Sunday, April 26, 2009
La Rochelle FRANCE to San Sebastian SPAIN
View La Rochelle FRANCE to San Sebastian SPAIN in a larger map
The Start of Our 2009 Cruising Season
Welcome back to the first addition for 2009 of Lone Star Times. It is so nice to be writing this using all 10, well make that 9 7/8 digits! We restarted our adventure March 31st by doing the “planes, trains and automobile” routine in reverse from what we did in September when we rushed back to Texas. However, at the end of this journey, we walked to a local restaurant in La Rochelle, had a terrific dinner and shared a bottle of French wine instead of collapsing in Craig’s parent’s home; turning on the TV and watching Hurricane Ike render its wrath on the Gulf Coast. Afterwards we strolled back to the hotel and settled down for some much needed sleep. It seems Craig has lost his ability to go to sleep on a plane so neither of us had much sleep on the trip over.
The next morning (April 2nd) we were up early and drove to the marina to see Lone Star again. It was almost like starting over with a new boat. We wondered how much we would remember of what had been taught last summer, but we knew help was close by if we could not figure out some systems. Lone Star looked great and it was very satisfying to bring her back to life. We slowly worked through the process of turning the main batteries back on, going into the engine room to check the status of the sea water intake, condition of the equipment and various other steps one does when boarding a vessel after an absence. As expected everything was in perfect order and soon we had a fully functioning boat. Sectur Blanc, the company we hired to take care of Lone Star over the winter, did an excellent job of looking after her.
Craig will not want this to be well known, but since this is only to a few “close” friends, I will mention that he had Franck Chivé, from Sectur Blanc, come by and together they put the jib and staysail back on the furlers. Craig said Franck was there only to do the manual labor, however without Franck’s help the process would have taken much longer and no telling how long it would have taken Craig to figure out the correct way to do it.
Our plans were to spend two weeks in La Rochelle provisioning, reacquainting ourselves with the boat and waiting for the weather to warm up. As all cruisers know – the first thing you do is throw the schedule out the window! Two weeks stretched to three as we waited for Mother Nature to cooperate. It seems the definition of “spring” to folks over here is more like Texans’ definition of winter! Cold, wet and windy! We had to do some calculating to figure out that 10˚ Celsius is just 50˚ Fahrenheit and that was the high on many days. Fortunately we had plenty to occupy our time including meeting new friends Molly and Rob and Cléo their Golden Lab and official boat greeter, who had taken delivery on their Amel 54, “Cléo”, in March.
We even managed to get a picture of the famous Cléo when she joined us for sundowners one evening. Molly and Rob, from Dublin, are friends of Dennis Woods who we met last summer. We spent several evenings sharing dinner and sundowners and stories which helped pass the days in La Rochelle. Molly and Rob plan to sail Cléo to Ireland and Scotland this summer and into the Med next season. Kaj and Lotta, from Sweden, who we met last summer also stopped by. They were in La Rochelle to check the progress on “Amelit”, their 54, which they take possession of in May. We enjoyed dinner together and learned they are taking Amelit back to Sweden this year and plan to start a circumnavigation in 2010. It will be interesting to see how everyone’s plans turn out. One other thing about being back on the Amel pontoon – everyone – from Amel employees to boat owners we had met and owners we hadn’t, knew about Jan’s accident and were very interested in the details and results.
Finally after waiting one extra week we got a decent weather window and after saying our good byes to the Amel folks with promises of not returning – unless we want to, we were off for an overnight sail to San Sebastian, Spain. We were definitely cruising again – very little wind and what little we had was on the nose. A beautiful, uneventful motor sail to San Sebastian. By 11:30 the next morning we were successfully tied up to the visitor’s pontoon in the San Sebastian harbor. No accidents, no blood, no missing body parts, and no boat scratches – we did it! Maybe we can cruise again.
San Sebastian is an absolute jewel of a port town. Located in the heart of Basque Country San Sebastian was once the holiday playground of the Spanish nobility and is now the heart of the Basque cooking revolution as well as the site for a major international film festival in September and a summer playground for the rich and not so rich. We were lucky and got a place on the visitors pontoon in the old fishing harbor and were able to walk everywhere in town.
We ate lunch at this little restaurant that was less than 50 feet from our boat. 
