The Med starting the Fall of 2003

Barcelona's Christopher Columbus pointing to the New World




Life & Problems in Barcelona

We arrived in Barcelona just in time to witness Barcelona's largest annual celebration, The End of Summer Festival.   The weather was great and we were treated to 4 days of celebration each and every day.  There was the parade of the Giants, the equivalent of the USA Blue Angels air show (held all 4 days), classical, pop, jazz, etc. concerts, plays, water fountain displays, and most interesting, the evening parades with fire breathing dragons.  It all was pretty electric.  Unfortunately, the ladrones (thieves and pickpockets) were out in force.  This is their last major holiday to rip off the tourists, and sure enough, and on the fourth day of the celebration Dan  was one of them.  Dan knew it was happening at the time it happened, or at least Dan admits to knowing that he was being "bumped." The ladrones work in teams, they have scouts, to find likely targets, the artful masters and bumpers and others who walk amongst the crowds with the bumpers and the masters to help create pandamonium.  Dan got the bumper but not the pickpocket person, so there was little we could do except cancel our credit cards, which we did within 20 minutes of the incident.  We only lost about EU40 so that wasn't so bad, it was the loss of Dan's drivers license that ws the biggest problem.  We never encountered any problems with our credit cards, we believe because we reproted the theft so quickly, and at thae point in time that the theft occurred, just about everything ws closed for the holiday so no one had an immediate opportunity to use them.   Fortunately, we recovered the wallet, minus the EU 40 and the 2 credit cards, but we did get the Drivers license back.  Interesting story...  That took about 2.5 months.  Seems that the ladrones don't care to hang onto evidence, so they take the stuff they think valuable and toss the wallet.  Someone picked up the wallet and turned it into the police.  The police gave it to the US Embassy in Barcelona. The Embassy sent it to the Embassy in the US, who in turn mailed it to our mail forwarding service.  The mail forwarding service sent it back to us.  Pretty lucky!  Anyway, it wasn't a very auspicious start to our stay in Barcelona but it taught us many valuable lessons.  We stopped carrying all of our important documents, including drivers licesnses, passports, other ID, etc. We digitally scanned the documents and now that is all we carry.  The people in Barcelona understand the issue and are more than happy to accept those documents as valid.  

Karen, over New years was walking doen the street with Dan and couple on the boat next to us.  A ladrone tried ripping her purse off her shoulder as he passed her on the street.  She screamed which caught Dan's attention and he went after the ladrone, who subsequently ran down the street with Dan in persuit. When he got to a park area and Dan saw 6 other locals, he figured prudence was called for and gave up persuit.  The ladrone didn't get anything except to get away with the attempt.  

 Many people at our marina had similar hits.  We only know of one couple who said they had no bad experiences but it must be said that they were very careful.  Bicycles are a big target.  When I first used my bicycle and went to language school, I locked it to a pole next to the school.  Later, another student of African decent who towered over Dan making him feel like a 90 lb weakling, asked him if tht was his bike outside the school.  Dan said yes.  The other student said "That's not enough!" Dan wasn't sure what he meant.  Upon inquiring the other student said  "You need two locks for your bike and be sure to take your bike seat with you."  Given what we had learned about thievery in Barcelona, we took that advice to heart.  We never experienced a problem with our bycicles but we did see a lot of missing seats.  several people we knew also lost their bikes.  

There were other incidents we could report but they are covered well in the attached webpage: Thieves of Barcelona.


But enough of that!  Dwelling on that really does Barcelona a injustice.  It is a wonderful city filled with interesting people from all over the world (minus the ladrones.)  The locals are kind, warm and generous and there sure is a lot to do there on top of the standard boat related maintenance items (see below.)   The webpages that follow provide a textual and pictoral slide show of our time in Barcelona.




Winter Spring 2003/4 Maintenance Tasks
(... and you thought you had problems!!!)

