Eric and I flew home yesterday but we wanted to do one more post.

Claude took us on the ancient train to Font Romeuo and one of the best bits was the market right at the bottom of the ski slopes.  No veggies or fruit but tons of cheese and dried meats and wine with other goodies sprinkled in like leather bags and knitted hats.  True Catalan style, the cheeses are made by local farmers and the sellers at the market customize them to sell under their brands.

One of our favorite things to try was Aligot, a mixture of potatoes and a special cheese. We bought some, then bought the cheese and made it on the boat. Wow…Never thought of myself as liking potatoes but I do now!

The skiing was crowded as we learned the French kids were on vacation for 2 weeks. Yep. They take 2 weeks off for every six weeks of school. Explains a lot. Including the reason we still don’t have the customs papers for the boat and why we had to leave because we ran out of Schengen time.  The French know how to take time off, relax, and no worries.

But back to the last week.

The snow was nice and it was an experience to ski in another country where no one is speaking English.

Now back to the food.  Here are some more photos of the things we saw, tasted, bought, or coveted.  Gonna miss the food! And Eric says my figure is still all good. Whew!

Here are some photos of our trip to our first and so far our only wine tasting. True that is a crime so we promise to do it again!  Although we DO taste plenty of wine, just not at their vineyards.

The dinner party turned into 9 and we learned that 8 is a better number but hard to exclude anyone here as there are so few of us on boats in the winter. When we can sit outside we can have more guests. And we need to put a no smoking sign on the boat. There were ashes all over the deck in the AM. YUK!   The food was delicious and it was fun going to the fish market with Claude, who we have nicknamed the Catalan ambassador. He was the evening chef and had many of us a sous chefs. To buy the food he took us to Port Vendres, which  has many fishing boats. The name was originally Greek and meant Venus, the Goddess of love. The market was super cool but the lobster? They charge 99 euros/Kg!  Why would anyone eat it? I guess it’s like caviar.  No comprendo. And speaking of Spanish, I’ve found that if someone doesn’t speak or understand English. there is a good chance they do speak Spanish. Whew!

Since I didn’t post many photos while our buddies were here, these are a few from their short but awesome visit. We miss them but loved every minute they were here!

Today we are going wine tasting (FINALLY) with Claude and afterwards he will cook a Catalan dinner onboard for 7.

The guests? All French!

The bread has already been delivered by our neighbors Michella and Patrick who claim to buy it every day at one of the best places for bread in town. It’s only about 2 blocks away so I will try and be French and buy it every day. When I told her how Americans are all talking about not eating bread she was in shock!  I reassured her that Eric and I are making up for the rest of our country!

Ty and Gina, our new Aussie/Irish friends left this morning. Last night they came over for pizza and wine and some last laughs before taking off for hopefully warmer waters. They bought a new 50′ FP Saba and although Ty has lots of powerboat experience they’ve only had 4 days of sailing lessons until they arrived here in October. Lots of work and a couple of sailing lessons by a local expert later, they are on their own and ready for the adventures that lay ahead. They sailed to Majorca with a captain for New Years and returned by themselves. Well they actually have their dog with them named Moomoo.  At 32 and 26 years young, we are really excited for them. And yes, a little jealous as we wish we were casting the lines off too!  But eventually we will. Meanwhile there’s still plenty to do around here.

Thanks to Gloria Borrego, the most kick ass woman on the planet for boat electronics and practically anything else that needs to be installed or fixed, we now have the B&G system up and running. She and Eric worked flat out for a week and she gave us so many helpful hints and ideas as well as doing a lot of rewiring and pointing out possible future problems Before they happen! Love that girlfriend so much.

Yesterday we ordered new salon couch covers and window screens from the local company called Epure. When we return they will be finished and make the boat so so nice!

One more week and we go home. And until then I am hopeful that we get off the boat and go do some fun stuff. Like wine tasting! We are in an area that and vineyards everywhere and we haven’t even gone tasting? Seems wrong! So no matter what that’s on the list to do. But first we have to get over our colds. Tis the season!

