Some nice ones…

Another 200 miles.. and now flying the Italian flag.

This is Pula – Thank you Duncan for the video.

Downwind sailing – managed 8.7 knots

 

23-24 June Crossing to Sardinia. 194 miles

We set off in company for Sardinia, not a great deal of wind with us so Big Blue made a guest appearance for a while. Must have been fate but we took the chute down and 5 minutes later the wind had changed direction  by 180⁰ and increased to 18knots – phew. Glad we got the beast down as trying to get the mass of material back in a blow would have been a bit of a pain. Wind here in the Med is either all or nothing. Mostly today its nothing, so engine on to alleviate the boredom of 2knots bobbing along in the heat of 40⁰ with no breeze. Wish we had a Bimini.

Howard dropped down for a nap before taking the first shift of the night. The girls settled down for some star gazing up on deck. Watch swapped at 02:00 and all going well until 05:00. We are sandwiched between two tankers, one heading our way, the other heading away from us so we are unable to alter course to gain more distance from either. They loom out of the darkness like slow moving slugs belying the fact they are actually making over 17 knots, more than 3 times our speed. Then at 05:20 i spot an odd light in the sky – it looked like flashes of lightening but small coloured red and green when viewed through the binoculars. It darted around in an erratic pattern so can’t believe it to have been a plane – a UFO perhaps?

Busy watch tonight for me. I get a visitor at 05:40followed by 3 more. Dragonflies, believed by my Mother In Law to hold magical feelings. It was lovely to have them with us and even more so when the girls woke and they were still here taking a rest on Arctic’s rails and wheel. Both Jessica and Olivia had them land on their hands and feet and Howard had one land on his hand too, A magical start to the day for them and a nice thought about Grandma watching out for them too.

As we approach Sardinia wind gets up – typical. Not had it all day and now when we don’t want it we get lots. Makes cooking dinner on the go a real pain. Pan slid off the top even though it had the holders on and burnt a mark into the carpet. Rectangular pans are all well and good to get max space out of the oven top but when you need to hold them on it doesn’t work square peg and round hole!.  I was not amused. We finally anchored in Cala Forte at 21:00 just as the sun dropped over the horizon and the natural light of the day was lost. Samji arrived sometime in the early hours of the morning.

24- 29 June – Calasetta – Sardinia

A swift move from the bay we were in to a more sheltered one across the water. We passed the coastline and noticed a ship wrecked on the shore. It looked to be a large schooner, my thoughts go to the crew and how on earth it had managed to end up in such a position. Had they been overpowered by the wind rushing through the entrance or had they dragged anchor. Who knows but it was very sad to see such a magnificent ship laying on rocks in this day and age with all the technological advances we have on board to aide us all. I hope that no one was injured or hurt too severely.

We settled into the bay in thick mud – much like the East Coast of the UK once again and get ready for the high winds which are due to hit us for the next few days and boy did it blow. A hot hairdryer of a wind, full of sand covering the boat in a red dust, fabulous even more cleaning and dragging the boat pretty quick through the sloppy muddy bottom. Luckily there is only us and Samji here so we can drag for miles without fear of hitting anyone. We re-set again and settle back for the next lot of wind.

Calasetta was a sleepy place with lots of charm. Meandering streets where locals sold home grown produce and sat outside their doors watching the world go by. Its more expensive to buy things here – let’s take fresh milk. A prime resource for everyone:- In Cartagena we got 1.5 ltrs for €1.19, In the Balearics it was €1.49 for 1.5ltrs and here it is €1.98 for 1 ltr. A huge increase for a staple food source, our budget is not going to stretch too far here.

There was one night when I was cooking and upon looking out of the porthole window by the oven I spot a flotilla of boats heading our way. We head up into the cockpit to be met by over 25 boats gathered just by us. There is much hooting of horns and shouting and we wonder what on earth is happening. Wreaths are thrown into the sea, a huge cheer goes up and the horns start again. Arctic joins in with her siren and the boats all move back to the shelter of the harbour. We have no idea what it is about but lots of places have festivals for almost anything you can think of so it’s probably one of those. Fireworks and music follow later on into the night so I guess fun was had by all.

30 June – Malfatano – Sardinia

A beautiful bay but we have engine issues so we are concerned about having to sail into an anchorage and anchor under sail. The throttle seems to engage the gear, it clonks like it always does but we get no forward momentum. Seems a tad odd as its been fine up to now. Anyway it behaves as we approach the options of the 3 bays to anchor in. The first is pretty full so we move to check out number 2. It’s too shallow for us with underlying rocks so we go for number 3. Its crystal clear water with sand and rock on the bottom, we drop anchor and hold, great. When it’s checked we are holding on a rock – not so great so we lift and re-set again. All ok this time apart from the swell. It’s rolling us broadside so a rocky night will be had unless we place a stern anchor out. Wish we had done this as it would have been a much better night and might even have gotten some sleep. I hear Samji’s windlass and engine running. They’re leaving the bay as its too rocky. We follow in a few hours after having a quick chat with other friends on a Najad – Penelope3. They head to the next bay with us to catch up on adventures had this year so far.

1 – 7 July 2017 – Porto D’Agumu near Pula

Lobs pot competition was the fun for this trip. If you spot a white one its 15pts, Black is 10pts and any other colour is 5 pts. We have not seen so many since the coastline of Portugal. This coastline is now finally showing signs of beaches and life after looking barren and uninviting. However the downside is that most when viewed through the binoculars are covered in rows of bright coloured umbrellas and sun loungers – my idea of hell.

We anchor in a large bay – completely empty apart from the small dinghies from the sailing club on the beach. Sandy patches show themselves as big spots of light blue on the water’s surface. We choose one and drop. The bottom is littered with large blocks of stone that were once Roman Villas on land. A huge archaeological site is just across the bay. My dad would love the history here.

The provisioning was a bit of an issue. It’s a huge walk into Pula town but worth it to find a large supermarket – budget goes a lot further when the shop is not a small corner one. We pass big horned cattle, mostly bulls and bullocks, sheep and goats grazing in the fields with bells around their necks hiding in the small patches of shade under the olive trees. Finally feels like we are getting to see the inside of Sardinia and not just the coastline. Downside is its baking hot and 5 mile walk, so pretty hard going, especially when you’re fully laden with shopping. Ice-cream is a no go buy because of this and it’s sad as it’s a very welcome treat after dinner.

Our days here are spent schooling, swimming and having a nice relaxing time with friends. Penelope 3 leaves to head off for Sicily and then Greece, their winter destination for this year. The girls teach Pat and Duncan how to play Canasta and Pat wins with Olivia as her coach, good girl Livvy. Well the draw of other great friends beckons and we leave Samji to head off to meet up with Albatross our sailing companions since Northern France.

8 July – Capo Carbonara – Sardinia

A very large popular bay full of Italian boats which in turn are full of Italian families. Most boats have over 8 people and children on board so it seems it’s a real family affair in these waters. The bay is huge which is just as well as there is an awful lot of boats here. But it’s not noisy like Porto Vells was, No loud motorboats vying for attention just lots of families having fun on the water. We anchor in sand with 5.6mtrs of water and see that the bottom has lots of flat fish swimming along and hiding themselves in the sand. When the girls check their book they find that they look like Turbot. This is the only bay we have been able to see the anchor from the deck of the boat. The water is so clear and still.

A wonderfully  warm reception from Maritha and Rainer our very dear friends who we met so many months ago, so lovely to see them both again.

 

 

 

9 July – Capo Ferrato – Sardinia

Nice bay but open to the swell. Nothing much to see apart from the beach; just a place to drop anchor in 6.5 mtrs of water over a sand bottom. Due to the swell into this bay we moved to anchor around the corner for a more settled night. The bay was just again the same – beach at the end and nothing else. Aurora surprised us by coming in late – Ulli and Mariner who we had not seen since being in Cartagena all those months ago. It was so nice to see them again as they swam across for a quick beer on the boat.

10 – 17 July – Porto Frailis – Sardinia

The coastline is getting more mountainous as we head up the east coast. Large empty beaches stretch for miles, not a great deal else to see though. I got really bored on this trip. It was only 47miles but seemed to last forever. People think that living a dream is super, well there are lots of days when boredom sets in and you wonder about your purpose. I am not sure I’m ready for retiring if I’m honest. Days spent doing not a lot sound great but actually when you’re in a small space – sometimes unable to get away from that space is not brilliant. I know I’m really lucky to be able to have the opportunity to do this but it’s not like being on holiday. It’s hard when money needs to stretch and you cannot do or see lots of things you would like to. There is not the ability to be frivolous like on holiday – it’s our existence and if we don’t make it work then it will mean we have to return back home much sooner than we plan.

Anyway – being with the children is great fun – watching them grow, change and develop in more ways than one is fabulous. So I draw a deep breath ( usually heard by Howard) and just get on with it or with making another list for shopping, deciding what’s for dinner or what to teach in the next lesson for the girls.

Porto Frailis according to the pilot book we have (which admittedly is a bit out of date) should have been a place not to go to. Jet skis and pedalos galore was what the book promised – instead a lovely bay, lots of sandy bottom and 5.5 mtrs depth to anchor in. Not bad actually. Ok the tourist complex does generate noise of an evening as you’d expect but I’ve given up thinking we will find a bay where we are the only boat and no sign of life on land. That’s the thing of dreams and that is an impossible find as all the other boats are also looking for the same place. We did move round the corner to Arbatax during our stay here but I’ll let Howard tell that wonderful tale as he was the unfortunate one who had to deal with the ridiculous bureaucracy.

18 July – Cala Luna – Sardinia

Hardly any wind so it’s going to be a bit of a drag today. I was not wrong, a very boring trip with nothing to see, no wildlife or other boats. It has really surprised me that we have not seen any dolphins since we rounded Gibraltar. I guess the amount of fish that is being taken out of the sea every year is having an impact on the food chain so it cannot sustain large mammals like the Atlantic can.

