Marina Port Vell Marina Port Vell is in the heart of the exciting city of Barcelona. Our berth is directly under the Palau de Mar which was beautifully converted from the old warehouses and is now home to the Museau de Catalunya. We hadn't planned to stay here since I'm not keen on cities and I been to Barcelona several times before but always for work. This is different, the city has a wonderful transport system and so much to see and do.

Barcelona Market

We celebrated the start of the new year of 2004 in Barcelona at a party on Rob and Andreas boat. A typical day for us would be going to one of the big markets or the local supermarket to buy food for dinner or to the bodega to stock up with "vin de bateau". Apart from the everyday living there are also many excellent sites and museums to visit. Every couple of weeks if the weather was really nice we would go out to sea and sail for a couple of hours. It was always an interesting challenge getting the boat back into the very tight berth between John and Linda’s Guardian and the pontoon but it was good practice and there were often helping hands.

The evening nearly always started with a glass or two of cava often in the company of visitors or other berth holders. Friday night was cocktail night on pontoon F, bring a bottle and a dish to share. In the dead of winter they would start at 17:00 but as Spring progressed they started at 18:00 thank goodness! Typically there would also be a party on one of the boats afterwards.

St Elulia There was a radio network on VHF every morning which provided weather and information about social events as well as help with services and queries. It was well structured and anyone could join in. There were many social events organized by the winter resident cruisers especially Rudi and Faith from Boundless. Events such as ten-pin bowling, bike rides, painting classes, bouls, and trips to the archery bar, yes, long-bows and arrows in a bar!

Barcelona to Sitges car rally Spain has many Saints days and festivals and Barcelona is no exception. Saint Elulia, one of the patron saints of Barcelona is celebrated by the parade of giants which ends with them dancing in Placa Jaume in front of the city hall. That was also the site of the start of a vintage car rally a couple of weeks later.

The Catalonians certainly know how to celebrate May-day with a free festival on the waterfront with live music, free paella and soft drinks as well as bars selling alcoholic drinks and lots of tables to sit at. The paella was cooked in 3 of the largest dishes I've ever seen. They were mounted on large frames and were heated by great log fires underneath. It took several men with hoes standing inside a pan to scrape it clean afterwards. The following day there wasn't a trace there had been a big event there.

Mayday paella dish We were lucky enough to welcome several visitors to stay with us, among them my daughter Emma, Tan’s son Glyn and girlfriend Vicky, her daughter Rachel and husband Dean, and my dear friends Colin and Debbie.