38:52:55N 01:17:69E

 

We set off early in the morning, but fortunately were not the first away.  The Beneteau that had been close to us left before it was fully light and had clearly not seen the fishing buoys that S had spotted the night before.

 

Wherever we have been the fishermen pay no regard to the risk to other vessels that their lobster pots and nets represent.  They are unlit, and often just marked with a black oil can or plastic bottle.   Lobster pots are not too bad, but nets strung between buoys are a real problem, which is why we had made a real effort to leave or arrive before dark or after sunrise.  We had been lucky on those occasions when we were travelling at night and, given the number of buoys we had seen in the daylight, must have had some close calls somewhere on the way.

 

The Beneteau had not been so lucky and was now tangled in the nets.  Its engine disabled and only a few tens of metres from the cliffs they had done well to get their anchor down.  Soon the fishing boat was in attendance and as we weighed anchor ourselves they were being towed into the marina.

 

There was a big swell running after the storm of the night before, but we were happy that we could make the trip.  we sailed in a good 20kn wind at first but most of its strength seemed to be a local effect as it accelerated around the high cliffs along the shore.  As we went off shore it dropped.  We had a good sail for a while, and managed to run out ahead of another stormy cloud formation, looking at the heavy rain sweeping in across the shore again.  We had a few spots of rain but dodged the worst of it.  We just managed to sail to the northern edge of the ship separation scheme – heaving to for a few minutes to allow a large tanker to pass ahead of us, and then carrying on our way.

 

The rest of the journey was sail, motor, sail, motor as the wind shifted and fell.  We had been prepared to sail through the night but in the end motored in and anchored in Cala De Perroig (Port Roig?) just as night fell.  There were a lot of yachts at anchor, big and small. Large gin palaces, classic sloops and everything in between.  We picked a spot at the edge tucked in by the cliffs, enjoyed a meal on board and retired for the night.