EcstaSea Arrives

Our winter in the States was crazy busy with lots of travel time. We made several trips to Charleston to visit family, upstate New York for a retreat, California several times to visit dear friends, and San Carlos Mexico. Then after the Captain's New Year's Eve birthday it was surprisingly 2020, and our attention turned once again to EcstaSea...

EcstaSea left Spain the first of the year with 3 crew members aboard. The Captain was our dear friend Xavier who was also crew with us when we crossed to the Caribbean in 2013. We trust him completely as he knows the boat as well as we do. He brought David and Luis with him as crew. Fortunately they had an uneventful crossing of the Atlantic and arrived safely in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on February 6th. We were there to greet them in the marina as they arrived...

Xavier (the Captain) with my Captain, out celebrating the safe arrival..

The crew Luis and David also celebrating...

Now if you've never been at sea for 20 days without seeing land, you might not understand all of the celebrating...but if you have, you get it!

We had a few days with all of them before they flew back home to Spain. And then we had a few days aboard Esea in the marina to prepare her for selling. We began packing the things we wanted to ship home to Tucson and found it somewhat challenging. How do we condense 13 years of our floating home into what we want and can use in our desert home? Do you see the dilemma??? So we spent our last 3 days and nights on her with lots of tears and laughter.

We found and hired a good yacht broker and put her on the market, and also someone to watch and take care of her until she found her new home.  

Instead of leaving EcstaSea in the marina, we found a berth up the New River where many boats are moored in front of the homes along the River. Ft Lauderdale is called the Venice of America with many wealthy mansions all along the river such as this one...

This is our last cruise on Esea as we take her up the river to her new berth...

You can see all of the boats in front of houses along the river...

The view from the cockpit across the river...

And it is here where we left her but not without some photos of how beautiful she is...

My Captain one last time on EcstaSea...

And of course, one last selfie on her...

Parting shots as we walk away...

What a safe, gorgeous and loving sailing home she has been and all we can say is "THANK YOU"!!!

Really...so long Spain

After several days of packing and hard work on Ecstasea, we were rewarded on our last night there with the full moon.
Aaaahhh...so many full moons on Ecstasea over the last 13 years all over the Mediterranean!!!
And many out at sea where the full moon is rising out of the ocean at the same time that the sun is setting into the ocean. Surreal for sure!
Mother Moon in her fullness has been genuinely celebrated every month on Ecstasea no matter where we were, and we are so grateful for every one of them.

Our last night on Esea in Aguadulce with the full moon mysterious in the clouds:

We then drove to Malaga to catch our flight home to Tucson. We had an overnight and enjoyed reacquainting ourselves with the city.

And then time to leave the Med for now. Just for now, as we love Europe and definitely will be back in the future. Just not aboard Ecstasea...

To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven--a time for change.

Another Goodbye

So we sailed on to Ibiza after our time in Palma with all of it's "goodbye's". We spent one night on the west side of Ibiza and then on across to Aguadulce on the southern part of the mainland of Spain.
Aguadulce has been our home port for the last 3 years, and not only because it is a safe, sweet port, but because of our dear friend Luis.

Luis and his company Sport Nautica have been wonderfully watching Ecstasea for us every winter. Luis loves Ecstasea and treats her like his own, and we never have to worry about her when Luis takes such great and loving care of her. And Luis and his fiancé' (now wife) Arantxa and little black dog Luna have become dear friends that we adore and love. We had to leave the Med before their wedding at the end of September but we want to post some pictures of it and say "THANK YOU  and goodbye" for now. We really believe we will all be together again either there or here in the States when they come visit!!!

Beautiful beings within as well as without...

Luis, sooo happy to see you sooo happy!!!

So sorry that we missed the celebration...

 Beautiful Arantxa...

And a recent photo of Luis and Luna taking it easy on their veranda...

Once again...THANK YOU DEAR FRIEND!!!

Leaving...

Since we had already said our "goodbyes" to all of our friends in Palma, we were ready to sail away from the island of Mallorca. We love Mallorca and have always considered it our home in the Mediterranean, so it was hard to say "so long"...

It was a cloudy, dreary day which actually seemed appropriate.
This is the last time we will sail from port in Ecstasea and see the Cathedral in the heart of the city:

And as we sailed on to Ibiza, we were rewarded once again with a fantastic, beyond words, gorgeous sunset over the ocean:

It doesn't get any better than this:

Sail away with me...

And I am forever trying to capture the color and essence of the sea as she changes throughout our sail. And obviously, pictures can never capture it, but here goes:

You had to have been there...

Thank you Yemaya for your ever changing, yet changeless beauty and oneness!

France

We decided to leave Ecstasea in port in Palma and fly to Barcelona. From there we rented a car and drove to Toulouse, France. Toulouse is in the south west corner of France and home to a dear friend that we just couldn't leave the Med without seeing.
Magali (who I've known for 20 + years since she attended college in the States), her partner Philippe, and daughter Penelope welcomed us warmly into their lovely home. Toulouse is a wonderful city and we really enjoyed sightseeing there for several days with Penelope. We enjoyed just walking around, getting the feel of the city, and of course, having a Starbucks. We also went into the Capitole building which is the heart of the city and the symbol seat of power, and also an impressive museum.

Penney (Penelope), the Captain and me outside the museum:

Penney is a natural model and trying to teach me to vamp it up on the stairway:

And we finished off the day with cocktails on a rooftop bar:

Back home again, Magali cooked duck for us...a first for me and I have to admit that it was very good!
The next day after Magali and Philippe finished their work week, we all drove several hours north into the country to Lerm. Magali's parents have a 200 year old country home there. First of all, we have to say that we haven't seen another countryside in all of Europe that is as beautiful as the French country. There are so many castles scattered through the countryside and they are kept up well, often with families still living in them.
This was just one of the castles along the way...

