Cala Gració

From Formentera back to Ibiza was a bumpy ride. Decent wind, but mostly lots of waves. On top of that we also hadn't slept very well, not a great combo. Somewhere along the way, we got a message from Beautje saying they were going to go into Ibiza and look for a marina. Fatigue, uncomfort and an empty food storage were the deciding factors for them. So we continued on back to Ibiza by ourselves.

We had set our minds to go to Cala Torretes. A beautiful anchorage surrounded by just cliffs, no beach, houses or hotels. From there we could go to Cala Llonga, a mile further north, the next day when the wind and swell would shift favorably. When we arrived and had just dropped our anchorage we were swinging from port side to starboard back to port side and back again like crazy. It was too much. We decided to already try our luck one bay further: Cala Llonga. That turned out to be a very good decision.

Once we were anchored we were still swinging a little, but nothing like one bay back. Tired but satisfied we went to bed not soon after.

We spend a bunch of days in Cala Llonga since it was a very well protected anchorage and the wind was blowing strong for a couple of days. Secondly, on both sides of the anchorage we were protected by mountains which gave us several options for beautiful walks. Third, there was a small supermarket which was open where we could get some fresh fruit and a bar that was open to enjoy some drinks!

The latter we didn't go to until Beautje had joined us again. After a geocaching adventure, a sort of treasure hunting (you use the app geocaching to find little boxes that people have hidden and write down your names on the little piece of paper in the box once you have found it), during which we found all treasures, we treated ourselves to a drink, or two, at the local bar. We attempted to go for two more geocaches with the four us on the other side of the bay the next day, but Lajla had a knee injury that was bothering her too much. So Bart and Hilda found the caches by themselves and Lajla and I had some good conversations together on the beach in the sun. Not before long we were joined by Bart and Hilda and the Noordster who had just arrived for a little picknick, some beers, on the beach.

On one of our last days we had a diver down below at our anchor and anchor chain. He was by himself, didn't have the diver flag or buoy and we never saw him come up. We still don't know who he was or what he was doing exactly. We think it might have been an environmental activist, who was checking our anchor and chain in regards to the posidonia seagrass. When we arrived in the anchorage we didn't have a clear sight of the bottom of the sea so we had dropped our anchor based on an app hoping it was a spot clear from the Donia. The next day when the water cleared up a bit we looked to be hooked in a good spot. However, we have been swinging around a lot so our chain might have gotten a bit too close to the seagrass. We still don't know as the diver didn't come out of the water to tell us what's up. To be sure, we moved our anchor.

We might have stayed a day too long in Cala Llonga because at some point the swell was coming into the anchorage very strong. We were trying to work but we were swinging like we were sailing in a pretty rough sea, thanks to Lajla for the video evidence. Since we needed to go to the supermarket, change our gas and do some laundry we left the next day, before it become too uncomfortable, to go into a marina in Ibiza for a day.Read more