THE GRAND TOUR
A ten-hour passage across the Balearic Sea leads Azura and crew to mainland Europe, first stop Barcelona...
PART 3
Our Marlow owners wave farewell to Mallorca and head for Barcelona
The time has finally come: the 100nautical mile (10 hour) crossing from Mallorca to Barcelona. Mercifully, the weather gods are kind to us and we cruise non-stop on a straight 345° course across a calm Balearic Sea, the monotony interrupted only by passing pods of dolphins and a German sailor who contacts us on the VHF to make sure we are still awake and don’t inadvertently collide with him! For a short time we even have a mobile phone connection – in the middle of the Med 60nm from Barcelona and 40nm from Mallorca. Usually, we lose reception at 20nm, if not earlier, and it remains unclear why things are different today. We take the chance to send a few texts and emails but when I try to make a call, the connection fails and doesn’t return until five hours later, 10 nm from Barcelona. We had a similar experience when crossing from Menorca to Mallorca, receiving clear AIS signals from ships in Tarragona – 107 nm away!
Cities always look different when approached from the sea rather than the land and Barcelona is no exception. At first, the outlines of the mountains emerge, which gradually change from light to dark grey. A little later white spots give the first indication of buildings, then the large container cranes and oil tanks marking the industrial port start to take shape before the city-scape become identifiable.
Our destination is Marina Port Vell, located right in the centre of Barcelona and best reached via the northern entrance, which is also used by commercial shipping. This involves passing through several harbour basins, a distance of more than 3nm, before arriving at the marina.
We reserved and paid for the berth months in advance, as we want to leave our boat here and fly home for a couple of weeks. The professionalism of the email service is not quite so efficient in practice: the Marinero on duty does not have us on his arrival list. Thankfully, the port is large and not overcrowded, so after a brief wait we are assigned a berth. However, it is so narrow that we cannot get in without touching fenders with both our neighbours. But that’s what fenders are for and once in situ we are held snugly in place.
Our extendable passerelle has been playing up since our final day in Mallorca and although it still comes out far enough to reach the quay, the rope that serves as a handrail won’t spring into place. Getting on and off the boat is now a balancing act that requires a good head for heights. With heavy suitcases in tow, it almost feels like a tightrope walk. Our American friends,
who have flown in to stay on board with us have not yet found their sea legs and decide to book a hotel instead and meet us in the city.
UNFINISHED SYMPHONY
Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain. It is also one of the three most visited cities in Europe with over 7 million tourists descending on it each year. And this is exactly how it appears to us, even before we discover the bare stats. It’s an attractive lively city, which offers everything from historic buildings to cutting edge architecture, beaches to mountains and dreamy tranquility to bubbling diversity.
Its most famous attraction is the Sagrada Família basilica, a building of such complexity that even now, 138 years after work began on Antonio Gaudí’s masterpiece, it remains unfinished. Plans are now afoot to complete the construction on the 100th anniversary of Gaudí‘s death in 2026 but even in its current state, with only a few of the 18 towers missing, the basilica still has an enormous impact on visitors. The structure of the nave is based on nature and completely unique – we have never seen anything like it in our travels. And then there are the stained glass windows projecting shards of coloured light into the interior – it must have taken a brilliant mind to imagine what it would look like, let alone create it. We are in awe of Gaudi’s genius as well as the people that built it, dedicating their lives to a project they knew they would never be around to see finished. Who in our current time could claim such selfless devotion?
After a flying visit home to Germany, which happens to be as hot as the Med, we continue from the pulsating Barcelona along the rocky Costa Brava coast together with my sister, brother-in-law and cousin. The first leg to Palamòs surprises us with a short, restless sea despite glorious sunshine and hardly any wind. From the relatively basic harbour, you can walk over a small hill to a lively town centre shaped by tourism. Compared to the many beautiful old towns we have seen thus far, Palamòs is a bit of a let down so we decide to pay a visit to the small coastal town of Tamariu instead. We came here over 45 years ago in an old Ford Transit while touring with a band and stayed in the small Hotel