Repair Cosmetic Deck Crack on Starboard Side
Replace rusted air lift mounting flanges in aft lazarette with SS parts
Clean and repair sails:
Genoa
Staysail
Spinnaker
Reinstall Genoa and Staysail:
Polish halyard shackles
Check luff rods for burrs
Put "preventer" ties on all Shackles to secure sails
Attach Sheets
Adjust roller furler
Raise Sails
Refurl
Check for fairness of run
Repack Sail Locker
Replace Zincs
Two R3's
Main Ship's Zinc
Prop Zinc
Shaft Zinc
Clean & Grease Prop
Grease Through Hole Seacock's
Clean and Paint Bottom
Paint Prop, Strut and rudder stock
Remove Deluxe Corrosion Controller from Zinc System
Repair Karen's Computer:
Add Memory
Replace Disk Drive
Fix High RPM power problem on Yanmar:
Replace Injectors
Verify Prop Pitch
Test - Ran to over 4000 RPM's under load at 9+ knots!
Adjust engine inventory for gaskets
Fix Shaft Seal Leak:
Cut off frozen Shaft Lock
Remove Drive Shaft
Check Cutlass Bearing
Replace Bellows on Shaft Seal
Replace Carbon drive on Shaft Seal
Replace Drive Shaft
Adjust Bellows Tension
Install new 3/8 water hose for Carbon Block
Tighten motor mounts (They were loose)
Genset Maintenance:
Replace Genset Zinc
Change Oil
Change Oil Filter
Change Secondary Fuel Filter
Replace under warranty Salt Water pump
Check for leaks
Run and test for proper power output
Yanmar Maintenance:
Change Oil
Change Oil Filter
Change Secondary Fuel Filter
Change Transmission Oil
Flush Coolant System & Replace w Texaco Long Life Antifreeze
Clean Air Filter
Adjust valves
Replace Injectors and clean old ones
Replace all primary fuel Filters:
Genset
Yanmar
Dinghy Engine
Anit-siphon Valves for Genset and Yanmar engine
Clean (Boil)
Use extractor tools to remore sheered off adapter fittings (see below)
Replace sheered off fittings for anti-siphon valves with SS fittings
Repair Bauer Dive Compressor:
Diagnose Problems (Failure of 3rd Stage)
Order Parts
Get  Instructions from Bauer (Prooving to be a difficult task)
Replace broken 3rd stage gasket and wall sleeves for Bauer Compressor
Change Bauer Oil
Change Bauer CO2 Filter
Clean Sintered Filter w soapy water
Clean compressor surface
Prep and paint compressor stand with 2 part epoxy primer & paint
Remove and paint compressor mounting base in Lazarette
Remove and paint aft lazarette sump pump cover
Scrub down aft lazarette
Replace air lift hinges on aft lazarette hatch
Check/change air filter
Check external ventilation system
Run to pressure
Forward head:
Remove and repair leak from faulty gasket installed by Wilcox Crittenden
Clean corrosion off of head
Prime and paint head
Reinstall head
Lube internals and put in storage mode until next guest arrives
Clean Mast Step
Mercuric Flush both Heads
Improve Mount for Passarelle
Deck Repairs:
Re-repair cosmetic crack on starboard deck (Propane locker)
Repair hairline fracture in Port propane locker
Repair several deck dings
Tighten all hose clamps
Install multi-format video components:
TV Signal Converter
TV/DVD/VCR Receiver
Woodwork for new DVD/VCR receiver above
Additional Slat for Karen's books
Inventory and rearrange chemicals in Starboard Lazarette
Clean Starboard Lazarette
Replace rusted hinge units for air lifts
Recaulk external mast boot
Test All Nav Lights  * See Maintenance Tasks
Test All internal cabin lights & Replace as necessary
Test all instrument lights
Test computer interfaces and network
Test instruments
Clean all raw water filters
Check fuel level in backstay hydraulics
Test Backstay Hydraulics
Test wind generator
Test solar panels
Replace rubber feet on aft deck seats and ladder
Exercise and lube all pistons on following equipment:
Spinnaker Pole
Whisker Pole
Reaching Strut (Stuck tight)
Repair Bimini Panels:
Fill Propane Tanks (2) (Euro to US Method - laborious)
Clean Barbecue Grill
Clean, wash and organize/inventory Starboard & Port lazarettes
Grease bearing on steering wheel pedestal
Grease anchor roller
Dinghy:
Protectant spray internal parts of dingy engine
Clean and polish Fiberglass
Repair gelcoat dings in dinghy lazarette door, transom and hull
Refit dingy cover, inspect, clean and make repairs as necessary
Change dingy lower lube
Clean spark plugs
Grease appropriate fittings on dingy
Change dinghy pre fuel filter (Racor) in dinghy
Make an extra dinghy fuel line hose to test and run dinghy engine on arch
Run dinghy engine
Check dinghy engine running lights - disassembled light and replaced one of two lamps.  Check local chandleries for extra light bulbs, could not find.
Put Aluminum protector on all aluminum deck parts
Purchase bumper covers - attempted but not done because of difficulty in finding correct sizes in Barcelona
Replace rubber feet on deck seats and deck ladder
Equalize batteries
Clean & tighten battery terminals
Check battery fuses for continuity
Exercise Breakers and main switches
Test Lights:
Navigation
Tri-color
Running
Back-up Elevated stern light
Steaming
Anchor
Strobe
Spreader
Compass
Boom Light
3 deck lights
Cockpit lights
Interior Lights
Cabin overhead lights - replaced 2
Cabin reading lights
Closet lights
Rope Lights
Other Lights
Exterior Engine Panel Lights
Refrigerator/Freezer lights
Flash Lights in each cabin
N av Station Instrument Panel Lights
Check lights in aft lazarette (Dive Compressor area)
Check lights in Port & Starboard lazarettes
Check lights in Sail Locker
Check lights in Anchor locker
Check Lights in Engine Room - replaced one
Check (small) batteries and systems for:
All standing flashlights
Personal Flashlights
Personal Man Overboard Signal Lights
Wireless Computer Keyboard
Wireless mice
Walkie Talkies
Hand held VHF radios
2 Meter Ham radios
Electric Drills
Electric Screwdrivers
Weatherstation and remote temperature sensors
Meteo Recording Barometer
Alarm Clocks
Tape recorders
Palm Hand Held
Check Fishing Poles & Reels and inventory fishing tackle
Check Spear Gun Fishing Equipment  - grease zipper for case
Clean and inspect bikes.  Disassembled bike components and serviced torsion springs in forks.  Repacked bikes in storage bags.
Sharpen Knives
Clean and operate Propane Grill; Inspect lines for leakes, exercise gas valve
Inspect and clean Sextant
Inspect Sight Reduction gear
Replace chrome winch drums, chrome feed arms, Upper Crown, top cap, and feeder arms with new chrome components on Lewmar 66's, 54's and 48
Recommission Spectre Water Maker:
Change Pre-Filters
Change Charcoal Filter
Flush at dock with Distilled water
Flush for half hour unpressurized with distilled water
Flush for half hour pressurized with distilled water
Check product Water production rate (20-25 gal/hr w distilled water)
Check Back Flush and schedule maintenance runs every 3 days until departure
Inspect Survivor 06 Hand Held Water Maker, flush, test and recharge with biocide
Debug, order parts and modify pedestal to accept new bow thruster  switch assembly
Update Website

