These are the first few shots of our arrival in Ibiza. We sailed down here after Christopher and Philip got off and headed for the north coast into a large bay with good anchorage. And only a few yachts in here which is always nice. Such clear water and it is surprising how different Ibiza is to Mallorca and Menorca. As you can see the small boats are hauled up high on the rocks and the coastline is dotted with boathouses and rails such as these for launching your boat. It’s like all the mud after the volcanic explosion eons ago is Ibiza especially around the waters edge. Rog is not feeling that kindly disposed towards Ibiza and it’s not helped by the up and coming weather forecast – we may not be here long. We will head to Formentera tomorrow and perhaps I can convince Rog to go into the town of Ibiza – perhaps.

Formentera is a long and very flat island to the south of Ibiza. It is very nearly joined and in fact all water traffic has to navigate through a small channel which is completely chaotic. Huge ferries, yachts sailing, power boats screaming past – like all these moments, the first time is not so much fun.

We decided to anchor in a place called Las Salinas – along with every man and his boat and unfortunately their Jet Ski. It was so unpleasant and there was no opportunity to get off the boat so all day we were hustled and jostled until finally they exhausted themselves and went home. After that it was divine but we now have a severe weather alert for the coming days and tomorrow we will have to make our way back to Mallorca where we know we can anchor safely. At this time of year we know that everything can change in a very small time and these areas are not so protected.

As a footnote : there did end up being a tornado that hit Formentera a few days later and several yachts were washed up on the beach. Completely unexpected with devastating consequences.

Mallorca – Sant Elms: great spot with a small village and buoys for tying up and as we arrived late in the dark we took a buoy. The weather has changed and we find out the next day we are in a “meteo-tsunami” – which is large swell/waves driven by air pressure disturbance. It was a very unpleasant night of rolling in the extreme and at first light we made a dash out of there to calmer waters – if they exist!

Torres de ses Illetes – in the Bay of Palma but like a small island – protected, popular – but a great anchorage so we join a lot of other boats and yes by nightfall they have gone, a trail of Jetskis, boom boxes, hover boards going with them. Peace.

Into Palma we go.we have managed to get 3 days in a marina here right at the foot of the Cathedral. A very difficult feat as it is so busy. It means we can go explore the city of Palma much more, get some provisioning done, go to the markets, and generally enjoy being in this lovely city.

After some very unsettled weather it now seems we have a consistent pattern with stable pressure and we will sail around the south coast of Mallorca. we want to sail past the house of Jorn Utzon – Can Lis – and see it from the water. We so enjoyed visiting the house last year and it sits on the cliff with amazing views to the south.

Porto Pedro is the next little harbour around from Can Lis and we stay the night – on a buoy. Lovely to be able to swim off the boat and enjoy the village and have the amenity – dinghy jetty provided which is a boon. sometimes it can be very difficult finding a place to safely tie up the dinghy.

We are going to head back across to Majorca now and stop in Ciutadella – are our way around the north coast and get the Port Fornells where we will meet Roberta and Alessandro. They are en route from Sicily and we can follow them on Marine Traffic and co-ordinate our meeting point.

We are in Fornells and it is an amazing harbour. A village, public transport, it’s safe and the water is great. We can stay here anchored for a few days no problem. We hire a car and go exploring. The island of Menorca is tiny – 50 kms long and made 5 wide so it is easy to see all of it if you wish. it’s beautiful – the bush particularly – and unexpectedly green.

We have a weather window in our favour and it is time to sail back to Sardegna and make our way towards the Maddalenas and then back into the Blue Dolphin. Time to pack up Marley until next year.

And in the next few days we have idyllic weather and locations with the best of the ‘turquoiqe’water.

The Gulf of Porto Torres in the top of Sardegna – Stintino to La Rocca

I’m going to sign off here until next year.we are on our way home and so looking forward to seeing everyone. Back teaching in the School from September 2 – very exciting – see you all very soon

ciao ciao for now. xx

22 Aug This entry was published on August 22, 2024 at 12:43 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.