We said goodbye to Joe and Janice at Marina Salinas in Torreviejo and travelled overnight to Ibiza. A good trip with sailing till dusk when the wind dropped. Ibiza Magna was the marina we booked in to right at the bottom of the old town area which made it very easy to go exploring. This is the island where in the summer the English come to behave badly in great droves but at this time of year is very quiet but with many of the shops, bars and restaurants starting to open for the summer. I can only just imagine what it gets like!
We settled in for a few days then were joined but Rod and Gina (friends from Surfers) and Gina’s sister Betsy and her husband Lyle. They had all been travelling together around Spain for a few weeks. We all hired a van one day and went all over the island. It was hilarious really as every place we went to was either closed that day, closed that week, being renovated or we couldn’t find it! The ancient Moorish village proved particularly elusive – 6 of us looking out for signs, at least 4 different map apps , the tourist centre map and Google Earth and still we didn’t find it. We found it was not much use asking the locals either. I think it’s all about the beaches and eating, drinking and night clubbing around here rather than much history, although the old town had excellent information signs and the necropolis was very interesting and well done.
When Betsy and Lyle left after 4 days a good weather window opened up and we sailed to Formentera with Gina and Rod anchoring at Espalmador, an island joined to Formentera by a sandy spit. The water is lovely and clean and a beautiful colour all round here but too cold to swim. I’m not sure if it particularly unseasonal but it’s been quite cold (highs of 16 and 17) with cold winds. For two nights we took a mooring buoy (free at this time of year) at Cala Sabina, went ashore and hired a mini moke type of thing to tour the island. Mini moke would probably be insulted by the comparison! It was very rumpety and had not been near a mechanic for many years, no seatbelts in the back, crashing gears etc but lots of fun.
One day we sailed off to circumnavigate Isla Vedra just off the Ibizan coast and stayed the night in Cala de Port Roig. It was a lovely little bay and we anchored with only one other yacht. We took the dinghy round the corner to find a really nice and very smart beach bar where we had a couple of bottles of wine. A big wind blow was advertised so we sailed back to Formentera Marina for a few days where the wind did arrive at a great rate of knots so it was a good decision. Gina and Rod hired electric bikes for a few days and we joined them on our scooters for a ride around. Bit windy but got a good appetite up for dinner and got rid of a few calories from lunch. (you can tell the order of our days!).
It will be sad to say goodbye to Gina and Rod tomorrow after a fun few weeks.
