We got up really early to a beautiful yellow sunrise and prepared the boat in record time – we weren’t going to be caught out this time. The engine was on and we were away by ten past eight, having reversed all the way out into the bay and done a quick flip round (still all in 3,5m of water). We were very happy to be on our way in calm waters and light winds enjoying the wonderful southern coastline.
As we crossed Palma bay there was a constant stream of ferries and we had to slow down a little to time our passage between them. At about two o’clock the wind picked up and we pulled out the sails – we were sailing at last !!!
At about ten past two the wind died down and moved round to be head onto us. ….. so our sail was very short lived but it had put big grins on our faces. By that time we could see the headland of Andraitx and we were looking forward to being back in the lovely port.
This time we had decided to go on a mooring buoy but no problems with boathooks since they are controlled by the private marina. A marinero came over and guided us to a buoy, Skipper Nigel followed and pulled up to his rib boat and I handed him the lines and he secured us on the buoy – very easy and smooth 😉 A short while later Skipper Nigel was already putting on his yellow fins to head off snorkeling.
I too went snorkeling and inflated the paddle board ready for the next morning. It is stunningly beautiful here and very relaxing – even the music at the nearby restaurant entertained us in the evening, a popular mix of Elvis, Frank Sinatra and lots of classics in between. We were treated to another amazing sunset that night as well as the music – it was fabulous.
We are here ready to make our crossing towards Ibiza but on studying the weather we could see it’s very changeable and stormy. We enjoyed a day of watery activities and pondering our options.
Our friends on Ione had arrived in the marina during the afternoon and we chatted through the weather forecast with them. We talked through our own options and decided to sit out the stormy weather here in port. Sure enough in the early hours of the morning we were woken by the loudest thunder I have ever heard, followed by a torrential downpour. That really confirmed our decision from the night before to move from the mooring buoy into the port. We confirmed our booking and we’re told we could arrive from midday. At midday on the dot we motored round the breakwater wall and onto our berth – a few spaces along from Ione. We managed a quick catch up with Tony and Sarah who had decided to take an early start and sit out the storms in Ibiza (sure enough they were well on their way by the time we woke up the next day) We decided that since we were here til Tuesday we would book a hire car. We found an electric Dacia spring at a great price and reserved having seen the charging point right our favourite café here.
That afternoon I went off for a walk (coincidentally past the bus stop to check the times for picking up the car at the airport). I noticed there were film crews and “water filming specialists”. It wasn’t til later that we found out they were filming “The Crown” and Princess Diana’s speed boat scenes were filmed here (remember that when it comes to your screens next year sometime 😉 )
So, the next day we would move to land based activities and avoiding the forecast storms ….. but for that night, another stunning sunset and distant thunder and lightning.
The Adventures of Gemini J 