2016-09-21 Puerto to Hotel Porto, Sant Carles de La Rapita, Costa Dorada, Spain

Early morning light looking towards yachts on the hard stand in Marina Sant Carles de la Rapita

Looking towards the marina with the Serra Del Montsià mountain range in the background

The well positioned Marina Sant Carles de la Rapita is situated half way between Barcelona and Valencia and in close proximity to the beautiful Balearic Islands

The marina is surrounded by lovely natural parks and is at the edge of an unspoilt traditional Spanish seaside town

After several days of working very hard to prepare the Tangaroa for winter storage, finally the day arrives for the haul out

The gigantic haul out straps are meticulously secured under the Tangaroa

Slowly Tangaroa rises with a lot of creaking and her not so white keel is exposed

Once the boats are moved to the land, the keel is cleaned with a high pressure hose and then the haul out machine moves the boats to their positions on the hard stand area

Large wooden blocks are positioned securely under the boats and then the straps are removed

At this particular marina the boats are also strapped down for safety (2 at the bow and 2 at the stern) due to strong winds here at times

Once all was secure with the preparation of the boat we could go aboard by ladder and finish our packing

By early evening everything was finally organised on the Tangaroa so we lowered our suitcases, said goodbye to our home of the past 5 months and left by taxi