More Ibiza Adventures
Sunday 12th May... Found a good nearby landing spot this morning with a slipway and it was only a little bit slimy. Good enough for a walkies. Then it was off to San Antonio proper where we picked up a big orange buoy in the bay with instruction from the on-duty marinero. I think he had spotted us nosing around and he came over in his rib. It was then we found out the water taxi ashore was free! After a quick coffee to settle in we called on the VHF radio for a lift to the Capitania Office to check in. Feels abit weird checking in just for a buoy but that's what we were told to do. Dean did the formalities and showed our Cruising Association card which entitled us to 20% at this Club Nautico. Total cost 23 euros, bargain. And for that cost we also are entitled to the free water taxi ashore, use of the showers in the marina, and a free welcome drink in the Club Nautico bar. We think that's a very good deal.
So now we were ashore at about 1.30pm and found a suitable place for a bite to eat, then carried on walking around the promenade to see the delights of San Antonio. As we all know it's the party capital but sadly the only clubs we passed were looking abit dreary. Not that we cared as we weren't about to go night clubbing!
Outside the Club Nautico office
Fountains along the promenade
We had to wait until 5pm for the water taxi to come back of its lunch break, and the time seemed to drag on forever. Even an ice cream didn't help. Eventually we got back to Thesee, fed Saffy, then called the taxi again to take us (minus Saffy dog) back to the showers and then to the club for our free welcome drink. Champagne of course. In the showers we met some people from a boat we saw anchored the other day in San Miguel. They are from Gosport so we had a lot to talk about.
A big fancy rib in the marina
Our free champagne.... can't miss that
Nice views looking out from the club
The marina here is really nice, we like it, and we don't feel ripped off. The views from Thesee are mostly very acceptable, and you can see the green hills all around behind the hotels and bars. Unfortunately after a promising start, being ashore is really disappointing.
Monday 13th May... A busy morning, taking the water taxi ashore for walkies, trying to find campingaz, and food shopping. We had to get it all done before 2pm so that we didn't miss the water taxi before his 3 hour lunch break. So the only thing we didn't manage was the campingaz refill. They try to sell you Butsir refills but we don't want those as you can't exchange them outside of Spain. It's a bit of a headache trying to find suppliers.
So after a bite to eat we had to decide where to take Thesee next. After poking our nose into nearby Cala Bassa we ended up in a neighbouring anchorage called El Torrent. It's only very small but deep in the middle. It's pleasant enough as long as the weather stays calm and it should as far as we know. So by late afternoon we got ashore easily on the beach. There's a hotel or two and a few bars in the immediate surroundings, a small beach, and some holidaymakers so not too bad really.
Tuesday 14th May 2019... Another rolly night on the anchor! Once the wind changed the swell came in and off we went again, rolling and creaking all night.
We took another quick trip ashore with Saffy this morning and then headed off to Cala Blanca which is further north on the island. Hopefully that will make our trip to Mallorca a bit easier on Thursday if the weather holds.
Cala Blanca was very nice and not much swell so we dropped the hook and had lunch, but Linda wasn't happy so we moved off again.
We stuck our noses into Cala Xarraca that was also nice, but not quite right. So we're here again in Portinatx. The problem is the sea weed! or sea grass. The Spanish tree huggers are trying to grow back the Posidonia prairies. So anchoring has been forbidden in a lot of the areas. Similar to places in the UK. Anyway were anchored in Portinatx and we're really close to the town in 4.5 meters of water because we found out that the anchoring is forbidden outside of us but we're OK.
Actually it's quite easy because you can see the sandy bottom which means no sea grass and better holding so we always drop the hook there. You just have to be careful that the anchor chain doesn't move about and damage the sea grass. Or you can anchor next to a Spanish boat as they drop the hook anywhere regardless of sea grass or not!
Wednesday 15th May... A glorious morning here in Portinatx. I love this place more and more each day. Ashore, Dean swapped some more books at the local book exchange, then we sat and had morning coffee beachside at El Grop cafe. I could have sat there all day, it was just perfect but Dean had cleaning to do. So most of the afternoon he was in the dinghy with his fresh water bucket scrubbing and polishing Thesee's hull. He also spent some time tightening the inner forestay. I hope he hasn't worn himself out as we are intending to cross to Majorca tomorrow all being well. There's quite a lot of boats here at anchor tonight, about nine in total. Maybe we will have some buddies for our journey tomorrow? Here's a few photos from my non stop camera clicking this morning.
