18th July 2008 - Pensicola to Sitges (the motoring holiday continues at night)

Bali Hai
Neal Stow
Fri 18 Jul 2008 23:32
As we motored out of Pensicola the sun was setting
and it was a very pleasant sight. The first thing we encountered was a
large fleet of fishing vessels heading out for the night, more boats than we had
seen all week. Working out the lights to avoid them made it an interesting
experience, particularly for those who had not sailed at night
before.
The 82 mile route to Pensicola was quite
straightforward, with only one mid-way waypoint, the sea was dead calm and
visibility perfect. After the first fishing vessels we saw little
else and at about 3 in the morning, with Steve on the helm and Jane on watch, I
felt comfortable going for a sleep. Leaving them with instructions to wake
me if they saw anything they were not sure about I went down below. When I
awoke a couple of hours later I went on deck to find that we were passing
close by something ablaze with lights. "What do you think that is?"
asked Steve "it has been with us for the past hour or so" So much for
waking with me if not sure about something! Fortunately it was only an oil
rig so and not actually moving.
We arrived at Sitges at 8:30 in the
morning. As we had arrived before the office opened, check-in took
even longer and we did not actually get to our berth until close to 10:30.
But it was worth it as Sitges is a really pleasant marina and town. The
place is very trendy with its old town of narrow streets, attracting
weekenders from Barcelona for the golden beaches, buzzing
nightlife and gay scene.
After lunch near the marina and a sleep we walked
into town, passing by the beaches. I was shocked, when I came to
Spain as a child, it was fun taking surreptitious photos of the topless women
sunbathers but now it seems that sunworshippers, both female and male, are going
for the Full Monty - showing off all dangly bits. It was not an
attractive sight.
We ate in a restaurant called Alfresco, very modern
with some interesting dishes and the waiters recommendation of a local wine was
superb and retired to the boat about midnight.
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