Tuesday afternoon saw us pick up Jo Plumbe from the dinghy dock in Sant Antoni for a week’s holiday with us. After stowing her large amount of luggage (how many t shirts do you need for a week?), we set off for one of the bays to the SW of Sant Antoni. We had planned to go into Cala Vedella which had been described as a cute harbour/bay but it was minute and very crowded with boats already and not pretty at all. Instead we went to the next one north, Cala Tarida, for the night. This was quite pretty from off shore but not quite the same once ashore! Very busy beach with a couple of bars.

Weds we headed back to Sant Antonio bay as we had tickets to go to Pacha (a world famous nightclub) on Thursday night which didn’t open its doors until 2345 and finishes at 0700! As we were anchoring there was a horrible crunching noise from below when put into reverse. We weren’t sure whether this was a transmission problem but thought we ought to get it looked at as we had checked the propeller and all seemed fine. Anyway, that evening we went to Cafe del Mar to watch the sunset and have a cocktail. This is quite an event there with hundreds of people on the beach and in the bars. Even boats come to anchor off to watch the sun go down. Bizarrely, as it sets everyone claps as if this won’t happen again tomorrow!

Thursday morning we went to see the marina office as it is difficult to get in and also very expensive but felt it was necessary. There is a daily waiting list but Jo Plumbe used all her powers of persuasion to convince the marina staff to give us a berth straight away as we had also nearly run out of water as well. They helped us into the berth as it is Mediterranean style berthing where you reverse in so your stern is next to the quay and then pick up a line to attach to the bow. Not easy when you’re not sure if reverse is going to work. However, we got safely in although weren’t happy to be right next to the ferry terminal with its wash and noise but beggars can’t be choosers. We arranged for a mechanic to come the following morning and bought a large number of containers of drinking water as the water in the taps in Ibiza is not great and we didn’t want to contaminate our tanks as we would make more water when we were in deep water over the next few days. We did luxuriate in their excellent showers without worrying about our water consumption! The cost for the night was €111 which was two thirds the cost in Ibiza Town so relatively cheap!

Thursday was supposed to be a chill out day as we were going to the club in the evening but we didn’t get all the chores done until late afternoon so only time for a short siesta. We arrived at the club around 1am just before Fatboy Slim came on. The place was heaving and you couldn’t really move so after about an hour we moved to one of the other rooms and bought our one and only drink for the night – two bottles of water and a beer for €32! David Guetta came on at 3am but by 4 we had had enough so caught a taxi home. In bed before 5 and the mechanic arrived at 0915 so not much sleep.

We left Sant Antoni marina around 2pm and sailed north to a small bay called Cala Benirras. It is a small anchorage with room for a few boats but has turquoise water, tropical fish and a stunning sunset complete with drumming. Jo Plumbe and Liz went off to investigate the bars and found a nice one that we ate out at on Sat after spending the day relaxing and doing a few chores. We seemed to have found an idyllic spot so I am not sure I will have any crew to go south tomorrow!

Photos of us at Cafe del Mar, Pacha nightclub and Jo P using a fender as a swimming aid!