My Third Big Journey in the Med
As you may recall, I have been taking two 6-week periods to work remotely in the Mediterranean Sea while sailing between coastal cities. This Friday marks my third such trip. Hence, I thought I would update my readers.
What Am I Doing and Why?
Sometime during the crazy pandemic, I decided to buy a sailboat and then learn how to sail it in the Med. Our journey began in France, where we commissioned a boat and then had someone take it on the much rougher Atlantic side to Gibraltar. We met the boat there, and while I had lots of training, there’s nothing like throwing yourself into the deep end to see if you can swim (maybe a bad metaphor for a sailor?) Hence, it was trial by fire while we answered questions like:
- How do you know where to go when you enter a European marina?
- How do you even get a berth?
- How do you dock this thing in that tiny little spot?
- What happens if the [fill in the blank device or system] suddenly goes down while sailing?
- And many others…
Thankfully it all worked out and we’re finally getting more comfortable. I now take two 6-week periods a year to do this before I get too old to do it. My wife and I will be working our way around the Med and eventually toward Greece, one trip at a time.
What’s the Course for This Trip?
On this trip, we’ll finally leave Valencia, Spain. Since the last trip focused on the Balearic Islands (Ibiza, Mallorca, and Menorca) with the kids, Valencia was a logical base of operations. For this trip, we’ll finish southern Spain, head toward France, and then leave the boat in Genoa, Italy.
It will be sad to leave Valencia as we love this city, and it’s become a home away from home for us. If you ever get the chance to go to Spain, I wouldn’t miss Valencia. It’s got more to see than Barcelona without the crazy tourist scene.
On this trip, we will be heading first toward Barcelona. We generally sail for about 3-5 hours and then pull into a marina and stay a day or two, depending on if we like the town. From there, we’ll leave Spain and head east, which means the south of France. I have to say I had no sense of what this part would be like, but from watching various YouTube videos, it looks very cool. Finally, we’ll leave the boat in Genoa for the winter and then come back in the Spring of 2024 to do the west coast of Italy.
Following Along
I’m not an Instagrammer, but I share pics of our sailing adventures at https://www.instagram.com/chriscenteno541/. I only use this account when I’m out sailing.
Staying Connected
While I work less when I’m out on these trips, I still see six patients a week via Telemedicine, answer e-mails every day, and take some meetings. All of that is thanks to Starlink. This means that no matter where we are, we have broadband Internet. Isn’t technology a great thing?
The upshot? I’m out again for my third sailing trip and looking forward to some “Vitamin Sea.” I may get a blog off mid-way, but I will continue to release content on my YouTube channel once a week (pre-recorded videos on various cervical topics). See you at the end of October!
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