Thanksgiving has come and gone and it is pretty clear to me that I am “not in Kansas any more” compared to tropical winters from the last 12 years. The weather here in CT is a cold and it’s been in the teens for the last week.
I also know that we are getting into winter as the fall Frostbite series has come and gone. And, let me tell you, it was cold last weekend. After a decade in the south, my blood is plenty thin.
Being in an increasingly cold and cloudy/dreary place now and realizing that it’s only going to get worse has made me all the more focused on what comes next when we return to Pandora for a new season of sailing in our new stomping grounds, the western Mediterranean.
It’s all so new to me I can’t really say with certainty exactly what our time aboard next spring will bring. Heck, I can’t even consistently spell Mediterranean without spell-check…
The repairs to Pandora’s rudder are complete and I have decided to hold off on repairs to the Hydrovane as I don’t expect to use it while I am in the Med anyway. I do want to have the bent main shaft looked at to see if it can be bent back into place without compromising the unit. As the shaft was only marginally bent, we will see how it looks and decide what to do next.
I also remain concerned about the primary rudder bearings after they took such a beating from the orcas, when they ripped off the bottom of my rudder. While the obvious damage has been fixed, I remain anxious about possible hidden damage to the bearings from the massive side loads that they were subjected to. When I head back, now planned for mid March, I will have a good look at the unit along with the steering gear linkage to see if I can detect any damage. When the boat is sailing in rough conditions, these areas a subject to enormous loads and I’d hate to find out that there was damage that I didn’t see and have the worse happen…
Paul, the South African guy who is watching Pandora in Almerimar, reports that he has washed off the decks twice now to remove the Sahara dust that had accumulated in at least two wind events that brought the red/orange dust from the south. When this dust arrives, referred to as a “blood rain,” it coats everything in it’s path and if you don’t remove it, the dust hardens and leaves the decks looking a sickly orange. When we first arrived at the marina last summer we saw a lot of pretty tired boats that had decks that were in terrible shape and I can see how the orange color would be difficult to remove.
I recall being in Antigua and having the locals talk about the Sahara dust and how it occasionally arrives in the Caribbean. With regular showers, the dust washes off, not accumulating as it does in the arid south of Spain.
So, here I sit feeling sorry for myself, lamenting the fact that I still have 4 months until I head back to Pandora increasingly focused on what we will do when we return for more than two months of sailing and again in the fall for two more months.
Recently we talked to a cruising couple about their time in the Western Med and they highlighted Easter week in Cartagena, Spain as a must see event. Throughout southern Spain the festivals are quite spectacular with a week of parades and festivals.
Cartagena is about 150 miles from Almerimar which will be a single overnight or two long days. As there aren’t any natural harbors on the coast in this part of Spain, I expect that we will try to do the run in a single shot to avoid docking just for a single night in an unfamiliar marina, only to move on the very next morning.
This short video gives a good feel for what the city has to offer including some of the best Roman ruins in Europe. Although, if you do all that they suggest in a single day, you will be stuffed, drunk and exhausted. For us, perhaps stretching their recommendations to a week makes sense.
While there are many elaborate celebrations for Easter in Spain, Cartagena is the only one that is held in an area with a marina. Another benefit is that Cartagena is also on the way to the Balearics where we expect to to spend perhaps a month exploring those islands.
Easter in Cartagena lasts for a full week and features elaborate parades and festivals every day. The processions feature some huge floats, carried on the shoulders of many people as they make their way through the meandering streets.
There are a lot of costumes that look like the KKK but there does not appear to be any direct link. Additionally, these costumes are centuries older than the KKK that was formed shortly after the Civil War. These costumes come in all sorts of colors representing different clans or religious sects.
And speaking of inspiration, perhaps this float, and others like it, have something to do with the recent remodeling of the Oval Office.
Cartegenial is also the home of some of the most amazing Roman ruins in Europe, like this Roman amphitheatre.
I have been in touch with the marina in Cartagena for an Easter visit and learned that dockage for Pandora will be perhaps in the $75 a night or so. Not terrible and with so much to see, we will surely spend a full week there before moving on.
After the Easter celebrations we hope to head to the Balearics, a group of islands off of the Spanish Coast and home to the “Yachting scene” each summer with mega-yachts making their home there for much of the season.
We really don’t know much about that area, I will admit, but from what we have been told, Ibiza is a good place to start as it’s less built up than Palma.
This video gives a good feel for all that is possible to enjoy on the island of Ibeza. Some, I will admit, is a bit too “hip” for me and Brenda but it seems that there is still plenty to do for those of us that “are of a certain age”. And, speaking of “a certain age”, there is even a “hippy village”.
So, where is Pandora going next? This seems like as good a plan as any and given the fact that we have never been there…Well, wish us luck.
Next step, find flights to get us to Pandora which is no simple feat.
Now, if I can just keep from freezing to death in the meantime. Ha!