Nimrod Oceanlord

The last few days have been spent lounging about with Jo Plumbe in bays with the rich and famous. On Sunday we left Benirras to journey south with quite a swell and headwind so we ended up motoring. We had two nights booked on a free mooring buoy on an island just north of Formentera called Esplamador in the marine conservation area. When we arrived, there was no official and we couldn’t find our buoy as a lot of rhe numbers had rubbed off and are in no apparent order so we picked up a spare one and settled down for the night.

There was not much there apart from clear water and sandy beaches so on Monday Liz went exploring across the bay to Formentera where a large number of super yachts were anchored. The beach was lovely and the waters turquoise but very crowded. Whilst she was away, an irate motor yacht came along side to demand we move as they had booked the buoy we were on. I explained that we didn’t know where ours was and couldn’t they just pick up another one as appears to be the practice. Apparently, that would have given the woman a heart attack as she kept waving her reservation at me and shouting “It’s the law – you must move”. We waited until an official appeared who told us where our buoy was and got the boat who was on it to move. All executed without any drama but you would have thought we had committed a heinous crime from the attitude of the woman on the other boat. By this time Liz has appeared (after all the hard work had been done!) so we went back to the beach to sample the beach bars. When we arrived back, the motor boat had gone so god only knows why they were making all that fuss for a few hours stop.

The next day we moved over to another trendy beach on Ibiza called Cala Jondal which is more select than Formentera. The restaurants there run a dinghy service to the super yachts and will even deliver meals! The trendiest place was a bar called the Blue Marlin that was full of fabulous people during the day sipping champagne on queen sized beds on the beach but turned into a seedy nightclub in the evening when the super yachts left for their next destination. The bay itself was gorgeous with more turquoise water and good holding in sand for the anchor. Since we left Gibraltar two weeks ago, we have only been in a marina once and that was because of the propeller problem. We like mooring for free!

Sadly, yesterday we said goodbye to Jo Plumbe after a great week together and made our way up the NE coast of Ibiza. We had intended to anchor overnight and then make the crossing to Mallorca on Thursday but we didn’t like the look of the anchorages we saw. They were a bit too exposed to the swell and the wind for our liking so we decided to continue and do a night sail to Palma on Mallorca. It was another 60nm so we figured we would arrive in the morning. We had good wind for the first 4 hours but then the wind died as predicted. There was strong wind forecast for later on Thursday so it also made sense to get there early and try and pick up the buoy we had booked in another marine preservation area in Palma Bay quite close to the airport at Arenal.

Pictures of Esplamador, bar at Formentera and the Blue Marlin club at Jondal.

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!

On Friday morning we had a short sail to Playa des Salinas on the southern tip of Ibiza. It is a protected area so they have laid mooring buoys as you can’t anchor in the sea grass. To book the buoy, you need to register online and once confirmed you are given the number of the allocated buoy. Needless to say, when we arrived another boat was on our buoy but we were redirected to another one that was not as close to the beach but there was not much we could do about it. The water was not as clear as Formentera but still refreshing and clean. There were plenty of bars along the beach, each with their own music blaring out but that all stopped around 10pm.

Friday night or we should say, Saturday morning, was crew change as Lee and Jase had to fly back to London and Mac and Ketan were flying out for the weekend. So, at 0100 we got into the dinghy to motor to the deserted shoreline to await them being dropped off by the taxi. It all went to plan although it must have looked a bit odd when they took their trousers off on the beach so that they could wade to the dinghy! Later that morning Lee and Jase were dropped off on the same beach to pick up a taxi to the airport. Nimrod then made her way to Sant Antoni on the western side of Ibiza as it was due to blow quite hard for the next few days from the west. Being in Sant Antoni should provide us with protection from both the wind and the swell.

Sant Antoni is set in a big bay with room for at least 50 yachts at anchor but it was quite crowded when we arrived so choice was limited. It seemed that everyone was having difficulty getting the anchor to hold as it is very weedy here but eventually it set and we knew we were dug in as it was blowing over 15 knots and we didn’t move!

We went in search of food on Sat eve and were not disappointed. We found an authentic Spanish restaurant off the main tourist area where we had great tapas and were entertained by an amazing dancer on stilts. Sat night is a big party night here as there are literally thousands of young people out to have a good time so the beach turned into a giant night club until the early hours of the morning. Not what some yachts people would approve of but good fun nevertheless, especially as we took the dinghy over. Not sure I’ve been to a night club by dinghy before!

Sunday morning was a very lazy affair as it had been a late night. We all then went into Ibiza Town for the afternoon. There are regular buses from here that only cost a couple of euros. Ibiza Town is actually quite nice with good restaurants and the old town itself is very quaint with cobbled streets, little bars and restaurants as well as the old fort with commanding views of the harbour. We had a great paella together before Mac and Ketan left for the airport and we jumped on a bus back to the boat. The dinghy was still at the dinghy dock and in less than an hour of leaving Ibiza Town we were back on the boat having a wee dram before bedtime.

We will stay in Sant Antoni for a couple more days to re-provision and clean the boat after our visitors and the crossing from Gibraltar. It is lovely that people make the effort to come and see us – especially when we can’t give much notice as to where we might be.

Photos of us with Jase and Lee at Salinas, the amazing street entertainer on stilts, partying on the beach and Liz in the old part of Ibiza Town.