South Down the Italian Coast

We have now started our journey towards Sicily and our final destination for this year Ragusa, from Rome we headed south 26 miles to Anzio and anchored outside the Marina, there were only three other yachts anchored in the bay so we had a great deal of space to choose from and the holding was good.

We settled down for a relaxing evening and watched the sunset, just as we were about to call it a night the Coastal Guardia came along side and asked to see our ships papers and passports, whilst these were being checked Kevin got chatting to one of the Guardia. Apparently he was from Sicily and started showing pictures of his family, and told us he didn’t much care for mainland Italy he much preferred Sicily but there weren’t any jobs there. Suddenly they decided they needed to move off as there was a boat in the vicinity without any lights, they were in such a hurry to get going they forgot to give us our papers back, so Kevin told them “no papers No mooring line” the papers were swiftly handed back and Kevin threw them their mooring line, we waved them goodbye and they wished us a safe journey.

The following day we set off for the Pontine Islands and the island of Palmarola, on arrival in the bay we agreed it was one of the nicest places we had been to, we anchored off and then set off in the dingy to explore the caves within the bay.

Caves at Palmarola

We got so carried away that we ended up circumnavigating the whole island without having to fill up the outboard with more fuel, back in the bay we spied Dakini, our friends Helen and Marcels catamaran, and so we pulled up along side to say hello, they were quite shocked to see us and welcomed us on board for a drink.

Later that day Marcel took us swimming into one of the caves which got narrower and narrower and was pitch black inside, but once you got so far in there was an opening in the cave letting the light in. have to say I was a little frightened as I just could not see anything and when the flash of Marcels camera went off I screamed in sheer terror, which both Kevin and Marcel found very amusing.

We stayed for two nights in Palmarola before making our way across the Ponza, we anchored up in the bay and although not as nice as Palmarola it was still quite a lovely setting if not a little busy with the small tourist ferries and the speed boats. On the Sunday there it was heaving but by the evening everyone had gone.

On the Saturday we went to get some provisions and explore the town which is quite quaint, small narrow streets with lots of tourist shops, and you are able to stock up on provisions however the choice is limited. We also found a laundry service there but at 20 euros per wash we decided to give it a miss.

On the Sunday we got up early as we wanted to walk over to the light house on the headland, so Marcel and Helen picked us up in their dingy at 0800, at one stage we ended up in the cemetery which was interesting but not in the direction we needed to go, so we turned around and back into the town.

We eventually seemed to be going in the right direction as we followed Kevin’s lead, and then we came to a fork in the road and the dilemma of which road to take. At that point and Italian women in her car stopped by us and Marcel asked for directions, the next minute we were all piled in her car and heading to her house, which she informed us had the best views on the island and was also on the way to the path to the lighthouse.

The journey to her house took us up one of the narrowest roads I have ever seen with sharp corners and very steep, I wouldn’t fancy driving up it myself.

She wasn’t wrong about her house having the best views, from one point you can see Palmarola one side of the island and the bay of Ponza on the other. We never did make to the lighthouse as she offered us coffee and water then showed us around her house and gardens, Marina was lovely woman.

From Ponza we headed with Marcel and Helen to Capri, which is supposed to be the most beautiful in the Med, the journey was approximately 50 miles and we arrived at 18:30, at first we tried the anchorage just outside the marina but the depth was far too deep for us to anchor safely. We radioed to Marcel and Helen who were bringing up the rear and agreed that we would move to the south anchorage. As we sailed around the island the views were spectacular and you could see why it had got the reputation.

Capri

However when we got to the anchorage on the south side the swell was quite big which meant it would be a rocky rolly night so we continued on to the east anchorage, again the swell was quite big and the depths too deep and so we ended up going back to the south anchorage. By this time it was dark and Kevin felt it was too risky to try and anchor in a bay that went shallow quickly, where half of it was bouyed off and there were rocks nearby. After several discussions between us we decided to head to the main land and into the bay of Naples and anchor in a place called Marina Mata, a small bay with good shelter. By the time we arrived there it was nearly half past ten and we were all shattered.

The lesson we learnt from this is that although the pilot book indicated there were anchorages around Capri depths weren’t given, therefore next time we need to research the anchorages before setting off and have a plan B.

The next day we headed off to Agroploi, Marcel had worked out a deal that we could stay in the marina for 50 euros a night instead of the usual 70. When we arrived we headed to the pontoon we had been directed to, the marinara was there to assist us with mooring, however he was the most sullen person we have met so far. As Kevin tried to set up the plank, which is our passerell the marinara was straight there informing Kevin that he had to lift the end of the pontoon and keep it off, which is not easy when you are trying to set it up.