We arrive at the bay and its manic. There is a small beach which seems to be “The place to be”. Small boats are ferrying inordinate amounts of people to the shore and there is not space for them. There are lovely looking caves dotted along the shoreline and look a great place for the girls to go exploring once the hoards have all gone home. We anchor in amongst other boats – one being a huge sailing yacht called Twizzle. When we look her up she is for charter – oh to have the money for her, she was massive and looked fab although I don’t think I’d want the upkeep charges for her.

Maritha and Rainer take the girls off our hands for an hour and take them to explore the caves after dinner. We hear them squealing with laughter as they come back from Albatross at high speed once Maritha has been dropped off. She’s not a fan of going fast unlike Jess and Liv. A nice calm night ready for the 40+ miles we have to undertake tomorrow.

19- 20 July – Cala D cavello / Pta Pietra Bianca

A good journey. After a slow start the wind picks up and we are running down wind. We are also goose winging with the main and Genoa to stabilise the boat. We get a good speed going and are contacted by Rainer asking if we have the engine on as we are catching him. He has had his cruising chute up in the light wind we had but ours was stuck in the water tight locker under the dinghy which we managed to get on the deck. We hit 8.7 knots and decide that as the waves are twisting us to be close to broadside on it would pay to reef the genie. We do this and still manage 7 knots. We come into the bay just behind Albatross who at one point had been 3 miles ahead. Good sailing at last.

An absolutely beautiful place which is unfortunately what everyone else who is here thinks too. It’s pretty packed but luckily the bays are huge. There even seems to be a segregation going on, Motor boats seem to favour a bay across the water from the yachts. One monstrous one has a huge slide that would not be out of place in a water park running from its top deck into the water – the girls would have loved to have had a go on that – as would Howard I bet.

The wind is pretty fierce funnelling down the mountains – we are sailing in, still with 22 knots blowing on genie alone.  We take her in as I have to go up front to undo the tie downs and halyard that are holding the dinghy on deck. It’s a bit of a bind to have to do this every time you need to anchor but it gives you an extra knot of speed without having to tow her behind. That’s everything especially as Rainer and Howard seem to be racing all the time.

We have dinner and settle down for the night but not before a small boat engines past selling ice-cream, crepes, alcohol etc. What a fabulous idea. The only other place I have seen this type of thing happening is the ice cream boat on the Norfolk broads.

Arctic and Samji being the only boats in a very large bay

 

 

 

21^st  – 26^th July – Olbia – Sardinia.

So we reach the most northerly tip of our journey on Sardinia. It’s not a particularly great view. The port is a busy cruising route for island hopping ferries so the channel down the river is pretty busy and not very wide!. The water has turned from the beautiful clear water to a dirty greeny black colour in a matter of minutes. Feels like we could be in the UK running down a river somewhere, I don’t think we will be jumping in to cool off here; we are likely to come out dirtier than when we went it.  Yuk. Not too sure what the filters for the fridge freezer will be like either working in this water – better make sure we give them a really good clean out when we get back to anchor.

At the end of the river you can moor against an old granite commercial quay right at the town centre. Officially you should ask for permission to moor up but no one does. You are also only supposed to stay 48 hours on the quay before moving off. There are very high winds due – a Mistral blowing in with 40+ knots due. We shall be here a while before we can safely move off again.  Boats keep coming in all day, the quay side is soon full and boats are now anchoring in the bowl of the quay.

Olbia itself is a nice enough town. It has lovely shops and sidewalks and is bustling at night. Unfortunately for us the local youth seem to have adopted the quayside as there meeting place starting from 20:00 until most mornings at 02:00.They shout very loudly, rev their mopeds and do wheelies, swear, cover the boat in cigarette butts and ash and generally don’t think about the fact that all the boats moored are trying to get a good night’s sleep. We have quite forgotten what it’s like being in civilisation having been on anchor for so long. Thank goodness we are not paying for this privilege, if we were I would be asking for a reduction in the fee but the marina costs here are €202 per night. That’s a ridiculous amount of money and a sum we cannot afford, and in all reality if we could we wouldn’t pay it anyway. After all, you bring your own place to cook, wash and sleep , all they give you is a place to tie onto. Not worth that kind of money no matter who you are is it?

We visit the Archaeological museum and they have a virtual reality section on as a special for this week. We take the girls around on the headphones tour for over 2 hours, taking in all the old relics, some dating back to 745bC, hard to get your head around that date. They also have a ship hull in a humidity controlled section that was part of a raid here years ago. It’s amazing that here you can touch the boat, Olivia even picked up one of the pegs that had been holding 2 planks together, not like the Mary Rose where it was all behind security glass and the like, such a different approach from the UK. Well as a treat we pay for the girls to do the virtual reality tour. It takes in different sections of the museum not permitted on the free tour and at the end you get 10 minutes of virtual reality. The girls were pretty funny to listen too. I had gone with them and Howard was waiting for us outside. The glasses got donned and at one point I hear Jessica’s chair slide backwards as she tries to get away from the snake slithering by her feet in the virtual world. They enjoyed this section very much but I will let them tell you their experiences in their pages. Suffice to say it was a very different experience from just walking around 4 walls and looking in glass cabinets. Well worth the money.

We go shopping to get Jessica some new clothes as she is just growing up so fast. She doesn’t look like she is but her clothing tells a different tale. It’s actually a delight. They are now getting to the point that they enjoy trying on new things and finding what they would like to buy instead of me doing it all for them. Olivia loves shoes as much as I do, perhaps because her feet are growing at such a fast rate we have to buy new ones nearly every couple of months. She is in a size 36 now (I think it’s a UK 4) considering she is only 7 it’s a pretty big size. We come out of the store several euros lighter and Howard is a little shocked at how much it takes to clothe a child in vest tops and shorts. Thank goodness we didn’t need dresses, school clothes, jeans etc.

 

27^th July – Santa Lucia- Sardinia

We left Maritha and Rainier who still have friends on board but are leaving to go home tomorrow so they have to stay close by. They are then also heading back to the Balearics so we won’t see them for a fair few weeks. It seems odd not being with them again as we have spent so much time with them since meeting up over a year ago. Time has certainly flown. We enjoy their company and the girls have adopted them as surrogate Aunts and Uncles, lovely as they cannot see their actual ones apart from on a skype call.

We have no real plan on where to anchor for the night so just take the wind we have and head further south again. As usual the wind is not at the angle ideal for sailing south so we have to motor sail to get distance to make Capo Heads. The coastline offers no great surprises as we head down and we anchor in a very open bay in 5.4 mtrs of water over sandy bottom. The winds are now stronger than predicted and constant, so the kite and wind surfers are out in force making good use of the free power. Howard is itching to get out there with them wishing we had kept some of our windsurf gear to have an adrenalin rush of speed across the water. Oh Well. Unfortunately for us, the adage of sun down wind down did not happen and as it did not abate we spent a very rocky night at anchor but the water was still crystal clear at least.

 

28^th – 29^th July – Cala Luna – Sardinia

The madness of Cala Luna was once again upon us. The sea state coming down the coast was pretty rough and the wind direction very fluky. It seems to enjoy taking you by surprise; one minute it will be from your portside then in a matter of seconds swings by 180⁰ to make sails back and a mad dash ensues by the crew (me) to rectify the problem.

We had managed to get the dinghy back on the foredeck again and its getting as wet as it would if it were being towed behind us. The bow is running with water as the wave’s crash over it and sends rivers of water gushing down the sides to gurgle as it goes down the drainage holes back to its home again. At least it’s keeping the teak deck from baking in the intense heat.

We anchor and decide to do a sortie of the coastline in the morning to see the hidden caves. Up early and fill the mighty mugs with tea and Hot Chocolates and head off before the madness descends on the bay again. The Dorgali coast is full of caves, Nurghars ( towers built like a beehive shape) and hidden archaeological treasures. Here at cala Luna there are caves along the beach, some of which are only accessible via the sea ( as the water travels too far up the beach) The girls and Howard explore and are surprised by the enormity of some of them. Locals camp out in the bigger cave and light fires which reflect back off the cave walls as we sit on the boat – I digress, we motor up the coastline marvelling at the shapes  in the rocks, large stalactites are seen hanging precariously above our heads. It still surprises me that there are hardly any birds or other creatures visible. We motor into a cave which has been fully adapted as a tourist mecca. We tie up along the quay used by the tourist boats who have not yet descended for the day.   Jessica says she hates what men who build things have to do to natural things. She asks me “Why do they have to put concrete everywhere and spoil a beautiful place?” “Why can’t they just leave it so the wildlife can stay and be happy? No seals come here anymore mum because of all this”. She sweeps her arm around the concrete / steel walkways which have been built to entertain us humans to show us ‘what used to be’. Well the ‘used to be’ might ‘still be’ if we humans had not interfered. The Blue Cave was home to a seal colony that used it as a breeding ground; however that is no longer the case. There are no seals at all now.  Probably more to do with the lack of sustainable food source than the wheels of commerce but overfishing has destroyed a lot of the meds sea life so I guess wheels turning in a different commerce did have an impact on it after all.

30^th – 31^st July – Porto Frailis – Sardinia

Going south still to try to get to Sicily, then onto the Aeolian Islands and Stromboli in particular for Jessica’s birthday. We think it would be nice for her to have a special treat and seeing an active volcano erupting and sending rocks into the sea as we sail passed would be hard to beat.

We make use of the engine being on for the first few hours as we sail along and make water. The coastline at closer inspection (we are sailing closer inshore than before) shows us lots of small coves which do not appear in the pilot book but boats are anchored all along the coastline. There is a marine reserve along this particular stretch of coast with certain rules however 10 knts (which is the permitted speed limit) seems to be ignored by the commercial tourist boats who fly past you at over 16.2 knts and usually way to close for a comfortable ride. Their bow wave and subsequent stern one making for a rough ride for the moments when they hit  you, after all, there isn’t much space out here is there!!!!.

