The last wknd in Bcn

Some pics taken from the last few days in Barcelona. Shot with several different cameras, between the 28-30th of October. It was an interesting and amazing collection of gifts we've received for our journey. Sex toys, guide books explaining how to survive with a relationship aboard, chocolate, cooking-books, champagne, Swedish candy, warm and stylish sailing shirts, a world chart for our MaxSea, private letters, wine and some other wonderful things. All which our very thoughtful friends thought we would need for a journey like this. Thanks to all our lovely people, hope to see you soon again, somewhere else in the world!

Catching up on some sleep in Port Ginesta

Hey there,

We've been totally exhausted lately, therefore the lack of updates. I haven't even opened up my laptop for the last one and a half days and that is something extremely unusual. We had our good bye meeting in the harbor on Saturday night. The farewells lasted until around 11 pm and when we have said our good byes and had some drinks, we decided to leave the boat where it was and go to sleep... We just couldn't imagine ourselves going out there with that tiredness we felt, so we slept and slept and 14 hours later we left, towards Port Ginesta - where we still are and most probably will be staying until tomorrow. We really needed to catch up on that sleep for sure.

Photo from Saturday's farewell evening. Taken by Adam Hansson. More photos from that night of farewells can be found on Adam and Camillas blog. 

We've just found our SPOT tracker in this messy little boat, so now you'll be able to follow our journey on our tracker online, again. (I just don't understand why the START-thing has moved to Port Ginesta, and not staying on Barcelona?? Probably cause we haven't used the machine for quite some time? Too tired to figure that out now.)

Thank you all for your good luck wishes and greetings here on the blog, on our facebook and by email, we appreciate it so very much!! We'll be back with updates soon again.

/Taru

So close but oh so far away

It feels like we're so far away from this image, although it is only a matter of five days left till departure. It starts to get really cold here in Barcelona, 16 degrees (60F) on the days, and the nights I don't even want to think about. It is terrible. As terrible as is the tone of our skin that slowly have began to fade to a pale, dusty shade of white - after not being exposed to the sun for over two months. There is no words that can describe how much we want to get away from this all now. How much we want to trim our sails, slowly sail away with the serene and calming sound of the waves lapping against the hull, with the wind in our hair and the knowledge of that we do not have to return. At all. Ever - if we don't want to. The thought of being able to sit there on the deck of our freshly painted and newly renovated boat who will bring us from this cold place to one adventure after the other, gives me pain in my stomach - as it feels like light-years to reach to that day. It is a painful longing we have to deal with at the moment and the time seem to go so terribly slow that I almost can count the milliseconds between each breath I take. 

Picture taken 6 months ago.

P.S: Don't forget to become friends with us on Facebook, this is where you will find more info and short notes from us, when we don't have the time to update here. New pictures uploaded in our private folder today. Only visible for our friends, remember. /T

Happy Tuesday

Alex thought I should throw in a happy and joyful picture after the bad mood I (we) had to deal with last night. So here we go. A childish smile, captured this morning for breakfast. I don't have much more than this to give you, this morning, as there's too much things to check off from the never ending to-do-list. At least we've now organized for Internet connection aboard so that we will be able to receive important weather information and update this little diary of ours, from the middle of the vast oceans. We'll be connecting to the Inmarsat Satellites, with a Thrane&Thrane FB150 antenna unit and we're purchasing the airtime through KVH - which was the company we found to have the most affordable airtime plans. We'll have the antenna installed the day after tomorrow. That's all for now. /Taru

Morning view

This is the view we encounter first thing in the morning when getting out on deck, out hauled on the yard. It is a delightful and sunny day and so far we've been extremely lucky with the weather. It's like the weather gods knew that we only have a few days left and that we desperately need to finish the spraying process. Thanks for that.

Some pics from the new camera..

We were just playing around with the new camera last night...

Refreshing change

We've checked into a cozy (and clean!) hotel this weekend so we can get away from the dusty, noisy environment, at least for the sleeping hours. Looking much forward to be able to dress up for the night and exchange my dirty overalls to something hot and dazzling. A hot shower, dinner and a loooong nights sleep is just what we're in need of.
Hasta luego amigos. /Taru

Stocking up

There's still quite a long list of things to purchase for this tour and we're slowly checking off things on this as well. We took some hours off from the polishing today and went out shopping. Besides of finding more delicate bottles to the wine selection, and more to the collection of tea's, I finally found this sweet, little (length only 14 cm!) friend that I've been looking for, for quite some time now. I know that some of you might sigh now and wonder what the hell will she do with ironed clothes on the sea, but this I find a must have for those few days when arriving in beautiful harbors and in need to get dressed up. The same answer goes to the wonderings about why I would bring so much (not much, only ten pairs) high heels on the boat. Simply because a life afloat, doesn't limit us from getting off in land in beautiful locations and indulge in excellent restaurants or hotels, when there's time and space for it. And a women still needs to be a woman, even though she might live on a boat.