Then we walked past the fishing fleet into the town to do the “tapas crawl” on two of the 
nights we were in the port. All of Spain is famous for its tapas, little bites, however in San Sebastian it has been elevated to an art form. Early each evening the agenda is the same. Folks hop from one bar to the next in the Old Town sampling the pinxtos (the name for tapas in Basqueland) and washing them down with a red wine, beer or the local drink Txakoli. Txakoli (pronounced Cha ko lee), a sparkling white wine, is poured with great fan fare. The bartender holds the bottle high above the glass as he pours the wine. Based on our in depth nightly research the bars are definitely in competition with one another in producing the best tapas spread. On the one good day of weather we walked the 2 mile promenade around the bay and rode up Mount Igueldo on the oldest funicular is this part of the world. However, it was nice to see the cars were updated! 
On Saturday our third and last night in town we were lucky enough to get reservations at Arzak’s. For those of you, like us, who are Food Channel junkies, Arzak’s has been featured in several food channel specials. For those of you who actually have a life, Juan Arzak is a very famous chef in San Sebastian who has turned his family home into a restaurant and is at the forefront of the Basque cuisine revolution. Agreeing that the evening would cover birthdays and an anniversary, we arrived at 9:30 in the evening and did not leave until 12:30. We were astounded by the kinds of flavor we experienced as we partook in Arzak’s tasting menu. It is not an overstatement to say the flavor explodes in your mouth and, as would be expected, the food presentation was kicked up several notches.
Alas, after 3 days of way too much wonderful food we are leaving for Zumaya, 14 miles west. But more on that later.
The next morning (April 2nd) we were up early and drove to the marina to see Lone Star again. It was almost like starting over with a new boat. We wondered how much we would remember of what had been taught last summer, but we knew help was close by if we could not figure out some systems. Lone Star looked great and it was very satisfying to bring her back to life. We slowly worked through the process of turning the main batteries back on, going into the engine room to check the status of the sea water intake, condition of the equipment and various other steps one does when boarding a vessel after an absence. As expected everything was in perfect order and soon we had a fully functioning boat. Sectur Blanc, the company we hired to take care of Lone Star over the winter, did an excellent job of looking after her.
Craig will not want this to be well known, but since this is only to a few “close” friends, I will mention that he had Franck Chivé, from Sectur Blanc, come by and together they put the jib and staysail back on the furlers. Craig said Franck was there only to do the manual labor, however without Franck’s help the process would have taken much longer and no telling how long it would have taken Craig to figure out the correct way to do it.
Our plans were to spend two weeks in La Rochelle provisioning, reacquainting ourselves with the boat and waiting for the weather to warm up. As all cruisers know – the first thing you do is throw the schedule out the window! Two weeks stretched to three as we waited for Mother Nature to cooperate. It seems the definition of “spring” to folks over here is more like Texans’ definition of winter! Cold, wet and windy! We had to do some calculating to figure out that 10˚ Celsius is just 50˚ Fahrenheit and that was the high on many days. Fortunately we had plenty to occupy our time including meeting new friends Molly and Rob and Cléo their Golden Lab and official boat greeter, who had taken delivery on their Amel 54, “Cléo”, in March.
We even managed to get a picture of the famous Cléo when she joined us for sundowners one evening. Molly and Rob, from Dublin, are friends of Dennis Woods who we met last summer. We spent several evenings sharing dinner and sundowners and stories which helped pass the days in La Rochelle. Molly and Rob plan to sail Cléo to Ireland and Scotland this summer and into the Med next season. Kaj and Lotta, from Sweden, who we met last summer also stopped by. They were in La Rochelle to check the progress on “Amelit”, their 54, which they take possession of in May. We enjoyed dinner together and learned they are taking Amelit back to Sweden this year and plan to start a circumnavigation in 2010. It will be interesting to see how everyone’s plans turn out. One other thing about being back on the Amel pontoon – everyone – from Amel employees to boat owners we had met and owners we hadn’t, knew about Jan’s accident and were very interested in the details and results.Finally after waiting one extra week we got a decent weather window and after saying our good byes to the Amel folks with promises of not returning – unless we want to, we were off for an overnight sail to San Sebastian, Spain. We were definitely cruising again – very little wind and what little we had was on the nose. A beautiful, uneventful motor sail to San Sebastian. By 11:30 the next morning we were successfully tied up to the visitor’s pontoon in the San Sebastian harbor. No accidents, no blood, no missing body parts, and no boat scratches – we did it! Maybe we can cruise again.
San Sebastian is an absolute jewel of a port town. Located in the heart of Basque Country San Sebastian was once the holiday playground of the Spanish nobility and is now the heart of the Basque cooking revolution as well as the site for a major international film festival in September and a summer playground for the rich and not so rich. We were lucky and got a place on the visitors pontoon in the old fishing harbor and were able to walk everywhere in town.
