July 21 - July 26: Ibiza and Formentera

Cala Raco des Mares and sunset in Ibiza

The passage to what was going to be Formentera but turned out to be Ibiza took 13 hours and 50 minutes. We motored for half the way and then a lovely close hauled force 4 brought us rather north of our target. However, after a long day it was no disappointment to find a peaceful anchorage at the eastern tip of Ibiza in a small bay called Cala Moli with towering rocks on either side and a beach. The clear turquoise water had never looked more inviting. We were in the water within seconds of anchoring – bliss!

This was to be one of many picturesque calas or bays that we were to find around the Balearics. It was a brilliant area for cruising with so many hidden bays, some popular, others almost empty. The landscape was far greener than the mainland with rich pine forests stretching down to the sea.

As we made for Formentera a couple of days later we passed some spectacular rocky islands, with amazing jagged formations including Isla Vedra that was the location for the Bali Hai photography in the film South Pacific.

Formentera was different with much lower islands where sandy rocks, some firm, some crumbling formed a lunar-type landscape. It was far less developed than Ibiza and its 5,000 inhabitants are supposed to have the longest life expectancy in Spain. Is it something to do with the fact that nudism is commonplace here?

Isla Vedra

The bays around the island were magical and quiet but on our third night everything changed. We had sailed round the whole island in just a gentle breeze and then anchored in the shelter of a high headland on the east coast. We spoke to a neighbouring boat owner who confirmed that from the forecast he had heard this would be a sheltered spot for the night. As we sat in the cockpit eating dinner, most of the day trippers left with their boats and there were just three of us left. We took a trip in the dingy to explore the caves and a quaint little harbour neatly chiselled into the sandstone. There was a beautiful sunset as we watched the sky turn deeper and deeper red. It was the perfect end to another lovely day. We slipped into our warm cabin at about 11pm and the peaceful lapping of the waves against the side of the boat rocked us to sleep.

We both awoke up at 3 o'clock. The waves were no longer lapping they were shouting angrily and the wind was howling in the rigging. We climbed up in the cockpit to see a dark, menacing sea that was getting crosser by the minute. We took down the bimini to reduce windage and Anders checked the anchor every 15 minutes to see that it was holding. Although we were being pummelled constantly by increasing wind and swell we decided to stay put until daylight as this would make navigation through a narrow passage to shelter on the other side of the island much easier. Once dawn arrived Anders lifted the anchor by hand as unfortunately the automatic windlass had gone out of business a few days earlier. We were both safely clipped onto the boat as the rocking was now fierce and it took a lot of concentration to stay upright.

I took the helm, spreading my feet to try and cement them to the cockpit floor as Moonshadow rolled through the angry waves. Anders put up a small amount of sail to give us some stability. It took three hours to sail through the gale to the safety of a bay on the other side of the island. Once safely moored it was time for breakfast and plenty of sleep.

As the pilot book had warned us the Mediterranean is very much an area of calms and gales and the latter are often unpredictable. Being an easterly wind it was probably a levante we had experienced which is caused by a depression between the Balearics and the north African coast.

The next day was spent enjoying a beautiful sandy beach and taking a mud bath in a small inland salt pan together with an English couple on Espalmador, a privately owned island which welcomes visitors to its shore. The sand was a silky cream and the beach totally unspoilt. 60 yachts anchored in the beautiful bay.

Formentera was obviously the refuge for the rich. The harbour charges of 165E per day were to keep rifraf like us well away. It certainly did the trick. However, we did manage to moor in the marina for a total of three hours for 10E during which time we were fortunate to use the services of a local engineer to fix the windlass andto top up our water supplies for 4E!!

Enjoying a mudbath at Espalmador and windlass repairs