It appeared that each pontoon was managed by a different Company as Marcel and Helen had a very different experience to us, their marinara couldn’t have been more helpful and even loaned his car to Marcel  so that we could visit the ancient site of Paestum the following day.

On first impressions the marina and town did not seem up to much, however our initial impression changed after we walked into the old town, the main street was pedestrianised with cafes, bars and restaurants lining the sides, very picturesque.

In the afternoon we set off for Paestum and paid our 10 euros each to go into the museum and then to walk around the ruins. The museum was interesting to a point, but not set up in any chronological order of how the ruins were discovered and the workings of the archaeological site. The ruins themselves had three almost complete temples one each for Zeus, Hera and Athena, they were quite spectacular and made us wonder on how such huge buildings like these were constructed without all the machinery used today for construction.

From Paestum we set of for a small village in the mountains called Carpaccio, the roads were very narrow and steep and we did wonder if the little car would make it up, especially at one point when we stopped half way up. On arrival at the village we parked the car and headed off to get an ice cream which we ate as we admired the view down the valley to the sea.

Carpaccio view to the sea

The next day we left Marcel and Helen and we made our way to Scario, and I think I had one of the most hair raising journeys I have ever had. About a third of the way into the sail we started to see the clouds thicken and darken, at one point we saw a tornado behind us, which thankfully was going in the opposite direction to us.

As the clouds got blacker and blacker we decided to take down the sails and the Bimini, don our wet weather gear, life jackets and safety clips, no sooner had we completed this it was like someone had thrown a switch, we went from no wind to Force 7/8 winds, torrential rain and a very unpleasant sea state. I huddled in the corner holding on for grim death with a few tears trying to get some shelter from the spray hood to no avail, it wasn’t long before both of us were soaked to the skin, and even though Kevin told me to go downstairs I couldn’t leave him on his own on deck.

After about an hour things started to calm down a bit and eventually the sun came out but the swell was still quite big and so we decided to spend the night in the marina at Scario rather than at anchor, again the marina wasn’t up to much, no showers or toilets as in Agropoli, but at least the marina staff were very friendly and it was a more reasonable 40 euros a night.

At night we took a stroll along the marina front where there are cafes, bars and restaurant’s, there was very little activity and there did not seem to be any soul to the place. We only stayed one night as the town clock kept us awake for most of the night as it chimed the hour and every 15 minutes after that, the pilot book had indicated it only chimed during the day but that does not appear to be the case. The next day we moved over the bay to Sapri.

Before we set off for Sapri we ventured into the centre of Scario, our initial impression didn’t change much from the night before, but we did find somewhere to get some provisions, and the cobbled streets leading down to the harbour looked quite quaint.

Back on board we set off across the bay, on arrival we both agreed this was a much nicer town than Scario, we anchored just outside the marina and waited for the arrival of Helen and Marcel who had emailed us to let us know they were on their way.

So the next day we all set off for Cetraro another 40 miles down the coast, the coast line is quite stunning with its beautiful mountains as a backdrop with small villages perched on top.

Unfortunately there is also a lot of litter floating in the sea, we have come across a large amount of polystyrene boxes that the fishermen use, empty bottles, and other assorted rubbish which is a shame. Especially when the Italians have a large number of marine reserves along the coast which you cannot anchor in. However Kevin thinks this is just a ploy to get you to use the very expensive marinas as there is usually one just by a marine reserve.

On arrival in Cetraro we anchored outside the marina about 30/40 metres off the beach, initially the water although not clear due to its chalky bottom appeared clean but on closer inspection there was quite a significant amount of debris floating about and so our planned swim was abandoned.

After looking at the weather forecast we decided to stay at anchor for two nights and then make our way further south on the 16^th September, and so on our second day there we ventured ashore for a walk along the beach, the walk into town was quite some way and so we didn’t venture that far. We did however stop off at a very popular Gelateria and indulged in some rather good homemade Italian ice cream which Marcel treated us to before heading back to the boat.

That night we were wined and dined on Dakini and the girls were once again beaten by the boys at Brandi Dog, as we said our goodnights we agreed to set our alarms for 0700 in readiness to leave at 0800 and joked about the possibility of being woken earlier by the swell which had been predicted to increase around 0600. What we hadn’t expected was for it to start at 0100, or for it to get as high as it did, by 0230 we decided that it was no longer safe to stay in the bay. Our options were to head into the marina or head out to sea, we decided against the marina due to the direction of both the wind and the swell as it potentially could bash us against the harbour wall and so out to sea we went.

