View Balvenies 2010 Voyage in a larger map
 |
| Mark on guitar with Liam.....sleeping??? |
So another cruising season has come and gone. The seasons in the Mediterranean are reasonably short, but this year seemed very short indeed. We started out later than planned from our last winter port in Valletta on the small island of Malta. We had been busy painting the coach roof and wanted it finished, it was worth staying for and it looks just great. Then the season ended sooner than we had hoped too, September and October saw the start of unsettled weather coming through, with the odd front bringing cooler days, longer nights and thunder storms.
We had a choice - join many of our cruising friends and carry on out of the Med, into the Atlantic, visit exotic Morocco, explore the Canary Islands cross the Atlantic Ocean and be in the Caribbean in time to enjoy a rum punch while listening to steel drums sitting under a palm tree with the sand between our toes by Christmas. Sure sounds appealing, still does - but there is always next year!!
So here we are, in the lovely town of Cartagena on the southeastern corner of Spain. We will stay here for the European winter which we hope will be reasonably mild. We will spend our time (in between boat jobs of course) exploring this wonderful country, trialing as many tapas bars as we can find, improving our somewhat appalling command on the Spanish language and taking as many siestas as necessary to blend in with the locals!!
But now a recap of 2010 ....... This is Cruising the Summer of 2010 -
 |
| Picnic in Corsica with the "Windies" |
So we took their advice and from the moment we arrived on the east coast of Sicily and anchored under Mt Etna and the stunning hilltop town of Taormina we never once regretted it, Italy was absolutely outstanding and we loved every minute (even the wet ones!!). Nearly every stop was a highlight: the bubbling live volcano, smelly mudbaths and beach happy hours at Vulcano, the opportunity to visit ancient buried Pompeii from Agropoli, the beautiful Amalfi coast towns clinging by their toenails to the steep to cliff faces surrounded by vivid green and yellow lemon trees, the pastel painted houses of Procida crumbling down but oh so "Italy". Then we hit the busy part, crazy Ponza on a long holiday weekend with the armada of incoming boats seemingly endless but there was always room for one more.
 |
| Most expensive drinks with "Panthera" |
We sailed overnight west to Sardinia, still Italian, but with a definite independent island feel to it. On long hot summers days we found deserted bays with clear water and sandy beaches, contrasting greatly with the wealth displayed in the compact area around Porto Cervo, where super yachts easily outnumbered little yachts like ours. We had a day inland, astounded by the Stone Age ruins we visited, intrigued by the overgrown forests of cork trees. Maybe we should have explored more of Sardinia, we just touched the north east corner and it was beautiful, many anchorages in some sheltered waters, an excellent spot.
It was time for a change of culture and language and we hopped across to Corisca and dusted off the French phrase book. The well preserved ancient walled towns of Bonifacio, Porto Vecchio and Calvi and the frequent coastal battlements gave us a great sense of their history. Our inland travel revealing the lush mountainous interior, sandy banked rivers, stone age ruins - this gem of an island had it all. Combined with some gin clear waters in appealing bays Corisca was yet another highlight.
 |
| Time for a mudbath with White Rose and Sundancer II |
Back to Italy visiting the Tuscan Island of Elba, some great anchorages, cute villages, sweet scented pine forests, good weather. Time for the mainland again to our most secure anchorage weather wise of the season at La Grazie. This Cinque Terra area was jam packed full of interesting excursions - the famous Cinque Terra (Five Villages) coastal walk, a day out by train to Pisa, just a short hop over the hill to Porto Venere and a visit from our friends Helen and David. Unfortunately the weather changed here after a dreadful long night of thunder/lightening storms and torrential rainfall, it was unsettled for a couple of weeks after and never returned to those long settled summer days.
The Italian Riviera was next, sophisticated Santa Margherita made an excellent base for a few days, nearby famous Portofino as quaint as all the postcards. Our Italian sojourn was nearing its end, a few days in San Remo just 20 miles from the French boarder was an excellent way to end. The covered market one of the best I have ever seen in any country. Sadly it was arrivederci to Italy, we couldn't stay forever. We enjoyed everywhere we visited, the locals were always welcoming, the food in general every good and pizzas and pasta dishes very affordable, drinks ranged in price from average to outrageous but they normally gave free nibbles with them to soften the blow! Italy oozes history and culture, it is a wonderful unrivaled country. The people have a style and spirit that matches it perfectly.
 |
| Celeb spotting in Monte Carlo |
I must add that we were extremely lucky for the most part with settled weather. The west coast of Italy is all a lee shore and any westerly winds leave you with few places to run. Any strong winds further out in the med will affect the swell so you need to look at a large weather picture on a daily basis. That said, there are places to tuck in from most conditions but you need to always have a plan B, and often a plan C too.
