Story - Formatera - The missing wallet

Kalandia Web Diary
Bill Peach
Sat 1 Aug 2009 11:00

The crossing to Formantera was fairly easy and we managed to sail at least half of the journey, which was a novelty after using the engine quite a bit. We turned up in the anchorage and were greeted by a local in a Rib who showed us to a mooring buoy. We found out that because many of the anchorages gets totally churned up during the peak season by anchors, The local authority had set up a scheme to provide free mooring buoys and controlled anchorage areas. Excellent idea and free, what more could I ask for, especially as we were getting reports of £500 per night in Ibiza marina.

Here we had our first experience of big yachts, seriously big, helicopter pads etc, basically the size of a cross channel ferry. There were also some seriously big sailing yachts as well, all with full crews to manage it, quite an experience.

Next day we managed to cadge a lift into Formantera with our neighbour, who owned an Oyster 56 to try and see if we could work a deal with the local chandlery to fix the outboard, or swap with a new one. Because I knew we had to wade ashore, I put my wallet and phone on plastic zipper bags. When we go in (best part of a mile) I found the wallet had fallen out of my pocket, so we stared a frantic search for the wallet. After a while we found it bobbing in the water astern of Kalandia, having been blown onto the shore. There was enough air in the bag to provide buoyancy to keep it afloat. I was extremely relieved, the thought of cancelling all the cards was a nightmare. Eventually we went back to the Chandler only not to reach a deal.

 

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