And just like that we were on the last leg

I have been reminded that I left the blog hanging and perhaps you all thought we had sailed into the sunset. In reality – I was shoddy on the publication front so here we are ….. better late than never as the saying goes …..

We rose before dawn with a yawn – first job of the day, check the weather forecast…..it was a go for the crossing back to Spain! and more than that, it was reasonable to go all the way back to Cartagena. When looking at these things we always have to consider the days ahead and we knew if we took the shorter route back to the Costa Blanca we could potentially be held up for quite some time with adverse wind and swell for the final journey back to Cartagena. So, as per usual we set out with a plan, and a double contingency – once we got out of the extremely sheltered San Antonio bay we would see how the sea state was (our main worry was the swell). If it was too bad to leave the islands we would head to Formentera. If It was too bad for the direction of Cartagena we would take the shorter route and if all was good we would aim to get back to our old berth in one long sail. First light saw us dropping the key to the pontoon gate back in the letterbox, leaving a little note for our boat twin neighbour Alex and unplugging the electric supply. Then it was a case of slipping the lines (untying the ropes and pulling them back on board) whilst Skipper Nigel reversed us out of our space and onwards into the bay. We could immediately tell the conditions were much, much better than the previous day and felt cautiously optimistic for the day ahead.

As we rounded Isla conejera, the island that protects the bay we were constantly on alert assessing the conditions – and we were pleasantly surprised that they were good 😊. We had the mainsail out and made good progress motor sailing along through the smaller islands that surround Ibiza

Almost before we knew it we were leaving the Balearics behind us, making excellent progress on course for Cartagena. It was not sailing conditions as the wind was not strong enough to make the speed we would need but we did motor sailing and enjoyed a fabulous day at sea.

Unlike our voyage out to the islands, when we set off thinking we would do a day sail and changed our minds due to fantastic conditions, this time we knew we were most likely going to do an overnighter. This meant we were a bit more vigilant at taking turns on the helm and forced ourselves to rest more during the day too. We had also been better organised getting music set up and having cold pizza to snack on. It was an extremely clear day and before we had lost sight of Ibiza we could see mainland Spain – such a bonus. We also had internet connection right up to 20 nautical miles (4 hours) off the coast of Ibiza which surprised us after losing it so early when we left the coast of Spain on our way a few weeks earlier.

We were rewarded at the end of day one with a lovely sunset and fairly calm seas a great end to a brilliant day …… only not really the end since only one of us was resting at a time , the other was vigilantly looking for ships. It’s a bit like driving in the dark you can see them easily – only at sea you need to calculate their direction (from the shape and color of the lights) and then how far away they will pass you. This can get tricky when you’re tired so a couple of times we each called the other for a second opinion and we made it through the shipping lanes taking goods from the Gibraltar straights through to the Suez canal.

The morning brought a stunning dawn and a serious discussion as we had slowed down significantly during Skipper Nigel’s early morning shift. We weren’t sure if it was the sea state working against us (although that seemed very unlikely) or that we had picked something up around the propeller. We could hear no vibration so we were very puzzled – when it was properly light we slowed down and put her in reverse – sure enough a plastic bag floated out behind the boat – how frustrating. Unfortunately we didn’t pick up much speed but as there was no evidence of vibration or any strange noises we continued on our journey.

Shortly after, we were rewarded with a visit from dolphins – or were they pilot whales ?? Perhaps the engine noise change brought them to investigate – they swam alongside our bow and jumped in and out of the water – absolutely stunning.

We continued on and eventually the islas hormigas and cabo de palos came into view – we knew we were on the home stretch. As we rounded the headland we even managed to put the sails out – happy days. We were still making very slow progress until about 10 nautical miles from Cartagena when we suddenly picked up speed !! We were absolutely flying along so whatever we had round our propeller, keel or rudder had obviously freed itself and away we went. We came round the corner to the port of Escombreras, past an oil rig and into port. It was a tricky entry as it was quite choppy and we still weren’t 100% confident that everything would be good in reverse but all’s well that ends well and Skipper Nigel and Gemini J came back on berth perfectly.

So, a 33 hour trip got us back – not quite where we expected our trip to finish but very much amongst friends and with Gemini J back on what has become her home berth. We were exhausted but very happy and the welcome everyone gave us over the next few days was wonderful. Now we will head back to Malta by air and see what the next sailing season brings.