I can't move on further before I mention one of the most important factors of why all the above was also so enjoyable. We cruised in company the entire time, not always with the same boats as we all go different speeds and have different agendas but there was a group of us going roughly the same way and boy did we have fun. I hope I don't miss anyone but to the following - you made an excellent season even better. Sundancer II, White Rose, Blue Banana, Eye Candy, Gone with the Wind, Threshold and Panthera. Once we left Italy we were on our own except for a couple of rendezvouses with Baracca. Thankyou all for making our season extra special.
Next it was on to Monaco, what Italy oozes in history and culture, Monaco oozes in wealth. Our 3 nights in the marina were a highlight of a different kind, never did we think we would be able to afford to marina Balvenie in Monaco and spend time in this pocket sized Principality. The wealth displayed just in the cars parked in Casino Square was enough to knock our socks off, then there were the dozens of enormous super yachts parked in a row in the marina, and one look in the estate agents window indicated 8million Euro as a 'cheap' one bedroom apartment - this is definitely not somewhere the likes of us retire!!!! But it was fun, not ostentatious or stuffy - just for rich people who like to enjoy showing their wealth.
 |
| Porto Cervo with Eye Candy and GWTW |
I fell in love with France over 20 years ago when I first backpacked there, and have returned several times since. I had been looking forward all season to cruising its coastline, soaking up the culture, practicing my French and sampling the French cuisine. Now I felt a traitor to France, this coastline didn't reflect the France I loved and we both missed Italy. The cost of living was high, fruit and vegetables seemed especially so, eating out cheaply was almost impossible, happy hour drinks and coffees were almost affordable dependant on where you were!! The weather wasn't kind to us, Mistrals kept howling. We could see no value in heading along the coast further westwards and into the eye of Mistral territory so we took the opportunity of a short lull in the winds and headed south overnight to Spain's Balearic Islands. We had spent only 12 nights on the French coast.
 |
| Can Mark get beer out of Threshold's steering system??? |
 |
| Looking lopsided in Portofino |
We have been in Cartagena on the south eastern corner of Spain over a week now and were feeling quite settled, until this morning. I managed to tune into the "rum runners net", a HF Radio net our friends have started up and are checking into as they move westwards, Gone with the Wind and Moonshadow were about to arrive in Morocco, Beyond, Stardust and several others about to join Cristata in the Canaries. Today we are feeling somewhat left behind, but we have Spain to explore and much more - that rum punch will just taste all the sweeter next year!!!
Countries and Principalities visited - 5 Malta, Italy, France, Monaco and Spain
Island Groups visited - 7 Sicily, Aeolean Islands, Bay of Napoli Islands, Sardinia, Corsica, Tuscan Islands, Balearic Islands
Nautical Miles travelled - 1742 (Distance had we gone in a straight line was 767!!)
Nautical Miles motored - 929 Only about 20miles was due to adverse headwinds, balance due to no wind
Nights at sea - 3 Ponza-Olbia, French mainland-Mahon, Ibiza-Cartagena
Nights tied up for free on a buoy - 4 Porto Pollo, Pollenca, Porto Petro
Nights tied up for free at a dock - 14 Scario, Agropoli, Olbia, Final Ligure, San Remo
Nights tied up in Marinas - 7 Amalfi, Monaco, Pollenca
Different Anchorages visisted - 60
Strongest winds - 46 knots at anchor in France, 28 knots at sea downwind across the top of Corsica
Fastest speed - 8.6 knots flying across the top of Corsica
Sleepless nights - less than five (more than one is too many!!)
Rainy days - Lost count really, but not that many that rained ALL day and this is Europe!!
How much did it cost? - Done all the numbers and it averaged out at 385Euro per week (this season was 19 weeks). That includes stocking up the food and drink supplies in Malta before we left there, and starting/finishing with full diesel tanks. Our biggest expense was eating/drinking onboard 1888E closely followed by eating/drinking out 1545E, diesel ranked next as we did alot of motoring 1300E, next came sightseeing/local transport 580E, Marinas 372E, small repairs/maintenance/spares 340E, phone/internet 240E, the rest is made up of odds and ends - souvenirs, clothing, laundry etc
AND THAT WAS THE SUMMER OF 2010
