9.24.06

There are some photos on the website of our crew in action and inaction as we crossed the Atlantic at : http://www.sailtheblue.com/id36.html

Sailing a Low To a Happy End

It seems the further we go from the Spanish Mediterranean coast the happier we are, and so it appears that we have finally left our cruising blues and, according to our last head check, our lice too. With the forecast of an approaching low pressure system we made our way out of Mahon, Menorca's fortress of a harbor (and after Pearl Harbor, the second biggest natural harbor in the world), at 4 AM on September 21 . That low catapulted us the 212 miles to the island of Port Cros (near Toulon, France) in 27 hours.

The trip was wonderful for me. The steady, moderate wind started just aft of beam and moved gradually forward until, towards the end, we were close hauled. We could not have asked for a more favorable window for Cénou to rush ahead in the moonless night and the bright sunlight. For Rike, however, the night sails are still difficult and is the part of cruising she really dislikes. I had promised her that once in Europe we would do coastal cruising amounting to only day hops. Instead it seems we have done mostly coastal fleeing, bringing with it longer distances.

Port Cros is a national park with limited anchoring and the moorings are not free. We could anchor, but the low pressure that brought us here has found it's way to us, bringing gale force winds and small rollers are coming into the anchorage. So, for the sake of everyone we are sitting at a mooring in the very quaint, small and quiet harbor of the island. From here we can take great walks after home-schooling or do a family "chill-out" as rain pelts the deck.

Landing in Port Cros thankfully stymied the effects the past few months had on us but we are well aware that even a beautiful and quaint place has its limits. Cruising, for me, has always been more about the people one meets along the way rather than the places. Rike and I agree that most of our best memories of the past year were etched by the coincidental events of relationships. Some of these relationships lived the life of one dinner, and some were consumed over a month or more, but all brought a quality to our lives that no shore could ever compete with.

As such cruising is as much about going places as it is about meeting and parting. Over the months there have been many good-byes. The only reason and consolation to our good-byes have been the fact that we were going to other shores. Thankfully, even through the Cruiser's Gauntlet, (Mediterranean Spain) we met others cruisers who made our experience more bearable.

Now that fall is in the air with gales from the east to be followed by gales from the west we will be trading that life of movement for a little bit of sedentary existence. In about two to three weeks we will bring Cénou to a harbor about 70 miles from here at the mouth of the Rhone, haul out, winterize and have a land life for a few months. We have signed up for an apartment in Switzerland about an hour from Montreux, where my mother lives.

Sometime between now and then I hope to post photos of northern Spain, Portugal, the incredible southern Spain and the little havens of Port Cros and Porquerolles. I will send a notice when I do.

All the best to everyone

Claude, Rike, Celine and Anouck