The conditions continued to get worse, as I went forward to raise the anchor the bow of the boat was banging down into the waves requiring me to hang on for grim death, anchor up I crawled along the side of the deck back to the cockpit and Kevin slowly made his way out of the bay, his concern being that with the wave height and shallow depth we could easily go aground. Once out of the bay there was no going back and we headed out to sea, for the first two hours we didn’t seem to be making any headway at all, the waves by now were a good 2 to 2.5 metres high and coming from all different directions making it difficult for Kevin to steer the boat so that we weren’t slamming directly into them. At one point we were caught by a rogue wave as the boat slammed back down into the water the spray came right over the boat and poured of the sides and back of the bimini, I thought our time had come.

At the same time the rain was coming down in torrents and there was lightening all around us, for the second time in two days the computer, iPad, hard drive and phone were put in the oven just in case we were hit by lightning.

By daybreak the storm which at its height reached force 8 seemed to be easing, but the swell and the rain continued for the remainder of the journey, so we were glad when we made it into one of the marinas at Vibo Valentia. Initially the charge was 55 euros but after some discussion/haggling Kevin was able to get the price down to 35 euros per night as we intended staying for more than one night.

The staff at Marina Carmello couldn’t have been more helpful, with one of the marianero’s coming on board to secure the lazy lines, whilst the other helped tie off the stern lines and then provide us with a plank to get on and off the boat. We also had access to toilets and shower facilities which although basic were clean, so we agreed for the price we had good value for money compared to Aggroploi and Scario.

In the evening we were treated to a coffee cream ice cream with compliments of the marina staff, we have never experienced that before and our impressions of the marina continued to improve.

Our intention from here is to sail across to Stromboli to see the volcano there provide us with a spectacular light show as we sail around it at night, but having looked at the weather for the next week we may end up staying put until conditions improve as it is forecast for continual rain until next Tuesday, thunder storms, and a sea swell of about 2 metres, and for the moment I think we have had our fair share of sailing in stormy conditions.

Distance Travelled 2012: 2471Nm

Distance Travelled 2013: 2311Nm

Total Distance: 4782Nm

Our Present Position: https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=38.715519,16.128689&hl=en&sll=38.705807,16.109047&sspn=0.036906,0.077162&mra=mift&mrsp=0&sz=14&t=m&z=14

Corsica & Rome

Our last week in Corsica was spent with Kevin’s brother Steve his wife Madeline and their two children Sophie and Harry, they were staying in an apartment near to the bay of Porta Vecchia  so we anchored in the bay for the duration of their visit. As stated in my previous entry the bottom is quite foul but the holding is very good, which was a godsend as we experienced some very strong winds our first night in the bay, requiring Kevin to check no other yachts anchor was dragging our way. At the same time other yachtsmen were checking/repositioning their anchors or moving to a different part of the bay altogether.

On our first day with Steve and Madeline the weather was not too good and the winds were still quite strong and so we spent our time either at their apartment or sitting by the pool. The following day however we set off early for a bay about 14 miles away called Porto Nova. The bay had clear blue waters but it was very cold something we had not been used to, that didn’t stop the kids however and they were soon in the water whilst the adults did a bit of chilling out and sunbathing.

Madeline relaxing in the sun

Prior to coming out to see us Madeline had done some research on which bays she would like to sail to, one of which was Santa Giulia, a bay which we had considered going into before but is buoyed off making it difficult to get anywhere near the beach to anchor, so we went in the car. The write up in the pilot book gives it a great description but in reality the bay is semi-circular with a very small strip of sand around, the water is crystal blue which means you can see the amount of debris floating in the water. The beach was packed and it was difficult to find anywhere to park ourselves. In the end we found a small patch of sand and plonked ourselves down, and so not one we would visit again.

Santa Giulia Beach

The weather although hot was unpredictable, the winds never blowing in the direction forecast, and not at the wind speed predicted either and so more often than not we would plan our schedule for the following day according to the forecast and then find we would be sailing with the wind on our nose which meant we had to put in several tacks to get to our destination.

Another bay we visited by boat was Anse de Cola, about nine miles north of Porta Vecchia, on the way we were treated to an aerial display by two fire fighting planes, as they flew above us and then down onto the sea to pick up water before dispersing it again back into the sea, the kids were beside themselves at the spectacle and took loads of pictures.

Anse de Cola is a much nicer beach than Santa Giulia, again crystal clear waters, but not busy at all. Whilst there Steve, Madeline and the kids took the dingy to explore the bay, and on return Madeline was wet through, Sophie had been driving the dingy into the waves, which broke over the front of the dingy soaking Madeline to the skin.

Of all the bays we visited with Steve and Madeline I think our favourite all round was Golfe de Rondinara. Again crystal clear waters and a lovely sandy beach, once anchored Kevin set the plank up as a diving board and Harry was the first off followed by Kevin, Steve and Sophie.

Harry

Sophie

Steve

Even Madeline was willing to have a go but chickened out at the last minute, I on the other hand didn’t even make an attempt preferring to gracefully descend into the water using the bathing ladder.