This is by the way one of the best Spanish wines I've ever came across and what we're stocking up the boat with. Or mostly me, I must say, cause even though Alex is a frenchman, he rarely drinks wine. He prefers the rum. Either way, we'd definitely need a couple of those delicious bottles of Mas La Plana's onboard. Try it, if you're anything like me and you enjoy a rich, elegant, well balanced and intensively characteristic red wine. 

/T

Missing the sea

We haven't been out on the sea for almost two months! Can you tell we're dying to get out there? Today was a brilliant, sunny day for sailing with perfect winds and a calm sea - and it was with envy we today had to observe the boats from a distance. But like we said before, we're leaving no later than next week.. Feels like a lifetime to reach that final day though, if you ask me. /T

Morning on s/v Caos

Finally we're able to say: "Next week" - when people ask us when's our departure. Now when the sails are ordered, the windpilot up in place and all other missing things ordered and on their way - it feels much lighter and easier, mentally, for us both. There's still plenty of tasks to fulfill, but in the case we do not make them on time, we're still able to leave on the appointed date and get the rest done on the way. I can't even begin to tell you how much we are and have been longing for Sunday the 31st of October, and now when it is oh so close, it somehow feels surreal that we're almost there. But we're taking it easy as it is now, working methodically, getting things in order, organizing ourselves and our home and trying to enjoy the days as they pass. No need to rush or feel stressed, when we can't make time passing neither slower or faster, anyway.

And thank god for the sweet forecast that is promised for the rest of the week. Warm sunshine and a calm breeze is a good help for us to get all of the outdoor work properly done.  /T

Wine break

Much needed in between windvane installations, hatch mountings, teak gluing, winch installations, arch weldings and mental breakdowns. Cheers and good night.

Let's go!!

Cake time. I'm taking a break! Oh my freakin' lord what a mess it is down here. The boat is inside out with things everywhere, everywhere where they're not supposed to be and there's tools in every nook and cranny and I can barely keep my mind sane in this d i s a s t e r, also called our home. Trying to clean up the mess and five minutes later it looks like someone turned the boat completely up side down. Alex tells me it is not time for baking when there is millions of things to finish before the sun goes down, I claim that he doesn't know me by now.. I need my cake therapy to be able to go through this! I need to put on some Portishead on very high volume, put my hands in a bowl full of eggs and distract myself with delicate measurements.

I also told him that we should cast off and leave Barcelona tonight. Let's forget the missing things and let them be sent to some other harbor along the way. I can't stand this goddamn stress no more. If only, if only... It is not the amount of tasks that's stressing me most, it is the knowledge of that the freedom is awaiting us just around the corner. In not so many hours, we'll be free, unbound, released and that is what is most disturbing, frustrating, exhilarating, nerve-breaking, exciting in the life of moi, at the moment.

Will add the recipe for the cake here later on when Alex stops insisting on me to do this and that and this....

And yes, I can clearly see that it looks like a christmas cake and associated winter ambience, just another reason why we should leave. NOW! It's too f-cking cold over here!! Give me the Caribbean! Or at least take me to Morocco! /T

Time for a break

It is a ridiculous amount of rain that is showering Barcelona and nearby regions at the moment. Perfect in time for the current mounting of our new Lewmar hatches and the associated applying of new fiber glass around them. Not!! Although we should worry about how much water there's actually leaking in through the not-yet-sealed-hatch-openings, we have totally decided to leave that project aside for some hours and instead we're chilling down with a couple of (not homemade) pizzas and a movie on the laptop. /T

Sunny days

It's a beautiful and sunny day today. Starting to get a little colder in the nights here in Barcelona but we can still enjoy hot, Mediterranean climate on the sunshine hours - hoping to be able to do so all those days until we're leaving this town in 36 days. /T

Two weeks ago

Some more pics of the work we've done on the boat lately:

Propeller painted.

Sanding the rudder.

Painting epoxy filler.

More sanding.

New winches on the mast.

Life lines replaced.

Our life was pretty much running on routine that week. Nothing usual in our life, that's for sure. I think we ate the same dish at the very same restaurant for five nights in a row. Done with the chinese food for a while now.

What a beautiful keel and bottom it turned out to be. So smooth and perfectly painted.

What a fucking mess we lived in some of those intensive days..

Seriously!

One night on dry.

Alex installing the radar.

And back with the boat in the water.

Ready to go!

Almost all missing parts got in place and refitted, now just a few more things to prepare before the Atlantic crossing in November (new sails, Internet, self steering etc), but that we'll take care of once we're back in Barcelona in September. We still haven't had the time to analyze what is the best option for Internet onboard. Iridium or sailmail through SSB-radio or maybe there is other options? Would love to keep the blog rolling during the whole trip so we need to find the best solution for this. Let us know if you have some expert advice. Thanks!