2018 Season Three: Return to Collioure

The Friday before our Saturday departure to Collioure, we met our new starboard neighbor on a 3-year-old Catana 47 that was actually the owner of the newest 53 that was currently in the slipway. We had watched them splash it and put the mast in 2 days before. Hakan’s 53 was not ready on time so he had the use of his old boat to sail for a week with his crew Patty and Cory, who helped manage his boat’s for him. He took us for a tour of the new boat and it was impressive. The boat was huge, the hull’s towered over us as we stood on the dock. It had a good-sized cockpit and a large salon with a U-shaped galley and plenty of counter space. Hakan wondered aloud why he had gotten such a big boat but said ultimately he didn’t have enough space for the company that would visit him on the old boat (we felt one other couple aboard our boat was about the limit for comfort too). The addition of a bow thruster was really smart and would help maneuvering in port when the side winds made docking challenging.

Hakan stopped to borrow the hose to fill his water tanks, and had a coffee the next morning before we left. He was originally from Turkey and still had a summer home there, but worked in the States. We had a good discussion about where to winter the boat if we didn’t cross the Atlantic at the end of the season, and Turkey was suggested. Hakan had previously worked with a guy whom he suggested we call if we decided to go there. It was also a good place to get stainless, fiberglass, and upholstery work done. We swapped our contact information and then headed off to the fuel dock before it got busy. Pablo was just ahead of us and out in the bay raising his main sail when we finished fueling. (500 euro’s, ouch!).

There was no breeze really, just 6 knots, although a southerly was due late morning that was supposed to reach the low 20’s. The light breeze would be a good time to test out the code zero sail with the new halyard and spin shackle, to see if it sorted out the twisting and jamming issues. It went up smoothly and we got set on a broad reach. Within 5 minutes the wind was blowing 22 and we had to take it down again as it was suddenly too much sail for the conditions. Pablo’s boat was becoming a distant white flag as we tried to furl the big sail..which ran out of line and left the lower 3^rd of the sail flapping wildly. It was a bit of a rodeo getting it down on the deck and into one of the forward lockers and out-of-the-way, but we managed with minimal swearing! The wind continued to build and we had steady low 30’s with gusts upwards of 35 knots.

With a double reefed main sail and ½ jib we were still sailing along pretty comfortably making 8 and 9 knot’s, and the sea’s weren’t that big yet. Fortunately when we arrived in Collioure by 12.30, there were still plenty of mooring buoys available and we pulled up to number 11. Pablo was on #1 and a short dinghy ride from shore. It was great to have swims, a victory beer and a nap. It had been an exhilarating few hours, and looking around at the quaint village, beach, and seaside restaurants made the aggravation of the last month worth it (Or to quote a line from a movie, the juice was worth the squeeze!).

Pablo and JP swam up later and invited us to shore for a cocktail at one of the places we could see, so that we could all admire our boats from a different vantage point. They picked us up around 6pm, and Pablo’s wife Saego and son Alex who were already ashore, met us there. After a cocktail we returned to their boat for a BBQ (thanks Saego!), and some great music before retiring for the night.

It was terrific to wake up on a gently rocking boat, and enjoy coffees in the cockpit with the picturesque backdrop of Collioure and not the all too familiar boat yard. We put the paddle board over the side and took turns doing a lap of the bay, stopping by to say Hi to Pablo and crew. They would be leaving by 2 pm when the afternoon breezes filled in, but we thought we would stay for another day. I got a ride to shore by the Capitanaire guys who came by for payment and took our rubbish away. I remembered the layout of the village from our previous visits and located the bakery quickly, securing 2 fresh loaves from the dwindling supply on display. I passed the artisan glass store that we had gotten some serving platters from the first year, and found the small knife shop I was looking for. We only had one wine opener on the boat, and  I wanted to find a nice one for Todd that would be a useful memento from  Collioure which was a special place for us. There were plenty to choose from but I finally selected one with an olive wood inlay that was made in France in a place called Laguiole, which was renowned for it’s hand crafted metal wares.

The moorings emptied out by 5pm and there were only 2 other boats left on the far side. Around 7pm we heard a couple of voices conversing in French near the bow of the boat. It turned out to be 2 guys that had swum out from shore and they were dangling on our mooring lines. Then they swam to the back of the boat and attempted to board, which was when Todd went to the steps and told them no and to go away. They swam off a little way then returned and this time I told them to leave. Usually we try and feel out the situation before taking a strong stance, but these guys seemed somewhat drunk and were not behaving in a very respectful manner as they were soon swearing at us and flipping us off. Todd called the port Captain and they sent a dinghy out, as well as contacting the gendarmes. It turned out the couple was well known and had done this sort of thing before. Either way we decided to head back to the marina rather than stay, as there was still plenty of light out. We had a great breeze and enjoyed a smooth sail back to the dock, where Daphnee who had seen us enter the fairway, came over to take our stern lines.  We spent a pleasant few hours chatting with Daphnee, then got to bed.