We give up on using the engine and decide to tack along under sail. I usually don’t like this as we seem to go in the completely wrong direction for ages to then only tack back just a shorter way up the coast than we were when we started. We make ok progress doing this however and we decide to continue for as long as we can. Its free and we’re in no great hurry to get anywhere fast. Luckily the sun is not so fierce today so its bearable. We take 6.5 hrs to do the 29 miles so not bad anyhow.

We arrive and set off to re provision in a great shop called Eurospin. Its super value for money but as always it’s a bit of a walk. Livvy and I do the honours and decide to buy all the bulky items that won’t be bothered by the heat of the day. We think it will be much better to come back again after 6pm to get the meats, fridge items and ice cream , however fate has different ideas. The freezer has yet again decided not to work. Howard tries to fix it, he solves the issue ( thermostat again) only for the thin wire that tells the unit how cold it is/isn’t to snap off when we try to thread it through. The only Frigoboat technician we can find is in Olbia – back where we have just come from. Typical! Now we have to retrace our route again and go back to get it fixed – bleeding marvellous. Not looking like we will get to Stromboli for Jessie’s birthday at this rate.

1^st – 2^nd August – Isla Ruja – Sardinia

40 miles back up the coast and under Big Blue doing 6.3 knts. Wind drops and picks back up again but Big Blue stays working hard. Howard hand steers to give us a better ride through the water as the autopilot seems to struggle when we are surfing down the waves turning us too much. Its really hot and the girls cool off with a water pistol fight at the bow. We achieve 9knts under sail whilst towing the dinghy behind us which is amazing with no tide. A very happy day sailing.

We arrive in this beautiful anchorage, again not in the pilot book and set anchor in 7.5 mtrs of water over a mostly sand bottom although there were some weed patches and rocks too. The setting is wonderful; clear water, pure white sand beach and only two other boats in the bay. One S/Y Velocity is a magnificent dark blue hulled ketch rigged boat ( 2 masts for the non-sailors reading this) is on our rear quarter. She is huge – xxxm long by xx wide. She has lights on every spreader as well as blue underwater lights which send out a circle of light and bathe her in a spotlight effect which is duly deserved. One can only dream of owning such a yacht.

In the morning we take an early ride to the beach for the children – all 3 of them – to run and roll down the sand dunes. The water is lovely and warm, fish swim about our feet; species we have yet to see in the med, the sand is soft and pliable between your toes and the girls and Howard are whooping for joy as they run up and down the sand dunes. A sand bank stretches out from the point on the beach allowing you to walk a long way out into the water to explore the rocks below. It’s a lovely place – only slightly marred by a sewage / sulphur smell every now and again. I think it’s the Poseidon grass (protected in many places here – you’re not allowed to set anchor in it at all) which has collected on the beach and is now rotting down in the sun. We shall endeavour to return back here again if we travel back down the East Coast again. A must place to stop in our opinion.

 

3^rd – 4^th August – Olbia – Sardinia

As we set off from our anchorage we spot dolphins – 2 of them curving out of the water heading for who knows where.  They do not deviate from their course to come and play in our bow wave so we shout a greeting and each of us continues on our journey. These are the first dolphins we have seen since crossing from the Balearics, not surprising considering the lack of fish.

We head along the coast and make for the Porto Della Taverna which is a cluster of rocky outcrops with lots of bays between them. S/ Y A – the huge 3 masted boat we had last seen in Cartagena was anchored in millionaires bay – so called by us as it always contains massive motor boats. Here she sat on anchor looking very majestic and a little grubby too, we saw what an effort it was to clean her whilst in Cartagena. It’s hard enough to keep Arctic clean of all the dust which gets carried on board by the breeze let alone a boat of that magnitude.

We arrive in Olbia and tie up against the old quay again. Howard contacts the freezer guy who is very vague about the fact we have spoken to him a few days before. I do hope that we have not travelled all this way back for him not to appear. Who knows….

Friday morning arrives – the day the freezer guy should be here. Howard calls him again and they have a stilted conversation as he doesn’t speak English that well,  but it’s better than Howard’s Italian. He doesn’t seem to understand that we are actually in Olbia and that we are on the old town quay. Howard perseveres and it turns out the guy is actually on the quay, 3 boats down working on a motor boat. Howard goes and collects the thermostat and comes back to get the money to pay. He takes it back with Olivia, where the Italians laugh at something that is said. Howard says he won’t ask what that was all about but Olivia says its ok Dad I know. He said he charged you €40 and not €30 – 10 more than it should cost because you are English. That left a real sour taste in our mouth and a lesson learnt. Perhaps we should have gone back with Olivia and asked her to tell them that we enjoy being ripped off by Italians – it’s one of our favourite past times. Instead we have chosen to print his details below in the hope that our friends should they ever need a freezer tech in Olbia will not use him. We will also add this to the Cruising Association med net ages to highlight to others this person’s ethics and practices. At least forearmed is forewarned.

4^th – 9^th  August – Pta Pietra Blanca- Sardinia

We decided to head out of Olbia as fast as we could and come and sit on anchor in one of the bays here at Porto Della Taverna.  As is always the way with us just lately something is not right. We turn on the engine when readying to come into the anchorage and the throttle issue is there again. This time after 5 goes of trying to get revs in forward gear it eventually works. We drop anchor and scratch our heads. I spot an Oyster that has an English flag hanging off the stern so Howard rows across to see if they have any experience of the area. They are actually German who and have their boat looked after by a Company in Olbia. They too have a Yanmar engine so we call the contact they give to us to see if they can help. They don’t work weekends or Mondays so the earliest we hear will be Tuesday. There could be worse places to be.

We sit and wait for a call. Meanwhile I text friends who were in the North to see where they are anchored, they are 2 hours away from us. They seem to have lots more wind in the bay they are in than we do, so decide to come across to our bay.  Estrellamar – Roma and Christine duly arrive a few hours later. We last saw them in Mallorca so it’s been a while. We share our experiences and note that they too have been having problems.  At least it’s not just us – it just feels that way. They are heading for Corsica and to friends who will be joining them on board. They are just waiting out until the strong winds which are due on 10^th and 11^th to come through before heading across the Bonifacio straits. We enjoy each other’s company and then they depart to be on their way again.

We get the call that the contact might be able to look at the engine issue today but we need to go to a marina. At €202.00 euros for a night it’s way too rich for our pocket so we ask if we can come into the shipyard. If not maybe we could try to get on the old quay again and they could come to the boat there. Just a waiting game again now as they stop at 13:00 until 17:00 for siesta.

 

10^th – 12^th August – Olbia – Sardinia

Here we are again having got a call to ask us to come into a marina for the engine issue. We tie up on the old commercial quay again, having told them we cannot afford the marina prices and get settled for the engineer. He arrives, looks at the issue which we cannot replicate as its intermittent and says we need to change the gearbox oil. Duly changed and a bill for €427 arrives. He was only here a max of 40 mins and we had the oil on board which we could have done ourselves. We still don’t know if the fault is actually rectified either as he also suggested we need a new clutch. Phone calls to friends back home with engine knowledge and a call to French Marine in Levington, Suffolk come back with several things to try but state that it cannot be the clutch as it would be a problem all the time and not only occasionally. They say that perhaps the prop is not working correctly; we have a folding one that apparently if not working as it should, could cause this issue. As can low battery power, something we have been struggling with since anchoring all this season. We shall try these things first. A process of elimination needs to be done before spending out even more money- the quote for the clutch is €650.00 + labour + additional parts. Lord knows how much the total invoice would be if the €427 for 40 mins is anything to go by.

Winds are high for these 2 days so we are pleased that the work is complete and we can get out again once they have settled. Its Jessica’s birthday on Sunday and we would prefer to be somewhere nicer than here. It’s such a shame we cannot make Sicily or Stromboli as we had hoped but perhaps we shall go further north to the Magdalena Archipelago or try Cala Volpe where all the huge super yachts go. Depends on which way the wind is blowing- we’ll see.

 

2017 Photo’s

3,000 miles since the new chart plotter was installed after we bought the boat.

A hop across to Menorca

Beautiful clear water. Great time to clean the hull and check the anodes.

Cala Covas

The girls named this one “Snowdrop”

 

6 – 7 June Cala Galdana – Menorca

Well after the hell comes the calm, so we decide to head for Menorca. 44 miles. There is no swell in the bay, in fact it is flat calm like a mill pond now – such a contrast from the previous day. As we exit the bay and say goodbye to Samji, the open sea looks ok so we head on out into the blue again. Jessica helmed us out and dodged the 2 SAR planes who decided it was a good day to practice their skills again – superb effort Jessica and she did not panic one bit.

No issues really other than no wind or it’s in the wrong place as usual. Feels a little like a Bradwell Cruising Club event – wind on the nose!. Anyway, the wind shifts, sails go up and we are making 4.7 knots with only 9 knots of wind. Pretty good considering we only had the Gennie out. We make water as we go to maximise the noise time and we soon have full tanks of wonderfully pure drinking water again. I find that amazing. Total salty water, to water you can drink, that is so soft it doesn’t need a lot of soap to lather. Fabulous and more or less free compared to having to find a marina to fill up.

We found a lilo floating out in the sea so rescued that – good practice for the man overboard skills and the girls were ecstatic with that. Then we found a fender bobbing about – again good practice but I think it would be easier to get a person as a fender and lilo don’t really have anything to grab onto to bring them in.

We spotted a loggerhead turtle swimming right by us – 39⁰54’.648N   003⁰31’.387E. It popped up on the surface, seemed a little disorientated and caught unawares – perhaps it was being so close to a big boat that upset its natural radar – anyway it sorted itself out and disappeared from whence it came. A very privileged experience to have seen something as old as time so close to us in its natural environment.

