No Regrets: Tapas, Bouillabaisse and Pasta

You can pick the Time, or the Place... But you can't pick both!

It is always stressful when trying to meet friends and family at a specific harbor on a specific date. The arrival plans are often interrupted because of weather and other SSDDs (Same Shit, Different Days). The only practical solution is to try hard for the rendezvous, but always with the caveat, "You can pick the Time, or the Place... But you can't pick both!".

So when the Crosheres planned to join No Regrets for a month of cruising, they scheduled a flight into Milan, Italy, expecting a short train ride west along the coast to meet up somewhere around Cannes, France.

As it turned out, they flew instead from Milan to Barcelona, Spain, because we were delayed in Barcelona by a month! They chose to meet the boat at a time certain, and Barcelona ended up being the place!

Annette Smyth had signed on for a month of cruising adventure to move the boat from Barcelona to Cannes to meet my California friends. I met Annette on Find-a-Crew, a great website that is like a dating service between skippers looking for crew, and crew looking for a boat to cruise on. Annette is a fun loving Irish lady, who now lives in Bosnia, but loves being on the ocean. When she came aboard for a month, we provisioned for the sail to Marseille, but the night before casting off, we did the safety and boat tour and discovered that the generator would not start :((

Not the Generator again?

That meant a delay to get it repaired... 4 weeks as it turned out. We were both disappointed not to be traveling up the Rhone River to Avignon in France. But Summertime in Barcelona is also fabulous. This fulfilled my lifelong dream of living in Barcelona, even if only for 4 months. Annette was very understanding and we had tons of fun while hanging out in Barcelona.

Rick, Leo and Annette

Tapas in Barcelona Spain

We soon fell into a comfy schedule of eating Tapas, kayaking, going to the beach, exploring the City, and listening to music. Who knew that there are weekly concerts on the roof of Gaudi's Casa Battlo?

Jazz under the Stars

Next to Gaudi's Chimneys

So Playful

Fascinating

And Lovely

Enjoying Tapas (Small Plates) with the assembled crew.
Each Tapas has a different taste (e.g. octopus on one and a small beef filet on another)
It takes 3 or 4 Tapas to make up a full meal.

The generator, is finally repaired and ready to reinstall.
Now "Debbie" can finally live up to her name (From "Debbie does Dallas")
Debbie does Europe!

The night before leaving Barcelona, Dave, Anne and I went to the Palace de Musica to watch a Flamenco performance. A torrential rain storm caught us while walking from the Metro to a Tapas dinner next to the Palace.

We were so wet that we literally wrung out our shirts at the dinner table. Several bottles of Cava, a Spanish Champagne, lifted our spirits, and the lively Flamenco dancing combined for one of the best experiences of this 3 year voyage.

Wet but not dismayed

Sailing at last

Anchoring in a quiet cove is one of my favorite things to do. It is very private, secure and quiet. And while riding at anchor, the boat usually points into the wind, which makes the aft cockpit in the lee and sheltered by the cabin.

Anchoring out creates special and spiritual moments!

Sheltered behind a protecting castle

Anne is relaxing into boat life!

Dave's morning exercise

What made this cruise so enjoyable? The weather was warm and sunny. Summer in the med can be near perfect. The crew of Crosheres was very easy, comfortable and harmonious... We have been friends and sailing buddies for over 50 years.

And our itenary and travels were spectacular!

Cadaques, our last port in Spain.

Salvador Dali loved this town and painted here for decades.

Bouillabaisse in Marseille France

We picked a calm day to sail the 115 miles across the Gulf of Lyon to Marseille, France.

Entrance into Marseille Harbor

Marseille is famous for several things. This was a tinder box in the French Revolution... More people died in Marseille by the guillotine than anywhere else in France. It also gave France their national anthem, the La Marseillaise. And this is the birthplace of Bouillabaisse, a very tasty French fish stew.

A bouillabaisse rich environment!

Authentic harbor life in Marseille

Keeping folk music and traditions alive

It is interesting how western France, on the Atlantic coast, differs from southern France along the Mediterranean . The seafood in Normandy and Brittany, abutting the English Channel, is far more varied and plentiful. Fresh oysters and mussels are on every menu on the Atlantic coast, and I enjoyed escargot in most restaurants. Oysters are rare along the Mediterranean coast, and I couldn't find snails anywhere. Regional tastes and the lack of tides in the Med must both contribute to these dietary differences.

Annette left No Regrets in Marseille. Thank you McMurphy for making the past month so damn much fun!

Enjoying cruising at last

The French Riviera

There are so many towns, cities, bays and harbors along the French coast. The names themselves conjure up such romantic visions... Toulon, Saint-Tropez, Cannes, Antibes, Monaco, Cote 'd Azur and the French Riviera!

Entrance into Cassis

When in Cassis, one must have a glass of Cassis!

Hovering in St Tropiz while the crew shops ashore for food

Crystal clear water of St Marguerite Island, 10 miles outside Cannes

This anchorage comes complete with a daily ice creme boat :))

And sunsets that reflect on this paradise!

A magical harbor in Monaco

Corsica

Corsia is a large Mediterranean island about 110 miles to the south of Monaco. The French think they own it, but the Corsicans consider themselves independent. Corsica is the birthplace of Napoleon, and is also where Lord Nelson lost his eye in a navel battle.

Even the flag of Corsica depicts their rebel attitude and the Moorish influence

Landfall at Calvi, a Corsican harbor protected by the obligatory fortifications

Calvi's protected harbor and charming town

Can you Imagine attacking this fortication?

It is protected by Angels

And watchtowers

Typical feudal streets... Narrow and designed for horses

Quiet harbors in Corsica

Building supplies being helicoptered in

Entrance into Bonifacio

A spectacular sliver of a hidden and protested natural harbor

No Regrets in the lee of yet another feudal fortress

Exploring couldn't be more fun

Through cities built over time

Pasta in Sardinia Italy

Sardinia is the second largest island in the Med. It is only 10 miles south of Corsica and is 70 miles north of Sicily, the biggest island in the Med.

Sardinia is owned by Italy, and is definitely different than Corsica. It is amazing that one can have Bouillabaisse for lunch in French Corsica, and then pasta for dinner in Italian Sardinia. What a wonderful juxtaposition of food, languages, dress and cultures. The only common denominator is the currency, because most countries in the European Union use the Euro.

Castelsardo was our Sardinian landfall after leaving Bonafacio

Another country means another obligatory trip to the phone store for yet another data SIM card for Wifi connection. Each country has it's own phone companies which require a different phone data chip to connect to their Wifi. Why isn't this as universal as GPS is? Global Positioning Satellites were invented in the US, but are free for all in the world to use. Wifi should be as accessible without the layering of national phone companies seeking profits.

In the beginning, I kept track of all of the time spent finding new phone companies and their data SIM cards. but after much efforts, I just surrendered to the process. I am sure that I have spent at least 90 hours in the quest for Wifi.