We had a great time exploring the town of Ibiza and we were all ready to move on when the weather had a different idea. Clouds and storms came our way and we found ourselves port bound for a few days ….. bring on the hire car.
The first afternoon we stayed local exploring Talamanca bay and enjoying a delicious waterfront lunch at Shu restaurant. (no photos with us in since we seem to have our mouths full on all the ones we took 😉 )
We went off exploring the island – starting in a place called San Rafael which is in the middle of the island for coffee and heading to San Miqel. This is a beautiful little port and anchorage and looks like a lovely place to spend a few days relaxing.
We headed northwards towards Portinatx where our friends had enjoyed anchoring. We quickly realised that it is a place for boats rather than cars since there was precious little parking. A stunning place nevertheless and the drive was pretty spectacular too.
We headed back to the marina for lunch via the greenery of the island accompanied by very red soil it makes for a stunning landscape. After lunch we took Karen and Robert and headed out to explore Santa Eulalia – the third largest town on the island and one that none of us had visited before by land or sea. We found a lovely modern marina and a beautiful little town with a beach, and little elf figurines called “els fameliares” who help with jobs under certain circumstances too.
When we arrived back at the marina we found it flooded again – someone had even made a little boat.
It felt like it was time for us to move on and luckily there was a break in the weather – perfect for us to take Hoopla to Espalmador.
The morning was quite stressful with lots of jobs to do including a quick visit to the British supermarket we found the previous day. Angel delight, shortbread biscuits, decent coleslaw and Heinz beans all somehow found their way into my basket ! We then filled up with fuel – which took way longer than anticipated. First there was a queue for the pumps, next I found you need to pre-pay, then I was able to fill up. Then I had to go back and pre-pay for the boat diesel can, then I had to fill it up. We were finally ready to go …. only the pre-pay amount hadn’t filled up enough of the hire car so off again to do more pre-pay !!!! Frustrating to say the least …..
By the time we got back to the marina Skippers Nigel and Robert had prepared Gemini J and Hoopla and we were finally ready to depart ……it was busy in the marina since it was midday – the time the charter boats seem to depart. We followed Hoopla out into the busy shipping channel from Ibiza to Formentera and once again needed full concentration to avoid the high speed ferries that flit between the islands (and create a massive wake as they do it – choppy is an understatement).
Before long we were rounding the headland of Espalmador and grabbing our mooring buoys next to each other. We were very happy to be back.
We went to the shore for some exploring and enjoyed the most fabulous sunset – thanks to Karen for the fab photos as for once I was without my phone/camera.
The next morning there was another gorgeous sunrise and skipper Nigel decided it was time for another boat shower and shave – he’s getting used to this life aboard 😉
Robert and Karen popped across to join us for morning coffee/tea and much chit chat as per normal. We realized that our time together was coming to an end as more storms were forecast. Hoopla was heading for Santa Eulalia and Gemini J for Sant Antoni. This was after much deliberation on our part but we decided not to risk heading round the northern coast with such changeable weather.
We were sad to say goodbye to Hoopla but look forward to seeing them back in Cartagena once we have all finished our summer adventures. Onwards for us and back to the lovely Sant Antoni.
The Adventures of Gemini J 