41N 1E, Welcome to Tarragona

IDEA Sailing
Idea Yacht Racing Ltd
Tue 16 Jul 2013 14:01

We have reached our final destination of Port Tarraco , Tarragona after our epic six week transatlantic crossing. Wooo haaaa! It was an eventful and a truly beautiful experience; one that has tested us and the boat on all levels.

After settling the boat on the dock, connecting to shore power, packing sails and enjoying a round of egg and bacon sandwiches and showers it was time to set ourselves the task of finding some fans for the boat...it is seriously hot here with little to no breeze. We have awnings that we put up over the boat to provide some shade and keep the boat cool but there is no escaping the 30 degree temperatures. The days here are much longer than what we are used to in the Caribbean with the sun rising at 06:30 and setting at 21:30. In the Caribbean the sun will rise at ..... and set at 7pm making the days shorter and slightly cooler. 

So our new home port for the season Port Tarraco is located at the heart of the residential area of Tarragona on the Catalonian coast of Spain. It is one of the Mediterranean`s only marinas with a nine meter draught which makes it perfect for IDEA with our draught being four and a half meters. The marina can accommodate up to 64 super yachts which seems hard to imagine at this time being that we are one of only three boats here. The two other boats are what can only be described as luxury cruise liners although the reality of it is that they are the toys of some very wealthy people. One of these yachts is said to be one of the world's largest privately owned yachts. With a length of 147m (482 ft), an aluminium superstructure and consisting of eight floors it makes our 24m (80ft) sailing yacht look tiny. Truth is though WE would not exchange her in a million years....the sailing experiences and fun that we have onboard are irreplaceable. We love her!

Work has begun this morning to turn the boat from delivery mode back into home/racing mode. We have had our schedule confirmed for the Summer which is action packed with races and deliveries in some incredible locations and we are all excited. We have temporarily lost our wonderful Captain Mr Brooks who has returned home to the Caribbean to run errands for the boat, and then see his family in Barbados. We are missing you already and hope you manage to get some well deserved chilled time. You are a absolute legend Mr Brooks and you have as always done an amazing job getting the the boat and us across the big blue! We love you! 

So may our Mediterranean race season commence...

TTFN - Ta Ta For Now

IDEA