Ibiza and things that go bump in the night

Cala Jondal

Photoshoot at the Alegria beach club

We had a long, lumpy sail in the rain across to Ibiza and dropped anchor in Cala Jondal, the home of one of Ibiza's most famous beach clubs, The Blue Marlin. It is a honey pot for the rich and famous. Needless to say we felt quite small surrounded by dozens of mega yachts. We dinghied ashore and joined the party at the Alegria beach bar, probably the least posey of the three beach clubs in the bay. We were entertained by a fashion shoot and of course the glamorous jet set sunning themselves on their sun loungers. It was only one bay away from the airport and so a perfect spot to pick up Rob and Julie who were arriving in a couple of days. We first needed to stock up with food, booze, water and diesel and so made our way up to the second largest town on the island, San Antonio. No longer the small fishing village it once was, it is now a centre of mass tourism and nightclubs. Usefully though it also has a few good supermarkets. Fully laden we returned to Cala Jondal to pick up our friends.

Walking along Espalmador beach

The sublime...

...and the ridiculous, Ocean Voyager

Espalmador and anchorage

Picnic time!

Cala Saona beach and rustic bar

With two extra crew on board we set off for Formentera and anchored off the northern tip just south of the private island of Espalmador. We had a lovely long walk along the stunning beach and inland to the mud baths. Sadly Health and Safety seem to have reached this little island and for health reasons you are no longer allowed to cake yourself in the soft glutinous mud. Maybe it was a good thing as the smell was pretty pungent! The anchorage was filling up and soon included Ocean Voyager, the 10th largest yacht in the world. It is understood to be owned by a Russian steel billionaire and features six swimming pools, a jacuzzi, gym, helipad and a helicopter hanger. The follwing day we left the super yachts behind and moved south to Cala Saona to anchor under the red cliffs for the night. We dinghied ashore for an early sunset drink at the rustic beach bar before walking across the sands to sample our first Spanish paella. Early next morning we set off back north to Ibiza and up the dramatic west coast.

Cala Saona anchorage

Cala Saona from the beach bar

Cala San Miguel

We passed on busy Cala Salida after witnessing a French boat hit a rock with a nasty bang and finally dropped the hook in Cala San Miguel. Much quieter and with a beach bar pefect for appéritifs before the big football match between Wales and Portugal. Sadly the red dragon didn't get hoisted that night! We continued north to Portinatx, a popular sheltered bay with three beaches and a busy little town. By nightfall the anchorage was full. Maybe that had something to do with the strong winds that were starting to blow. The fun and games began in earnest around 11pm. Boats and

Cala San Miguel from the beach bar

their navigation lights were soon milling around as anchors began to drag. Suddenly we felt a large bump as a big Sunsail 444 catamaran named Portals Vells, pinned itself to our bow. It continued to rake down our starboard side as we wondered helplessly how long our anchor would hold the two boats. It wouldn't be long before we too would start dragging onto the many boats lying behind us. The Swedish crew were in a panic and with their skipper ashore they couldn't bring up their anchor, nor could they buoy it off. Somehow we needed to extricate ourselves as soon as possible. Following a lot of screaming and shouting we eventually got the catamaran, with its anchor and chain still down,

Portinatx - spot the Sunsail catamaran!

to motor around the front of us. With much relief we then brought our own anchor up, told the crew of Portals Vells we would see them in the morning and motored off to anchor in the safety of clear, deeper water. A couple of hours later the catamaran in question sailed by into the darkness and we watched as its stern light disappeared over the horizon. So much for our arrangement to discuss the damage done in the morning! Julie excelled herself on Twitter and Facebook and by daylight Sunsail had responded. In the morning we moved back to shallower water and got down to writing a detailed report of the previous nights "hit and run" incident which needed to be sent to the Palma, Mallorca base. Sunsail were not going to get away with this.

                               Chain damage to the bottom of the boat or modern art?

Es Torrent anchorage

View down to the anchorage from Ravens Cottage

Twitter Queen Julie, at Ravens Cottage

Sea bass hidden under salt, Ses Boques

The week was drawing to a close and it was time to head south again. We had a cracking sail down to a large, sheltered bay under the dramatic red cliffs near Es Torrent beach. Rob has friends with a villa in Es Cubells and we had heard reports of a great beach restaurant not far away. We dinghied ashore to Port Roig and were whisked by car up to Ravens Cottage perched high up on a cliff. It was a wonderful spot with amazing views out to sea. Drinks on the terrace were followed by a dinner at the beach restaurant, Ses Boques, on the water's edge. We had a delicious meal which included mouth watering sea bass baked in salt. Sadly it was time for Rob and Julie to leave. Next morning we dinghied them ashore to Es Torrent, yet another upmarket beach club and restaurant, where we waved them off in a taxi to the airport. We spent the rest of the day reading the English newspapers they had brought with them. A real treat! We now had to face the reality of our continuing intermittent clunk, clunk engine starting issue. The problem was still with us so we decided to head back to Mallorca which we felt was probably the best place to fix the problem.

Es Torrent dinghy quay and the anchorage

Es Torrent beach