We had a relaxing morning before heading across from Espalmador to Ibiza town. The crossing was short but definitely not boring as it’s a very busy little channel – full of ferries, day boats and various other craft. The channel also has natural hazards and is relatively shallow so we had to keep on top of the navigation.
The castle on the hill is a great sign that you’re arriving in Ibiza although our journey had only been 7,9 nautical miles it had certainly been interesting. We had to concentrate a lot on the entrance to the harbour to watch out for the big ferries that go between the islands and across to the mainland. Our marina is right next to the ferry port. It was a real culture shock, coming to the capital of the island from the deserted island !
Botafoc Ibiza (our marina) is most definitely a destination spot with bars, restaurants and no end of nautical services companies. We had a bit of a tricky entry since the marinero had to berth another yacht before ours and skipper Nigel had to hold us in a waiting position for what felt like forever (but was probably only 10 minutes). He then showed us down a channel right to the end and a spot between two motor boats. It was a very tight space but we squeezed ourselves in. We were waiting for our friends aboard yacht Hoopla and we hoped that they would have an easier arrival than ours. Luckily that was the case around 4pm.
It was great to see them again and we had a lovely catch up over beer that afternoon.
Back to more sunsets and sunrises which were lovely on day 1 and 2 here – but as I write this we’re in stormy weather with the sky full of dark clouds.
The next day Karen, Rob, Pete and I headed over the water to the old town of Ibiza and walked up to the castle. It is a beautiful and very historical place with lots of alleys and little streets to wander around. We were glad of it being cloudy – we couldn’t imagine walking up the hill in bright sunshine on a boiling hot day. The effort was well worth it, the views from the top are amazing.
On the way back down we enjoyed some delicious light refreshment in the way of milkshakes. We also found the old drawbridge which is stunning.
It looks like we’ll be here at least a couple more stormy days so more time to explore the island and watch the motor boats manouvreing round with their over excited guests – asking if there might just be a chink of sunshine on these cloudy days. In the afternoons there is a strange surge of water which comes right over the pontoon wall and floods the walkway. Everyone seems quite bemused by it – some people just take off their flip flops and stride confidently through (it’s over ankle high) and others choose to walk the long way round. It’s fun to watch and try to decide who will go for it !
The Adventures of Gemini J 