38:54.826N 001:26.662E

26 Oct 2011

We hung around Palma enough so time to leave.  In reality a few repairs needed to get finished and then the weather added a couple of days.  So before dawn even thought about brightening the sky we dropped and freed our mooring lines.  Felt good to do that in earnest instead of a few very short trips to the boatyard or fuel dock in the past few weeks.

Palma will always be a second home to us.  We spent over a year there when we bought the boat and made local friends and got to know the town well.  During this last two month stay we enhanced those friendships and added a few more.  But one last dock walk last night was it and we made for sea.

Leaving in the pre-dawn hours put us against the flood of cruise ships and fast ferries coming in to town.  Dodging them was not an issue but keeps you on your toes.  The newly installed AIS transmitter now tells the ships who we are, our location and heading.  So at least we do not have to rely on the small navigation lights and small radar image to alert the helmsman on the much much large ship.

We waited till today to leave to avoid the high winds the prior days.  So what we got for the 70 mile trip was large roller waves and no wind to sail.  Speed was kept down as a result of the waves but they gradually dropped in size.  Wind never really grew until after we berthed in Ibiza, actually as planned.

The new marina in Ibiza is still being upgraded and we got the discounted off season rate plus some more.  Still a very high rate for very little but it is secure for the high winds expected tonight.

So we will tour the city tomorrow and head for Cartagena on the south coast of Spain Friday.

This trip was 72 nautical miles and took 10 hours.  The boat was well salted when we arrived so a washing was in order.

That’s all for now