Creeping up the East Coast of Spain

Staying in touch with other Aussies ahead of us (in the Balearic Islands already) we decided to head there as well.  We had always planned to make a stop in Formentera on the way to Sardinia, but now, feeling a little more confident about sailing ‘under the Schengen radar’ so to speak, by just staying in anchorages rather than checking into marinas (which were more money than we wanted to spend for a night anyway), we made the decision to just slow down.

This of course caused a few complications: 1. We would not get to Turkey by 01 October as planned unless we then moved our butts after spending time in the Balearics. 2. We would hit the Balearics for the month of August (the busiest time to be in the busiest place in the Mediterranean) 3. If we didn’t go to Turkey to winter the boat, where would we go?

We left La Manga of Mar Menor and headed north – first stop the harbour of Torrevieja.  This is a great anchorage as although you are essentially in the harbour, the breakwater is really long and outside the marina area so a wonderful place to feel protected from the weather but close enough to dinghy into town.  We had been told by one of the chandleries in Puerto Tomas Maestre that Marina Salinas in Torrevieja might be a good place to winter the boat - good prices and they had a decent sized travelift, so we took the dinghy and headed to the boatyard.  We happened to catch Marco, the boatyard manager who was most pleasant and helpful but regrettably said that their travelift would not be large enough to haul our yacht and that they did not have room out of the water for Bisou in any case.  He showed us where we could berth her for the winter in the water, but Torrevieja is a busy fishing harbour as well as ferry terminal and holds three different marinas and we didn’t like the looks of the swell coming in.  Marco did also suggest we take a look at Alicante which has bigger travelifts and more space to store boats on the hard surface.

On our way north the next day we stopped at the Isla de Tabarca – a strange flat island just off the coast which apparently was a pirate haven not so long ago!  It now is mostly a tourist destination (day trips with a tiny amount of overnight accommodation) where the locals go to ‘flop and drop’ on the beach or gather with their boats at anchor.  It is what the Spanish call a ‘fish haven’ or marine reserve (no fishing allowed for about a mile around the island) so there is plenty of fish life to view when snorkeling. We only stopped for a bite of lunch and a snorkel and then went on our way.

We did swing into Alicante harbour on the way north as well to check out the facilities but either we did not see the full storage area for boats (they did have a decent sized travelift) or the area of which Marco spoke was not as large as he thought, but we did not think it would be ideal for us.

Of course the wind picked up later in the afternoon and none of the anchorages that we had planned on staying in were suitable.  We eventually rounded a small cape and found a lovely sandy beach (Playa de la Huerta) off which we could anchor and spend a restful night.  We were the only ones there!

Our next ‘hop’ was to Calpe, via Benidorm and Altea.  Many years ago, my parents had a villa just above Altea in the hills and I spent a month there with my ex-husband and my eldest son, Jason, as we waited for our permission to emigrate to Australia came through.  It was lovely 30 years ago but is now so built up as to be unrecognizable!  Hi rise buildings along the shore line, villas and more buildings all the way up the hillside – crazy!  We entered Calpe marina to purchase fuel before we headed across to Formentera as we had read that fuel costs were quite high in the Balearics.  We arrived at siesta time (of course!) so simply tied up at the fuel dock and I went into town to buy a few supplies from a supermarket.

We decided to anchor on the north side of the Punta de Ifach (a huge monolithic rock perched on a small peninsula at Calpe) as the wind was predicted to blow quite strongly from the south to southwest later in the afternoon.  We had a good anchorage with a fair number of boats, but were really quite blown away by the lack of boating etiquette as well as safety of some of these people.  From jetskis weaving in and out of the anchored boats, to actually motor boats zooming through, I really feared for the numerous people in swimming around their boats and some into shore!  Some boats and jetskis were even towing skiers and donuts through the anchored boats!

I went ashore to post a postcard and to get us a couple of ice cream cones (one of our indulgences since we have been in warmer climes) but we had an early night as the journey to Formentera would be a long day the next day.

I have said it before and I will say it again – you cannot rely on weather forecasts!  We had been forecast good winds from the northwest for our passage to Formentera, but not only was there no wind (or very little), it came from all over!  It didn’t in fact settle until about 4:30pm that day when it was predicted to blow 20 knots from the southwest (which it did!).  By that stage we had reached the southwest corner of Formentera.

It was an uneventful crossing, although Tad swears he saw a shark on the surface of the water very close to our hull – the line was out with a new lure (we are building quite a collection) but once again, not even a nibble!

We rounded the eastern cape of Formentera and were anchored in a delightful protected bay by 7:30pm.  The water was turquoise, warm and the breeze light.  What a treat!  Of course once we were safely anchored and the boat settled, we both dove straight in.  We had read that Formentera was very much a ‘clothing optional’ island and so “when in Rome….” (or in this case, Formentera).

                                               Isla de Tabarca - south side

                                                Sailing past Benidorm

                                               Anchored at Calpe