At one point in the day Kevin started to feed the fish with some bread and shortly afterwards Sophie who was in the water was surrounded by a large number of fish.

Throughout their time with us they were also treated to displays from “Macho Man” as described by Rod Heikall in his book Italian Cruising Waters. These are usually but not always Italian men with more money than sense who drive speed boats and who frequent places where others are quietly enjoying themselves, arriving and departing at high speeds creating  a huge wash that then sends those boats at anchor rocking and rolling over the place, requiring the occupants to garb any articles not secured down so as to reduce any breakages. These macho men also have a habit of zooming past you at high speeds as close into you as they can get whilst you are trying to sail, creating the same problem, only this time the helmsman has try and ride the wash whilst the first mate tries frantically to ensure nothing gets damaged. On a couple of occasions when this has happened to us we have ended up with broken glasses in the cupboard so now we stuff them with tea towels to stop things moving around.

All too soon their time with us was over, the night before Steve and Madeline departed for home and we made our way to mainland Italy, we went up into the old town of Porto Vecchia, it was lovely, it certainly changed our initial impression of the place and is well worth paying a visit. That night we had a meal in a restaurant recommended to Steve, where we had the house special, I think we all agreed afterwards although very nice it was one of the dearest lasagnes we had ever had. Back down at Steve and Madeline’s apartment we said our goodbyes and headed back across the bay to Miss Lilly and the next leg of our journey.

The following day we were up bright and early and made our preparations to cross to mainland Italy and our first destination Di Roma Marina 139 miles away. Again we had planned our crossing according to the weather forecast and once again it was different than had been predicted and so instead of sailing all the way as over as planned we did have to motor sail for about 50% of the journey.

As we approached the mainland there was something serene about the coast line, and the waters were a beautiful aqua colour and flat calm. On entering the marina we were met by the marina staff in their dingy who escorted us to our birth and assisted with mooring up, they couldn’t have been more helpful, and the cost per night was 34 Euros including water and electricity which we thought for mainland Italy was good value for money.

The next day we set off to visit Rome a place I had always wanted to visit, and where Kevin had been several times mainly for work and so it was the first time for both of us to do the sightseeing bit. So at 0900hrs we boarded the bus to the metro and caught the train into Rome, have to say the roads aren’t up to much, certainly very little has been spent on them unlike Spain. On route we stopped off to get a map and guide book and over a coffee planned our day.

First stop was the Colosseum, as you come out of the metro station there it stands looking very majestic. Once we had found the entrance we joined the queue to get our tickets and video guide, which took about 30 minutes. There are several ticket touts outside the Colloseum trying to get you to buy tickets to get access without queuing but the cost was quite steep and so we declined.

Inside the Colosseum it was huge and we were glad we had paid a little extra for the video guide as it helped put everything into context regarding its history and its use, along with how it used to look.

On our planned list of must see sights were the Roman Forum, Monument to Victor Emmanuel II, Fontana Di Trevi, Vatican City and the Sistine Chapel. The Trevi Fountain which is my daughters favourite place in Rome was crowed and took some of the shine of the place, however it was still worth visiting and as it was very hot it was great to run your fingers through the cool water and to the traditional thing and throw a coin into the fountain thus ensuring our return.

Vatican city was just how I imagined, St Peters Square is vast and so was the queue to get into the Sistine Chapel, after a fairly lengthy debate we decided it was far too hot to stand in the queue that was moving towards the entrance very slowly and would take a couple of hours, and so we made our way back to one of the metro stations to head back into the centre of Rome. All in all though this was the only sight on our must see list that we didn’t get to see.

By now my feet were killing me and so we made our way to a little coffee bar/gelateria and had a well earned ice cream before heading off to have a look at some sights that were not on our list. Along the way I spied a nice pair of shoes in a shop window and went in to have a look, having tried them on and got a nod off approval off Kevin I decided to buy them for 22 euros more than half the original price, bargain. I also noticed a lovely dress which I also purchased however this was not in the sale so not quite such a bargain.

We would have liked to finish our day with a meal at one of the restaurants but as we were unsure how long the trains would run back into Ostia where the marina was we decided to head back and have a meal at one of the restaurants around the marina, on hindsight this was a bad choice.

We had originally planned to spend a couple of days in Rome, but after a full on day the day before plus we had managed to see most of what we wanted to see we decided to continue our journey south and over to the Pontine Islands. With hindsight I think if I was to go to Rome again and hopefully we will it would be easier to stay in the city, that way we could have taken a little bit more time with our sight seeing and had that meal in one of the restaurants. 

