Flashing blue lights!

Ses Salines Natural Park

Posidonia!

We had an uneventful crossing to Ibiza and found a nice spot on the south east of the island sheltered from the westerly swell to drop the anchor. It was lovely to be back in the crystal clear Ibizan waters and we sat down in the cockpit with a welcome glass of wine. I am not sure that we even had time to taste the wine before we were approached by a couple of girls on a RIB. Instead of coming to the stern of the boat they made their way to the bow and proceeded to peer through a large orange underwater viewer. "What now?!" we thought. The two girls then approached the stern and told us that while our anchor was bedded nicely in the sand unfortunately a small part of our chain was rubbing on the seaweed, or rather the flowering Posidonia, on the sea bed. They told us that if we moved about 5 metres further forward we would be fine. They kindly directed us to a perfect spot and gave us some literature to read. We had unknowingly anchored in a national park where the seaweed is protected. We could now relax, enjoy our well earned drink and get into cruising mode. We stayed put for a couple of days and the posidonia police visited the anchorage regularly giving us a friendly wave as they passed by. We have since heard reports of boats being fined thousands of euros for such a transgression so were grateful to be forewarned by such a nice pair of girls.

Ibiza town

Red cliffs near Porroig

Anchorage near Porroig

Our next stop was to replenish our diesel and water supplies. Having previously cruised the west coast of Ibiza extensively we wanted, if possible, to see some of the east coast. We made our way up to Ibiza town itself and filled the tanks with the most expensive water ever. It would be nice to go ashore and explore more but since the marina fees were prohibitive and anchoring is no longer allowed in the harbour we went round to Talamanca bay next door. Typically the wind was now blowing from the east and the swell would mean some very rolly nights so we had to give up on that idea and made our way back down to a lovely anchorage under some stunning red cliffs on the south coast near Porroig instead. Having filled up with water we still hadn't replenished our food stores so trundled on up to San Antonio. Not a pretty town but good for chandlers, supermarkets, laundries and of course a bar showing the World Cup England v Tunisia game.

At anchor in Cala Bassa

Cala Bassa Beach Club!

A sea of double beds and Taittinger champagne!

Jobs done including an England win we decided to up anchor and try a nearby bay we hadn't visited before. We anchored under the cliffs and caves at Cala Bassa and watched all the tripper boats disgorging themselves on the beach further up. The whole beach and surround is owned by one company the Cala Bassa Beach Club and is a maze of champagne bars, restaurants and double bed sun loungers. We went to check out this very popular beach club but having had a coffee and a bit of a look see we were happy to retreat to the quiet at the other end of the bay. We continued up the west coast stopping in San Miguel where we found an Irish bar to see England thrash Panama. We dropped anchor at the top of the island in lovely Cala Xarraca waiting for favourable winds to allow us to continue on down the east coast. For the second time this year we gave up waiting and continued on to Mallorca instead!

Fishermen's huts, Cala Xarraca

The best laid plans of mice and men...

Puerto Genoves, Cabo de Gata

With our marina contract ending in May our departure date was getting closer and we couldn't put off the big decision as to which way to turn any longer. After much deliberation it was finally settled. We decided to turn right, leave the Med and enjoy a summer cruising the Algarve coast of Portugal. We bought an up to date Atlantic pilot and started reading up about pastures new. As the saying goes, "gentlemen never sail to windward". We try not to either, particularly if the wind is strong as invariably much of our home ends up on the saloon floor in the process and it puts unnecessary stresses on the boat. We therefore waited patiently for easterly, or thereabouts, winds to puff us on our way. Our patience was growing thin and a ten day forecast showed nothing but gale force westerly winds. We changed our minds and turned left instead!

La Manga from seaward

Thankfully the bridge begins to open...

Mar Menor from the Chiringuito

We thought about cruising up the coast of Spain but it is very exposed, not a great cruising ground and notorious for swell so our other option was to head back to the Balearic islands. Our time there a couple of years ago had been cut short due to engine troubles so there was still more to explore. We decided on leisurely day hops up the coast before crossing to Ibiza. It was blowing a force 7 gale when we set off and the seas were huge but we found shelter for the night in the lee of the notorious Cabo de Gata in a lovely sandy bay. It was nice to be at anchor again despite constantly swirling around in the incessant wind. After a couple of long day sails up the coast with only the jib powering us along we dropped anchor outside the Mar Menor, Europe's biggest salt water lagoon. The 170km² of warm water is separated from the sea by a 22km heavily built on sandy spit known as La Manga. Access to the lagoon is only at certain times via a narrow, shallow channel and a lifting bridge. We didn't trust our pilot so scoured the internet for the bridge

View across the Mar Menor to La Manga

opening times. They were all different so we set off to catch the 10am (hopefully) opening somewhat nervously. We had read about boats hitting the bridge, boats running aground and the bridge not opening on time. It only opens for a short period so timing was important. We arrived at the channel bang on 10am with the bridge still firmly closed. We were now committed with limited maneuverability. We inched closer willing the cars to stop crossing and some sign that the bridge was about to open. Much to our relief the bridge very slowly started to lift and we motored on through and out into the flat waters of the inland sea. We anchored at the southern end off a sandy beach and looked forward to some peaceful nights. We went ashore, stretched our legs and enjoyed a lovely lunch in a local chiringuito bar on the beach. All very bizarre with a view of the overdeveloped sandy spit in the distance.

At anchor off the beach in the Mar Menor

Safely back through...

Rejuvenated we set off early to be ready and waiting for the first bridge opening at 8am. There were a couple of other boats milling around so we felt confident that we had the opening time right. We continued on up the coast passing Greenwich marina. At this longitude we changed from zero degrees west to zero degrees east. Oops! A quick change to our next gps waypoint saw us back on track to Calpe where we anchored in the lee of the huge limestone headland for the night before setting off at dawn for the 60 mile crossing to Ibiza.

Leaving Calpe behind at dawn