GRAND TOUR PART 3

A ten-hour passage across the Balearic Sea leads Azura and crew to mainland Europe, first stop Barcelona...

- Thomas Kittel

The time has finally come: the 100nautical mile (10 hour) crossing from Mallorca to Barcelona. Mercifully, the weather gods are kind to us and we cruise non-stop on a straight 345° course across a calm Balearic Sea, the monotony interrupted only by passing pods of dolphins and a German sailor who contacts us on the VHF to make sure we are still awake and don’t inadvertently collide with him!

For a short time we even have a mobile phone connection – in the middle of the Med 60nm from Barcelona and 40nm from Mallorca.

Usually, we lose reception at 20nm, if not earlier, and it remains unclear why things are different today. We take the chance to send a few texts and emails but when I try to make a call, the connection fails and doesn’t return until five hours later, 10 nm from Barcelona. We had a similar experience when crossing from Menorca to Mallorca, receiving clear AIS signals from ships in Tarragona – 107 nm away!

Cities always look different when approached from the sea rather than the land and Barcelona is no exception. At first, the outlines of the mountains emerge, which gradually change from light to dark grey. A little later white spots give the first indication of buildings, then the large container cranes and oil tanks marking the industrial port start to take shape before the city-scape become identifiable.

Our destination is Marina Port Vell, located right in the centre of Barcelona and best reached via the northern entrance, which is also used by commercial shipping. This involves passing through several harbour basins, a distance of more than 3nm, before arriving at the marina.