Don't Pay the Ransom

05/08/2022

04/08/2022

Le 'Bean is in France 🇫🇷 - That's "Frances" for you all of you Frenchies. It's as strange to say as it is to admit. However, where better to get French wine and cheese?

In an effort to assimilate, we approached the first French-flagged sailboat that we saw in the anchorage, tossed our anchor through their forward-most hatch and reversed as fast as possible until our anchor chain pulled tight and our cockpits were abeam.

Out of habit (we've been doing this awhile now, ya know?), I donned my mask and snorkel, removed my thong bikini (voilà!🍌 ooh la la! 🦨), climbed aboard our new neighbor's boat, went below and walked past the stunned crew enjoying their breakfast. I needed to ensure that our anchor had, indeed, "dug in." The best holding is when your anchor snags one of their bed pillows.

When satisfied that our boat wouldn't drag more than a boatlegth or 3, I helped myself to mademoissele's croissant. Parlez-vous "give it to moi!"

Le capitaine followed me back out of the companionway to see what was happening. I gave him a moment to process the situation (but, of course). After his blood began to boil and his beret was aflame, I made a confused face, shrugged my shoulders as if there was nothing to be done 🤷‍♂️, and, then, with a flash and a whip of my "oui oui", I retreated into our dinghy and rowed ashore. As they say: When in Marseille...

I think we're going to like it here.

05/07/2022

Does anyone have a good pig-brain recipe that they can share? Otherwise, we're just going to boil this and serve it with some mayonnaise.

30/06/2022

Landfall in Barcelona. First impression: what's with the giant suppository dominating the skyline? Is this an indication about what we should expect from the food?

28/06/2022

Here are some photos from our visit to Palma on the island of Mallorca. It's a very beautiful city! We'll definitely return at some point to see more of it - and the Balearic islands in general. However, next time we won't come during high-season. The marina prices are insane, and, everyone is naked. The Belgians in particular - it must be really hot or something. Anyway, we're gonna need a few weeks in the gym before we can swan dive from the bow with our parts flailing.

It's also a bit of an anchoring madhouse. Lots of boats, but not a lot of anchoring knowledge. We have lots of stories, to include some numbskull that snagged our chain with his anchor and would have repeatedly crashed into us if not for some quick leg work and fenders. All of it EASILY avoidable with the slightest amount of skill. Anywho...

Tomorrow we sail for Barcelona.

23/06/2022

It’s laundry day on the ‘Bean.

*not pictured- five gallon bucket and plunger

11/06/2022

We arrived in the Balearic Islands this morning - Formentera, to be precise. We dropped the hook around 0830 after a delightful 26-hour sail from the mainland. We took a quick shower using our hot water (a rarity) and enjoyed some yogurt and the traditional post-passage beer for breakfast. Then we took a nap.

We woke up to find ourselves absolutely SURROUNDED by party boats from Ibiza. They're starting to thin out a bit, but... we're still in a sea of fancy yachts and techno music. I suppose that's to be expected when you do zero homework about the places you plan to visit. It's not an adventure if you know what's coming!

One of the neighboring boats had an elderly gentleman and captain (presumably the owner) and a few 20-something bikini-clad passengers. Shortly after arriving, said elderly gentleman walked to the aft deck, stripped off all of his clothes and surveyed his new kingdom while "airing his scepter." After what seemed an eternity of attracting attention, he began to p*e over the side of the boat into the water. I'm guessing that he wanted everyone to see that his stream was still strong. When he finished, he jumped into his puddle. Not sure what that was about. I guess it's gross to p*e in the ocean while swimming, but if you p*e first, and then jump through the puddle, it's acceptable.

Anyway, we crossed the Prime Meridian on our passage over. The 'Bean is in a new hemisphere!

08/06/2022

¡Hasta luego, Cartagena! You're a beautiful city!

06/06/2022

Fun Food Finds

05/06/2022

Here are some more photos from Melilla, Spain - mostly from the old fortress that dominates the city. We're in Cartagena, Spain now after a 36-hour passage. We're tied up right in the heart of the city and have only begun to explore. There isn't a lot of privacy to be had along the quay - the passersby all stop to p*er into our windows - presumably they're trying to identify where the smell is coming from.

02/06/2022

Peace out, Africa! Cartagena, here we come!

https://new.spotwalla.com/trip/76e8-48288-6c3e/view

27/05/2022

We didn't really have expectations for Melilla, Spain. In fact, we didn't do any homework whatsoever on the city. We came because we needed to reset the EU import tax clock on our boat and because it's in Africa - two good enough reasons. We found a really great city with a gorgeous park right in the center of town. We're looking forward to doing some more exploring and hopefully visiting Morocco while we're here. Oh, and get this: the marina (clean and nice) costs only €7/day! Not sure how that's possible.

While visiting Morocco sounds like a "no-brainer," the cruising life really is defined by the weather. We're only planning to be here for a short period of time. So, while our intention/hope is to visit, if the sailing weather says it's time to move, it's time to move. Otherwise, we may find ourselves "stuck" for much longer than we'd like. Time will tell.

26/05/2022

The 'Bean is in Africa! And, how is this for a sunset?!