So after plenty of internet research, friends, and friends of friends trying to help and or give us advice, we’ve learned that we have to go home if we want to come back. The rule is 90 days out of 180 no matter how you break them up and it’s a sliding 180. And it’s not just France, it’s the whole Schengen territory which is most of Europe.

Spent a whole day running from office to office (six total) in Perignan and at the end were given an e mail address. The Catana office helped us write them and we got the immediate response.  Sorry no.

“But you can try to get a temporary residence in France.”  Tons of paperwork and jumping through hoops and still no guarantee. Oh and plenty of fees. And we have to go to LA to do it. Might still try, but for now we will concentrate on getting El Gato ready for summer. There is a reason we don’t see any boats out cruising. It’s been blowing hard and freezing! Today is nice but it is rare.  So different from the Caribbean! Which is something to look forward to next winter for sure!

Until then we will make the best of the situation and see the Med as much as possible in our 90 day windows and it looks like Turkey or another haul out will happen this summer.

For our friends in San Diego, we will see you soon. Departing on February 20th and planning to stay at least until the SDYC Opening Day, April 20th so we can race Crash!

It’s been awesome having Gloria and Lewie here for a short but jam packed visit consisting mostly of wiring, sorting, fixing, and laughing. They are great friends and so helpful and easy to be with. Boats can bring out the worst and the best (small confined places in challenging weather can do that) and these two are in the best category!

If I seem sad, I am a little. But we try and make lemonade out of some lemons and pour lots of sugar in!

The good things are we’ve learned lots, met some really nice people, and are learning heaps about our boat and all the things that go with buying a used one.

One step at a time.  Baby steps towards the great big CRUISE!

It’s not all fun and games when buying a boat that’s for sure. And so far I think we’ve painted a pretty picture. But like all things in life there is a balance.  I like to think of it as waves. There’s ups and downs and ins and outs and the higher you fly sometimes the lower you go.  Some folks like to stay in the middle.  Work a stable job, come home make dinner, watch the favorite news station and tv shows, maybe read a book and fall asleep and do it all over again until the weekend. Eric and I are obviously not in that category.  Tying us down to a place or schedule is punishment.  We need to keep moving and trying and tasting and visiting and learning and doing as much as possible as we can before wearing out physically and or mentally.  Good mates in love!

With that said, the latest blog is about the nuts and bolts. Our good friend Gloria arrived and we have been tearing apart the boat to install all the B&G goodies that finally cleared customs.  It’s a ver messy boat but every task is done with love and even some laughter. Once in a while there is that balance like getting a huge splinter or losing a template but all in all it’s going really well. And while the experts do the tricky installs, I read about cruising in the Med and navigation. And then there is the cooking. Yesterday I made crepes with local apricot marmalade for breakfast, leeks and potato with sausage soup for lunch, and artichoke tapa with homemade pizza with dinner. The team worked until 9 PM so one of these photos shows a glass of bubbly next to tools. That was around 8:45 when it was WAY past cocktail hour.

Today we have a team from Volvo on the back of the boat servicing both engines and the gen set. And later the sailmaker stops bu to give us some quotes. Tomorrow we order new covers for the salon couches.

And Lewie Arrives!

Meanwhile it has been another Tramontane and we’ve seen up to 57 its on the boat in the harbor. Outside it is blowing so hard that Predict Wind is showing the area as grey. The highest color they have! We are getting used to it but it goes well to repeat we are happy to be at a dock!

Au Revoir!

These photos are not in order but it’s time to go shop for boat bits. 🙂

And who

And while I let the experts

Lew

And not just a little bit.

Called a narbonne because it’s from the north, we are experiencing the full winter storm now on El Gato.

But the work must go on and Eric just emerged out of the front locker after running the radar cable through the mast and deck.

I learned how to varnish yesterday and am glad I had a good day because this is nuts!

The decision for many to bolt south to the Caribbean is becoming more apparent now.

It’s cold!

And too windy to sail if there is such a thing. I dreamt about sailing in a Formula one type boat last night which was probably due to the wind howling.My imagination had it low profile and feeling like an ice boat which I’ve nevers seen in person. My record for speed was 50 knots. I was 8th place in the overall results (not so bad for being new to it I thought). Woke up sweating!  Speaking of sleeping, our cabin is so cozy that when we pull the shades it feels like a coccoon. In fact that is our new term for me sleeping in which I seem to do a lot these days. Coccooning. The sun rises late so even with shades pulled we are not aware how late it is compared to home.

