed up. When we arrived at our spot to tie up, most of the gang showed up to take our lines.

There are a number of “project boats” that look like they have not been wet for year like this large cruising boat. Notice the entry bulb, something that you see on large motor yachts but not cruising boats. And a foldable bow sprit.

Another unusual feature on this boat are retractable stands, amid ship on port and starboard, to balance the boat when it is in an area with very high tides amnd ends up dried out at low tide. These “feet” retract into the hull when the boat is floating again. Being able to “dry out” would be handy as a way to keep the hull clean. However, that won’t be happening in the Med as the tides are less than a foot. So small that it is barely perceptible.

Along with the boats in storage and more than 1,000 in the marina itself, there are thousands of apartments running all around the marina. It is a hugely popular place for those that are looking for inexpensive summer homes. The first of these were built in the 1960s and building is still going on.

Some of the apartment buildings are in gated communities like this one where we spent a week until Pandora was launched.

The restaurants surrounding every inch of the marina are very nice and inexpensive. In some places, when you order a drink you get a free appetizer. We’ve had a few… And the decor is very Mediterranean with whitewashed walls and flower pots. Beer seems to be a beverage of choice.

There are some characters like this woman with her pet Macaw parrot. It was clear that hers was a happy parrot. And, surprisingly, no poop down the back of her sweater. Note the two packs of cigarettes, three beers and what you can’t see is the three dogs under the table. The cigarettes along suggest that the parrot will likely outlive her.

For the record, we don’t always eat out and the local market has many easy to prepare meals available at very reasonable prices. We’ve had a number…

And speaking of wine, we found this wonderful gourmet shop that sells wine directly from casks. We purchased a liter of rose as well as one of sweet vermouth. Both are wonderful and super cheap, about $7 a liter.

Now and again we see boats with pets and as complicated as it is to bring pets from country to country, our slip mate had a beautiful Bengal cat “teenager” aboard. We were completely smitten. This breed is known as very intelligent and super active. I’d love to have one someday but expect that their “activity” might clash with our “eclectic” and, shall I say “generously” decorated home meaning that there are a LOT of knickknacks that would likely fall prey to a rambunctious kitty. What a cutie as she rode around in her owner’s bike basket. They were inseparable.

When not biking, she lounged on the bowsprit. I understand that these cats love to swim but I doubt that the 5′ drop to the water would have been particularly appealing.

Well, here we sit until Monday before we will know when the work on the furler will be completed as ordering the unit isn’t possible until after the 4 day Easter holiday. Those Spaniards just love their holidays.

Perhaps we will just have to go out for beer and tapas again. Oh well, it’s not a half bad place to be stuck for another week, at least.

Broken stuff aboard Pandora? As they say, “everything aboard your boat is broken, you just don’t know it yet”. No kidding!

Well, after months of wondering how things would be when we returned to Pandora, we found out when we arrived here in Almerimar now nearly a week ago.

We visited our son Chris in Manhattan for the night before departure and then headed to JFK to catch an 11:00 pm flight to Madrid where we “enjoyed” a 4 hour layover before catching a flight to Malaga, about two hours from the apartment that we rented for about a week while I get Pandora ready to put in the water.

When we got to JFK, thanks to the funding issues for TSA, the lines were terrible and we decided to purchase Clear, at about $300 for the two of us, so that we could bypass the masses. It was an expensive option but shaved hours off of the process. Another “pay to play” option to circumvent our totally dysfunctional government. I feel for those that could not afford this “line breaking” option. Soon, I expect that Clear will be so popular that those lines too will be terrible.

By the time we got to Malaga and went to pick up our car. we were greeted with a very slick car rental agent that tossed all sorts of requirements our way including a strong statement, when she saw our pile of luggage, that I had to rent a much larger car as it was illegal to put down the back seat in a compact car to make more room for luggage and we would surely be pulled over by the police and get a ticket. In my sleep deprived state, I didn’t sleep a wink on the flights, I relented but it didn’t occur to me that I could look it up on-line, until we arrived at the apartment when I looked it up. It turns out that she made that up. All and all, it was only $55 more but I was totally annoyed at being “taken”. When I returned the car the agent confirmed that we had been misled so I plan to file a complaint. A

After all that traveling and no sleep, we finally arrived at our apartment and have been very pleased with it. The cost is reasonable, has a beautiful view of the marina. Two bedrooms, a kitchen, close to Pandora and a generous balcony. Nice view.