We ate lunch at this little restaurant that was less than 50 feet from our boat. 
Then we walked past the fishing fleet into the town to do the “tapas crawl” on two of the 
nights we were in the port. All of Spain is famous for its tapas, little bites, however in San Sebastian it has been elevated to an art form. Early each evening the agenda is the same. Folks hop from one bar to the next in the Old Town sampling the pinxtos (the name for tapas in Basqueland) and washing them down with a red wine, beer or the local drink Txakoli. Txakoli (pronounced Cha ko lee), a sparkling white wine, is poured with great fan fare. The bartender holds the bottle high above the glass as he pours the wine. Based on our in depth nightly research the bars are definitely in competition with one another in producing the best tapas spread. On the one good day of weather we walked the 2 mile promenade around the bay and rode up Mount Igueldo on the oldest funicular is this part of the world. However, it was nice to see the cars were updated! 
On Saturday our third and last night in town we were lucky enough to get reservations at Arzak’s. For those of you, like us, who are Food Channel junkies, Arzak’s has been featured in several food channel specials. For those of you who actually have a life, Juan Arzak is a very famous chef in San Sebastian who has turned his family home into a restaurant and is at the forefront of the Basque cuisine revolution. Agreeing that the evening would cover birthdays and an anniversary, we arrived at 9:30 in the evening and did not leave until 12:30. We were astounded by the kinds of flavor we experienced as we partook in Arzak’s tasting menu. It is not an overstatement to say the flavor explodes in your mouth and, as would be expected, the food presentation was kicked up several notches.Alas, after 3 days of way too much wonderful food we are leaving for Zumaya, 14 miles west. But more on that later.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
When you know its time to go
We knew it was probably time to say goodbye to our friends Kathy and Mike when we came back to our bathroom (really their bathroom) on March 31st around noon and found our bathroom gutted. I guess they were trying to make sure we really were getting on the plane that afternoon. Anyway we are really appreciative of their hospitality for the month or so we were their house guests. However, removing the toilet was a little bit of an extreme way of letting us know it was time to go.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
News from Houston and Preparing for the 2009 Cruising Season
Happy 2009 and greetings from Texas. Time has flown since our return to the States last September. House chores, hurricane repairs, reconnecting with friends and Jan's recuperation from her hand surgery kept us busy throughout the fall. Thanksgiving was quiet with a small dinner with Jan's mom, however Willow Point Drive was once again headquarters for Christmas. At one point 17 relatives were enjoying each others' company. Our daughters Jennifer and Jaime and Jaime's boyfriend Sky flew in from New York and Asheville, Craig's parents, sisters and brother in law came in from Phoenix and Henrietta, Jan's mom was with us and Jan's brother and his family drove in from San Antonio. We all had a great time being together and everyone had a blast with our newest toy - a Wii. If you haven't had the opportunity to play with a Wii, trust us, once you do you will be hooked.
In January we finally decided to put our house of 26 years in Kingwood up for sale. We had been wrestling with the decision for over a year and had finally come to the conclusion that with our nomadic lifestyle we needed a place we could "lock and leave". To our surprise we received an offer the first day the house was on the market was and had two competing offers by the time we were finished. As a result, on February 17th, we closed the sale, loaded the furniture into three PODS and the next day were begging our friends for a place to stay. Our girls say we are now "couch surfing". We haven't made any final decisions on where our new land base will be but for the next 18 months LONE STAR will be our home.
We fly back to France on March 31st and will be on board LONE STAR by April 2nd. We have posted our 2009 proposed Cruising Plan (of course all cruising plans are always subject to change and usually do) and are looking forward to getting started. We have once again become list people as we work to get everything we want to go to the boat ready and take care of all the last minute details in Houston.
We're not sure exactly when we will leave La Rochelle for the Spanish Basque country. We plan to wait until the weather warms up some before we depart and will spend the time provisioning, reacquainting ourselves with the various systems and taking the boat for some shake down sails before we once again slip the lines and head for new adventures. Hopefully this cruising season will be longer and less eventful than the last!
In January we finally decided to put our house of 26 years in Kingwood up for sale. We had been wrestling with the decision for over a year and had finally come to the conclusion that with our nomadic lifestyle we needed a place we could "lock and leave". To our surprise we received an offer the first day the house was on the market was and had two competing offers by the time we were finished. As a result, on February 17th, we closed the sale, loaded the furniture into three PODS and the next day were begging our friends for a place to stay. Our girls say we are now "couch surfing". We haven't made any final decisions on where our new land base will be but for the next 18 months LONE STAR will be our home.