25/05/2022

Well, before our bottom starts to look like this guy's ladder... let's try this again. North Africa, here we come!

https://new.spotwalla.com/trip/76e8-48288-6c3e/view

24/05/2022

Eeek!!! I'm studying the weather to plan our next move. I DO NOT RECOMMEND trying to sail through the Strait of Gibraltar this Thursday! Yikes!

23/05/2022

Well... we met the Mediterranean's sailing reputation yesterday. They say that there is either too much wind or not enough. We had the former. Four weather models suggested that we'd have a nice downwind passage to Melilla - a Spanish enclave in Northern Africa. The forecast called for 22-25 knots of wind, gusting 35. Three hours into our 24 hour sail, the wind was blowing a sustained 36-38 knots - gusting 46! And it didn't stop for the entire passage. To go with those big winds we also met the Mediterranean's big waves with short periods. It was not a pleasant or comfortable evening, to say the very least

Three hours into the trip, we had to forget about going to Melilla and identified a "bail out" port. The sea state just wouldn't allow us to make any southing whatsoever. Turning around was impossible given the conditions, and we needed to move east. We chose Almerimar on Spain's Costa del Sol and buckled in for a very long passage. By late afternoon we were racing, despite having only a scrap of sail flying. We were going to arrive in the middle of the night if we didn't slow down. So, we hove to for a few hours to kill time

We arrived in Almerimar this morning, and man-oh-man were we exhausted!! Welcome back to cruising! Highlights of the trip include not fighting or killing one another and successfully completing our first Mediterranean moor on zero sleep and fried nerves - and without breaking or damaging anything! So, there's that.

22/05/2022

Time for the 'Bean to bounce! Follow along, if you want!

https://new.spotwalla.com/trip/76e8-48288-6c3e/view

Watch her go! See her fly!

18/05/2022

After too many days of work recommissioning the 'Bean, we FINALLY took a day off to do some proper sightseeing. This is our day in Gibraltar. A fascinating and beautiful Rock!

09/05/2022

The 'Bean bobs again!

20/04/2022

(sigh)

28/11/2020

500 miles SE of the Azores - A night to remember!!

This quote makes me smile. It also makes me anxious to return to our beloved HuskaBean... whenever that may be.

"... if you have not experienced high winds and seas when offshore, particularly when the resulting over-stimulus of senses goes on for more than a few hours, you simply can’t imagine how hard it is to not fervently wish to be somewhere else and have that wish become the very core of your existence while in those conditions." John Harries, Attainable Adventure Cruising

Video taken by our friend and shipmate, Yves, last summer while sailing aboard HuskaBean. Conditions continued to deteriorate until we spent the evening hove-to.

08/05/2020

Don't Pay the Ransom

The stupid coronavirus is ruining everybody's cruising plans - including ours! HuskaBean is drying out in Portugal, and we don't know when we can return. In the meantime, we have to live on the ocean via these short videos from our transatlantic last year. Stupid virus.

Bucking the system one sunset at a time.

05/01/2020

Here's a photo of the 'Bean departing St. Martin - bound for Portugal. Thanks to our friends on s/v Aleta for the great photo!

02/01/2020

We've been laying low for a few months, so I thought I'd break the silence with a memory... our most popular Don't Pay the Ransom post of all time! Approximately 38,000 people saw the post. I hope we didn't go viral because of that dude's w***y!

This is what I've been trying to tell y'all. Not only is this French boat anchored a wee bit too close, that's the French dude's wee bit... dangling like a participle. For all the world to see. Lookin' like the stem on an upside-down pumpkin. His ol' lady is representin' in the cockpit. Ooh-la-la.

I propose an amendment to my, "If I can hold a conversation with a neighboring boat without yelling, they're anchored too close" rule. Now it's, "If I can clearly see the neighbor's w***y flapping in the breeze, then they're anchored too close." Guess which rule is more restrictive.

11/09/2019

planes stink. The smallest airline seats I've ever experienced. And the new airport in Istanbul is pretty horrible, too.

06/09/2019

Dogs in Greece still wear mullets!! Get with the times, Sparky.

14/08/2019

Here's the view from our "cockpit" for the next several weeks. The struggle is real, folks.

10/08/2019

As we sit and enjoy a bottle of wine on our terrace in Istanbul, the world's 4th largest city, I can't help but compare our world today to our world just a few short weeks ago while sailing across the Atlantic Ocean. Today we're nearly crushed by the millions upon millions of people surrounding us. Then? If not for each other, we were as alone as human beings could be on this planet. We live a charmed life.

09/08/2019

Rose Beef. Is that the color? Or, is that the preparation method? Rose rose beef? I like medium rare beef; I suppose you could call that rose. But I don't like rose water. It's a mystery.

08/08/2019

Turkey, you've got some 'splainin to do. No pork? Fine; we can deal with that. $13.50 for a hot gin and tonic?! I'm sorry, but that doesn't work for us. We're cruising sailors - we don't have money. The last time I spent that kind of scratch on a cocktail, I was in Manhattan. For comparison... they cost $3 in the Azores. And they were fabulous.

Holy. Cow.