David's Diary: Sunday, December 16, 2001

Welcome To Spain

Today dawned with clear skies and a favorable weather report. The wind is still expected to be 25-30 knots and the seas up to 2m. But it will be a downwind sail which should give us a great ride to Spain. We have been in France for many months and we have had great joy visiting a wonderful country. The people, scenery, history, wine, and food will live with us forever. We are excited to be heading to a new country, but sad to be leaving France.

The wind is blowing hard enough that after experimenting with various sail combinations, we settle on a 3/4 furled main only. With the wind gusting to 30 knots apparent and the seas lifting the stern, we find it a challenge to steer a straight course. During one strong gust, we got caught with both a windshift and a large wave. The result is an accidental gybe (the stern of the boat is put through the wind). It catches us by surprise, but we have been in worse and the boat motion is easily controllable.

We pass Cape Bear shortly after leaving Port Vendres. This cape is known for its rough seas. The seas are created by a combination of strong NW winds and shallow waters next to the cape. We then pass around Cape Creus where the seas are bigger and we have some momentary concern as the depth sounder goes from 90m to 10m in one or two seconds. This happens two or three times and it is only after panic checking of both our paper and electronic charts that we conclude that either the depth sounder is having difficulty getting a return from the bottom or there is a large school of fish under the boat. It is just one more example of how much we have to learn about our new boat.

L'Estartit

After passing Cape Creus, we sail along the coast and then cross the Gulf of Roses (Golfo de Rosas in Spanish). We should now be south of the Mistral wind that we have experienced for the last two months. The wind strength reduces and it is only blowing 10 knots by the time we approach L'Estartit.

During our final approach, we see the distinguishing silhouette of Illes Medes. This island off L'Estartit is a protected nature reserve. The island is one of Spain's most popular diving destinations and L'Estartit provides the facilities and boats for visitors to visit the island. While we will not get a chance to visit the island (the water temperature is around 14C so we really don't want to swim), we do stop overnight in L'Estartit.

With the help of the friendly people at the yacht club we are securely tied up and we all walk ashore for our first ever steps on the shores of Spain. None of us have ever been to Spain and we're expecting something new. A short walk through town lets us know that we have left France and entered Spain. Not only are all of the signs different, but as we pass cafes the language we hear is not French. We have successfully made it to another country and our Mediterranean adventure continues.