We spotted land and before long were in a sea that was not pleasant, in fact it was diabolic. The swell was large and the anchorage we had chosen as our first stopping point was not as described in the pilot book. In fact you could not even anchor at all – a rope was fully across the bay with swimming buoys along it. So we motored into the swell along the coast trying to find somewhere to hide from the motion. We eventually found Cala Galdana – still really lumpy and it was deep. We anchored in over 10mtrs with a 2-3 mtr swell. I was not happy with the motion knowing sleeping would be near on impossible so asked to move station. Howard agreed but as we exited the bay the wind had picked up considerably and was now blowing 22 knots on the nose. So we wnet back in again and reset. Making dinner was entertainment all of its own and dishing up was even more so. Thank goodness it was Chili and rice so we could eat from bowls as I am not sure the plates would have had anything on them for long.

The bay itself was not very big but it held a river entrance that ran along the edge of the small town. We thought we could take the dinghy way up river but it was blocked by falled stones with no way through which was a great pity as it looked beautiful and one local told us that it held a waterfall at the end.

No shops to get provisions but a lovely walk to the next cala some 3.5km away. Albatross was with us and we were also joined by Estrellamar ( Roma and Christine) There were goats on the cliff edges bleating away. A nice way to fall asleep.

8 – 10 June Cala Covas – Menorca

An absolutely idyllic Cala. 11 miles from Cala Galdana by sea. Here we had to do something we have never done before and that was drop anchor then back up and tie off to rocks. Rainer was there to assist us in his dinghy and took our line. The bottom was sand and rock so a bit haphazard to find good ground but the Rocna dug in very well. We put a Bruce Anchor out on a stern line as well as the line to shore. Solidly held on 3 points now.

This cala was full of caves which at one time had been inhabited by humans. The girls went on a exploration of them and had a great time finding their way to them and back to the dinghy. We had a great walk to Cala Porte from here to. We saw a wild tortoise in the scrubland which was a lovely surprise. On the walk back we came across a mule which the girls promptly named snowdrop – can you guess why? He proceeded to follow us on our journey only to bellow at the top of his lungs when the path dropped into single file and steeply downwards as he was unable to follow. You could still hear his haunting calls for over half an hour afterwards, a sad and melancholy sound.

 

11 – 14 June – Mahón – Menorca

Looking for a window to cross to Sardinia, so we make for the capital of the island as it’s the shortest route to get across. You are only allowed to stay at anchor here for 3 days. Weather is not looking great for our timeframe as work is still needed to be completed. Albatross leaves us to continue their adventure – we promise to catch up soon.  The anchorage is lovely and peaceful. Clear water over 6 mtrs deep and over mud / weed bottom. We make new friends – Passagemaker, a lovely old teak boat all the way from Trinidad and Tobago with its carers Peter and Louise. We had a fabulous night with them aboard their floating cottage.

We didn’t really see Mahón, the heat was unbearable – 43⁰ in the shade plus the dinghy ride to town from the anchorage took a good 20 min – 30 mins. So we just found the supermarket, provisioned then came back. The girls swam every day for several hours, learning to dive off the boat and we continue to school them in English and Maths with Computer studies now becoming one of their favourites too.

15 June – Cala Binibeca – Menorca

Just up the coast from Mahón we moved to this cala awaiting the strong winds which are due over the next few days. We hoped this would be a nice shelter from them but it’s too rocky in here so we move back to Cala Covas.

 

 Cala Covas

Mahon

Now look at my beautiful girl.. (Adaya)

Mahon (Below)

On the crossing to Sardinia

The town however was perfect to find UK products which we were all missing. We restocked on Tomato soup, salad cream and Sarsons vinegar!. The girls as always manage to make friends with other children really quickly once on the beach. Storming of sand castles and splashing in the surf duly followed. Crystal clear water as usual, sandy bottom and anchored in 8mtrs of water.

16 – 19 June – Cala Covas – Menorca

Winds of 20-25 knots were predicted so we slipped back into my favourite place so far. Surprisingly not busy but we had 18knots funnelling through the mountain gaps. As we had to stern to and attach lines to the shore a discussion was had before we had entered to decide on best course of action. Anchor dropped into sand  and reverse in, hold her in gear whilst I get in the dinghy and run the lines ashore. As always – the ropes that you thought were coiled nicely make themselves into a snake’s nest of mess and halt your progress. Eventually I sort them and get the line on, second one now and all in safely. No mishaps or shouting. Enjoy the space.

We met some nice Spanish Americans (Javier and Maiti ; not sure I have spelt her name correctly but it sounded like this ) who had chartered a boat for 2 weeks. We helped them to stern to, holding off their boat whilst they sorted the lines for running ashore. I fixed his bowline loop in one rope as it seemed to come a little easier for me to do it than when Javier was trying to hold both the dinghy in the shore and recall how to tie one. They said that our girls reminded them of their own daughters at the same age, two blondes who love life and the water.  Emails were exchanged and messages of friendship and the following of our journey also stated.

We also saw total madness from a German boat who had put out an anchor buoy. In a small tight fitting bay like this it is not a great idea as you gets lots of day boats in and out in a constant flow taking photos and stopping for a short time to either lunch or cool off. Well Frau nutter shouted at the top of her voice every time anyone went near to said buoy.  However, a French motor boat didn’t care for her screaming and hair pulling routine. They completely pulverised the buoy, dislodged the anchor from its secure base and set Frau nutters nose adrift. So Frau Nutter is now all set for being carted away to the asylum (she reminded me of the mad woman in Harry Potter you know the one who killed Sirius black: Bella Tricks I think is her name) Screeching and pulling at her hair instead of trying to get her boat under control. She has boats by her and a husband somewhere who hasn’t even come on deck. Finally another German boat went to their aide. An Australian off the Cat next to us collected parts of the mangled buoy, as did Livvy and Jessie with our fishing net. Just as well as she didn’t seem to be at all concerned for the litter she had left in the water. Parts were duly returned to her and she was still in an hysterical state. Maybe she will not be so daft as to put out an anchor buoy next time, but I bet she does and the scene will be a recurring one again…..

20 June – Mahón – Menorca

Back again to re-provision and wait for the window to cross to Sardinia. One the journey back we ran a Man Over Board ( MOB). Howard and I pretended we had both gone overboard to see if the girls could manage to retrieve should it ever happen. I have to say I was very surprised and impressed with how calm an 8 and 7 year old can remain considering we had not warned them it was going to happen. Jessica took the helm instantly, with Olivia being point and retrieve. They managed to collect the bucket and fender on the second pass. We did it again with the roles reversed and found that Arctic is just too heavy on the steering for Olivia to handle and Jess is not great at wielding the boat hook.  A really useful exercise to have undertaken for all of us. It highlighted parts they had forgotten, like the MOB button on the plotter and the key fact for us that Arctic is just too heavy for Livvy to handle and perhaps Jess too if the sea state were too rough. It upset them a bit with tears when it wasn’t going so well but a really good learning curve for us all.

21 – 22 June – Addaya –  Menorca

Wind not looking favourable for a few days and we had friends in Addaya so decided to head up and join them as they too were waiting for wind to Sardinia. Nice surprise when we got out as Passagemaker was also heading up the coast but to Fornells instead.  Addaya is found down a channel which weaves in and out, very much like the channel into Titchmarsh / Walton backwaters on the East Coast of the UK. Also like Titchmarsh it has lots of hidden islands to explore – Swallows and Amazons fame of Arthur Ransome. So what to do when school is done for the day- go exploring of course. We got into the dinghies (Pat and Duncan came too) and off we went to find a hidden lagoon that D and P had found once before.  It took us a while to find it but eventually a gap was spotted probably only about 30 feet wide and in we went. A small fishing boat was inside with 14 lads on board, not one girl which we found rather curious. They didn’t stay long after we arrived so it was nice to get a small piece of paradise to ourselves. Duncan, Pat, Olivia and Howard all went off snorkelling. Jess was a little worried about what might be lurking in the weed patches so we scoured the rock pools instead. It’s amazing what you can find if you wish to look. Red crabs with yellow spots on each leg and blue diamond patterns across their backs. Pure white small fish darting across the shallows, camouflaged against the white sand bottom. A catfish lurking under a large rock, only its feelers visible to us. Red sea anemones; some open to catch their meal with their fingers waving to the motion of water whilst others are closed and looking like tomatoes on the rocks. Lots of different varieties of Wrasse were also seen. It was a wonderful afternoon. But like everything it had to end and it was time to leave but our outboard would not start. The lagoon was well sheltered but as we tried to exit under the power of oars driven by me it was a little hair raising. Howard was still trying to get the Outboard started as I tried to traverse the 30 foot gap against rolling waves crashing through the same space. Out into open sea but it was strewn with large boulders making passage tricky to find. Weaving in and out we eventually found a route back towards the channel. The outboard still won’t start so we have to row all the way back. Howard takes over half way back and eerily a bird of prey circles above us overhead….As we pass Samji, Duncan and Pat wonder why we had taken so long, we explain and they apologise for not waiting. So began an epic mission by Duncan and Howard to fix the outboard.

Addaya itself is another British hotspot. It seemed the only shop we found close by had lots of UK products at highly inflated prices but still being bought by lots of UK people. The bay was very pretty and extremely well protected. It was surrounded by a pine forest on the one side and a forbidden island on the other. A breeze was unheard of here and it is very hot and stuffy on board. Being down a river type entrance the water was a murky brown colour, not that inviting to swim in but Howard and the girls took great delight in skinny dipping on a regular basis. We had an evening spent with Duncan and Pat on Samji, singing along to rock songs and having a nice relaxing time.

 

 

We have now left Ibiza and the next Island being Mallorca. A really good days sailing to get there with some 25 knots of wind the whole way – a school of dolphins joined us – Caroline wasn’t so keen on the days sail…

My first time up the mast (well 3 times) as the anchor bulb needed replacing. Very nervous but loved it now that I have done it. A great view

 

Arctic is anchored in the bay just behind the small Island in the centre…can you see her..