Clean & Polish:
Bimini & Dodger - cleaned and polsihed
Deck
Hull
Boom & strut
Spinnaker Pole
Stainless
Teak deck components
Cabin Areas
Teak Grates -clean and recoat with sealer
Bilge
Engine Room
Cockpit Seat Cushions - cleaned and polished
Clean Bumpers
Clean water hose - exterior
Clean electrical cord -exterior
Clean life lines
Clean security cable on dinghy
Clean bumbersq
Clean TV cable
Clean and polish lower section of mast
Clean and polish reaching strut
Cean and wax bimini and dodger plastic windows

Varnish:
Handrails
Main Sheet Pad
Lead Pads
Winch Pads
Screens
Hatches

Inventory existing food stores
Restock food and beverage for Eastern Europe
Work with L'ame Libre & Limerance to put together Med Wx Sched






Read about
The Thieves of Barcelona
Barcelona is a wonderful place.  There is so much to do and see...  But first you have to get past the dirt and the crime.  Click on The Thieves of Barcelona  to read a synopsis of the most prevelent scams employed by the local ladrones (thieves).



 Barcelona, Spain (Sept 2003 - May 2004)
A Panoramic View of Barceloneta and Marina Port Vell, Spain



(Click on map to get a working map of Barcelona
& Afterwards
Hit the "Back" button on the Browser to return to this location)
(Dakare (KQ4YK) is located approximately in the center of the harbor where the "thumbtack" is located)







While sitting in a Barceloneta watering hole, talking Spanish with the locals, a client, Miguel, drew this picture of Dan on a paper napkin.  At the time, his wife, Justine, a Spanish Linguist, was helping Dan polish his Spanish.  Later.


A bird´s eye view of Barcelona

Barcelona from Mt. Juic where the Olympics were held





To see more pics on Barcelona, Click Here!




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