Distance Travelled 2012: 2471Nm

Distance Travelled 2013: 2029Nm

Total Distance: 4500Nm

Our Present Position: https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=39.510133,15.94165&hl=en&sll=39.484965,15.982018&sspn=0.073,0.154324&mra=mift&mrsp=0&sz=13&t=m&z=13

Sardinia and Corsica

I have to say my first impressions of Sardinia have not faltered in any way, the north of the island is picturesque with clear blue water and plenty of bays to tuck in and get shelter from any winds. Swimming of the back of the boat has been one of the highlights as the waters are so clear, and quite warm.

Look, a floating head!

Along the way we met up with Helen and Marcel who had friends on board plus their Helen's daughter Alex, so met up with them for a couple of evenings. Unfortunately not long after arriving in Sardinia I had to take a trip home to sort out a medical problem, which left Kevin to do some sailing on his own, which he enjoyed immensely.

He also spent time meeting up with Helen and Marcel and their new guests Marcus, Bridgeta and their daughter Geraldine. In the evenings they would entertain either on Dakini or Miss Lilly and invariably play a game of Brandi Dog. This is a Swiss board/card game played in teams and taken very seriously, with usually the men winning.

Once given the all clear re my medical problem I was soon back on Miss Lilly with Kevin, although it had only been two weeks Kevin was convinced I had been away for three, hopefully that meant he missed me.

On arrival at the airport Kevin and Marcel had arranged for me to be picked up by one of the marina staff from Porto Asfodeli, a small marina still in development. Apparently they do a pickup service to and from the airport for people using the marina. I have to say this was a god send as I didn’t fancy waiting for a bus from the airport to Olbia and then a train to Golfo Arranchi in the heat, which was the journey I took to the airport. The marina also takes you to the nearest Supermarket a few miles away, but unfortunately on the day we wanted to go shopping they were busy and couldn’t spare anybody to take us.

On my first night back we went out for a meal in Portisco, which is a dingy ride from Porto Asfodeli and a very picturesque Marina where you can get some provisions and the washing done. The restaurant was lovely, right by the marina, unfortunately as soon as the meal was brought to us the wasps arrived. However the owner of the restaurant gave us a great tip for getting rid of them, just burn some ground coffee on a small plate (needs to be a ceramic plate not melamine as I did and ended up scorching the bottom of the plate when I tried it) they soon disappear.

The following day it was off to Portisco again to get some provisions and do the washing, so I was soon back in the swing of live aboard life. With the washing soon dried we set of for Porto Liccia, a small popular bay and best to arrive late in the day when all the motor boats have gone otherwise there is very little room.

From Porto Liccia we gradually made our way north back to Potro Liscia in preparation for our trip across to Corsica. The night before we were due to make the trip Helen and Marcel arrived on Dakini and so we arranged to make the crossing together.

Although originally the forecast was for light winds we managed to get a force 4 and sail the whole way across which was a bonus as we had expected to be motoring all the way. Our first anchorage was in Golfe de Sant’Amanza, a large bay with several anchorages to choose from. We were originally going to anchor at the head of the bay but it was quite shallow in areas and did not look very nice and so we decided to anchor at Anse de Balistra, which has clear waters and a beautiful sandy beach.

The following day we sailed to Porto Vecchio where we will meet up with Kevin’s brother and his family in two weeks’ time. Porto Vecchio is a lovely little town and the marina staff very helpful. We anchored just outside the marina but were able to take the dingy in and moor up there whilst we got some shopping done, it’s very rare you can do this.

The waters where we were anchored looked very murky and the bottom was quite foul, which we found out when we lifted the anchor, so this has left us with a slight dilemma as to where to moor when Kevin’s brother meets us.

On the way both to and from Porta Vecchia we were passed by huge numbers of motor boats coming in the opposite direction causing tremendous waves, causing the boat to bounce about, I have never seen anything like it. As we left Porto Vecchia at about 1700 there seemed to be a mad dash for them all to get back in the marina, it must have been absolute chaos when they all arrive in the marina at the same time.

As well as the small motor boats we have seen very large Gin Palaces, even one with its own Helicopter on the back.

Most of them at first appeared to be registered in Britain, but it’s actually the Cayman Islands, which is apparently a tax dodge, and so when the coastal police make an appearance they either up anchor and disappear or alter course and head for a different bay, it’s quite amusing to watch.

Over the next couple of days we made our way around to the west coast of Corsica to a bay recommended to us a by a sailing friend of Helens, and I have to say it was a great recommendation, again crystal blue water, you can’t help but drop your anchor is sand with a beautiful sandy beach as its backdrop. That night we decided we would have a barbeque on the beach Helen provided the food and we provided the wine, it was a great evening.