Thursday 16th May 2019...Before we carry on I am going to rename this part of the blog Cruising around Mallorca....Yipppeee we made it at last.
We were up early this morning, had Saffy walked and everything packed away by 7am. We lifted the anchor and off we went. The sea was choppy and confused at first but with 8 knots of wind and the main sail up we were soon making decent progress. Soon after we rolled out the genoa and turned the engine off. The sea calmed down a little after about 20 miles and the wind picked up to 10 to 12 knots and a little more as we neared Mallorca.
What a great sail! Linda booked a buoy online yesterday at Club de Vela in Puerto de Andratx. We sailed in gave them a quick call on the VHF and by 3pm we had rum and cokes.
Monday 13th May... A busy morning, taking the water taxi ashore for walkies, trying to find campingaz, and food shopping. We had to get it all done before 2pm so that we didn't miss the water taxi before his 3 hour lunch break. So the only thing we didn't manage was the campingaz refill. They try to sell you Butsir refills but we don't want those as you can't exchange them outside of Spain. It's a bit of a headache trying to find suppliers.
So after a bite to eat we had to decide where to take Thesee next. After poking our nose into nearby Cala Bassa we ended up in a neighbouring anchorage called El Torrent. It's only very small but deep in the middle. It's pleasant enough as long as the weather stays calm and it should as far as we know. So by late afternoon we got ashore easily on the beach. There's a hotel or two and a few bars in the immediate surroundings, a small beach, and some holidaymakers so not too bad really.
Tuesday 14th May 2019... Another rolly night on the anchor! Once the wind changed the swell came in and off we went again, rolling and creaking all night.
Our anchor watch system on the IPad
Saffy's morning walkies
All ready for another hot one!
Local restaurant megaliths
Nice flowers
Nice mansion in Cala Blanca
Nice boat house, four in a row
Navionics chart showing forbidden anchoring areas
We're the red arrow
Feeding time over a sandy bottom
Feed them up now so they don't bite me!
Checking the anchor and cleaning the keel coolers
Wednesday 15th May... A glorious morning here in Portinatx. I love this place more and more each day. Ashore, Dean swapped some more books at the local book exchange, then we sat and had morning coffee beachside at El Grop cafe. I could have sat there all day, it was just perfect but Dean had cleaning to do. So most of the afternoon he was in the dinghy with his fresh water bucket scrubbing and polishing Thesee's hull. He also spent some time tightening the inner forestay. I hope he hasn't worn himself out as we are intending to cross to Majorca tomorrow all being well. There's quite a lot of boats here at anchor tonight, about nine in total. Maybe we will have some buddies for our journey tomorrow? Here's a few photos from my non stop camera clicking this morning.
Beautiful
The coffee stop
Perfection
I wouldn't mind staying here
...or here
Boat maintenance in exotic places 😃
Thursday 16th May 2019...Before we carry on I am going to rename this part of the blog Cruising around Mallorca....Yipppeee we made it at last.
We were up early this morning, had Saffy walked and everything packed away by 7am. We lifted the anchor and off we went. The sea was choppy and confused at first but with 8 knots of wind and the main sail up we were soon making decent progress. Soon after we rolled out the genoa and turned the engine off. The sea calmed down a little after about 20 miles and the wind picked up to 10 to 12 knots and a little more as we neared Mallorca.
A close reach most of the way
Our view of Andratx
My view of Andratx
We took Saffy ashore for walkies which is all quite civilised, they have two dinghy docks which means we don't have to get our feet wet.
One of the dinghy docks
A view of the bay from walkies
Nice church at the top of this lane
Lots of flowers about the place
This place reminds us of the south of France
Of course we have to head back to Ibiza in a couple of weeks to meet Wendy and Russ, but in the mean time we hope to enjoy Mallorca.
So this will be the last blog post entitled 'More Ibiza Adventures'
The next post will be entitled' Cruising Around Mallorca' - says Dean
So this will be the last blog post entitled 'More Ibiza Adventures'
The next post will be entitled' Cruising Around Mallorca' - says Dean
It looks fantastic, although a lot of hard work!
ReplyDeleteOh, and of course you will be meeting Jim and Von in Ibiza too.
ReplyDelete