We’ve seen over 50 knots and today so far a measly 42.9 kts. Locked to a dock. Which feels nice and safe for the time being.

The lower shroud was removed to be inspected and replaced. Good timing.

Last night we had Tule and MaryEllen here for dinner and the young Aussies Gina and Ty dropped in on their way to the Casina. Yep there’s a casino on the beach but we haven’t bothered. We are not big on gambling. :-0  Tule has done work on our boat and it’s fun to meet locals who are French. We’ve also made other new French friends with Michella and Patricio down the dock who live on their Lagoon 38 (cat). They learned to sail last year and bought a boat. The Aussies on the other hand bought a boat and took a four day sailing class to learn. They have a 50′ Saba (cat). The stories are amazing. We look forward to telling ours someday. For now it’s still the journey to the journey.

Today we will get in the old green Catana truck and try and go see some things. Going to pull ou the map and close eyes and point and go! Otherwise I might go stir crazy!

The week in San Diego went too fast! It was great to go to our home on land and see so many friends. We saw Sharon Green and Betsy Crowfoot as they promoted Sharon’s new book 30 Years of Ultimate Sailing at SDYC.  A memorial for friend and fellow sailor/windsurfer/surfer Barry Ault on the Cliffs was another opportunity to check in with friends. Sally is a pillar of strength and the amount of support was beautiful. Later in the week a surprise party for Eric at our house gave us another chance to visit everyone at the same time. We were so tired it took a long time to recover!

When we returned to Europe, sister Elizabeth and her husband Maurice picked us up in Barcelona and drove us to El Gato which is still on the Catana dock in Canet-en-Roussillon.  Three days of visiting with a bit of touring and of course eating and wine tasting combined.

After they left we continued our hope for the West Marine shipment and finally, yesterday, on Eric’s official milestone birthday (he’s 25 in his mind which is good with me!) we went to Perpignan to pick it up.

Perfect timing as our technician Glo arrives next week to help Eric install the radar, chart plotter, and lots of other B&G goodies. A few days later Lewie Wake arrives and overlaps Glo’s visit.  He has already started helping us by figuring out the Iridium Go! and will be guiding us through the navigation tools. And since we are not crossing an ocean the pressure is off!  The decision to stay has helped us relax and learn at our own pace. How cool to order the cruising guides for the Med and learn how to navigate here. hoping in a few weeks we can go to Spain as heading south and even being a few degrees warmer would be nice.  Who would guess we’d want less, not more wind! Then back up through France towards Marseille, then over to Corsica, Sardinia, Italy, Greece, Croatia, and Turkey. Wow. Psyched is not a big enough word!

A big shout out to some folks who have really helped a lot so far.  Ray Marchetta who advised us on which systems would be good for us and how to install them. Rags from the Maritime School in San Diego who has guided us with everything from onboard safety equipment to great locally made binoculars.  Friends Gary Weisman and Brett Wilmot for giving us fishing lures and making sure we know how good the wood plugs are for big fish.  Peter Isler helped us with navigation tools, safety and advise. And our friends have been super supportive with love and laughter.

Thank you to everyone and we hope at some stage you will come aboard!

“You guys are in the Med. And why are you leaving?” “Have you two thought about staying there and cruising before crossing the Atlantic?”  ” Why are you rushing back to the Caribbean when you are in the Med?”

There were lots more but we thought we had a good plan. Then life has a way of changing them. With no customs papers (yet) and our radar and chart plotter stuck in customs, friends waiting and waiting for us to know when we would cross so they could buy tickets and plan their own schedules, we started wondering.

Then we talked and made the call. Let’s stay!  So we are! And it feels right. In a really good way. No more stress of wondering if the boat will be ready, will we have everything and know how to use it, etc. The lists are still long and now we can do it all at our pace. Not under pressure.

Next step? Buy all the cruising publications and chart our way around the Med. How cool is that???