Golfo Roccapina - Great beach

The following day we headed for Porto Pollo to get more provisions, the sign in the marina stated that the Spa Supermarket was 150 meters away more like 1500, and wouldn’t you know it when we got there it was shut and not due to open until 1630 another one and a half hours later.   At 1630 we tried again this time getting Marcel to drop us off at the beach near the supermarket to save us having to carry everything back along the road. I have to say it was mayhem inside as every man and his dog seemed to be in there, and as the aisles were very narrow it was all on to see what you wanted. In my haste to get the shopping done and out I picked up  5L box of white wine instead of red, Kevin was not amused.

That night we went out for a meal at Le Toucan and had the best Mussels and chips ever, poor Marcel chose the Darado fish and was quite disappointed.

The next day we started to make our way south back to Sardinia  as we had no internet access in Corsica and needed to sort the boat insurance out, so over the next two days we headed to Porto Liscia.   Helen and Marcel planned to continue sailing south as they make their way to Tunisia and so we had our last meal together before going our separate ways and meeting up again in Ragusa for the winter.

The forecast is for strong winds over the next two days and so we have decided to stay put for a short whilst and get a few chores done before heading back to Corsica to meet Kevin’s brother.

Distance Travelled 2012: 2471Nm

Distance Travelled 2013: 1750.5Nm

Total Distance: 4221.5Nm

Our Present Position: https://maps.google.it/maps?saddr=41.19196,9.293205&hl=en&sll=41.168317,9.358978&sspn=0.113587,0.264187&mra=mift&mrsp=0&sz=13&t=m&z=13

Goodbye Spain

We have now arrived in Sardinia, we left Porta Pollensa Mallorca on Wednesday 17^th July with the intention of stopping of in Menorca for a few days. On our approach to Menorca we checked on the weather forecast, as the winds although not brilliant for sailing  were in our favour,( as in not on the nose), we decided to  would head straight to Sardinia. Our last sighting of Spain was as the sun went down, and what a sunset.

Our last few weeks in Spain were spent with Kevin’s daughter Rachel and the two granddaughters Summer and Taylor, once on board they were given strict instructions as to where they could go on the boat when on deck. As you can imagine where two small children are concerned this was challenged on several occasions, but on the whole they stayed within the cockpit area.

Their first night was spent in San Antonio, not one of our favourite places to say the least but it’s a good place to stay if picking people up from the airport. The following day we headed for Carla Basa, a place that had been recommended to us, the bay has beautiful clear waters and a lovely sandy beach, to say it was busy was an understatement. However once ashore the girls were straight in the water followed not long after by their mum and Kevin.

At one point Taylor started to play with the water pistol but she couldn’t quite get the hang of how to fill it, so I lent a helping hand, she then went without any direction from me, Kevin however thinks otherwise and squirted the whole lot of Kevin, he was not amused. She on the other hand thought this was great and was straight back in the water to refill, this time however she started to squirt it as she left the waters edge and managed to get a direct hit on a group of young Spanish teenagers, the surrounding sunbathers thought it hilarious.

The majority of people on the beach were young and trendy, and at one point we were treated to various fashion shows put on by slim leggy girls, Kevin was in his element. Whilst on the beach you can spend a great deal of money without moving of your beach towel as the various venders selling drinks, fruit, clothes, watches etc walk past you.

From Carla Basa we headed north with the intention of completely circumnavigating the island, our next stop was Portinatx, another lovely bay, with a play park, which both girls loved. We stayed there for three nights before heading off to Isla Togamago, there was no beach there so our intention was to stay the one night before heading south the next day. We chose Tagamago as a result of the predicted wind direction overnight so that we would escape the swell, we should have known better, the wind changed direction and so the boat rock and rolled all night, poor Rachel had not experienced this before and so hardly got any sleep as she rolled about the cabin.

One of the days was spent In Evissa Ibiza’s capital, which Rachel wanted to see, we weren’t sure how the girls would fair walking around in the heat and not going to the beach, but they had a great time especially walking up the hill to the old castle, especially in the tunnels where they could shout and hear the echo.

Our next stop was Formentera and Cala Sahona, one of my favourite places, the bay is crystal clear so you cant help but drop your anchor in sand, however it does  get busy especially at the weekend but as the bay and the beach are quite big there is plenty of room. Kevin would take us to the beach in the dingy, and Summer would sit in the small blow up dingy left by Isaac, she thought this was great and would wave to all the other boat owners as we went past.

On the way back to San Antonio we stopped off at  Cala Tarida, another cala that had been recommended to us, and whilst the area in which we were anchored was lovely and clear the water by the beach was a murky yellow and so we only stayed the one night before going back to Cala Basa which was Rachel’s favourite place.

Our last day with them was spent on the beach, we arrived early to find a nice spot near the waters edge, spread out the beach towels and settled down. The next minute we were surrounded by a hoard of school kids and their teachers for a day out at the beach, the noise was deafening at times and we were a little concerned that Summer and Taylor may end up merging with the group.

