Detour to Formentera

Kingfisher 2013
Peter Smith
Sat 2 Nov 2013 09:16
1st Nov - Finally slipped our moorings in Mahon at around 0845 on Thursday morning (31 Oct), waving goodbye to Bob (Parker) and slowly sorting ourselves out for sea as we motored out of the harbour full of excitement and anticipation of the great adventure ahead.

Leaving the shelter of the entrance was a good experience to sober us up as we headed out into big swell and 30+ knots of wind with dark clouds and rain adding to the general mood. We set only the jib initially and shot round the south eastern tip of Menorca into the relative shelter of the land before setting 2 reefs in the main and getting on our way. Great sailing throughout the day and night, with strong winds on the beam. Inadvertently giving out ibuprofen from the chart table instead of Stugeron caused a couple of dodgy moments for 2 of the crew…sorry chaps!

Our first dawn at sea brought sunshine and light winds as we approached Formentera and we became tempted by the lure of the sun reflecting on the island. Having anchored off one of the bays in the summer but never venturing ashore, and knowing Formentera's reputation for being well worth a visit, we decided to stop off at Puerto de Sabina to explore for a day before continuing on. In summer, it would be impossible to get a berth but we were welcomed into a prime mooring and spent a lazy day in the sun resting, doing small jobs on board and eating a lot….towards the end of the afternoon a crazy scheme emerged and we hired 5 scooters to explore the place properly before dark. We are now able to confirm that there does not appear to be any justification for the amazing reputation of the place. We found unremarkable scenery, a couple of unattractive towns and a lot of low lying rock! Ate ashore (in the only restaurant that was open) and got a good night's sleep.