2018 Season Three: Weeks Two -Four

Hola Amigo’s, yes we are in Spain!

It only took 3 seasons but we made it out of France finally. (We still have a good supply of French wine and cheese though!). Here’s what happened after the first 2 weeks…

The factory had replaced the Inverter and the Multi control, and had tested the batteries. The systems seemed to be working fine, and we felt that the boat was at the place we had hoped it would have been in 6/2016. We even ran the air conditioner a few nights. (You have to slowly lower the temperature so it doesn’t overwhelm the 1 compressor, but it did provide a nice cool sleeping environment).

These tasks were sorted by the second week but we couldn’t leave because they buggered our dinghy engine. The dinghy and engine had been stored off the boat over the winter to keep them out of the weather and grit. We asked them to simply put the engine on the dinghy and we would paddle it back and do the start-up ourselves, explaining that there was a very particular sequence that had to be followed. Jo replied, “no, no we do this for everyone”, and the mechanic indicated he could work on any engine large or small. So when we didn’t get the dingy on Friday June 9^th as promised , we were a little concerned. The next day we were returning from a store run, when we saw our dinghy side tied in the slipway sans engine. We could hear someone (the mechanic), revving the guts out of an outboard (sadly it was ours), up in the yard. Todd walked over to tell him to quit it, and saw that the engine cover was off and there was oil everywhere including on the spark plugs. It seems the mechanic had decided to service the engine (which didn’t need servicing for 3 years), thinking it would be a nice thing to do for us.

Jo came by on Sunday to check on us and report in about the engine. He had his 2 girls Luce and Annise, who were lovely and entertained themselves on the trampoline. The Etec outboard engine needed new spark plugs and these would have to be ordered and would arrive on Wednesday, then they would see what else needed to be done. Todd reminded him that it would require an Etec service center to reprogram the “brain” now that start-up procedure had not been handled correctly. We were pretty upset but also realized that it was an accident, and the intent was to do something extra for us.

On the up side, the socializing continued and we met Eric who was a dock mate of Pablo, Sandy and Doug. He worked as an assessor for an agricultural insurance company and traveled all over the region, checking out damaged crops, which were frequently grapes. Sandy and Doug took us all to their local Pizza and Roti (rotisserie chicken) shack, which was owned by flamboyant Serge. He was a real character and talked flat out while manning the kitchen solo. There was a big container of fresh sangria that he plopped on the table so you could drink what you wanted, and the thin crust wood fired pizza’s were fantastic. (We horrified the locals by eating the pizza with our hands, because in France and most of Europe you use knife and fork.)

Eric had us aboard his boat for lunch the next day, which was a relaxed pick up meal in the cockpit of his Lagoon Catamaran. Pan Tomate with anchovie, toasted bread with foie gras, thin sliced ham and sausage, fresh tomato’s, olives, beer from Corsica, and no-name Rose’ from one of the vineyards his friends owned. (It seemed everyone had a friend with a vineyard here!)

At the time we were at the yard, there were 3 new Catana 53 Catamaran’s getting commissioned. There was a lot of activity on whichever boat the owner was aboard on. The one across from us was owned by a couple from Switzerland, and we had them over for a cocktail and nibble (Apero) one afternoon. Jean Marie and Lillian who were the owners, had traded in their slightly- older- than- our Catana 47 for their 53, and had a lot of experience with the boat. One of the upgrades he mentioned that we loved, was adding an ice maker inside the forward lazerette so you could access it while sitting out there, hmm we’d have to look into that! They had a young French woman Daphnee, who was helping them out. We asked if she was crew and she said the term they used was “team player”. She was very knowledgeable about sailing and was also a dive instructor. On a few other occasions we got to hangout with her and chat about world affairs, work options in the States, and tap her knowledge of sailing, and anchorages and restaurants to checkout in Palma, when we made it to Balearic’s.

Sandy and Doug left for Sete on the summer Solstice, as they had been in port over the winter working on various repairs and replacements and were very keen to get out there. We would miss them but were thrilled they were ready to go, and we wished them a bon adventure. 

Pablo, ever the ambassador, decided we needed to get off the dock and organized us to go down to Collioure for a night. They would be sailing his Soubise Catamaran to Spain in the morning, but the following weekend we would head back to our favorite spot in Collioure ). The plan came together one Friday when he stopped by with his good friend JP for an Apero, ( who was a Gendarme that traveled to different French territories for work). They arrived with 3 bottles of wine and an amazing platter of oysters on the half shell with steamed, chilled shrimp. JP’s son Paul was with him and his lovely girlfriend Severainne stopped by after work. Last to arrive was our starboard neighbor Roberto, who was an Italian guy ( another interesting character who said told us he had casino’s in New York), with a Bali catamaran that would also be leaving in the morning, and heading to Italy.

The next day we had made plans to catch up with Sandrine and her family, who had invited us for lunch at a new beach club called La Cala, which was similar to our local Le Swim with a more crafted “beachy” ambiance.

We had returned the rental car earlier in the week, and enjoyed the 40 minute walk to the restaurant. It was terrific to see them again and hear about their travels over the winter, and updates on the girls. Myra, the oldest, had a new job as a graphic designer in Perpignan after graduation from college last year. Leanna who was the youngest and would be turning 20 in 4 days, was working towards becoming an athletic trainer. (We had gone to her 18^th birthday party the first year we were in France when we stayed at Sandrine’s AirBnB). Richard still had the pizza restaurant in Perpignan, and Sandrine would be opening her restaurant “La Cane Sucre”, at the end of the week. She had taken some cooking classes in Thailand over the winter and would be adding the new dishes to the menu this season. The photo’s she showed us of the dishes looked amazing! Lunch lasted over 2 hours and Sandrine’s Mum stopped by at the end for a coffee. She was very interested in seeing our boat so we told them to come by later on. They were going to stay and swim for a while after lunch but we would walk back and get the boat presentable. (The ongoing project’s meant our bunks were flipped up to access the tool and parts storage underneath ). The “Zumba Mobile” pulled up a few hours later and we helped the ladies aboard. (The passerelle was a little wobbly for the uninitiated!) Both of them offered to drive us around and help in any way they could, which was very kind. (In Spanish Sandrine’s Mum said she couldn’t speak English but she could drive.)