Alkira @ Port de San Miguel 26 June, 2014 39:04.986N 001:26.295E
ALKIRA
Charles & Maggie Bevis
Tue 24 Jun 2014 14:58
A day that didn’t go as planned.
We slipped out of Calle Basse at 07:30 as the wind was from the NW and there was no longer any shelter. What wind there was kicked up a small sea making our anchorage uncomfortable. The island of Ibiza was covered with low cloud with some lighting in the distance…. time to move on.
Coasting along the northern shore with the genoa out giving us a comfortable 4.5 knots but then, at 09:30 mayhem! The wind freshened, so I reefed the Genoa and just in time a a full 28 to 30 knots burst on us and we were doing 7.5 knots in an increasingly uncomfortable sea. We approached our intended stop in very rough conditions at Es Portixol. The sea calmed as we approached and to my relief, found it empty. Although this tiny natural harbour was a flat calm the wind funnelling down the adjacent hills was a problem. We put down two anchors but neither would hold us in the only spot with enough water to float us. I admitted defeat and after recovering all our ground gear we were ready to move on.
1.5 miles along the coast is Sant Miguel. Not as scenic as Portixol and with a large (very large) hotel dominating the head of the bay, but with good shelter and a sandy bottom - just the ticket to hold the anchor. A quick swim to see that all was well and a second anchor to hold us head up to the swell entering the bay and we are set for the night. The wind has gone, the sea has resumed it’s indigo blue colour and the sun is out in a cloudless sky. Weather changes quickly here!