All boaty jobs done and supplies bought we leave Alicanti behind us bathing in sunshine. It was getting rather warm and a lovely sea breeze was just the job. We were setting off for a night passage to a small island off Ibiza called Espalmador.
It took eighteen hours in all with as usual wind on the nose or just off for a lot of the way.
Not far out at around 11.30 and on my watch we started to approach a shipping lane. All seemed ok and things were under control when all of a sudden ships from all angles started to converge on us.
On the chart plotter it looked a bit like naval war manoeuvres and we were the target.
Two ships on the plotter could be seen but only the lights of one were visible. It was getting confusing so i had to wake Carol. Running up and down the companionway looking through binos (binoculars) and trying to ascertain the goings on on the plotter were becoming a bit much.
It was a couple of hours before
things quietened down and we were alone again.
We eventually hit that Greenwich meridian where the plotter went to all the zero's.
Yer tis a pic for prosperity.........
Our arrival at the anchorage was great, a white sandy island surrounded in turquoise sea, blue skies and i could sea the sea bed and fish swimming about, this was one hell of a welcome and we are now starting to feel we are actually in the Med and well into our trip.
This was another celebration, we started this adventure on May 1st 2009 and today it's May 1st 2010.
Carol has been carrying a bottle of Cloudy Bay the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc around for a year and this was the day it would be consumed.
This Marlborough wine is lovely to drink and features a fresh, tropical nose of pineapples and some passionfruit. Once on the palate the wine is noticeably full for a NZ Sauvignon Blanc and really lush and bursting with fruit throughout.
The finish is long and pleasant, full of minerality and clean lime flavours. An excellent match for Marinated mushrooms on a bed of mixed salad leaves with lightly boiled eggs and home made garlic mayo followed by a corn fed, Espalmador, rosemary and lemon roasted chicken, roast spuds, spinach, broccoli and carrots.
This was also the first time we have used
the anchor since having the new windlass put on so it was fingers
crossed. I tentatively put my big toe on the down button and wallah out the chain popped, over the bow roller went the anchor and kerplunk, into the Briney it went. This was amazing, not just that it worked but i could see the anchor on the sandy bottom. No guessing where it was, what a difference to the muddy waters of the Guadianna.
Tomorrow a trip ashore....
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