In Valencia Again

 

Our last report was from Sant Antoni on Ibiza just after Andrew and Sally left us. We are now in Marina Real Juan Carlos I in Valencia where we will leave Ione to return to UK for 3 weeks.

 

 

When we had previously visited Sant Antoni a fortnight earlier work was progressing on the development of the new clubhouse with a promised opening date of Friday 17^th May. This somehow seemed unlikely with a huge amount of work remaining. However amazingly by Thursday 16^th things were coming together. The Chiringuito, the little wooden bar opposite the club, where Andrew and Sally had danced the night away a couple of days previously, was hoist aloft and hauled away on a lorry.

 

 

The next day, Friday 17^th as planned, the work was finished – at 1800 with the party starting at 1900 – and the marineros assembled in their best outfits.

 

 

And we were invited to attend the celebrations. Many speeches but some good wine and excellent canapés!

 

 

The party went on late into the night.

 

Although it had been very windy for the celebrations, at least the rain held off. We ended up staying in Sant Antoni for a whole week whilst it either rained or blew or both. However there are worse places to be stuck and we had the added bonus of Ray and Judy Steward in ‘Start Again’ on the same pontoon with whom we could share drinks, meals ashore and a game of cards.

 

 

We did finally manage to get away on Wednesday 22^nd and had a superb sail in company with ‘Start Again’ all around the south coast of Ibiza and up past Ibiza Town to anchor in Cala Llonga.

 

 

This is very much the haunt of the English – many restaurants ashore, all with menus in English rather than Spanish and offering every combination of fried eggs, bacon, beans, toast, tea etc. However the views to seaward are attractive!

 

 

From Cala Llonga it was only a couple of miles up the coast to Santa Eulalia, the third largest town on the island and with a substantial marina – affordable at this time of year but over €100 per night in the height of season.  A pleasant tourist town with a good beach and apparently no nightclubs. The walk to the top of the hill and the old 16^th century church, where an English wedding had just finished, was worthwhile, particularly to see the ‘left luggage box’ graveyard in a beautiful setting. We also managed to eat remarkably well with Ray and Judy in a tapas bar within the marina.

 

 

The forecast for the weekend indicated favourable wind to cross to Valencia, so we left Santa Eulalia on Friday to position ourselves for the crossing. A mixture of good sailing and then motoring past the amazing rock formations on the south west coast brought us to anchor in Cala Codola – the only boat in the cala, where we spent a peaceful night..

 

We made a dawn start on Saturday 25^th May to head NW to Valencia. Initially we had little wind, then even a bit on the nose but then an excellent sail with a NE breeze, dying at noon to be replace by SE force 5 as we crossed into the western hemisphere to enter Marina Real Juan Carlos I in Valencia at 1930.

 

Since then we have been doing various boat jobs, laundry etc, in preparation for leaving Ione. However yesterday we did manage a long day on the bicycles riding into the centre of the city – there are many cycle tracks and the terrain is level – where in addition to an excellent tapas lunch, we visited the ceramics museum housed in a fascinating old palace.

 

 

Bicycling back along the old river bed we passed the vast cultural complex of ‘The City of Arts and Sciences’. Over the past 15 years or so, Valencia has spent a massive amount of money on development, including the marina where we are now, which was constructed for the 2007 America’s Cup and is also the site of the Formula 1 track. However the America’s Cup warehouses are standing empty and falling into disrepair and the Grand Prix is now only held every two years alternating with Barcelona.

 

Tomorrow – Thursday 30^th May – we leave the boat to take a train to Barcelona where we have booked a flat through airbnb for 3 nights. It is some years since either of us were in Barcelona so we will do the tourist thing of museums and sightseeing. Then on Sunday we fly home for 3 weeks. We will return to Ione on 23 June by which time we hope summer will have arrived and the water will be warm.

 

Best wishes and fair winds to all.

 

Tony & Sarah

 

Ione – 29 May 2013 – Valencia.