And us, in the driveway leading to this castle...

And Magali, Philippe, and Penney...

Michel and Christine, Magali's parents welcomed us with open arms into their wonderful country home...
                                                    Front side of the house:

And backside of the house:

Since we were in the Bordeaux wine region, we took an afternoon and drove to the small town of St Emillion for some wine tasting. A quaint little town completely surrounded by miles and miles of vineyards. We had a lovely lunch and a fun afternoon of tasting various wines of the area.

Stone streets up and down thru town:

Winery and vineyard outside of St Emillion:

Vineyards as far as you can see:

Then back home to Michel and Christine and great food and drink with them in the evenings on the back patio. I had heard many times that the French have a great liquor that acts as a digestive so that you can continue to eat the delicious cuisine. And Michel introduced it to us one evening. It is called Armagnac:

Michel introducing Armagnac:

And encouraging me to smell it and taste it...I did, and it was delicious and did the trick!

What an honor it was for us to get to know this wonderful family and to be so welcomed into their home. We didn't feel like tourists in France, but part of the family!!!

Now it was time to leave our French family and drive further north to the city of Bordeaux. Once again we were enthralled with the beauty of the countryside. Vineyards, castles, and such lushness everywhere you looked. In Bordeaux we did the usual tourist activities of sightseeing, eating fantastic food and drinking exceptional wine.

This is one of the original gates into the city:

The Captain along the riverfront in front of an old sailboat:

This is a mirror water pond in the heart of the city that mists up and surrounds you with fog every 30 minutes--fun:

So after "Too Much Fun" in France, it was time to head back to Palma, Mallorca and reconnect with Ecstasea. Thank you to our fabulous friends and to France itself for the wonderful hospitality!!!

Changes

To everything there is a time...
And it is time for a change in our lives--a BIG change!
We have had 13 magnificent years living on EcstaSea in the summers and we have loved every moment of it. And yet, we feel it is time for a change--a new chapter in our lives. We have explored all of the Mediterranean and also had 2 seasons in the Caribbean, and quite frankly, it has lost a lot of it's juiciness for us. It has lost its newness, its adventure and even its romance. We began to feel this last summer, and it's definitely a truth for us this summer.

About 12 years ago when we were anchored out off of the Italian island of Ischia, we met another American couple on their boat. And they told us that they were "done" and sailing their last summer now. So we asked them how do you know when you are done? And they said "Oh you will know"... Well, we understand now and know we are "done"! It is time to let go of this lifestyle and embrace something new. What will the "new" thing be? We don't yet know but are excited to explore and see.

Soooo, we have put EcstaSea up for sale. And have spent the rest of our time here in the Med seeing and saying "Goodbye" to all of our dear friends here. We have made lifelong friends that we will miss but know that they will always be a part of our lives. And we want to share some pictures of them with everyone.


 Dominique and his fiancé' Jane....
 We have known and loved Dominique since we met him in Sardinia, Italy the second year we were in the Med. He is Italian and English, so we found his language skills most helpful. Besides helping us with the boat and the Italian officials, we also stayed at his B&B for the 8 years that we left Esea in Alghero, Sardinia for the winter. We became fast friends with him and his Dad, Tony. And he has recently moved to Ireland and lives there with Jane. We had a great catch up time with them when we were in Ireland at the first of the summer...

Susie, who has become dear to us as the best waitress and friend in one of our favorite restaurants in Palma, Mallorca. The restaurant is named "Wineing" and we always enjoy the food and wine, as well as Susie...

Linn at her shop called "Tree Of Life". She is someone we always want to see when we arrive in Palma, Mallorca. We love her, her store with it's unique hippy chic clothes and her husband Christian (who owns 3 of the best restaurants in Palma)...

Julia, another dear friend who has a wonderful clothing store in Andratx, Mallorca. We always look forward to seeing her every summer...

Mariusz in Palma, Mallorca has also been a part of our lives for many years. Besides being a dear friend, he was also part of our crew that crossed the Atlantic with us in 2013.

Xavier (Chavi), with his easy smile who is special in our lives. He also helped us cross the Atlantic with Ecstasea in 2013...

And his wonderful family...wife, Lorena and son, Adrian. All three of them are like family to us and we cherish our continued friendship and connection...

Sussi...
We met Sussie the first year we were in the Med in Palma, Mallorca and she has been a part of our lives every since. She is too much fun and makes sure we have too much fun also! She takes us dancing, to the best new restaurants and keeps us in touch with all of the events on the island. We are always excited to hear of all of the new adventures in her life. This summer we went to see the movie Woodstock with her in the park at the cathedral...

Thank you Sussi for all of the years of fun connection!
And here we are having an Indian meal with her and her son...

Ulli and her husband, Giorgio. I met Ulli in 2003 when I walked the Camino de Santiago, and we became lifelong friends on that very long walk. She and Giorgio came to Mallorca to see us in 2016 but unfortunately our plans to visit this summer fell through. We're so sorry that we didn't get to say "goodbye", but it is never truly "goodbye" anyway...

We also didn't get to see dear Catherine and Pascal this summer. They are our favorite French friends and producers of Imax movies. Thank you for all of the fun, meaningful times together...

So many memories with so many special friends in our lives here in the Mediterranean. And so many more that we haven't even mentioned here. We are ever thankful for the way each of them embraced us and how they have contributed to our lives in many significant ways.

With deep appreciation to each of you...Thank you!!!