All winter long I have been stressing about Pandora’s house inverter/charger that allows us to heat water and run electronic equipment from our house batteries, by converting the 24v DC current to `110 AC. After nearly a decade the unit has finally died. I tried to get someone to look at it while I was away but it never happened. When I returned I learned that they were now too busy so I am out of luck. The good news is that we can function without it as we have a small inverter that can power our laptops and other small appliances. I will have the unit replaced in Sardinia when we leave her for the summer.

For sure, it is always something on a boat but compared to other things that can go wrong, this isn’t terrible. The biggest issue though is that getting the old unit out and the new one in place will not be easy as there is a lot of complex cabinetry in the way. I’ll have to decide how to handle this as the cabinetry work will surely be more than the electrical. Details to come on that front.

You may recall that I had a tangle with a pod of orcas last summer and they left my rudder badly damaged. Well, the repairs are done if not quite perfect. Sadly, I confronted the guy who made the repair and he as, shall we say, less than supportive. It’s fine I guess, but not up to my “anal” requirements. As nasty as he was I was pleasantly suprised yesterday when I visited Pandora and discovered that additional repair work was underway. All better now.

Another issue that we have faced is that we are quite early in the season and the winds have been unrelenting and from the wrong direction. However, as we get toward the end of our first week here I can see that things are beginning to improve so it looks like we may have a decent window to head north to Cartagena later next week.

We can’t launch when it is windy as getting into position to Med moor can be difficult so having a calm time of it is important as I really don’t want to bang up Pandora on her first day in the water for the season. Backing up against a rough cement wall isn’t for the faint of heart, even with help from a yard attendant. Calm is good…

So, the plan is to launch on Tuesday, perhaps Monday if they get a cancelation and can fit us in. And, better yet, there may be a window of a few days for us to head up the coast to Cartagena late in the week.

We rented a car for a few days earlier this week and drove to a lovely town, Nijar, up the coast. The town is steeped in history and has tiny winding streets, so narrow that you have to fold the side mirrors to navigate many of them. We’ve been to Nijar before and Brenda was particularly taken, as she always is when she sees stuff made of fiber, by the hand woven fabrics made there. Last time we were there, in August, she had seen a carry bag that she wanted and for some reason, didn’t purchase. Well… She was now determined to fix that oversight and off we went.

We had a bit of an issue finding the same shop but finally, after some aimless wondering and a bit of “back and forth” discussion such as “I think it’s up that hill”. Her response “no, it’s not there”. My response, “I think it’s up that hill”. Her response, “ok, if you insist”. Well, I was right, and she found the bag. I take my wins when I can 🙂 Happy Brenda. She loved the bag so much she purchased two. I wonder who the luck recipient will be of bag #2?

In case you are wondering, yes, she did knit the sweater below. Fun fact: She is loving the “sweater weather” here, 70s during the day and 50s at night. Much improved over the 100+ degrees last August.

After securing her new bag, we had a lovely lunch near a church courtyard. It was a beautiful spot.

Very scenic in every direction.

And speaking of sweaters, which I was until I got distracted by bags and food, she just finished this one yesterday. Note her contemplative look, gazing into the distance, no doubt planning her next sweater… Always the next sweater…

I guess that’s about all for now. We decided to extend our stay in the apartment as the boat launch is delayed till Tuesday and it’s still trashed down below. I’ll admit that having a full week to get Pandora ready to launch has been a treat as it makes for much shorter work days. Just cleaning her has been a challenge as the Sahara dust, that blows in from the south coats the boat with an orange haze and it takes some doing to scrub it off. Paul, who watched Pandora over the winter, was diligent in washing off the dust several times a week which helped a lot but there was still a lot of scrubbing to be done.

Sadly, both Brenda and I caught colds on the flight so not feeling too great hasn’t helped with my stamina. However, the end is near, or should I say that the beginning is coming very soon as we head out to explore the Mediterranean.

An added benefit if being here for longer than planned is that we have been enjoying eating out. There are literally dozens of places to choose from all around the 1,000+ slip marina. We are both enjoying checking them out as is witnessed by this photo. Carbonico is Brenda’s fave, discovered during our last visit. We will probably eat there again tonight. I should mention that dining out here is a lot less expensive than in the US, often about half the price, and tipping isn’t expected or asked for.

I can’t wait to get underway and now that the adverse winds seem to be moderating, my anxiety about what lies ahead is being replaced by growing excitement.

And yes, we are here and while we aren’t going there yet, I am optimistic that “there” is getting closer.