Arrival in the Balearics

After spending 5 nights in Altea our various deliveries arrived and we set off on our last leg north along the mainland coast. We spent one night in Denia before heading for the Balearics, our first offshore passage.

We crept out of Denia marina at 6am. The sea was a bit rougher than we'd have liked with the wind a Force 5 virtually on the nose (it seems to blow from wherever we want to go). The crossing took about 10 hours but our reward was the most beautiful turquoise water and golden sandy beach on Platja De Ses Illetes north of La Savina on Formentera. Our anchor was down like a shot. Bliss. Colin took the girls ashore to play on the beach while I cleared up the carnage of toys, snacks etc that had spilled out from every nook and cranny to keep the girls going during the journey.

We moved a short distance that evening to a snug bay on the tiny neighbouring island of Espalmador and this became our home for two nights. This really was the most idyllic of bays, the kind of place that (sailing) dreams are made of. Calm turquoise waters, an almost deserted sandy beach, no wind and only a couple of neighbours to share it with. Plus the mooring buoys gave added peace of mind.

(Monday 12th) Following a good explore of the island we set off for the hedonistic glory that is Ibiza. Of course this is off season and we are avec our girls, so we didn't go wild. The sea did that for us. We anchored in Cala Talamanca north of Ibiza Town, and had an uncomfortable night rocking and rolling in strong winds, expecting the anchor alarms to go off to tell us we were on the move. The anchor held well though and next day, in the rain, we had a walk round Ibiza's old town, which was much more charming than we'd expected. Our plan was to then continue north to a better protected bay for a quieter night, but the wind was increasing, and the sea state was so uncomfortable that we set our sights on one of Ibiza Town's marinas. The next day we motored up the coast but yet again didn't make our planned anchorage: we were motoring into a wind which was increasing to a F7 with the bows ploughing into the waves, the bigger of which washed over the foredeck and even made it up onto the coachroof. Marina Santa Eulalia here we come...

Fortunately the wind dropped over night and so, as we motored out of the marina at 5.30am heading towards Mallorca, we found a more comfortable sea. Or so we thought, but our youngest crew mates disagreed and as their sea sickness struck we changed our plans slightly and headed for the west instead of east coast of Mallorca to ease the motion on the passage. And so after 12 hours we've made it to Soller. And it's so lovely, we're anchored in a protected bay set amongst the Mallorcan mountains. We plan to spend a day or so here exploring and waiting for our guests, Granny, Uncle Robin and Luke, whose flights are delayed due to volcanic activity in Iceland.