Mediterranean Sailing Adventure

[Click on the picture above to see more photos]

Last Friday the 24^th, Cathy, the girls and I went to Villanova I la Geltru (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=villanova+i+la+geltru&hl=en&ll=41.218307,1.730862&spn=0.111434,0.264187&sll=41.223085,1.72142&sspn=0.111426,0.264187&t=h&radius=8.24&z=13), which is close to Barcelona, for a day on the beach.  It was a nice 32 degrees, not a cloud in the sky and a nice, while a bit crowded, beach.  We went swimming with the girls, and the water was very warm. Felt like Hawaii.  By chance, I went and gave a hand to a few Hobiecat sailors that were struggling to sail away from the shore due to the narrow passage the boasts are allowed to get out to sea.  With a few cool moves, I had them going.  Turns out, the one guy was the rental club owner, and the other - his father-in-law.  I got a free sail out of it and they got a free lesson on Hobie sailing.  A fair exchange.

After the beach we had a very nice coastal drive to Sitges, which is another coastal town.  It looked spectacular: reminded us of the type of waterfront you would have in California, just smaller scale.  Lots of people rollerblading on the promenade, people on the beach, tons of nice bars and restaurants.  We are definitely going back for a weekend.

We got to our hotel, went for a nice dinner and to sleep for the next day’s flight.

Saturday, I dropped Cathy and the girls at the airport and went back to Villanova, where I picked up my friend who came from Zaragoza to go sailing with me.  We rented a new Jeanneau Sun 25 foot sailboat, got our gear onboard and took off for a Mediterranean cruise.  With nice 14 knots of wind, we hoisted our sails and cruised away at about 5 knots.  After a few hours we got to Sitges marine, where we moored close to a 50 foot catamaran and several  70+ foot super yachts (see one in the picture: at Villanova, over 300 feet, owned by Russian Billionaire http://www.flickr.com/photos/jortegafigueiral/5379426544/ ), feeling and looking cool.  We had our lunch on the boat and went for a stroll into town.  The experience was absolutely amazing, felt like something out of a movie.  I was thinking about our friend Derek who is sailing his 46 foot catamaran in the Carribean for the last several years.

At about 5pm we set sail on a course back to Villanova and enjoyed a homebound cruise with the sun setting gently.  When we got to port at about 8:30pm, we walked through a big procession dedicated to the Maritime Patron Saint celebration.  Seems wherever or whenever you go, your chances of encountering a Spanish fiesta are always good.

The 2.5 hour drive back to Zaragoza was the least exciting part of the 2 days, but the effort was surely worth it.  Just brilliant!