 

12 – 14 May – Cala Portals / Portal Vells – Mallorca

A wonderful and absolutely stunning  bay – once we had made it across from Ibiza. It had been a rocking and rolling crossing with not much wind. 3 crew were feeling sick but did not succumb to the motion thank goodness. It was also pretty chilly, at one point Howard even had hat and gloves on.

Anyway, Portal Vells is a hot spot for the locals at the weekend. The pilot books warn you about it but oh my goodness. It was like packing sardines into a tin. If there was a patch of sand to anchor in it was not like that for long. The place was heaving and unfortunately a lot of them were louts who were loud, brash and drunk. We had 3 motor boats around us each pumping out their own style of loud music as well as the idiotic shouts from the drunks aboard.  We saw 2 boats come in, drop anchor, call for the water taxi to take them to the beach bar having only just dropped enough chain for the anchor to hit the bottom. Low and behold the vessels then drifted off on the next wave that washed in and took them out to open water. They either hit other boats on the way past or just drifted out to open sea. Not only this; we had anchor buoys out as the bottom had some rocks.  So what do the less experienced do, lift them thinking they are buoys to tie up on. One boat even got the line wrapped around the prop and had to be told by another vessel that it had happened as they did not even realise. They proceeded to dive in, cut the line and let the buoy drift off. It belonged to our friends on Kealoha V so Howard retrieved the buoy and handed it back to Mike when he returned back. Needless to say, the offenders did not tell him they had done the damage but he approached them with the cut line and buoy and they paid up to replace the line.

At 18:00 we had a Shawshank Redemption moment as one of our friends called it. You know the film? Well the scene is where he has locked himself in the wardens office and puts the loud speakers on with the classical music blaring into the exercise yard. To get the oiks back, we did this with Arctic’s PA system – Karl Jenkins an armed man was blaster through the fog horns to wish the loud idiots a lovely end to a mad mad day.

15 – 19 May – Cala Illetes – Mallorca

Another anchorage but this was miles from anywhere. Provisioning was hard. My life seems to revolve around where the nearest supermarket is and what it will cost to re-provision the boat. Sometimes it feels like we are in the war years and having a ration book – compared to how we used to live and spend money. There are times I just want to say sod it all – we are having an ice cream from an ice cream seller and not a box from the supermarket!.

Olivia and I walked 2 hours to find a shop in the soaring heat of the day. She had cut her feet and was not having a great time. We found a shop, filled our trolley bags and walked back sweating buckets. No wonder we have all lost weight and look like sticks, it’s like walking in a sauna!. Not our idea of fun at all but a necessary part of living aboard in a 44 foot space.

Having just provisioned, we find the freezer is now not working so the meat we have is now having to be kept as cold as possible in the fridge and eaten up quickly. Having made sure it was fully stocked before we left Ibiza, this meant an awful lot of meat to consume in a short space of time. Typical. Eating ice-cream through a straw was great fun though and the girls enjoyed it immensely.

So now we have to find a man to fix it!. We were put in contact with one but he wasn’t available for 2 days and he wanted us in a marina to do the work. When they cost around €150 per day it’s not in our budget but the marina at Puerto Portals was very helpful and obliging. They allowed us to stay on the visitor’s pontoon for 2 hours free whilst the work was undertaken. The repair cost €300 as the main circuit board for the freezer was water logged (from the pump that had to be replaced due to mussels growing in it and splitting the membrane) but the freezer is fixed and working again. Now just have to find a suitable shop to restock!.

Illetes itself was ok – it had a small sandy beach, good snorkelling but not a lot more. We took a bus to Palma and the girls walked around the main town with Mike and Cate from Kealoha V as the water maker housing had cracked and we needed to find new ones. Leroy Merlin a builder’s merchant had just what we needed but were another bus ride back out of town on the other side. Our thanks to Mike and Cate for being great babysitters and allowing us the freedom to get the bits we needed to fix yet another issue.

Low and behold, something else has now gone wrong. The anchor light is not working. That means someone has to venture to the top of the mast to fix it. Mike and Cate, again come to help us out. They have a spare bulb and also offer to help me hoist Howard up.  So up he goes, on the halyard. He does not like it, once at the top he cannot figure out how to get the unit apart, it won’t free itself. So he brings the whole bulb fixing down. We get it apart, now the bulb is too big to fit without having the actually take the unit apart further. Screwdriver out and it is now ready to go back on. Up he goes again, a little happier this time, but when he gets there, he puts the light on but the colours are all facing the wrong way!.  So down he comes yet again. Fixed at the bottom now back up. He is half way up when he says a really big wave is coming and can we hold him at station. The wave as we see it is only a few inches high but it must look huge from where he is. Anyway, all back and working great. Well done Howard. The girls and I are proud of you. We know you don’t like heights and we really appreciate you going outside your comfort zone to make us safe.

19 – 22 May – Santa Ponca – Mallorca

Another hot day and we find ourselves in Santa Ponca after a rough trip. 25+ knots with big seas which sent water over the top of the spray hood and into the cockpit. Glad I always remember to close the windows!

Santa Ponca is a large bay with a large reef to one side which is well marked. There is space for around 30 boats at anchor to be comfortable, 2 beaches close by and numerous shops to provision from even though the biggest is a far walk from the anchorage base. It is a typical tourist base which becomes evident from the amount of bars with Brits, Irish and Northerners frequenting them. I was not enamoured with the place other than for provisioning, but as stated this was a walk of 1 hour there.

We did meet up with Samji ( Duncan and Pat) here, they came in on washing day for us, so were greeted with our underwear waving them in.  Duncan was the walk king in Cartagena and he knew of walks here too so we set off for another of his treks. A lovely walk with some fabulous scenery and it was lovely to catch up again and discuss adventures had so far.

23 – 25 May – Sant Elm- Mallorca

I loved this place tucked in near to Dragonera – an island that looks like 2 sleeping dragons back to back. This lovely little bay was a treasure to find, clear water, 6.5 mtrs over sand; you could see your anchor clearly in the water. A great beach and the town was a dear find. One main street but it was full of old world charm. Bougainvillea draped walls, people sitting outside homes chatting, a real sleepy place that was busy but not bustling.

Olivia had a bad experience though; she was stung by a jellyfish which left a huge mark on her arm poor girl. She refused to allow anyone to wee on it for her, however, another friend (Mads and Lotte – Looma IV) told us to cover it in vinegar as the jellyfish can leave small hooks behind in the flesh. We did this and she said it really stopped it hurting – she did not moan as much after we did this application so I think it actually worked. It does however seem to reawaken after a few days and if you allow the sting area to get too much sun then that too can inflame it. Poor girl was so scared for days after that she refused to go in swimming which she usually does every day so it must have been very painful for her.

We took a huge walk up to the top of Dragonera whilst we were here. It’s a high climb and in temperatures well into the mid 30’s was a little testing. However the sense of achievement once at the top was great – only topped by seeing the lizards running all over the girl’s legs as they sat eating their lunch. Christian (Maritha and Rainers son) had his drone and made a wonderful clip of the top and surrounding areas. On the way back down we heard a cheeping sound close by us and saw a lone Herring gul sat on a rock. This was not the source of the noise but its chick which was running around on the craggy rock side exploring. It was soft and fluffy and really lovely to see as they are well camouflaged and had the adult bird not been eyeing us I don’t think we would even have known it was there. Further down we saw another Gul leave a spot and upon closer inspection saw 2 eggs in a nest. They obviously feel happy here as there are not really any predators, the island having been rid of all cats, rats and rabbits some years ago.

We had a quick diversion back to Santa Ponca for a quick birthday get together with the boats whom we had met during our time in Cartagena.

Lisa and Mark – Wild Iris  (it was Lisa’s Birthday bash           Mike and Cate – Kealoah V

Dave and Chris – Spindrift of Hamble      Duncan and Pat – Samji        Bridget and Axel – Matriki

And of course our very very great friends and adopted brother of Howard,  Rainer and Maritha  – Albatross.

A lovely time was had by all on the lava rocks here for a BBQ. The girls were fed up with the grownups talking so became the entertainment crew for the night, they had us playing games and singing songs. We had some naughty jokers in the pack (Duncan and Mike) when we played Chinese whispers but a great time was had by all and it was just like old times in Cartagena.

Well as with all good things they come to an end and we set off again with well wishes and comments that we will meet up again soon.

26 – 30 May – Sollér

After an early morning swim we set off for Sollér, 31 miles from here. The sun was as hot as ever by 09:30 so it was going to be another sweaty day. Wind on the nose – typical, so engine is on and the girls are taking clear advantage of this fact. They have not surfaced at all on the trip watching films one after the other from the hard drive – clever things. They have learnt that when an engine is on, either propelling us forward or generating electricity they can use the tv / hard disk box without causing a loss of power to the batteries, so a good time to catch up on some square eyed fun.

Sollér on first appearances did not appeal. Not only that, we had to reset 3 times. Why people in pedalo’s think its ok practice to stop right by the side of your boat at the bow when you are dropping anchor is beyond my comprehension. The young lad, with his father, on this particular occasion looked like he had spent most of his holiday being patched up with plasters. He had cuts and scrapes all over the place – perhaps that’s why – getting too close to large boats when dropping an anchor is not good practice. Anyway – child, pedalo and father avoided – anchor dropped into the muddy weedy bottom, held and settled, all is good.

This place was just full of package tourists. There were pedalo’s galore, kayaks and canoes too. Lots of people enjoying themselves in the short time they had off from the norm of life. The town was nice. Several supermarkets and even a launderette, although at €5.00 per 6kg wash it was a little steep. But to wash sheets and towels by hand is a bit of a task, washing them is ok, trying to get all the soap out is another thing and towels get horribly stiff if they don’t get it all out. So I took advantage of the mechanical help and found John and Heather off Evergreen in there before me, a lovely surprise. Out of the 4 washing machines, there were only 2 actively working and a mechanic was toying with the 2 broken ones. He left still leaving 2 broken machines – not a good mechanic. I am not sure the machines were in that good an order  as the washing came out not that much cleaner than it went in but at least it smelt better and I hadn’t had to struggle with it by hand.

