Returning and reflections…..

September 5th - 8th 2014

3am and we finally round the corner into the safety of Port Ginesta. All went amazingly well until the last 20 miles when the wind changed direction …head on…making the journey a lot more bumphly and uncomfortable. We had a very eerie experience just after the sun had set. Without any warning mist crept in around us, the sea calmed completely and it all went creepily quiet. The horizon  disappeared from view and we became encapsulated in a weird, still, quiet space. Two dolphins appeared at the side of the boat gracefully gliding in and out of the water without making a sound, then as quickly as they had appeared, they were gone…into the mist and the wide unknown. We seemingly floated in this space for sometime and then as the mist began to clear we saw lightening ahead…towards the port…not good news! However, even though the lightening continued to light the sky with the most amazing colours it didn't affect us at all…it just scooted off in the other direction….thank goodness!!!

[caption id="attachment_2298" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Large mainsail gone for repair….[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2299" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Happy in his work...[/caption]



With Windekind safely berthed once more we headed for bed for some very much needed sleep.

The following few days were spent at the port removing sails for repair, cleaning the engine

[caption id="attachment_2303" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Clean engine[/caption]

tidying up

[caption id="attachment_2302" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Sparkling galley...[/caption]

washing ropes



 

putting everything away….



getting many small maintenance jobs completed and finally putting the covers on Windekind to protect her until we next return





 

[caption id="attachment_2310" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Final adjustments….[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2321" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Windekind detail...[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2300" align="aligncenter" width="581"] Oooops…how did this one slip in….of course we needed a treat after all our hard work[/caption]

We have spent some time over the last few days reflecting on our time away in Windekind…the good and the bad! One thing for sure is that we absolutely love being on Windekind. We love the fact that she is an old classic boat, has no mod cons and contrasts so starkly with the super yachts worth hundreds of millions of pounds yet we sail the same sea and anchor in the same gorgeous calas…probably in the best places because we are so small and can always sneak into the tinniest of anchorages (as long as there are no lurking reefs!). Some of our Spanish friends would wise eyebrows when we mentioned that we were sailing the Balaerics in July and August because it was always busy. We now agree with these comments…we found the islands, particularly Ibiza and Formenteror so stuffed full of boats that some of the enjoyment, beauty and tranquility of these places was lost. However, one of Simons friends, Ray, who has been reading the blog avidly, has been recounting to us stories of when he spent  8 years in his classic yacht, in the 70's, sailing the Med, when things were considerably different. He has very kindly allowed us to reprint some of his memories….

In the ‘70’s the Balearics (and Spain generally) were almost a marina-free zone. Palma had the Club de Mar at one end of the harbour and the Real Club Nautico at the other.  In between, along almost the whole length of the Paseo Maritimo, one could moor stern-to, for free.  Of course, all the calas were the "high seas" and free; no convenient mooring buoys though!

I remember a Yacht Club at Andraitx, but no berths associated with it and that, plus the Yacht Club in Mahon, was about it.  Most harbours along the mainland allowed free, or very cheap, mooring along the public quays.  Only the bigger places like Barcelona or Alicante had yacht clubs and the smaller places were mainly fishing harbours which tolerated the visiting yachts.

Living aboard for long periods is, in my opinion, only contemplatable with standing headroom.  We were lucky with our relatively modest sized yacht to have standing headroom in the main saloon and also in the forward cabin (with two additional berths).  The heads, in the foclse, had infinite headroom, if the fore hatch was open and crouching headroom if not! 

Imagine if you had no GPS, no Internet and no mobile phone.  At least there were no battery worries, we didn’t have any!  Our petrol engine was a hand-start and all our lights were paraffin (including nav. lights).  No VHF (mostly a blessing).  Life was basic, but our galley was well equipped.  Our full-size chart table doubled as a food prep area and we had a gas oven, grill + two burners.

If you wanted to haul out a significant sized yacht, for a bottom paint (I am thinking about a 57’ wooden ketch), in Ibiza in the 70’s it was possible to do so.  However, it required a customised cradle, a large winch powered by a donkey walking slowly in circles and the process took a whole day to achieve!

The Balearic beaches look beautiful, but very crowded these days.  When I was there in the ‘70’s I was living the lifestyle of an impoverished hippie, so I could never have afforded the swish beach bars and restaurants like the Cotton Club even if they had existed.

For host of reasons I have virtually no photos of that period but I did come across some very old archive photos, very poor quality and grainy because they were digitised from ancient transparencies.  I will attach a few for your amusement.  You will see the hippy-ish old gaffer on which I lived in the Med. for 8 years (with standing headroom!) and a more “svelte” version of me attempting to dive off the bowsprit anchored of San Antonio.

I remember the San Antonio location and date well.  We were financially destitute and about to head back north to the French coast because we couldn’t find any work in Spain.  Then I saw a poster in San Antonio announcing that Bob Marley &The Wailers were due to play in the Ibiza bull ring 3 weeks thence.  So we stayed and lived off rice, fruit and not much else for 3 weeks (hence the slim look of the period), but it was worth it for a memorable concert with the godfather of reggae.

[caption id="attachment_2322" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Anchored in San Antonio…awaiting Bob Marley and the Whalers!![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2323" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Ray's yacht...[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2324" align="aligncenter" width="640"] A much younger Ray diving from his yacht in San Antonio...[/caption]

And finally…we had to prepare Bluebelle for the next adventure….

[caption id="attachment_2319" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Packing cupboards…the art of rolling clothes…you can fit so ugh more into a very small space….this trick was learnt from Harriet who can pack the smallest of bags with enough clothes and girly bits and pieces to last her a week…!![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2320" align="aligncenter" width="640"] This proves that BT started with a tidy cupboard!...[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2314" align="aligncenter" width="589"] Making the bikes safe once again….i.e putting the wheels back on and pumping up the tyres![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2312" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Reunited with Baldwin….[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2311" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Firing up trusty Tom Tom again….[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2313" align="aligncenter" width="640"] …and finally leaving the port and heading off into the hills….[/caption]