Formentera

Our plan for the coming weeks was to explore the Balearic Islands. There was a very light breeze as we motored out of Cartagena and continued our journey East along the coast. The wind didn’t pick up, so after 20 nautical miles we stopped for lunch at Cabo de Palos, anchoring just outside of the marine reserve.

The town straddles the promontory of Cabo de Palos, with a harbour and small fishing fleet on one side and large villas lining the beach front on the other. The bay had lovely calm, clear water and was surprisingly quiet. After lunch and a refreshing swim, we decided to stay for the night.

The following day we continued our journey north along the coast. The breeze remained very light and the sea was like a mirror. Dolphins appeared once again, although they were a long way ahead of us. We could just make out their silhouettes as they leapt out of the water on the horizon.

After a couple of hours, there was a gentle southeasterly breeze, just enough to unfurl the Genoa and enjoy a comfortable downwind sail. Ziggy continued through the calm sea at 3–4 knots. This breeze stayed with us for the rest of the day until we reached the small island of Illa de Tabarca, just off the coast of Santa Pola.

Several boats were already anchored, leaving limited sandy patches amongst the seagrass. We spent some time circling the bay before finally finding a suitable spot to drop the anchor. From here, our plan was to make the crossing to the Balearic Islands.

After a calm night, we set our course for Formentera, 106 nautical miles away, this would be an overnight passage expected to take around 20 hours. There was no wind first thing, but the forecast suggested it would arrive around lunchtime, so we delayed our departure until late morning in the hope of a good sailing wind.

The forecast proved to be accurate. Before long, a Force 4 southerly was blowing and we were soon making great progress on a beam reach, with Ziggy reaching speeds of up to 7–8 knots. It seemed to be a popular shipping route, with numerous cargo ships following much the same track across the sea.

As evening approached, the wind dropped once more and we motored for a while. It was interesting to watch the longitude reading change as we crossed the Greenwich Meridian, passing from the western into the eastern hemisphere. It felt quite strange to notice, considering that, living in the UK, we had crossed the meridian countless times without giving it a second thought.

For a few weeks, winds had been carrying Saharan sand across the Mediterranean, leaving a permanent haze on the horizon (and coating ZigZag in layer of sand). As a result, the sunset was a little disappointing, with the sun slowly fading into the sandy sky instead of putting on its usual spectacular display.

Once the last glow of the sun disappeared, the night became incredibly dark. Thousands of stars and a thin crescent moon provided the only light as we continued our passage.

It was almost midnight before the wind returned. It quickly built to a Force 5, so we hoisted the sails with a couple of reefs in both the mainsail and Genoa. Once again, Ziggy was flying along, taking us through the night for several hours before the breeze gradually eased, allowing us to shake the reefs back out. We could now see Formentera and continued along the south coast of the island and around the southern tip.

As dawn arrived and the sun came back up through the sand clouds, we approached the east coast of Formentera and motored into the crystal clear, turquoise waters of Ensenada de Tramontana. We dropped anchor in the sandy bay, overlooked by a row of traditional fishermen’s boathouses and the nearby village, a beautiful and calm setting to mark the end of our overnight passage.

Formentera is often described as the most tranquil and unspoilt of the Balearic Islands with peaceful anchorages and traditional fishing villages. It is the smallest of the archipelago and unlike its larger neighbours, it has no airport, making it only accessible by boat or ferry, giving the island a more relaxed atmosphere.

The rugged coastline of Formentera is known for its distinctly Caribbean appearance, with soft white sandy beaches and shallow transparent water that are regularly ranked among the finest in Europe. The clear, turquoise waters are due to the extensive meadows of Posidonia seagrass, which naturally filter the water and help create the vibrant blue colour. Much of the island and surrounding water is protected, helping to preserve its dunes, beaches and marine life.

We hadn’t stepped off the boat for a few days, so we decided to check whether our legs still worked. After a restful day on board, we left Ed and Fred in the small fishing harbour and walked across the island to a Chiringuito on the west coast, a popular spot for watching sunsets. We set off along the rocky coast, first passing the back of the ramshackle fishermen huts where they have pulleys to lift the boats out of the water, and looking out to Ziggy anchored in the bay.

It was only a couple of miles, but it turned out to be a very hot walk up and over a hill. Knowing that the sandy haze was going to prevent us from seeing a spectacular sunset, it was still good to stretch our legs. The bar was busy, with people also sitting outside on the rocks, all waiting for the sun to set over the sea. It was still very hot and humid as we walked back in the dark and was nice to have a cooling swim when we returned to Ziggy.

We stayed in this lovely bay for a couple of days, Paul set to work to recommission the water maker, which had been pickled for the winter. Unfortunately, things didn’t go quite according to plan. An error message indicated that one of the components had failed, leaving the system unusable.

Finding a replacement part wasn’t easy on a small island, and the supplier Paul normally uses is based in England. Fortunately, we had friends due to visit in a couple of weeks who had kindly agreed to bring the replacement part out with them. Until then, we’d have to manage without it.

Our next stop was Cala de S’Oli, towards the northern end of the island. Anchoring isn’t permitted here to protect the seagrass, so we booked a mooring buoy for the night. As the buoys aren’t available until 6:30 pm and it was only 14 nautical miles away, we set off late afternoon.

On arrival, a lady in a small tender came out to meet us. She guided us to our allocated buoy and passed us the mooring lines, making the whole process very quick and easy.

We just had time for a quick dip before heading to shore to watch Spain in the World Cup final. On the way our outboard engine went ‘pop’ and decided to give up completely leaving us (Paul) to row the rest of the way.

Despite the village being busy, with many people gathering to watch the match, we were lucky enough to find the last available table at a small bar. We settled in with food and drinks and watched Spain win the World Cup.

Being only a small village, the celebrations afterwards were fairly low key. A few people filled the streets, waving flags, sounding car horns and celebrating their team’s victory, but it was nothing compared with the celebrations we imagined in Spain’s larger towns and cities.

We were allowed to remain on the mooring buoy until 6:00 pm, so we made the most of a relaxing day before moving just 2 nautical miles around the corner to Cala Savina, where we dropped anchor in the large, very busy bay and planned our next passage north to Ibiza.