We fly back to France on March 31st and will be on board LONE STAR by April 2nd. We have posted our 2009 proposed Cruising Plan (of course all cruising plans are always subject to change and usually do) and are looking forward to getting started. We have once again become list people as we work to get everything we want to go to the boat ready and take care of all the last minute details in Houston.
We're not sure exactly when we will leave La Rochelle for the Spanish Basque country. We plan to wait until the weather warms up some before we depart and will spend the time provisioning, reacquainting ourselves with the various systems and taking the boat for some shake down sails before we once again slip the lines and head for new adventures. Hopefully this cruising season will be longer and less eventful than the last!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Trains, Planes, Automobiles and Hurricanes
As indicated by the title this update contains some unusual news that doesn’t have a lot to do with cruising. The story starts on September 7th when we left La Rochelle for Hondarribia, Spain. We had a wonderful overnight sail and it was exciting to see the mountains of northern Spain appear in the horizon as we approached the coast. 
Lone Star averaged 8 knots per hour for the trip and was very comfortable. We raised our Q flag and entered the marina in Hondarribia and found the visitors pontoon where we were to dock.
That was when our short term plans changed rather dramatically. While securing the first line Jan's left index finger got caught between the line and the boat cleat. Then, as the line started to tighten, the finger was severely pinched resulting in the tip being torn off and the bone exposed. Needless to say the rest of the docking was a lot of fun. Blood was coming out of Jan’s finger at a rapid rate. She was a trooper though and applied pressure with a towel and was even able to take over the helm while Craig secured the other mooring lines.
With the boat secured, triage applied to the wound and the trail of blood cleaned up we seized the new opportunity to sample the Spanish health care system. Our first visit was to the emergency room at the hospital in Hondarribia where we were seen by a doctor who spoke excellent English, explained the treatment options available and encouraged us to see a plastic surgeon in the nearby town of San Sebastian because they were better equipped to perform a skin graft if that treatment option was selected. He even took the time to make the appointment, call the taxi and made sure the cab driver to San Sebastian understood exactly where we needed to go.
At the hospital in San Sebastian the plastic surgeon explained the treatment options, but the explanations had to be translated with the help of a nurse that spoke English. As a result we were not entirely sure about all the details. We did understand enough to know the procedure could be deferred for a week if we elected to go back to Houston to get it done. We left the 2nd hospital with a fully bandaged wound, supplies for changing the dressing, an appointment for September 12th if we decided to get a skin graft there and a queasy feeling after seeing Jan’s exposed bone where the tip on the end of her finger used to be. Once again the doctor and nurse were outstanding. The nurse communicated with the taxi driver and made sure he knew to stop at a pharmacy so we could pick up drugs and where exactly to take us. Later that night we decided the boat was no place for Jan to recover and set in motion plans to come home.
We spent the next two days preparing to leave the boat in Hondarribia, which Craig had to do 100% of, finalizing travel arrangements which Jan handled, and keeping track of Hurricane Ike. We also contacted our friend Kathy Stewart who worked on doctor angle stateside and set up an appointment for Monday, September 15 with a hand specialist. During this time we did manage to get out once and sample the local cuisine for lunch.
That was when our short term plans changed rather dramatically. While securing the first line Jan's left index finger got caught between the line and the boat cleat. Then, as the line started to tighten, the finger was severely pinched resulting in the tip being torn off and the bone exposed. Needless to say the rest of the docking was a lot of fun. Blood was coming out of Jan’s finger at a rapid rate. She was a trooper though and applied pressure with a towel and was even able to take over the helm while Craig secured the other mooring lines.
With the boat secured, triage applied to the wound and the trail of blood cleaned up we seized the new opportunity to sample the Spanish health care system. Our first visit was to the emergency room at the hospital in Hondarribia where we were seen by a doctor who spoke excellent English, explained the treatment options available and encouraged us to see a plastic surgeon in the nearby town of San Sebastian because they were better equipped to perform a skin graft if that treatment option was selected. He even took the time to make the appointment, call the taxi and made sure the cab driver to San Sebastian understood exactly where we needed to go.
At the hospital in San Sebastian the plastic surgeon explained the treatment options, but the explanations had to be translated with the help of a nurse that spoke English. As a result we were not entirely sure about all the details. We did understand enough to know the procedure could be deferred for a week if we elected to go back to Houston to get it done. We left the 2nd hospital with a fully bandaged wound, supplies for changing the dressing, an appointment for September 12th if we decided to get a skin graft there and a queasy feeling after seeing Jan’s exposed bone where the tip on the end of her finger used to be. Once again the doctor and nurse were outstanding. The nurse communicated with the taxi driver and made sure he knew to stop at a pharmacy so we could pick up drugs and where exactly to take us. Later that night we decided the boat was no place for Jan to recover and set in motion plans to come home.
