The big day arrived and with it an early start and a stunning sunrise. Extremely calm conditions awaited us for the crossing to Ibiza.
We were full of excitement as we watched that stunning sunrise having departed at just before 8. It was a long crossing and thankfully a fairly boring one – we managed to put the mainsail out and it gave us an extra half knot of speed making it easier for us to maintain our 5 knot target. Skipper Nigel and I took turns on the helm although really our autohelm did all the work. We were out of sight of land for about an hour and a half before Ibiza came into view and we saw a couple of ferries. It was a gorgeous sight as we rounded the outlying islands on the approach to San Antonio.
We were very tired (despite napping along the way) as we pulled into our berth at 7pm after the 11 hour passage – as we had been here before it was familiar and we were really happy to be back. Our mooring space was near the fishing and tourist boats and we had plenty to watch the next day.
We spent the next 3 days relaxing in San Antonio – watching the comings and goings in the marina and on shore. We found Jason the Australian coffee barista who makes the best coffee we have found in Spain thanks to our friend G’s comment that Spanish coffee is not a patch on Australian. His wife is from Yorkshire (Beverley, near Hull) so Yorkshire tea is also on offer. If you ever visit San Antonio go and find Melbourne Street Coffee.
We went for our English Breakfast of course – and it happened to coincide with the San Antonio 4k race, never a dull moment here. The run was organised into groups so some were really, really fast and others (like the veteran women – my age group!) a bit more slow and steady. We had a prime spot and enjoyed watching the event before sauntering back to Gemini J.
After our rest days we decided to head out onto a mooring buoy at the south of the island. The journey was really good fun – not much sailing (although of course Skipper Nigel tried) but plenty of traffic to keep us on our toes along with stunning coastline.
We found our buoy at Ses Salines and there was a guy on a rib boat to help us tying off – that makes the whole thing much easier so we were pretty slick getting ourselves set. The location was stunning but my oh my there was quite a swell. Overnight it got worse and although we weren’t worried in the slightest about our lines we were awake most of the night. We were rocking about so much and it was really noisy too. The next day we were pretty exhausted but untangled our lines and untied at 11 and headed to our next spot.
Espalmador is only 4,5 nautical miles away so we decided to sail since we weren’t worried about speed. The winds were very light but we managed to make it all the way under mainsail and Genoa. We found an absolutely idyllic spot just as we had been told by the three amigos (as we called them) on the neighbouring boat back in San Antonio. Once again there was a rib guy to pass the lines to and in a couple of moments we were secured. This mooring space is much more sheltered and is perfect.
Espalmador is literally a desert island – well, a deserted island anyway. Covered in protected sand dunes and with crystal clear waters and beautiful sandy beaches. There is not a spot of litter and nothing at all on the island barring an old lookout tower and 3 secluded houses. The mooring buoys are busy and day boats come and go but early morning and late evening we have the place to ourselves – us and the other boats that are staying.
We inflated the paddle board and dinghy and have stayed here 3 days just hanging out watching the comings and goings, swimming, boating and walking round the island – first thing in the morning – I was probably the only person there.
It is also an amazing place for sunrises and sunsets ….. we will be sorry to leave here (we will have to wear shoes again!) and will definitely try to come back sometime but tomorrow we set sail once again – Ibiza town here we come.
The Adventures of Gemini J 