There was an old tram line that took you to the old town, we decided to take this as a nice change from walking everywhere. However at €6.00 per person each way it was rather steep for our budget and as the journey was less than 10 mins long we thought it was a rip off too. Needless to say we walked back which was not too far and we found some interesting things on the way back. The old town was delightful – a fabulous market with fresh fruit and veg was set up so really pleased to have ventured off the boat for the day.

 

31 May – 5 June – Pollença – Mallorca

40 miles along the coast, a nice short run and we get to Pollença . The coastline was full of holes in the strata which made loads of different shaped faces when you looked at it, very interesting and fun to spot too.

The bay in Pollença was huge. It was only between 3.5 and 5 mtrs deep all the way across so anchoring was a dream. We anchored off the main area first on the south side of the bay near to the SAR (search and Rescue) station. We saw planes taking off, collecting water, dumping it back into the sea then coming back in to land on the sea again. It was great for us all to watch and experience, made us all feel more comfortable that should we ever need their services that they were extremely competent in their work. We seemed to be miles from shore here so we moved the following day closer in.

Again great holding and we tucked in near the buoy field. Just as well as we had a full day and night of high winds, over 35 knots  and thunderstorms. Howard wrapped the spare anchor chain around the shrouds and we placed various electrical items into the oven for protection in case we got struck by lightning. Its nice having a big boat but not when your mast is taller than the rest around you. We rode out the storm without any problems, although I hate storms and always have even as a child. They take on a life of their own when you are anchor – completely exposed to whatever it wants to throw at you. Very scary but at least we had no incidents.

Pollença was a largish tourist spot with good supply of shops and bars. We met up with Samji again and Duncan once again took us on a walk they had found. It was superb. A walk into the mountain passes, goats grazing on the shrubs they could find, and opening into a beautiful cala. The same goats fed on your clothes if you left them on the open beach!. Idyllic, turquoise clear water what more could you ask for?

Maybe another Island?

The girls met 2 lovely girls, Gracie and Ruby whom let them aboard their pedlo.

This is Albatross who has sailed beside us for many many miles now. A great video.

Being of an age when clubbing is well and truly behind me, I do not find the hedonistic way of living something I can or ever have relished. You walk the streets of some towns to the smells of unlawful smoking substances – very strong and highly open. On more than one occasion have we come across cannabis being rolled into a paper at our side, not what I want the girls to experience in any way shape or form. If you have to use such a substance to experience life to the fullest then there is something seriously wrong with your eyesight in my opinion. Pausing to watch a sunset or ants working to get food are things that the girls and we do on a daily basis. Opening your eyes to what is around you rather than just walking through life without really experiencing what you can see if you just look is all part of our new way of living. Beautiful bays, turquoise sea with white sand beaches and old towns are part of our daily routine. Waking in a small Calla, after being anchored alone for the night is a wonderful way to start the day.  Fish bob lazily around the boat, an octopus ambles along the bottom to hook itself onto our chain for a moments rest, things like this are a regular day for us, a far cry from the hum drum monotony of “normal life” undertaken by those less fortunate than us. What a life we are living. Does it have a flip side, Yup sure does. The wind can pick up stronger than predicted, the anchor drags, you try to reset on more than one occasion….its pouring with rain as the front come through, your wet through to parts only you and your better half see, your hands are like lumps of ice as the rain cools them down all too quickly, the calm hits as you try to reset yet again. Holding, holding, here comes the second part of the front…..heavier wind and rain than the 1^st hit, now your totally sodden and very cold. The anchor seems to have bitten, the boat behind is not as far away as you’d like it to  be but its far enough away that you won’t hit as you all swing in the same way…….Survived. All good fun, but I still hate anchoring. I find it stressful and worrying, but the fact we are saving money by being on the hook helps to make it palatable.

A rainbow cloud – we have never seen one of those before.

Some great dance moves here…

This guy was sitting near our anchor… we see these and squid regularly..

Most of the places we are visiting are only just getting ready for the season of holiday makers that will soon fill up their beaches and cafes.

We have extra crew. Tim – a lifelong friend of Howards is with us for the week. A non sailor who did his first ever trip as a full night sail from Cartagena to Ibiza – some 150 miles. Well done Tim – no incidents and you were good entertainment on the long night watch too.

16 -18 April –Cala LLonga – Ibiza

A fabulous setting in a long thin cala. Busy by day but come 16:00 all the day trippers up and leave and we have the cala all to ourselves. Crystal clear water, fish in abundance – fabulous….Oh and its free as we are on anchor!. A long white sandy beach stretches the width of the calas end so the girls use Tim as their entertainment system for several hours.

18-20 April – Portinaix – Ibiza

Another great cala until the wind changed direction then all hell broke loose. We had so much swell on the 2^nd night here that you had to hold onto the ceiling to stop yourself being thrown against the sides of the boat. Having said that, it’s a lovely spot, large sandy deep beach, it shelves really quickly off to deep water. A little town with some shops to provision, beach bars and nice walks. Tim and I wandered off to the coastline to get some pictures looking into the cala. Whilst concentrating on the views, Tim got rather drenched when a freak wave washed completely over the top of him and his Ipad. It was a little comical if not a bit scary too as the power of the wave was pretty immense.

There is a buoy field on the port side as you come into the cala but there were still loads of spaces to anchor. There was only 1 other boat in here with us and they dragged anchor on the night of hell. I informed Howard that no matter what the sea was like I was not happy to spend another night being thrown around like I was a piece of laundry in a tumble dryer, I would prefer to take the sea state without the rocks looming nearby. It was a little fun getting out of the cala, huge swell funnelling into the entrance with large rocky outcrops either side but Arctic did what she does best and out we popped.

20 April – 6 May – San Antonia Bay – Ibiza

Stopped in this really big bay for a few reasons.

1. To drop off our visitor Tim who had to return back to the hum drum of life in the UK. A little sad but also pleased that he had been to visit. He bought the girls a lovely swing to use off the halyard, he re-provisioned our T bag and gravy stocks, he took us out for several meals and I think he had a really nice time. Probably not the relaxing one he thought it would be but a nice time anyway. We will be more than happy to have him on board again – hopefully he is still practising his bow line – it was his homework from the girls for when he next comes to stay, Well are you Tim?.
2. To await the arrival of our long time sailing partners – Maritha and Rainer on Albatross. We had to leave them in Cartagena as Maritha was at home when Tim arrived and the weather window to get Tim to Ibiza was the same day he stepped foot on Spanish soil so no time to waste.

Anyway, 7 mtrs of water over a weed/ mud bottom with lots of concrete blocks thrown in the mix too. Holding was ok once you found a good spot but it was tricky to find one. On one particular night I was unable to sleep due to the wind howling into the bay. It built to well over 30 knots and lots of boats were starting to have problems. At 02:00 a British ensigned boat had dragged across the bay and tangled its chain up with a Catamaran. There was lots of activity – the 5 crew off the Cat were working really hard to fender off the boat and to try to free the solo sailor’s vessel from their own. 2 brave souls traversed the swell in their dinghy to work from the water level to free it off. I cannot believe that they even attempted the manoeuvre in the swell and wind, but hats off to them. Watching them trying to first get the dinghy off the davits, then trying to get into it and hold it steady was a feat all of its own. My hat goes off to them, they not only managed to get to the vessel but to also free it off. It took them over 3 hours to achieve it and I can only assume they were shattered, cold but elated once it was achieved. It was a bad night – I stayed up all night but we were not moving – the Rocna was doing its job very well.

After such an eventful night we stayed on board the next day to make sure all was well, then we ventured into old Ibiza town on the bus the following day when the mill pond effect was back in the bay. It cost us €4.00 each, each way and the ride was some 45 mins. Once found, it was a delight to see. Some lovely old side streets with fabulous villas – secret secluded walled gardens held treasures akin to an English Cottage Garden – a huge change to the barren rocky outcrops you see along the coastal routes.

7 – 10 May – Cala Benirass – Ibiza

A small cala filled with four boats – us and 3 of our friends; Kealoah V, Spindrift of Hamble and Albatross. We all used a stern anchor to hold us head to sea as there was not  great deal of space to turn about. The entrance to the bay has a large rock formation slap bang in the middle and at night against the sunset it resembles Queen Victoria in her full bustled dress and headdress.

This fabulous cala had a delight which many people come to witness. On Sunday evenings the beach becomes overcrowded with hoards that come to be entertained by the locals who drum in the sunset. A truer hippy moment you would not witness unless you were at Woodstock all those years ago!. We ventured onto the beach, the girls danced with the locals to the drummers until the heavy weight of forbidden smoking fumes became too much for young lungs (and old) and we returned back to Arctic to witness the remainder of the night from there. It was a fabulous experience made all the more magical by the setting we were in.

We left our friends to make their own ways to wherever they were going as we had to make a quick detour back to San Antonio  to collect parts for the generator. Always something needing doing and there is never the part you need either on board or in the chandlery. It’s getting harder to source the bits needed in the time frame we are happy to wait around for them or the weather window available to do the longer passages. But we did have a great experience on the way back…..

Olivia loves clouds and their formations. On the way back into the bay, we saw a wonderful cloud in the sky which looked like a rainbow. Upon reading in her cloud book, it turned out to be an ice rainbow  – otherwise known as a Circumzenithal arc. The description in her book states –A Circumzenithal arc is a band of bright prismatic colours that resembles an inverted rainbow positioned immediately above the viewer’s head. Typically a quarter – circle in shape, its colours which are often brighter than those of the rainbow, run from blue near the zenith down to red near the horizon. Due to the precise angle in which the refracted light exists the sides of the horizontal ice crystals, CZAs cannot occur if the sun is more than 32.2⁰ above the horizon and the brightest arcs of all occur when the sun is exactly 22⁰ above the horizon.

