It was a hectic start on Gemini J after days of preparations and an early alarm. A few last minute jobs, including changing our permanent mooring lines for lines that would slip off easily as we departed. It seemed symbolic as we have been moored on the same pontoon for a few years now and perhaps our adventures mean we may not return for a while …..
On the matter of our departure we had worked hard and earned our lovely times with marina friends who we will very much miss. Indeed if there is anything pulling us back to Cartagena and sunny Spain it will be all our friends who we are sorry to be leaving.
Onwards, onwards and on to our new adventure – the weather forecast was not ideal but not bad for our route up the coast of the Costa Blanca. The sun was shining with a few white clouds as we pulled out of the marina and onto our next adventure. As we headed past the beach we gave a wave to Karen, Gunilla and Mary our friends who had been for a swim and were looking out for us from the beach – they even got a photo 😉
Once we were out of the harbour and on course for cabo de palos (our first major navigation point) we realised we were making very speedy progress – a combination of both sails plus engine to help us along and we were doing very nicely. Now it was time for us to relax back into life aboard our wonderful Gemini J and we were very happy about that indeed.
A couple of hours later and as we approached the headland Skipper Nigel commented that we could just go straight on (almost) with the waves behind us pushing us all the way to Ibiza. This casual comment took hold aboard and after a few calculations on distance, timings and other options we headed out to sea on course for Ibiza (with a plan B to head back for the Spanish coast if necessary). Extremely quickly we lost our mobile signal which surprised us as we weren’t that far from land. That meant it was the two of us against the world until we reached landfall the following day. We grasped the challenge and headed on through the day – passing a few large ships in the shipping lane heading to and from the straights of Gibraltar.
We saw a wonderful sunset followed by a starry and stormy night – luckily the lightning show we saw was in the distance – although we did get all the waterproofs out just in case.
Night sailing is always a bit of a challenge and this time was no exception since we hadn’t set out planning to sail all day and night. We had to just get everything organised before dark because something you always forget about until you do it is night vision, so once it’s dark it stays dark on deck so that the person on the helm can watch out for ships looming out of the darkness.
As the sun rose we could see the beautiful island of Ibiza – we had had a good night sail (especially considering it was a last minute decision). The dawn breaking over the island was simply stunning and all the uncomfortableness of sailing in the dark, broken sleep and watching for ships melted away.
With the end goal in sight we turned our attention to where we might anchor or moor Gemini J. As we were waiting for phone signals we agreed that San Antony de Portmany was our best bet as there are 2 marinas and numerous anchorages within the bay. As soon as we got connected again – I started on the phone – Ports IB, our preferred spot had changed their website meaning my login didn’t work ! So I started making phone calls – how antiquated;-). After a number of conversations we ascertained that Ports IB was full and that Es Nautic (the other marina) had a waiting list so they couldn’t tell us if there was space till 11am (it was now 9:30) – how frustrating. We slowly made our way towards the marina and dropped anchor outside the harbour wall to sit and wait – we also looked at the weather, there’s a fair bit of wind forecast for overnight so we were keeping everything crossed for a space. Luckily by half 11 they had called and we were able to go into – phew !!! We had a battle with a boat that effectively jumped the queue cutting right in front of us as we were entering – this meant some swift manouvering from Skipper Nigel and the odd use of bad language !! Finally we were called to our spot and we moored up perfectly – not bad after 149 nautical miles and 26 hours 🙂
As I said to our friends – most people come to Ibiza to party – we have come to snooze 😴😴 tomorrow will be a rest day for sure xx
The Adventures of Gemini J 