The latest toy being shown off

Soon it was time to head back to San Antonio, Rachel took the helm and off we set, she is a natural sailor, obviously takes after her dad.

Some photo's of the girls:

On the morning they left we were up early, this was the first time we had to wake the girls normally it was them waking us. Whilst Kevin took them to the airport I started to get cleaned up. I was really sad to see them go and the boat felt empty without them.

With all the cleaning and washing done we left san Antonia as soon as we could and headed back to Portinatx, where we would head to Mallorca from the following day.

Unfortunately there was no wind the day we made the crossing and so we ended up motoring all the way, Kevin got really bored and started telling some dire jokes to pass the time.

Once back in Mallorca we quickly made our way back to Poto Pollensa, I had had a text from my friend Jill to say her and her husband Kevin would be arriving on the 15^th July and so we arranged to spend a day with them before heading off to Menorca. We met them the following day and brought them back to the boat via the dingy Jill looked absolutely terrified but she managed to get in the dingy without falling which she is prone to. On board we had lunch and whiled away the afternoon reminiscing and catching up on the gossip, it was great to be able to show them the boat as they had heard so much about it.

Jill and Kevin

That evening we went out for a meal before we said our goodbyes and they waved us off. The journey to Sardinia took just under three days and we clocked up 306 miles which took us over our first thousand for this year and so we celebrated as before with a steak and some pink Fizz

Since leaving mainland Spain we have mainly anchored overnight and have only been in a marina for three days, that was only due to the bad weather and poor holding in Alcudia bay. The new water maker has made this possible and although expensive it has enabled us to have greater freedom in where we choose to go and so a good investment.

We plan to spend at least a month cruising around Sardina, first impressions, it’s a lovely island with lots of good anchorages, nice sandy beaches and not overly commercialised.  However the number of super yachts is far greater than we saw in Spain plus much bigger, and the majority British registered, who said there was a recession on.

We now connect to ships AIS database so for those who are interested you can see our present position on a Marine Tracking web site such as Marine Ttraffic.com, Shipfinder.com or Fleetmon.com

Search for "Miss Lilly" MMSI2350224444 and it should show our position.

 

Distance Travelled 2012: 2471Nm

Distance Travelled 2013: 1248Nm

Total Distance: 3719Nm

Our Present Position: https://maps.google.it/maps?saddr=41.000112,9.621765&hl=en&sll=41.023557,9.540939&sspn=0.113838,0.264187&mra=mift&mrsp=0&sz=13&t=m&z=13

Back in Ibiza

On Claire and Steve’s first day we arranged to pick them up at the Key near the marina and bring them back to the boat. Isaac was more than happy to put his life jacket on, I thought he may object because it is a bit cumbersome. Once on the boat Isaac was intrigued by the inside of the boat rather than the outside, he seemed to think it was one big Wendy House, and whenever he was on board spent more time down below exploring the cupboards and cabins than on deck. When he was on deck he liked to look out for the fish or play with the ropes rather than have a go at steering the boat, his dad on the other hand quite enjoyed taking the Helm.

We took them sailing a couple of times, the first day we sailed to Cala Formentor, but no sooner had we dropped the anchor and started to prepare lunch we were told we could not anchor in the bay and had to move, it was such a shame as it was a lovely Cala.

The second time we went to Cala Murta, again a lovely Cala but you couldn’t take the dingy ashore and so Kevin took Isaac and his dad for a look round the bay in the dingy whilst Claire and I prepared lunch, which was taken on deck.

After lunch Isaac ventured out on deck for a look round, but didn’t stay for long.

The other days were spent at the beach, where Isaac loved playing in the sand, either building sand castles our getting buried in it by his dad and granddad.

He wasn’t too impressed with the temperature of the water he thought it was a bit too cold, and I must say I had to agree with him and so only ventured waist deep.

In the evenings we would go back to their villa for a barbecue, where Isaac insisted we either play pool or ping pong.

Much too soon their time with us was over and we had to say our goodbyes, Kevin and I met them at the marina key in order for Claire to handover the various toys bought for Isaac over the week so that Kevin’s granddaughters could play with them when they arrived in two weeks’ time. We hugged and kissed each other, that is apart from Isaac he wasn’t hugging or kissing anybody, and waved them off. Have to say I shed a little tear on the way back to the boat.

