Log

From the stunning beauty of the Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre, past the 13 miles of sunbeds leading up to Viareggio, to the natural beaches of the Natural Park Migliarino San Rossore - a downwind dustbin for the sunbed strip. Pictures speak more than words.

Not a lot of wind about in the Ligurian Sea. Long days needed to make significant progress. A half metre 4 second period swell yesterday - and I see for today too - makes it as hard work on the legs as on arms and fingers. Having the Hobie cat brothers sailing the same way makes it fun and is good for motivation. I am quicker than them but they sail in more comfort and are not quite as averse as I to the really light stuff. So I forge a lead and stop when it becomes too painful, but they keep going a few more hours and close the gap right down.

Had a very restorative few days in Juan-les-Pins staying with Pablo and Shona. Got lots done. Proper repairs to deck of board that had suffered a bit of cracking and delamination as a result of me occasionally jumping on bits of 'deck furniture' - clips and the like. I did some writing. Eat lots of healthy and tasty food. Watched France win the World Cup. Aquapac very kindly and super speedily sent me out a replacement bag for the front load. After a couple of days use I'm delighted with it. The contents finish each day bone dry.

In my last video highlighting plastic in the Med, I promised some pictures from the French Mediterranean coast. Here they are. I'd been fearing that this coast would be a continuous line of urban sprawl, but the development is - compared to Spain - well zoned and natural spaces are frequent too.

Have noted a reduction in the amount of plastic in the water in recent weeks. North Spain and the west part of the French Mediterranean: no plastic slicks to report. On land there's plastic to find if you're on the look out, but what there is isn't necessarily recent. Maybe just a south Med problem? Someone else's problem?

Nope. Sigh. The Cote D'Azur is stunning - and I'll pull together some of the nicer pictures and post those too, another time - but for today a dose of sad reality: water borne plastic the last two days sailed has been at depressing levels.

Current location is Marseille. I arrived yesterday in a moderate Mistral wind. Today it is blowing too strong to sail, allowing time to write this overdue letter:

Nice days as the Iberian Peninsula stage draws to a close.

In the Mediterranean, sailing within a mile of land, it is rare to sail for more than a few minutes without seeing at least fragments of plastic. Ghostly plastic bags are as common as jellyfish, and areas dense with plastic - as shown - are encountered more days than not.

The price of plastic - and stuff in general - does not come close to reflecting the true cost to the planet and its inhabitants. Real prices that consider the consequences of consumption would help us consume more sensibly.

Update and pics...

The Mistral wind blows hard for two days, allowing for a day and a half to recharge batteries depleted from the exertions of reaching land after rounding the Delta del Ebro.

Oropesa to Benicarló

Enjoyed Oropesa, pleased I made time for a walk to the old town and castle. It made me a bit late heading off, but that worked well - trying to rest the fingers after all. Sailed past some beautiful looking wild camping opportunities, but then more wind came in and the miles flowed, and once past Peniscola it was back to developed coastline where the harbours are the best bet for an easy overnight. Stopped at Benicarló. Two pizzas for dinner.  

Valencia to Marjal del Moro (8th June)

Valencia. Always a bit of a culture shock sailing into a big city. So much wealth and at best a questionable quality of experience! Reminded not for the first time of the Mexican fisherman parable (many variants available - for example this one).

Short clip heading past Valencia port. Nice to have to breeze so not hanging around where the traffic is heaviest.

Lots of these strange fish. They appear injured, but swim off apparently healthy enough if bumped. This one on approach to Valencia.

4th June 2018

Very light wind and happy to give the back and fingers and eyes a day off. Managed to link up with Club Nautico Vilajoyosa. Nice town with proper fishing fleet on one side of port. Love the lines on this boat being worked on in dry dock.

Bad back making everything more difficult and uncomfortable than it should be. Not helped by sitting down writing this so I'll keep it brief. Some very beautiful parts of the Med. Sadly though, whilst sailing, you really are never far from plastic bags. I've given up hoping that the ghostly objects suspended a few metres below the surface are interesting marine life. In the bad parts, even miles out, every few hundred metres you'll pass another piece of pseudo life, and that's without looking for the smaller 'decomposed' parts that are more typically surface floating.