I returned to Palma after a fantastic weekend in London, having visited my mum and then joined friends for Sally and Sarah’s special birthday celebration at Sam’s on the river. Fabulous food, brilliant company and a surprise visit by Anita who had flown over from Australia. Lunch carried on well into the evening and the next day we all met for brunch on the river in Chiswick, before my very late flight back to Palma.
The morning after my return the steel fabricators arrived to remove the wind turbine mast and confirmed that it would be at least two days before they could complete the work and reinstall the mast, complete with additional mount for our Starlink. We used the time doing a few repairs – poor Jonathan had to take the heads apart to fix a leak – and setting up our new boom brake using some parts I’d brought back from England (causing a little consternation at airport security). With all work complete we had a farewell meal at a local fish restaurant on the upper floor of the fish market – an amazing array of shellfish to start followed by the house speciality – lobster, egg and chips!
We headed out from Palma after our very long stay and made our way north west to the beautiful Puerto Andratx. The forecast was for two days of very strong easterlies followed by a strong westerly and neither were ideal for the long sail west to Ibiza. The easterlies brought incredible dry heat with a surreal haze of Saharan sand that completely coated the boat. Fortunately the westerlies were cooler but much of the swell made its way into the bay and boats not sheltered behind the sea wall were thrown around mercilessly. Andratx is a beautiful tourist spot with a lovely town, lots of lively bars and restaurants, and villas for sale by Sothebys starting at around £10 million!
Once the weather calmed and the winds returned to easterly we commenced our crossing to Ibiza, heading to the harbour at Santa Eulalia as the winds and swell are so variable that it’s impossible to find a calm, sheltered anchorage. One night there was plenty, particularly as they charge super yacht prices for our small sailing boat. We anchored the next day in Ses Salines but it was really rolly and we were glad to wake early the next morning and set off on our long crossing to the Spanish mainland.
Well, we certainly had an interesting crossing. As the forecast predicted we had good northeasterlies for the first half of our passage giving us an excellent sail topping seven knots. The winds calmed, as forecast, in the afternoon so we motor sailed and I even cleaned away all the Saharan sand down below. We were less than ten miles from our destination of Moraira when the skies over the land darkened, broken by great flashes of fork lightning. Then the land disappeared into a mist. Expecting a squall we furled the main, reefed the genoa and I put all of our electronic devices in the oven which, I am assured by our yacht master instructor, acts as a faraday cage preventing them from being fried in the event of a lightning strike. Then the gale hit us with 36 knots of wind and we were battered by monsoon like torrential rain which flattened the sea and created a surreal light. We made our way slowly towards land for the next 90 minutes, hoping the squall would blow over so that we could safely make landfall. We did, dropped anchor in 20 knot winds in Moraira bay and had a resuscitating beer, celebrating the fact that there was not a grain of Saharan sand left above decks.
We’re now cruising southwards towards Almerimar, where we leave the boat in ten days time. We’ll be passing some top notch holiday spots en route. We were astonished by Benidorm, sky scrapers as high as those in Hong Kong or Dubai, but still dwarfed by the spectacular and arid mountains. Nonetheless, we do find some surprisingly good spots. In the comparatively small holiday resort of Villajoiosa we were indeed filled with joy as we ate a spectacular eight course tapas menu, equal to any Michelin starred tasting menu and only 20Euros each.
Currently we’re in Santa Pola. It doesn’t feel like a particularly English tourist resort and seems to be mainly Spanish families. However, the pictures say it all 😉
Ahoy!
We’d love to think you enjoyed the English Breakfast complete with half a lager first thing on Sunday morning! The tapas looked amazing.
Ahoy!
Your tapas looked amazing but were you tempted by the English Breakfast and lager?