A month on board – News & Photos

 

We have now been on board for a month and are spending a couple of nights in the harbour at Cala Gavetta in La Maddalena so it seems a good time to write up the blog.

 

We got back on board on Tuesday 25^th April, having flown Ryanair from Bournemouth to Murcia. All seemed well with the boat dry and welcoming. We had planned to spend only two or three days in Cartagena before heading towards the Balearics. However on Thursday we were bicycling to Carrefour when Sarah thought a fly had got into her mouth and spat it out only to find that it was no fly but a tooth crown! We searched but it could have been anywhere in the grass along 50m of cycle track.

 

The marina office were magnificent and within a couple of hours Sarah was in the dentist’s chair and an hour later had a temporary crown in place and a new zirconium crown on order to be ready in a week. Interestingly, the dentist and his assistant (his wife) kept a boat in the Mar Menor, spending their holidays in the Balearics, so conversation wasn’t only about teeth.

 

 

However if we had to be delayed there are worse places than Cartagena. As well as a number of boat jobs, including deep cleaning of the teak decks, there was the usual Cartagena liveaboard social life including Sunday barbecue and Wednesday tapas.

 

 

May 1^st was a public holiday but on May 2^nd the Spanish uprising in Madrid in 1802 against Napoleon is celebrated – in Cartagena this involved a military parade and laying of wreaths.

 

Thursday 4^th May – a week from the tooth loss – and the new tooth was ready. A perfect fit, indistinguishable from the rest. So the following day was spent preparing to leave, bidding our farewells and also attending an excellent concert by the Murcia Symphony Orchestra of De Falla, Ravel and Shostakovich in the very modern concert hall. For a long time we had been hoping to be in Cartagena at the time of a concert or opera and it was well worth visiting.

 

Saturday 6^th May saw us finally under way, 7 or 8 days later than planned. Our original plan had been to push on rapidly through the Balearics, south Sardinia and to Sicily for a week but the timing now looked impossible so a tour of Sardinia seemed a better bet. The first day took us to Torrevieja. Winds were initially light so two thirds of the passage was under engine which we found to be rather slow and when we started sailing the propeller would not fold but kept rotating. However we anchored satisfactorily in Torrevieja outer harbour.

 

 

 

The next morning the prop had to be inspected. We have a Sea Breathe diving snorkel which has previously proved very useful. This consists of a small oil-free air pump run from the ship’s batteries which fills an equalising bladder and then has 20 metres of hose ending in a diver’s mouthpiece fitted to a back harness. One is limited to 5 metres maximum depth and 20 metres from the pump but not limited in time as there is no tank to run out. Ideal for the Med where, with no tides, it is impossible to dry out on piles.

 

As expected the prop was absolutely foul with barnacles, although the hull itself was clean, the anti fouling having done its stuff. After 45 minutes under water the prop was again smooth and folding. Whilst Tony had been diving with a wet suit, Sarah also swam but less covered!

 

From Torrevieja an overnight passage took us to Cala Bassa in Ibiza; light southerlies so a mix of motoring and sailing. We anchored at 0730 close to friends Phil and Jill Gordon on Deliverance – a beautiful yawl which had taken them around the world. Mid-day drinks on Deliverance and supper together on Ione. Fun!

 

Next day we headed into San Antoni for the night to re-provision and fill the water tanks. The Club Nautico gives a CA discount and, at this time of year is cheaper than the Ports IB pontoons.

 

From San Antoni it was only 15 miles to the north of Ibiza and one of our favourite anchorages in Cala Blanca – an excellent passage in SW4.

 

On Friday 12^th May we made a pre-dawn start by moonlight to make passage to Mallorca. After 1½ hours the wind picked up and we got a superb sail in SW4 increasing to force 6 until the wind died off Dragonera Island on the west side of Mallorca. A bit of motoring was then needed to get into Soller by 1730 in time for a meal at our favourite Albatros restaurant.

