2011. Paula and Alan, two Americans in the Mediterranean

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Americans in the Mediterranean

From Motor Boats 2011, no.1, February, pp. 80-85.

Arranging work to live at least eight months of the year on a boat, but in the nearby Caribbean, Paula Mott and Alan Parrish prefer to sail every corner in the Mare Nostrum. Here’s why.

Paula Mott and Alan Parrish are from Houston, Texas, which is located 30 kilometers from the sea, and are engaged in construction and real estate business, but they have arranged work so that they can live on their boat, named Proteus, at least eight months of the year: not in the Gulf of Mexico or the Caribbean, but in the Mediterranean. In February 2008, they launched the boat in Southampton, England, and after a stop in Lisbon, they passed through the Strait of Gibraltar to land in Palma de Mallorca on Thursday, April 17 of that year. In the following months, their sailing continued to Corsica, Amalfi, around the Peninsula to Croatia, Greece and, by the end of 2008, they were in Turkey. In March 2009 they resumed their route to Malta, Sicily, Tunisia, France and, at the end of 2009, disembarked in Valencia. In 2010 they sailed from Valencia to Majorca and Menorca, then went to Corsica, Sardinia and Tunisia and ended the year between the Balearic Islands and Valencia. “I had sailed the Mediterranean before, and my children today have 10,000 miles on their backs,” Alan says with a father’s pride. “When we launched Proteus, however, Paula had no sailing experience, but now we have been doing this life for two years already.” Says Paula, “We like the Mediterranean because the water is beautiful, the people we meet on the voyage are kind, and the places we visit are rich in history. Each time we listen to different languages, but all very musical, such as Italian, Spanish or French. Then, the bread, olive oil, red wine and prosciutto are heaven.” Adds Alan: “In the Mediterranean you can reach European locations with such different architecture and scents in a few hours with the pleasure of sailing, which adds that extra touch of adventure. Every time you stop somewhere, it’s the beginning of a whole new story.”

When and where

So many Europeans, however, dream of going to the Caribbean. “Among those islands you don’t have the cities with their long history, you just have countries that are all quite similar to each other,” Alan says. “In the Caribbean you go for diving, because the water is beautiful. But the landscape is homogeneous.” For travel, Paula and Alan rely heavily on meteorology: “When you live on a boat, you are tied to the weather: if it’s good, we leave, if it’s bad we stay where we are and go about our business. However, in the Mediterranean this is not a big problem, because the worst that can happen to you is a 40-knot mistral, it will never be a hurricane like the ones you see in the United States, “ Alan says. “Being eight months of the year in the Mediterranean, we have a choice. This year, for example, we went away in August, because we knew everyone goes on vacation the same month. However, last year we stayed and went to Croatia, which was certainly crowded, but not as much as Italy and the south of France. This year we chose to stay in Mallorca and Menorca and often stayed at anchor in the roadstead, which for August is the ideal solution to avoid those two weeks during which berths go up to crazy amounts. We stay in the Mediterranean year-round and know the prices. We have a 65-foot boat and in August they come and ask us for 600-700 euros per night. That’s no problem for us: we are fine even at anchor and wait for September, when the same berth costs us 140 euros.” , Paula says.

Then there is another “rule,” which determines the time or destination of a move. Alan explains it: “We have told friends who come to visit us that they can choose the time or the place, but not both, because we cannot guarantee them that we will be in a specific place on a requested date.” Paula and Alan like to be at anchor, but the Mediterranean has developed in them a passion “for those moorings at the walls of cities, in old ports like Bonifacio and Ajaccio, where you get off the boat and stand inside a restaurant.” Paula and Alan can truly witness the changing Mediterranean through the passage of the seasons. “From December to the end of March it is difficult to sail, or at any rate great caution is required, as the weather is unpredictable and storms are frequent. However, in winter you experience the resorts in their truest aspect, without the dress they put on to welcome tourists in summer. From April to November, the weather is almost always fine. In March, the coast of Turkey is beautiful: in the same bay where there are fifty boats in August, you are alone,” Alan says. Adds Paula: “Another thing that changes in the Mediterranean as the seasons pass is the food: vegetables and eating habits change; for example, we go from gazpacho in summer to hot soup in winter.”

En route to Proteus

Everyone loves Mallorca, even Paula and Alan: “It’s a beautiful island, with many attractions even for friends who come to visit who don’t like the sea. You can go for long walks in the mountains and visit the vineyards,” says Paula, who is fascinated by the view of Palma de Mallorca’s cathedral, especially at night, and the town of Soller, in the northwest of the island, where she loves to enjoy the orange juices typical of the area. “Of Spain, we like the recent architecture created by Calatrava in Valencia and Gaudi’s buildings in Barcelona where, in the historic center, it is nice to listen to guitar players and see flamenco dancers.” Ajaccio is a destination for Paula and Alan in the Mediterranean, “We like it because we can moor in the old town, get off the boat and sit in the restaurant.” They are then fascinated by Bonifacio: “Getting there by boat is fantastic: you can’t see anything, then you slip in between the two cliffs and suddenly the whole town appears, with the old fort towering over the sea. It’s a unique place in the world.” Then there is nearby Sardinia: “In a moment you reach the Costa Smeralda.” Here, Paula admits she prefers small villages like Cannigione “quieter than Porto Cero and where there is Cotton Club, a very good pizzeria, It’s a more family-sized resort and not as ‘Gucci’ as Porto Cervo.” Alan calls the Costa Smeralda “the capital of the Mediterranean. Sailing among these bays and islands is extraordinary.” . In Italy, among Paula ‘s favorite places is Santa Margherita Ligure: “It is very intimate and the food is great. I love getting off the boat and walking to the grocery store via the baker and the vegetable shop, where the produce is always fresh and tasty. In America these things are now bought only in big supermarkets.” Next, Portovenere, where Paula and Alan were fascinated by “a night procession. There was a long line of people with candles in hand going up the narrow streets to the old little church. A spectacle.” On the Adriatic coast they had a good time in Porto San Giorgio: “It was July, there were many tourists, but Italians, not foreigners. So the atmosphere was familiar, with adults chatting while their children went around playing.”, In Sicily, Paula was enchanted by the Egadi Islands and Syracuse: “It’s full of magnificent little streets and little churches, From there then, it’s easy to get to Valletta, Malta, where it really feels like going back to 1566, when the city was founded.”

On the other side of the Adriatic, Paula and Alan enjoy sailing among the hundreds of small islands along the Croatian coast. “Going up the river to Sibenik, from where we then travel a long channel that passes under a 30-meter-high bridge and ends in a lake inland, is an incredible experience,” they recount. Of the islands of Ionian Greece, they extol the green nature and protection they offer. “Greece is a special place because it offers the possibility of docking directly at the docks of old villages,” Alan says. “The coast south of Turkey offers the most beautiful scenery in the Mediterranean. The mountains are attached to the sea and are very high, with snow-capped peaks. Beautiful Fethiye and Tomb Bay, where you can see the spectacular tombs with facades carved into the rock.” Before reaching the North African coast, Paula suggests a stop in Crete. “Tunisia is very beautiful, the people are hospitable and it is easy to converse with them because they speak French. The landscape from the coast to the Sahara desert is unique: you find oases like those in the movies. The boat is best left in Sidi Bou Said.”

by Andrea Falcon

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