Boppin’ on Ibiza
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| Keep the Crew Happy OK..... |
Two issues
arose from our planned voyage to the Balearics.
Firstly, it was a 72 nautical mile journey lacking in coastal scenery –
blue water and wide sky for at least 14 hours.
The other concern lay squarely with the somewhat late, rather too much,
terribly more-ish tapas served to us at Club Nautico’s café the night before. And did we mention the large glasses of house
wine at €1.50
each? Well, visions of sea urchins chased
by baby octopus danced before (some of) the crew’s eyes. They shall remain nameless. However, let it be said that solace was not
sought in a bucket at any stage of the trip…. And we made it to the island of
Formentera in a speedy 10 hours to settle into a pleasant anchorage surrounded
by at least 40 or so of our boating compatriots.
Here at
Espalmador we stayed – the second night on a mooring so as not to disturb the
native seagrass with our anchor. Oh, we
know ALL about sea grass….
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| Spying on bathing beauties in Cala Porroig |
From Espalmador,
we moved on, via Cala Porroig where we actually got our bathers wet for the
first time this season, to the interesting Puerto San Antoni. Despite imagining there would be little room
to anchor, we found a decent spot backing on to a complex of resorts, full of
noisy bars and alive with water craft of every imaginable persuasion. Oh well, Lonely Planet did warn us of San
An’s darker side.
The town is
full of young people. We felt decrepit
and certainly overdressed. Nobody
laughed when the Cap’n asked if there were any bars or nightclubs available for
the over 60’s. Hmmm, our generation gap
is showing. The town is full of young
people (mostly Poms) on package tours.
Groups of sweet young things in bikinis, young men with oiled pecks
admiring the “scenery”, rappers with hairstyles I bet their mothers don’t know
about. And there’s plenty more. Raves or dance clubs pump up the music at
10pm; skinny blonde disco chicks parade in “costumes tres original” along beachfront
promenades to advertise them. We haven’t
had so much fun since Provincetown days.
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| Eivissa's defensive walls |
We did
manage to tear ourselves away however for a 15 minute bus ride to Eivissa, the
island’s capital. Here the cruise ships
set a more upmarket tone, with our crumpled cruising gear getting a few curious glances. Eivissa non-the-less, offers an interesting
selection for people- watching purposes.
Still duty called and we headed off to find the two recommended
attractions – the old town, Dalt Vila,
and its amazing fortifications and necropolis Puig des Molins, an ancient burial site dating from Phoenician
times (7th c BC). Sadly,
Spanish time had defeated us and the necropolis closed at 2 for lunch;
re-opening at 6pm. We caught the bus
back to San An, ordered a beer at the nearest bar and watched the free entertainment. Eventually, the old boys’ eyes could no
longer cope, but that’s another story.
From:
Altea, Spain Lat/Long: 38:35.313N 0:03.297E
Date/Time: 25/06/13: 1010
To:
San Antonio, Ibiza Lat/Long:
38:58.264N 01:18.016E Date/Time:
28/06/13: 1400
Time
Taken: 98nm (15hrs) Distance
(this year): 651.5nm (103hrs)
Distance
Total (since 2008): 11476.5nm Weather: NE generally 6-10kts; calm
& flat;
Fastest
Speed: Had a decent sail to Espalmador, Formentera (at
last!) 7kts
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