 

 

A further day in Soller allowed us to discover another excellent restaurant Campo Sol only 10 minutes by bicycle from the pontoons!

 

 

The following night we anchored off Punta Avanzada off Pollensa beneath the most amazing luxury ‘roman villa’ – supposedly the most expensive property on the islands, used for filming the Night Manager.

 

 

Thence to Cala Talé on the south coast of Menorca. This has to be our favourite anchorage in the Balearics. Alone for the first night and joined by Tim and Nikki on Remedy (Cruising Association) for the second night.

 

The swimming buoys in Talé had not been properly secured and one broke adrift. Tony had to get wet rescuing the thing and dragging it ashore – the next morning a harbour launch with a diver arrived to lay it properly.

 

After two nights in Talé we lunched in Cala Trebeluger before moving close to Mahon to anchor for the night in Cala Teulara. From there we briefly explored Cala Alcaufar, the bay closest to Es Ventals where Andrew will be holding his 70^th  – unfortunately it was full of small boat mooring buoys and it seems unlikely that we could get in there in August.

 

Thence to the Club Maritimo in Mahon to be greeted with the usual warm welcome and – at this time of year – ridiculously low prices.

 

 

We spent three nights in Mahon. We ate at Way’s one night; Dereka joined us for lunch one day; we sent an expensive big load to the laundry; provisioned before leaving Spain (nispora, delicious olives, serrano ham, cuchot, chorizo, etc!). So by Sunday 21^st May we were ready to leave for Sardinia.

 

Leaving at dawn, the 200 mile passage to Sardinia took just 33 hours. After a quiet start we had a good sail for most of Sunday but by supper time the wind was dying and the engine was needed. At 1430 we entered the Fornelli Passage – a dog leg between rocks with 4 metre depths just south of Asinara Island – and by 1510 we were anchored off the Ancora Yacht Club.

 

 

The water here off Ancora was beautifully clear and the ROCNA anchor was well buried in sand in 5 metre depths.

 

On Tuesday 23^rd May we set off for Corsica, some 45 miles distant, somewhat depressed by the news of the Manchester bombing. However the wind filling in from the NW and slowly increasing to Force 4 acted as a balm, and we headed to the anchorage at Roccapina. Here it is an interesting entrance with a zig zag through rocks to anchor off a sandy beach.

 

Here one anchors under the Lion of Roccapina – a wonderful rock formation. Initially when we arrived at 1800 there were a few people on the beach but by supper time the beach was empty and we were the only boat. Calm and peaceful night.

 

The next morning – with the beach still empty – we went for a walk ashore and Sarah swam back to Ione.

 

 

Really a most wonderful anchorage which we had visited a couple of times previously but had never been on our own.

 

Thence to Bonifacio.

 

 

The entrance is amazing with the harbour just opening out from the cliffs.

 

We had hoped to spend a couple of nights in Bonifacio. In particular there is an excellent chandler and we wanted to investigate a replacement solar panel, however we found that the chandler was shut for 4 days for the Ascension holidays. We did however provision well – being in France – with pâté, wine boxes, taboulé, cassoulet etc which we can not expect to get in Italy. We also ate well at the Kissing Pigs!

 

However the night was marred by loud noises from the DJ disco at the base of our pontoon, so rather than stay another night as originally planned we decided to move on.

 

 

 

We are now back in Sardinia, in Cala Gavetta which is the harbour for La Maddalena. A spot we have always enjoyed. Last night, Thursday 25^th May, we ate at our usual Lio restaurant.

 

 

Today we cycled 4 kilometres to the bridge across to the Isola Caprera, which was Garibaldi’s home for many years after he retired from politics, with lovely views of the islands.

 

Tomorrow we will move on. We need to head south along the Sardinian east coast. We have booked into Porto Karalis In Cagliari for 4 nights from Saturday 10^th June and Iain & Susie Perring join us on Monday 12^th for a trip back to Menorca.

 

Best wishes to all - Tony & Sarah

 

Ione – La Maddalena, Sardinia

Friday 26^th May 2017