We spent the next two days preparing to leave the boat in Hondarribia, which Craig had to do 100% of, finalizing travel arrangements which Jan handled, and keeping track of Hurricane Ike. We also contacted our friend Kathy Stewart who worked on doctor angle stateside and set up an appointment for Monday, September 15 with a hand specialist. During this time we did manage to get out once and sample the local cuisine for lunch.
This convinced us that we would indeed come back when we restarted our cruising. Then on Thursday, Sept 11th we said goodbye to Lone Star and began our trip home.
To get home from Hondarribia, Spain we (1) took a cab to the Hendaye, France train station – right across the border (2) took the TGV train to Amoulline, France – 3 hours (3) changed to the TGV train going to Charles DeGaulle airport – 3 hours (4) spent the night at the airport hotel with reservations the following day for the nonstop Continental flight to Houston – 10 hours. We chose to fly out of Paris as opposed to Madrid because we could get a nonstop flight to Houston which would be easier for Craig who had to Sherpa all the bags and Jan who was getting thru the ordeal with Ibuprofen and copious quantities of wine. All the while we were keeping track of Ike and not liking what we were seeing. We knew it was a race against time. We woke up the next morning and learned we had lost the race. Bush was closing at 2PM, and our flight which was due in at 4PM was cancelled. We also checked the internet and realized Houston’s run of 25 years without a hurricane was at an end. Sooo (5) Jan scrambled to get us re accommodated on another airline and (6) we caught a Delta flight to Atlanta – 9 ½ hours (7) cleared Customs and took a plane to DFW – 2 hours (8) rented a car in Dallas and drove to Henrietta, Texas – 2 hours where Craig’s parents live. After 2 days of trains, planes and automobiles we arrived at 1AM Saturday, Sept 13 (our 33rd Anniversary).
We are surprised this travel log did not turn into a twelve step program because we were certainly ready for a drink when we got to Henrietta. Unfortunately this city is located in one of the “dry” counties (no alcohol sold) in Texas. The folks, bless their hearts, had some cold Corona Lights in the fridge so we were saved.
As we wait for utility and other public services to return in Houston it is nice to be able to spend time with Craig’s parents, sister and brother in law. We will continue to be anxious until we get to the appointment with the hand specialist in Houston and are now exploring options in the Dallas area. On the upside, while we have friends with damage to their homes and it will take months if not years for the Galveston/Houston area to recover, all our friends and Jan’s mom are safe.
To get home from Hondarribia, Spain we (1) took a cab to the Hendaye, France train station – right across the border (2) took the TGV train to Amoulline, France – 3 hours (3) changed to the TGV train going to Charles DeGaulle airport – 3 hours (4) spent the night at the airport hotel with reservations the following day for the nonstop Continental flight to Houston – 10 hours. We chose to fly out of Paris as opposed to Madrid because we could get a nonstop flight to Houston which would be easier for Craig who had to Sherpa all the bags and Jan who was getting thru the ordeal with Ibuprofen and copious quantities of wine. All the while we were keeping track of Ike and not liking what we were seeing. We knew it was a race against time. We woke up the next morning and learned we had lost the race. Bush was closing at 2PM, and our flight which was due in at 4PM was cancelled. We also checked the internet and realized Houston’s run of 25 years without a hurricane was at an end. Sooo (5) Jan scrambled to get us re accommodated on another airline and (6) we caught a Delta flight to Atlanta – 9 ½ hours (7) cleared Customs and took a plane to DFW – 2 hours (8) rented a car in Dallas and drove to Henrietta, Texas – 2 hours where Craig’s parents live. After 2 days of trains, planes and automobiles we arrived at 1AM Saturday, Sept 13 (our 33rd Anniversary).
We are surprised this travel log did not turn into a twelve step program because we were certainly ready for a drink when we got to Henrietta. Unfortunately this city is located in one of the “dry” counties (no alcohol sold) in Texas. The folks, bless their hearts, had some cold Corona Lights in the fridge so we were saved.
As we wait for utility and other public services to return in Houston it is nice to be able to spend time with Craig’s parents, sister and brother in law. We will continue to be anxious until we get to the appointment with the hand specialist in Houston and are now exploring options in the Dallas area. On the upside, while we have friends with damage to their homes and it will take months if not years for the Galveston/Houston area to recover, all our friends and Jan’s mom are safe.
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