After a slightly worrying night we were up early and lifted the anchor on sunrise. It was a beautiful morning as we left mainland Spain for the crossong to Ibiza. It was a long haul and the early start was essential. What a fantastic crossong we had. Dolphins paid us a visit and we saw a swordfish leap right out of the water, not that far away from a fishing boat. It was almost is if it was mocking them ! As we approached Ibiza we realised the inevitable. No more empty seas. Yachts, superyachts, speedboats galore. We negiated the Freu Grande which is the channel between Ibiza and Formentera. You have to be careful of the depths and make sure you don't stray wrong side of the cardinal marks ( buoys that mark hazards ). Once through we headed up the east side of the island to find an anchorage for the night. We had no intention of going in a marina with fees like 120 euros a night in Ibiza town. Sod that for a game of soldiers !! We found a good anchorage in a bay opposite the island of Tacomago, which was a good jumping off point for the next days trip to Majorca. We would have liked to spend more time, obviously in Ibiza, but we had to be in Santa Ponsa for Joanne,Martin, Lucy and Thomas arriving on their holiday. We were so looking forward to seeing them.
No dragging anchors during the night and another early start in the morning. Eggy bread for brekky at sea, what beats that ? ( Ok, don't start ). It was another cracking trip, with a few moments of interest when the ferry Martin Soller was bearing down on us at 22 knots. I called him up twice on channel 16 but got no reply, but a minute or so later he changed course, so all was well. I had booked a berth in Santa Ponsa marina ( much to Susans disgust ) as I had concerns about taking the little ones to the boat in a dinghy if we were anchored. It cost an arm and a leg but I'm still happy with the decision but my wallet is a lot lighter ! On checking in with Jane at the marina I turned on the charm ( oooohhhh yesh ) and she changed our berth to one more convenient for the the family walking to and fro from town, which was really nice of her. The marina was very picturesque and quiet, although full of boats ( just nobody on them ). Joanne and the family arrived later that evening. We walked to their apartment and took them a few essential supplies. The apartment and complex was really nice which was a relief for us all. It was great to see them all, big hugs alround ! We went out for a meal and made plans for the week ahead.
We had another pressing engagement in Santa Ponsa......a blind date with a couple called Terry and Emma. I had been keeping in touch with Terry via e-mail after stumbling across him on a internet sailing forum and bombarding him with questions but of course we did not know each other. They had sailed out to Greece on a similar route to ourselves last year and were now heading west again with a view to crossing the Atlantic later this year. They were arriving in Santa Ponsa the following day. After a few texts and calls ( "what bar did you say", "Where's that") we tracked them down and had a good natter. We had a good night and saw them a couple more times during the week. They visited us for morning coffee and we dinghied to their boat Libertine, an Oyster 39 ketch which was anchored in the harbour for a barbecue. You meet the nicest people doing this sailing mularky.
Joanne and co had settled in now for the week. The tiddlers were loving the swimming pool and staying up late at night. It was a lovely week with them and like a holiday for us. They did come out on the boat once but it wasn't a raging success. Their still a bit too small for it, but still, they did go out and Gran and Grandads boat. We spent a lot of time at the complex with Jo and co. but always bought two big containers of water to carry back to the boat to stock up for the next leg. I'm sure my arms are getting longer. Before we knew it the week was over and time for them to go home. I said this the last time when Rebecca and Chris left us in Lagos, but its a really strange feeling when your family leave you in another country to fly home. Susan had a few tears and that was that, but lots of happy memories, ( Lucy loving the parrot show, water fights with their squirters in the pool, ) .
Time to move on.
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