Y Viva Espana

It seems we are in the Costa Brava! Neither of us had really realised this, although I have previously galloped along the sands on The Bay of Roses, (whilst being eaten alive by mosquitoes) !!

The definition of Brava is wild, savage, and the coast is bordered by steep cliffs with the Pyrenees in the background. There are deep 'calas' beneath steep sided promontories and it is really spectacular.

Rocky scenes in the Costa Brava

We realised how little we knew about this area of Spain and were looking forward to exploring.

However, we had also become accustomed to the cheap costs of boating in France, and were surprised to learn that harbour dues in the Costa Brava are about double those of the Costa del Sol!

Well 'that's OK' we thought, time to test out Mike's extensively researched anchor ( he does like his research), but then we read that most anchorages are open to the sea one way or another,none have all round shelter and if the wind is wrong a huge swell comes rolling in!

Fun 😙

It was also reported that the proximity to France means that the demand on spaces and berths is considerable and it was advisable to arrange a berth in advance!

Well, it was August, so what could go wrong? Maybe it was too hot to be busy? Maybe we should have been a bit more thorough with our research.....

The Navily app was quickly loaded onto both of our phones and off we set!

The Navily app is quite clever as it gives a lot of information in the real time, including wind and sea state for the period one may wish to anchor.

Though sometimes I felt it did add a bit to confusion and decission making, especially when no anchorage in an area were to seem viable! Also some of the reviews need to be taken lightly, as with most social media there are always some grumps adding their POVs.

Roses Marina was our first destination, a good sail which then became quite lively as the tramontana wind kicked in.

Oh dear, they were right, there was no room at the inn!!!

They were very helpful however and we were sent to a very large marina which they had advised us would have a berth. By now it was very windy and we were glad to get to Empurabrava, but not looking forward to mooring in the wind. The marina was however,very sheltered, and Spain has this splendid traadition of employing 'marineros' to help with mooring, just as well as we were in a box berth which was for a much larger boat than ours.

Box berthing has a definite skill, and I think needs to done regularly to keep said skill! Needless to say we had definitely lost that skill!

Ramukanji in a box berth at Narbonne Plage

I started to read the article below, to try to explain box berthing, but then got a bit bored!! and decided to leave it to the marineros, and at the pice we paid for the marina I didn't feel like I was taking advantage!

'The key to box berthing is getting the windward bow or stern lines onto the posts as you go past. Standing amidships, at the point of maximum beam, if you can get close enough to drop a bowline or spiced loop over the post, all you need to do is adjust the mooring line on the cleat to get the boat in position. Dropping a bight (a doubled line) over the post is more reliable, as you can’t be sure of being close enough to drop over a loop whereas you can throw over a bight, but you do then need to run the working end through a fairlead and get it onto a cleat, which takes slightly longer.'

This marina was huge, souless and breathless, we did not enjoy being here and left the next day for another lively sail across the bay to an anchorage, but with the strong wind we couldn't maintain our course and opted for a different anchorage at Cala L'Estrala.

With some trepidation we dropped anchor, there were loads of boats and it was a pretty spot. By 1800 nearly everyone else had gone and we shared the bay with just one other yacht. The tender was inflated and we went ashore at the dog beach!

The Spanish attitude to their dogs is so much more relaxed than the French, though they weren't allowed inside so many restaurants etc, but there is usually an area of beach fenced off for them and their owners are happy for them all to socialise in a typically mad Spanish way.

Sprocket doesn't really think he is like other dogs and isn't overly fussed about playing with them, but he loves to run on the beach and swim in the sea. And in Sete, he discovered a passion for fish, just sitting on the swimming platform and starring at them for hours on end, he just couldn't quite work them out!

Passing time by fish watching

Town was lovely, we had some gret tapas and then back to the boat for a fairly relaxed night at anchor, and at no cost!

The Costa Brava has many anchorages, and we managed to work out Navily generally well enough for us to have mostly comfortable nights. Mike had great faith in his new anchor , a different experience to when we have previously anchored and lain await listening for the anchor chain alarm to go off!

The dog on board, does mean that we always have to be able to gain access to the shore, and there was the occasional challenge from people reporting to own the beach access. There is also a strict law preventing motorised access to beach areas, though there is generally a buoyed access channel for tenders to use.

We only had one episode with a boat boy absolutely refusing access unless we paid him.We just went around the corner to the next bay and caused great amusement to the locals as we tried to get on and off the tender on a rocky shore, in a sea swell and with a mad spaniel bouncing in and out of the tender. Needless to say we got rather wet!

It can be quite tricky getting on and off Ramukanji and into the tender when there is a swell, especially with a Spaniel in the mix! With some research we discovered a much better approach using the side of the boat rather than the stern and the use of a step fender, this seemed to be much safer with a big swell.

For those in doubt about sailing in Spain, we would say give it a go!

Yes, it is very busy and the Costa Brava is expensive, but...

We were travelling in August, the height of the season, we always managed to either anchor or find a berth, the food is excellent and the people are relaxed and really good fun.

Also, there is always something ,or someone, to watch, which is all part of the experience and we found the winds to be very favourable too!

Onwards to Blanes and Arenys-de-mar, a mixture of marinas and 'Club Nautiques' all with good facilities, some even have swimming pools!

Our next main destination planned had been Barcelona, but we found out that it was the base for the Americas Cup this year, and it was due to start in a few days time....

The marinas were very expensive, with Olimpico and Port Vell quoting us 320 euros for a night! They are both right in the centre, but we didn't want to spend that much money, we weren't used to this, and thought we could stay at Arenys and catch a train in to sight see.

Lovely relaxed sailing with great scenery on the Costa Brava