Now for some sailing

As planned we were up fairly early to see the dawn before slipping the lines from our buoy and motoring out into the gorgeous bay ready for our trip back to Ibiza.

It was much calmer than on the way to Andratx although there was still a good half meter to meter waves but they were favourable for our direction. We were so relieved and happy to be back on our way – we were even happier when the wind picked up mid-morning and we got the sails out. We were elated when we switched the engine off and we were finally sailing 🙂 Skipper Nigel had the time of his life and he took almost all the shifts at the helm, adjusting the sails to make the most of the wind and we did – speeding along at 7 knots at one point (that is speedy for our boat !!)

We headed back to Portinatx and were rewarded with time for an evening swim and a stunning view – happy times.

The next day was to be a rest day so consisted of swimming, snorkelling and hopping about in the dinghy – this place is beautiful. You might think that as it’s the first of October it would be less busy but boat wise there are still lots of sailors about enjoying the glorious weather.

It is not difficult to relax here – the sea, at the moment at least, is calm and it is still so warm it’s great for swimming. We keep a very close eye on the weather, both from the point of view of moving forwards and also making sure we are safe at anchor.

The next morning I paddle boarded to the beach and went to buy pastries and pasties ready for our trip – there’s a bit more strong windy weather coming our way so we decided to head off to San Antony where it’s a lot more sheltered. Luckily it was a short hop so there was time for a leisurely departure – once we had stowed the paddleboard and dinghy securely.

As we lifted the anchor and headed out to sea we quickly realised this was not going to be a fabulous sailing day – bit of a shame but once again the stunning coastline made up for it. It was a short hop of 16 nautical miles and we were against the sea swell and wind for most of it!! In addition we were heading into the sun which caused a bit of a problem – we were desperate for shade and in the end resorted to our old sun umbrella trick 😉

As we came into San Antonio we saw Barbie’s boat was here too, just as she was when we were in Soller – she must know all the best places to be 😉

The marineros we’re really helpful and we arrived nicely onto berth 10 – right next door to an identical Sun Odyssey – Skipper Nigel was most excited as we rarely see the same boat as ours. We invited young Alex the French owner aboard for a beer and a long and lovely conversation followed comparing boat stories – what a delightful evening. We quickly took down the paddleboard as the wind picked up and we have a saying aboard “if you think it, do it” – the water suddenly became choppy and before we knew it we were in 20 knot winds in the marina. The winds picked up overnight so we knew there wasn’t much chance of us leaving the following day since with wind comes swell and that would not be what we would want for onward sailing.

The next morning I headed out for a bit of a walk/run, to check out the sea (very choppy) and to renew our berth for one more night. We always like being back in San Antony as it has such dear memories for us of happy times with our friend Skipper Paul. He was with us on our first Balearic adventure and has been very much missed since he passed away – we always shed a little tear and have a little laugh remembering happy times whenever we are here.

We spent the day relaxing and re-preparing Gemini J for more sailing, re-filling the water tanks, re-fueling and of course getting a few provisions. I went out for an evening walk and came back with pizzas so we will have leftover cold pizza whilst we are very hopefully sailing back towards the mainland. We are very carefully watching the weather so it will be a breakfast meeting aboard 😉 to check and double check before we set sail once again.