Before we left Porto Pollensa we met up again with Dave and Julie on Carla Christina who had arrived just as we were anchoring back in the bay on our second to last day with Claire and Steve. They knew we were in the bay and had been looking for us so that they could anchor close by.  Unfortunately on their first night in the bay they lost their dingy, Dave thought it had come loose in the night and had blown away as we had had some strong winds during the night. So at 06:30 he gave us a call to see if Kevin could help him find it. After a couple of hours of looking in the most likely places it could have been blown too they gave up looking. Kevin was convinced it had been stolen and Dave himself came to that conclusion, apparently the night before when they had gone ashore there were some street traders setting up stalls by the marina key, one of the stall holders appeared very interested in his dingy and asked lots of questions even where his yacht was at anchor in the bay. He thought they were just being friendly, as did we when we arrived back from Claire and Steve’s Villa to be asked similar questions, so we reckoned they were actually  targeting us, fortunately for us we didn’t give them too much information and so that is perhaps why we still have our dingy.

In view of this incident we now pull our dingy up and secure it to the side of the boat, unfortunately the incident meant that Dave and Julie had to go into the marina in order for them to get ashore and report the theft.

On the Saturday night we went out for a meal with them, we found a really nice restaurant whose menu was a little different to the norm for Spain, and although we had intended having and early night it was actually gone twelve before we said our goodbyes as we were leaving the following morning to make our way back down the coast and then over to Ibiza.

The following day (Sunday 9^th June) we headed off to Cala  De La Calobra, a large and spectacular cala with several mini bays and a slit in the high rocky cliffs where the Torrente de Pareis runs through into the sea, although when we were there it was more like a stream.

At the start of our journey to the cala the wind was favourable for a change and we were making good time, but once we rounded Cabo De Formentor that all changed, we were either treated to very strong gusts of winds or no wind at all. It was really frustrating as it was impossible to set the sails for both conditions and so in the end we took the sails down and motored.

When we arrived the beach was very crowded as was the anchorage but by the evening the beach was empty and there was only us and a super yacht left for the night, it was lovely and peaceful, that was until the midges made and appearance and spoilt the ambiance of the place.

In the morning both Kevin and I swam to the beach, which is all pebbles and not easy on the feet and so I looked like I was doing some kind of silly walk as I tried to make my way up the beach and back again.

 Later that morning we set off for Soller, which we had been told was a beautiful resort, which it was but the anchorage was a nightmare, it was very busy and people were dropping anchors just anywhere. We have noticed on our travels that the Spanish enter an anchorage at speed and then just drop their anchor regardless of where anybody else’s anchor may be, the Germans like to get up close and personal, jump in the water as soon as they have anchored, and if they are not unclothed when they go in the water they are immediately they get out as they shower off the back of the boat. The French drop anchor and go straight ashore, the British on the other hand enter an anchorage circle their drop area to determine depth and swing space, drop the relevant amount of chain for the depth, pull on the chain to determine whether the anchor has hold or is dragging, then sit on deck for about an hour just to check they have actually got a good hold, this was never so evident than in Soller.

At one point a German skipper was attempting to drop his anchor immediately across ours until Kevin told him in no uncertain terms to get lost, this was all done using sign language, and even though he did move he was still close so that in the morning we could have shook hands with him and his crew across our stern and their bow. Due to the chaotic anchoring within the bay we decided we couldn’t relax and so we would only stay the one night and move on to Santa Ponsa the following day.

The next day we set off down the coast, the day started out really nice but the clouds soon developed and the strong winds picked up, and once again they would die away to nothing, so once again we ended up motoring most of the way to Santa Ponsa.

On arrival in the bay we spied Jim and Debbie who we had last seen in Cartagena, it was really nice to see them again and we met them for drinks that evening on their huge catamaran, along with another couple we had met in Soller.

We liked Santa Ponsa very much but due to the swell overnight which made the boat rock all over the place, and therefore meant very little sleep was obtained we moved round the coast to Palma Nova, where our journey around Mallorca had begun, and where we would commence our journey back to Ibiza.

The original Plan was to leave Mallorca on the Monday 24^th June, the winds were forecast to be in the right direction for a good sail, the only problem was we would be sailing between two strong Mistral fronts which if the forecast or our timing was wrong we could well and truly be caught out.

Each day we would get up and check the forecast and on the Saturday after getting back from our shopping trip Kevin felt there was sufficient wind to make our way to Ibiza, so we hastily made our preparations and finally set off at 12:30. At first the sail was great even though it did require some taking to get out of the bay, however three hours into the journey the wind died and it was back to the good old motor. The wind was due to pick up again at six that evening but as often is the case this never materialised and we ended up motoring all the way to Cala des Llamp where we had left Ibiza for Mallorca a month and a half before.

The plan now was to make our way round the coast back to San Antonio checking out various Calas in preparation for Kevin’s daughter Rachel and the two Granddaughters Summer and Taylor who were due to arrive on the 27^th July.

Present location: https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=38.974891,1.308746&hl=en&ll=38.972222,1.431999&spn=0.147071,0.308647&sll=38.967951,1.366425&sspn=0.155621,0.439453&mra=mift&mrsp=0&sz=12&t=m&z=12