July 2020
Having truly enjoyed our visit to Cartagena, Spain, we slipped Chloe's lines from Cartagena marina and motored slowly out of port. A sunny day with only a very light wind. We didn't really know what the wind would be like once we left port, as weather forecasts, from all the usual sources in this area, seem to be a crap shoot - weather dominated instead by unpredictable katabatibc winds from the coastal mountains. Cartagena is a very protected port; both by a set of interdigitated man made break waters and a series of cliff heads that maintain a tranquil water inside. Once outside, we passed the Oil Refinery depot in Cartagena Bay and then headed South, out to a calm Medi sea.
Only a very light wind on our nose as we then headed up East-North-East for about 20 NM to pass Cape Palos. From Cape Palos we nudged a few degrees further North to 45-degrees True, to head directly to the Island of Formentera, our first destination Baleric Island.
We planned to sail overnight and arrive in Formentera in the morning where we had booked a Buoy Mooring using: cbdsea.com
Our friend Roberto, at the Marina Motril had recommended we spend some time on Formentera; he was so right!
On the way, a calm sea...
But always on constant alert for fish pot entanglement dangers...
A Happy wife behind her Mosquito net. It usually does a good job of keeping her in...
the studious look... Dawn programming her evhotels.org app
Formetera. Land Ahoy!
After a simple overnight sail.. we sighted land. Right where it was supposed to be. Always a good sign...
Call de S'Oli is the perfect bay to arrive at and to moor up when you first arrive in Formetera. A friendly service RIB will greet you after a quick call on Channel #7. Book your mooring at Call De S'Oli - before you arrive at Reserve a Buoy at Calo De S'Oli tel# 971745625
email: reservas@portsib.es
The inside bay on Formentera, adjacent to Call De S'Oli, is very shallow. Suitable for small boats only with a draft of around 50cm. When dingy'ing over to this bay from Call De S'Oil and to its RIB landing area, just inside the entrance and North you pass though a small channel. In this mini channel, pay attention to the small red-green marker posts so as to stay inside the mini entrance channel or risk damaging the prop on your RIB or the Neptune Grass.
Formentera is a little island paradise. Hippy, Cute, Friendly, Quiet and without any of the concrete disco kids theme of Ibiza. The first thing to do seems to be to rent a Scooter and go for an Island wizz....
There's something just super cool about this buggy..
Checking out the delish heath foods at Tamis in the centre of Fomentera...
The inside bay in Formentera, adjacent to Call De S'Oli, is very shallow. Suitable for small boats only with a draft of around 50cm. When dingy'ing over from Call De S'Oil to the RIB landing area, just inside the entrance and North. In this min channel, pay attention to the small red-green marker posts to stay inside the mini entrance channel or risk damaging the prop on your RIB.
Far De La Mola. After a 10mile scooter ride. The furthest East end of Formentera
Along the roadside, we picked up some pretty Formentera Sun shade cloths for the cockpit. Dawn sewed some tape tabs onto them to make attachment simple. They added Colour, Fun and some Perfect Shade that flaps in the light breeze...
.After a few days on the buoy we decided to meander up to Ibiza. We didn't really fancy visiting Ibiza's night club district so we planned to visit the quieter, North-East corner of the island instead. And, with a mini step along the way. This mini-step was a tiny island called: Espalmador
Espalmador is a tiny private island between Formenterra and Ibiza and has a nice little bay on it's South end. Quite Popular, it turned out to be..
We again booked a buoy and stayed a night. It was a little more crowded with tourists on the beach but with no commercial entities.
We then wandered up the East Coast of Ibiza, looking for a quieter anchorage. Here we pass the island of Illa Rodona.
Some cool, ragged rock formations and caves along the East coast of Ibiza, as we searched for an Anchorage. This one just north of Illa TagoMago.
Generally we were planning to jump over to Palma Majorca as our next-up stop. So, to make this easier, we were ideally looking for an anchorage on the North East Corner of Ibiza. We found a really ideal spot after a while...
Cala de Sant Vicent A quiet little anchorage with good holding adjacent to the swim area. You can swim to the beach to get your lunch goodies or to browse for tourist trinkets. An ideal jumping off point for Majorca. Surrounded by schools of Banded Bream and a clear sandy bottom.
