21 April 2017 – Family, Friends, Food and Wine

Ibiza (ESP) – Nice (FRA)

When a light breeze picks up, Luci calmly turns into the wind. Tied to a mooring, the wind moves her like a flag behind its pole. She seems to say “Come on guys, time to move on!” We abide by her call and start departure preparations. We remove the sail covers, store all loose items and switch on the electronics. Still at the mooring, Floris pulls op our mainsail. Ivar checks the map to avoid a shallow rocky area in the beautiful and well-sheltered Cala Salada, our last stop in Ibiza.

Floris releases the mooring line, setting Luci free. Ivar pulls in the main sheet and the wind fills our mainsail. Slowly, Luci picks up speed. While Ivar steers out of the bay, Floris pulls up the mizzen and rolls out the genoa. As we sail into deeper water the color of the crystal clear water turns from light blue to dark blue. We pass steep cliffs painted yellow-orange by the afternoon sun. A few hours later, we can see the entire island behind us. Its green mountains remain clearly visible for the rest of the day. When darkness falls, the Conillera lighthouse bids us farewell with its four bright white flashes every twenty seconds. The beauty of Ibiza and the lovely people we’ve met already make us long for a return.

Banana course

A gentle southerly wind pushes us forward. Instead of a direct, downwind NNE course to Barcelona, we steer a NW course. It gives us more speed and comfort. Also, the wind is forecast to become N later, which would make it impossible to reach our destination in a straight line from Ibiza. Our “banana-course” tactic proves to work when the wind indeed becomes N during the night and we can approach Barcelona on a comfortable course.

During our night shifts, we watch the documentary “Cooked” by Michael Pollan. A beautifully filmed and fascinating story about the origins of food explained using the four basic elements: fire, water, air and earth. The episode “Air” is all about bread. It is highly relevant for sailors, as a fresh bakery is not always nearby. Ivar, who baked a loaf before leaving, is riddled to learn that no yeast is added. No yeast? How is that even possible? “Natural fermentation has been used for thousands of years. It takes time, but allows all the nutrients of the flower to become available to our bodies,” says Michael. Intrigued we sail on, eager to try this traditional, natural way of bread making ourselves.

Barcelona

We look forward to a stopover in this iconic city on our way to France. Floris’s brother has planned to visit us with his family and we are also keen to see friends who live there. But stopping there is easier said than done. There are no anchorages. The three marinas don’t have many visitor berths and are expensive. Floris has spent quite some time searching the internet and trying to make online reservations. Luckily, we get a confirmation from Port Olimpic, at a low season rate.

At sunrise, the mountains from the Spanish mainland come in sight. It doesn’t take long until the sun warms us and we can take off our sailing gear and sweaters. Before we can see the city, its presence is already indicated by the increasing shipping and airline traffic. In the evening we pass the industrial harbours, while the wind slowly dies down. The distance to the marina decreases, but so does our speed. We finally reach Port Olimpic just after midnight, check in and get what looks like the last free berth. Content with our preparations and trip, it doesn’t take long before we fall asleep.

The next morning grey clouds cover the sky. We go out for some grocery shopping and are positively surprised to find a well-equipped organic store nearby. On our way back to the boat it starts to rain. The rains last all day, turning into real downpours in the evening. “That saves me washing the salt off the deck,” comments Ivar. We stay indoors, catching up on blogging and vlogging.

The weather clears just in time for Floris’s brother Johan, his wife Cornelia and their son Bastiaan to arrive. It is a lovely reunion after nearly 10 months. And what a change to young Bastiaan! The week flies by, where we enjoy walking around the city, visiting the sea aquarium and are generously treated to delicious tapas and Spanish food. We even spend a day at the beach. Naturally we miss our family and friends while travelling, but spending time together abroad makes up for it in some ways. We also catch up with our friends Helena and Quito, who just moved here from Madrid, and our Dutch friends Jannica and Eric.

Through a friend we meet Andrés. He’s the owner of Somorrostro, a restaurant in Barceloneta that uses local and organic ingredients. He’s linked to “Slow Food Barcelona”, a branch of the “Slow Food International” movement that originated in Italy. We’re glad to learn he has a successful business using diverse ingredients that are directly sourced from local fishermen, local farmers and their own organic vegetable garden. Our lunch experience with “Slow Food” is certainly delicious! Click here for our article and video on this sustainable nutrition solution.

A week does not prove enough to see all our friends, so we are tempted to stay longer. Yet the weather forecast is brutally clear. If we don’t leave now we need to stay for another week. With heavy hearts we leave in the afternoon for an overnight trip along the Spanish coast. In a scenic bay near the eastern most cape of the Iberic pensiula, “Cap de Creus”, we await favourable winds to cross the Gulf of Lion to Marseille. It’s a stunning area, both in natural beauty and cultural highlights. We visit Salvador Dalí’s house and picturesque Cadaqués, before we set sail for France.