Parts were duly collected and we moved onto Cotes D’es Llamp. A very small bay with us and one other boat :- Evergreen owned by John and Heather from the USA.  We had met them previously in San Antonio so it was nice to catch up with them again. Deep blue clear water, fabulous rock formations around us and a nice calm sea. We took the dinghy along the coastline to marvel at the shapes and patterns the sea had made from the rocks, we entered caves with rocks turned purple by the algae and delighted in how clear the water was so that we could see the bottom, even though it was over 11mtrs deep. A great night’s sleep was had by all ready for the crossing to Mallorca to meet back up with Albatross.

 

 

 

 

This is when we were watching a parade here in Cartagena. The person next to me is my friend [who is Spanish] her name is Tania and the lunatics in the background are also my friends. Their names are Pat and Loraine. Hope everyone has a nice year. Livvy’s friend is Miralla (sorry if I misspelt).

We had a great time on a school camping trip.

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/colegiopatronatocartagena/videos/1791295381190129/

 

 

 

 

 

Firstly, we were home schooling and then a really lovely person who worked at Cartagena (Anna) asked us if we wanted to go to proper school, so I said “yes”. I was a bit scared at first but then got really excited. When we finally went I was really happy then nervous. The school was old and pretty inside. I made lots of friends and know all their names.  By the way, I’ve got used to getting up at 07:00 in the morning. When it was the last day of school I didn’t feel 100% but I still went to school. We watched “Finding Dory” and my friend’s dad came and talked all about being a scuba diver. It was very interesting. Once he had finished we played loads of games.

I had made each of my friends a good bye gift which I gave out. It was seeds in a pot which I had grown myself, poppies and corn flowers. They only took a few days to germinate in the heat of the sun here in Cartagena. They all really liked them. I also got lots of presents back from my class and teachers. I felt very  very sad and happy at the same time.

In Cartagena there were lots of parades and festivals. One parade was at Xmas. There were bands playing along the streets with dancers and I got pulled in. it was soo much fun. They were dressed in beautiful clothes and a person from school was a dancer!.  The last one was about Jesus. The first part of it children were giving out sweets (we got loads), the second part was with lots of drummers, fluters, tromboners and saxophone players. It also had loads of floats which were very very very beautiful. We got a card that had parts of the floats printed on it.

The BBQ’s we went to on Sundays have also been great.

When we left the marina in Cartagena Marina, Ulli and Rainer all waved us off. We also had Tim on board( a friend of daddy’s) when we left. He had only just arrived in Spain. We sailed later on. We sailed through the night straight to Cala Talamanca. It was a bay full of boats but a bit shallow so we moved to Cala LLonga – on Ibiza. We stayed here for 2 nights. We went to the beach and went for a swim with Tim (daddy didn’t come because the water was too cold for him). The next day we went to the beach for the whole day and went swimming, played games and had ice-cream. The following day we sailed on to Portinaix because it would get really windy. We stayed here for 2 days and had a meal out with Tim. Tim bought us the dinner. We went on to the beach and just played games as it was too cold for swimming.

Next we went to San Antonio. Here is where Tim goes home, so I’m sad. On Monday we saw an Octopus! It was very camouflaged in the sand because it was grey. We went to Ibiza town by bus and it was magnificent. We went into the Cathedral and it was empty, there was only us in it.

 

Thank you for all your emails.

IBIZA –

Talamanca Bay:- After we had been asleep following the long journey across from Cartagena,  we blew the dinghy up with Tim and put it into the water. Then we got into it and took Livvys bathescope for the first time to check the anchor. After that we checked the keel and saw that it was nearly touching the rock so we needed to move. The following day it was Easter Sunday. When we were going into Mummy and Daddy’s room, we looked on the table and were really surprised. There was: – a cup; a big Easter bunny in a bag with lots of little eggs in the bag too; chocolate coins; and little eggs all on the deck and dotted about the cabins. Once we had collected all the goodies it was time to move on.

Portinaix:- It was very windy and we still have Tim on board. We went to the beach and Tim was very kind and bought Livvy and I an ice-cream, it was very yummy. Mummy and Tim went for a walk up to a big piece of rock leaving Daddy, livvy and I on the beach.  We played lots of games and swam in the sea.  When mum and tim got back they told us they had found lots of rock pools with fish in them and Tim had been covered by a big wave that washed up through the rocks.

Tim took us out for dinner, I had hot dog and chips and for dessert I had an Oreo ice cream.  After this we had to get back to Arctic. It was now very rough and Tim had to push the dinghy out over the waves to try to get us back. He cut his leg really badly and daddy had to row like crazy to get us back to the boat. There was a HUGE wave and we all got soaked, especially Livvy and I as we were at the front of the dinghy. It was a very rocky night and the grown-ups didn’t get much sleep but Livvy and I were tucked up warm and snug and slept through it all.

San Antonio:- When Tim had come from England, he bought us a really great present – a swing for the boat. We tried it out here for the first time and it was so much fun. I was a bit worried at first to do it as you have to hang over the side of the boat over the sea, but I soon got the hang of it and was running along and jumping out really wide. As we hadn’t found a big shop we needed to explore and find one. Mummy had been told about a Lidl but she found it and it was just a building site where they had closed it to make it better so we ahd to go on a hunt. We found a very big one but it was a really long walk away from the boat. We shopped then radioed Daddy to get him to come and get us from the beach, but he said that Arctic had been dragging her anchor so Mike from Kealoah V came to get us instead. The next day Tim went home, it was very sad but we hope he will come back and spend more time with us.

We had a problem with the generator and Mummy and I took the dinghy to shore to try to find a chandlery to get the parts. We found somewhere, ordered the bits and then had to wait for them to be delivered – 3 days!.

Benirass:- We had come to this bay as it was very special, especially on a Sunday. The entrance had a big rock in the shape of Queen Victoria (whoever she is). We were here with 3 other boats all friends of ours. There were hundreds of purple Jellyfish in the water and Cate got stung really badly so we decided we didn’t want to go swimming. We went on a long walk with all our friends and came back and had a drink on the beach. On Sunday night, lots and lots of people came to the beach as the drummers drummed till the sun set. We danced on the beach with a lady called Rose and it was so much fun. There was a market selling clothes and jewellery which was nice to look at.

We took the dinghy out the next day to San Miguel and looked into some caves. We saw sea cucumbers and lots of purple rocks as well as sea tomatoes- they are sea urchins that stick to the rocks but look just like a tomato! We beached the dinghy and went looking around the shops for a bit and on the way back to the cove, we went passed a big blue boat that was anchored in the outside of the bay. It was huge.

 

MALLORCA –

Porta Vells:- When we got in to this bay there were hardly any people here.  The next morning Livvy went snorkelling with Cate for the first time. Later on a lot of boats appeared and the ones with German flags were testing to see who could be the loudest. Meanwhile Livvy and I were sitting on the front of the boat painting as it was a very beautiful bay and Daddy was fixing the generator again! Livvy and I noticed that lots of the people on the other boats were drunk. In the evening they all went off and we put our music on as loud as we could to say goodbye to them. The next day it all happened again but in the evening we went for a walk. We walked to the caves and saw that they were very big and one had a little temple in it.

Illetes:- I went snorkelling for the first time ever here. It was really good but a bit scary.

We went back to the boat and daddy had to go to right to the top of the mast as the light was not working.  He ended up going up 3 times, he was very brave.  There were lots of problems on the boat here. The freezer stopped working and the water maker broke too. So we went on the bus to Palma and mummy and daddy went off to find the parts we needed to fix things and Livvy and I went with our friends Cate and Mike around the city. It was really fun and interesting.

We went snorkelling again but with Rainer this time around the shallow parts. I don’t like it when the weed is there as I think something is going to come out and get me.

(we have since heard from our friends that a shark was caught at this beach only a few weeks after we had been here).

We had to go into a marina on the pontoon to get the freezer fixed. 2 men came and put a new electrical bit in as the old one was water logged from the freezer pump when that went wrong.  It was a lot of money but at least we could have ice creams again.

Santa Ponsa:-

The bay was a big bay and was lovely and turquoise. We went in for a snorkel and we saw a big fish. We went back onto Arctic and fed the fish with some bread. When we were feeding the Sea breams, a barracuda came swimming by and all the smaller fish swam out of its way. The next morning mummy went shopping and we went to the beach again. When mummy got back she had bought us all an ice cream. When it was the evening we celebrated Lisa’s and Christians birthdays. Lisa promised to take us for a swim the next day. So we got up nice and early and went in for a swim with Rainer and we had to swim across to Lisa’s boat as she wasn’t up yet.

We also had a nice bbq on the small beach with friends of ours and Duncan from Samji took us back to our boat in his dinghy really fast as he has got a bigger engine than us. The BBQ was fun sitting on the rocks with the sea by your feet.

 

Pollenca:-

After we had arrived we went for a walk with Rainer coming too and we saw where the search and rescue planes landed because we had walked right to the end of the front. It was a lovely pine walk. The next morning we went on a really long walk to a different bay. Some of us decided that we would go back but Daddy and Livvy decided to walk down to the beach. They went in swimming and on the way back up the rocky path, Livvy fell and hurt herself.

The next day we went out to dinner with our friends. After the dinner we had our dessert and we chose a vanilla ice cream which was inside a toucan.

We left the next day and I steered the boat out of the bay as 2 aeroplanes came right across us and I had to slow down to let them land. They were the search and rescue planes we had seen when we went for our walk.

Dragonera:-

At the beach Livvy and I were picking up some rocks and dropping them back into the water again. When Livvy picked up one rock she got stung by a jellyfish. It really hurt her and she was upset. We went back to the boat so she could stay in the shade.

