One weekend, as we were looking for an adventure, it occurred to me that an activity on water, that’s been going on for over 500 years, probably involved wooden boats. So we rugged up and climbed aboard our bicycles and cycled south.

As with all wooden working boats the "albuferenc" boats (or "barcas" as they are know locally), have been designed by their function and environment, rather than individual people. They are flat-bottomed allowing them to work in for the shallow waters of the lagoon and the canals running between rice fields and they're quite different from the heavier fishing boats once used used along the Mediterranean coast and on the beaches just a few miles to the east of the lagoon.

It was a little tense but not unpleasant sailing and after a few hours we popped out of the murk to a starlit sky and a building North Easter. We could just lay the Ile Pomegues off Marseille and the 1970’s S&S design began to live up to her reputation as a windward wizard

Sorolla worked long hours carrying a small sketchbook everywhere, scrawling quick studies of landscapes, people or boats that he passed. Many of these sketches later became studies for major paintings. But even with his sketches at hand, he often chose to paint outdoors, believing that only by immersing himself in the environment could he truly capture its essence.

So we returned to Australia to pack up our lives. The house needed to be rented, a new home had to be found for our beloved dog, immediate family had to be persuaded that what we were doing was not completely crazy, and friends had to be farewelled and encouraged to come and visit.