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