We have been getting complaints about the weather recently and I have to say there’s something to them. The AC heater is on every morning to get the boat up to even spring temperatures. Yesterday, we had no wind and it was raining much of the day. Enough is enough!

Blanes was our first stop on the Costa Brava and it seemed like a place out of the 70s. Medium high rises everywhere, all built 40 years ago. But there were good boutiques for Jutta and hardware stores for me. So we suffered through it.

We’re here in a place that nobody can pronounce called Sant Feliu de Guixols. They call it “Saint Feliu de Issues” or something similar, best I can tell. And it has issues. There is nobody here. Whatever restaurants and bars are open are empty. Even the ice cream I bought last night during our shore stroll seemed several years old. But apparently, people show up beginning in June and it will be a hopping place. We will not linger.

And then there was success. I found the neoprene booties for my “steamer” wetsuit and braved the 15C water again to fix the thruster or as Kalle calls it, the “blockbuster”. I got the nut off and replaced the starboard prop. It was a great relief to get that done. Unfortunately, the port buster now also has 2 busted blades but that is a story for another day!