The following day we went for a walk up Dragonera. When we were on the way up, mummy told our friend that Livvy had been stung and he said to put vinegar on it. We saw a seagulls nest with an egg in it. Finally we reached the top after lots of water breaks – hurray. Christian flew his drone whilst we had our lunch. We threw some of the bread to the lizards and they took it and ate it. When I ahd finished my apple, I put a piece on my foot and a lizard came up on my leg and licked the sweetness out.

When we were on our way back down we saw a newly hatched gulls chick. It was so cute and it blended into the rocks really well, it was very camoflagued.

 

MENORCA –

Cala Covas:-

When we arrived in Cala Covas we went fishing and I caught one but it let go of the hook before I could get the net. After that we went in swimming even though I don’t like swimming when I know there are fish in the water. When we got out daddy wanted to know if we wanted to go on a little walk with Rainer. Livvy and I both said yes. We took the dinghy and Livvy and I went exploring along the cliff faces. We wanted to get to the end of the cliff but we couldn’t because there was a huge Prickly Pear cactus in the way so we stopped and turned back. First we thought we had got lost but we soon found our way and went back.

The next day we went on a different long walk to the next bay, we saw a beautiful tortoise with a blue and yellow shell. We got really close to it and I touched its shell. We also found a white mule. He followed us until a really tricky part then he stopped. When we were walking down we heard him braying again. In the evening we flew in our hammock chairs along the edge of the boat. It was great fun.

 

Cala Galdana:- The first time we went in it was very rocky and rolly so we went to see if we could anchor in another bay. We couldn’t because it was pretty busy and a bit rolly the same so we went back again. The swell dropped and it wasn’t as rocky or rolly any longer.

In the morning we went for another really good walk. We walked to a really nice bay. When we were there we saw a big land cave so we decided to explore in it. Inside it looked like people might once have lived in it. It had rooms next to each other; it was just like a house. When we climbed down the stairs it was easy but going up is something else, it’s really tricky.

Livvy and I went in for a swim the next day and we swam over to Maritha because Rainer was in swimming with us. We were supposed to be going to the beach but it didn’t matter, this was fun too.

Addaya:- When we got into the bay Duncan and Pat off Samji were already there and came over for a chat. Once they had gone, daddy, Livvy and I all went skinny dipping. Livvy and I swam over to Samji and said hello.  We got out, dried off and then went to find the shops for more food.

The following day we went on a swallows and amazons hunt to find a secret lagoon.  It was soo secret that we went round in circles trying to find the entrance. We were all meant to be going snorkelling but I didn’t like it so mummy and I stayed on land and went rock pool hunting instead. We found a catfish under a rock, lots of red crabs with yellow spots on their legs and blue diamonds on their backs. We also saw blue and green fish. Duncan and Pat came over once we got back to help fix our outboard as it had stopped working on the way back. Mummy and Daddy had to row us back half way each.

In the evening we went across to Samji for a few drinks and they played music. Livvy and I danced and played. It was fun.

Binebeca:-We only stayed here for one night. We went to the beach and made some new friends. Their names were Harry and Olivia and they were on holiday. We played making sand castles on the beach with them for a long time and daddy talked to their mum and dad. We found the shop to get some milk and Livvy and I also got a ball attached to a piece of elastic which is good fun.  It was a bit rolly in here and the wind was due to get stronger so we moved to Cala Covas.

Mahon:-

The water wasn’t very clear here but we still went swimming. Maritha and Rainer had lost a piece of their foam and I picked it up and swam it over to them. When we got out of the water we went on a little walk to see some ruins. We wanted to look around the fort too but it was too expensive for us so we just walked around the outside.

The following day we motored to the town in the dinghy, it was a very long way.  We wanted to find the lidl but it was too far out of town to walk to so we went to the Eroski instead. In the afternoon some more of our friends came in and we invited them around for some nibbles. The next morning we went back to the town and this time went to Mercadona. On the way back we bought a chocolate brownie it was delicious.

Happy new year

We have just both returned from a fabulous school camping trip.

Hi it is me Olivia Look friends at my new lip gloss

All About School

We were at school for 3 months and it was fun. When I left I got a card from the teachers, inside it there were all the teachers’ finger prints in it. I also got a book with all the children’s pictures of our adventures and all of their names. I was very happy.

Our Guests

Daddy’s friend Tim came to stay with us for a week. When he arrived we were in Cartagena but we left there the day he got here. We sailed to Ibiza which is 151 nautical miles away. Tim had not sailed before so he was a bit worried. We stopped at Talamanca on the first night as we were very tired. It was a nice bay. We then sailed to Cala Llonga. We went on the  beach and got an ice-cream with Timmy. We also got a drink. We swam and the water was warm and turquoise in colour.

We arrived at Portanaix and went to the beach, mummy and Tim went to the shops and Jessica Daddy and I stayed on the beach. When mummy and tim got back we got some drinks and had dinner in a café.

We moved on to San Antonio as it got very windy and mummy and daddy could not sleep. When we got there we went on the beach, then we went to Kealoah V’s boat and watched a film called “We bought a zoo”. This was the day Tim left to go home!.I was sad but we had had lots of fun with tim.

We met new friends and played in the park. We went shopping and bought Ice cream, chicken, pork, sweetcorn, beef and drink. After that we walked from the Mercadona back to the beach. We made a big sandcastle each and attached them together. We then went swimming and played Tennis. Tim had bought us a swing for the boat and when we got back to Arctic, we tried it out. You hang from the outside of the boat and swing out across the turquoise blue sea. It is good fun but you do get lots of bruises.

27/06/2017  me and daddy went for a swim today and went for a ride from a friend.

Easter:- On Easter Sunday we woke up to find the Easter bunny had been. He left us a glass mug, 22 Easter eggs which were decorated with different things like bunny’s, hedgehogs and chickens. One of the big bunny’s we had been given had lots of eggs with strawberry flavour inside. Another one of the chocolates said glad I found you. We emailed Grandma to let her know that the bunny had managed to find us. It was a nice surprise to get so many things to find on the boat.

We then went rowing with Tim and Arctics keel was nearly touching the bottom, Tim could touch the weed it was so shallow. I went in for a swim and it was cold.

Benirass:- On Sunday there were drummers who drummed in the sunset. I had the prettiest dress on it was turquoise with lots of sequins on it. We danced to the drummers and we took a photo of the rock which looked like Queen Victoria with Arctic in and the sun going down. There was a market there too and it sold necklaces and earrings, bracelets and hats. People were smoking on the beach at it smelt disgusting. There was a lot of jellyfish in the bay and a friend of ours got stung to glory.

Mallorca

Dragonera / Sant Elm- On Dragonera we went for a walk up a steep mountain and it went round and round like a rollercoaster. It looked like onions were growing in the path way and when we got to the top we had some lunch. When I had finished my apple,  I put the core on my leg and lizards came running up and collecting the juice out with his square tongue. A friend flew his drone and we marched back down again and saw a Herring gulls nest in the rocks. It had eggs which were blue with lighter blue spots on the shells.

When we got back we went to the beach and I got stung by a purple jellyfish. It was really hurting and I cried a little bit. It was a really big sting on my arm and mummy said I needed to wee on it but I didn’t want to. We put vinegar on it to take out the hooks and it made it feel much better. I have still got the mark on my arm but it doesn’t hurt any more.

Soller:-We went on a tram to the old town and bought some cherries for the first time and also some donuts. They were made out of potato but were still very nice. We tried to find the church with Maritha and Rainer but we couldn’t. Next we tried to find the graveyard which had signs to follow but we could not find that either so we walked back. We walked all the way back from the old town and we saw a humungous wooden peg at the side of the road. I think it belonged to a giant.

We made some new friends called Ruby and Grace who were on holiday. They were out canoeing and got scared so we asked them if they would like to come on board. We later met them at the beach. They hired a pedalo and we went on it with them. I was the first down the slide into the water. In the evening we went to our friend’s boat – Roma and Christine (estrellamar). We had drinks and snackadoos and Jessica and I drew them pictures and taught everyone a Spanish dance all about fruit. It was fun.

Porta Vells:- When we arrived in Porta Vells we saw nice blue water. The sand was white with shells in it. We also saw a jellyfish, it was purple, not like the ones back home. Cate had a race with the jellyfish to the beach and Cate won. They bought us some ice creams and then we went back in the water and Cate taught me some diving.

Later on we went for a walk into the caves in the rock. They were spooky because it was black inside them and there was broken glass on the floor making cracking sounds. In the evening Jessica and I rowed the rubbish to shore and we went for a walk with Maritha and Rainer too.

In the morning, really early, 05:00 a herd of boats came in and a little motor boat dragged their anchor into a friends boat. It hit them but not very hard.

Illetes:- We went to the beach with something called a lilo. Jessie went snorkelling for the first time and it was fun, then we both put on our fins too. After that we went to the shop that took forever to find. It had an orange turtle on it. It was really hot and mummy and I were really tired when we eventually found it. We treated ourselves with an ice cream.

Next day we took the bus to Palma. I felt a bit sick, so did Mummy. It was really hot and the bus went too fast. We were looked after by Cate and Mike who bought us an ice cream and took us around to see some of Palma. They also forced me eat some lettuce, it was YUK. When we got back to the bay we went snorkelling and saw some nice fishes and sea urchins on the rocks.

 

What an amazing place to winter. People have favourite town’s which I have never understood until staying at Cartagena. It has been excellent. Its people, culture, history, entertainment, food, school, community etc etc etc. We have all been blown away by its beauty.

I would like to start the blog this year with some thank you’s to people/businesses that have been great individuals over the wintering months and offered help and advice when they didn’t need to:-

Nigel Stuart – Managing Director – Spirit Yachts Limited (based in Ipswich) www.spirityachts.com/

Ben Jackson – Jackson Yachts (based in Ipswich) www.jacksonyachts.com/