Nimrod's Adventures

June 2024 – June 2026
  • Sailing Nimrod
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🧑🏽‍🦱🧒🏻 Bart & Bel
⛵ Nimrod
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  • Sailing Nimrod
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  • 4.3ksea miles traveled
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  • Mallorca II: Santa Ponça ⚓

    Mar 17–21 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    From Portals Vells it was only a couple of miles around the corner to our next anchorage in Santa Ponca. Unfortunately no wind, so we turned on Perky once more.

    In Santa Ponca we had a couple of good game nights playing Catan with the Noordster and were able to restock with groceries. We both worked a bit and we went for a nice walk around town. Compared to Ibiza Mallorca is a lot more lively. There are more people out and about and stores and restaurants are opened which doesn't give off the deserted vibes we felt on Ibiza (although we absolutely enjoyed our time spent on our walks in nature on Ibiza).

    Gerben and Jolanda had caught one of the local sea breams in our previous anchorage so Bart lent them his fish trap. On the third day they caught their very first octopus! This time its size was perfect for the four of us. Jolanda created a new Dutch special: hutspot with pulpo! 😋
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  • Mallorca I: Portals Vells ⚓

    Mar 15–17 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    We had a beautiful sail from Ibiza to Mallorca. We initially planned to leave the 13th but we didn't trust the forecast of 40+ knots of wind and local thunderstorms. Boy were we happy we waited. While we started with high waves and not a lot of wind, after only a few miles the sea calmed and the wind started to blow. We cruised, reaching, all the way to Mallorca.

    Our first anchorage: Portals Vells. We were welcomed by the Noordster where we were immediately invited onboard for a drink and eventually dinner right when we dropped an anchor. We gladly accepted the invitation. Can't really think of anything better after a day of sailing than to be able to join for drinks and dinner 😍 Well, as it turns out it can get better. Because we suddenly heard violin music. Apparently our neighbor boat is a travelling and sailing violin artist! It was magical. He even tool requests, so Bart asked him if he could play Fragile by Sting. It was really cool!!

    The next day we worked a bit in the morning before exploring the beautiful caves and cliffs. The caves were dug out to use the stones for the cathedral in Palma de Mallorca. Legend has it that a ship from Genoa once got caught in a storm and promised to build an altar once they found a safe haven. They did so in the anchorage of Portals Vells and there does still seem to be some remains of an altar in the caves. We were able to enjoy the anchorage for two days before the swell started to come in and we decided to move on to the next stop on Mallorca.
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  • Ibiza X: Cala de Sant Vincent ⚓

    Mar 14–15 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    Just around the corner, if there would have been a path one of us could have walked, from Punta Grossa we anchor the next morning in Cala San Vincent. We had a very good night but today the swell and wind will come in more from the north so we will be better protected on this side.

    We don't have a lot to say about this anchorage. We can sum it up in three bullets:
    ° It rained
    ° We checked the weather
    ° It rained, also when we did dare to go for a walk

    Good news is, it looks like tomorrow, March 15th, we can cross to Mallorca!

    More good news, we fixed the water maker, again, and now are tanks are pretty much filled with our freshly produced water!
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  • Ibiza IX: Cala Punta Grossa ⚓

    Mar 13–14 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    In the morning we check the weather update. No more gusts of 55 knots, the thunderstorms are still coming. We're not going, yet. The Noordster does decide to go, they leave early while we turn around for another hour of sleep. After we wake up we get ready to leave. With us, you might guess it correctly, Beautje. However, it's the last time we will set sail together for a while. They are heading back to the mainland to bay their new boat and sell their current Beautje! Very exciting.

    We don't have to go far, only a mile or 6. In the distance we see Simon Hendrick. Behind us Square One (an x-yacht) is catching up with us. Just before we turn starboard to go into the anchor buy Square One passes us and we wave each other goodbye until the next time👋🏽

    Finally, we have not only made it to an anchorage of my dreams we are actually tucked in, snug like a bug, not going anywhere. And we're really not going anywhere for a while since it is raining again. After a couple of hours we decide to lift the dinghy into water and go for a walk. This makes for some beautiful pictures! And it was just a pretty spot, we had a very good night as well! (We also got rained on during our walk, but I guess that's the part we better leave out to make the story better 😉)
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  • Ibiza VIII: Portinatx ⚓

    Mar 8–13 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 16 °C

    In Portinatx almost our entire Dutch fleet , and more, from Sines is reunited. We are welcomed by Square One and Simon Hendrick when we enter the bay. We saw SH for the last time in Villa Real in Portugal and Square One in Gibraltar, it has been a while. We quickly get invited for a hike to the Lighthouse later that day with the both of them. The cliffs are impressive again and the views amazing. The way back turns out to be quite adventurous as we're slipping and sliding our way back down to sea level again. Still pretty impressed by five year old crew member of the Simon Hendrick for sticking with us! 😉 Obviously, we had to cheers to our accomplishments at the local terrace in the sun.

    On Sunday we take on the invitation of Square One to go on another hike to the other side of the bay. Over there it looks like we have travelled to the moon. The rock formations are very pointy and there are crater like holes in the cliffs. At some point we think we see a lookout point and we decided to follow a trail that turned out not to be a trail at all... We're doing fine climbing over the rocks and through the bushes but at some point, and at this point we had already passed the point of no return, we have to go pretty much straight up. I don't remember how but I somehow find my way up there and soon I am followed by Bart, Harmen and Kiki. We're glad we didn't look down on our way up, let's leave it at that.

    The next day Beautje, Noordster and Watertuin join our Dutch party. It is pretty cool to have 6 Dutch boats anchored in a bay in Ibiza, but at the same time it also feels kind off invasive.. But, the fun part is that Simon Hendrick invited all of us! over to their boat for a fun night of drinks, good conversations and lots of laughs. Bart joins the party a couple of hours before I do as I get stuck, willingly, working on our website www.bartandbel.com!

    The next day Beautje and us leave to go to just one bay around the corner, over there we should get better protections against the wind and swell. Beautje gets there, of course, before us and lets us know over the VHF that there isn't enough space seagrass and depth wise. So we both turn around and sail the 2,5 miles back to Portinatx. It was a beautiful day for a sail, so no harm done.

    The last two days we spend playing football and volleyball on the beach, hiking to the anchorage around the corner we didn't go to and enjoying each others company. On the last night together we share our travel plans. Simon Hendrick and Square One are going southeast, Beautje West and Noordster and us are debating whether we will leave for Mallorca the next day. Around 4pm the next day the forecast warns for gusts of 55 knots near Palma de Mallorca. Additionally there is some thunder on its way. We both decide to wait for tomorrow morning's weather update and decide then...
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  • Ibiza VII: Cala Benirràs ⚓

    Mar 7–8 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    After a couple of days in Cala Tarida we were ready for our next bay. Since my family is coming to Mallorca at the end of March for a week we are starting to look for upcoming wind windows to cross from Ibiza to Mallorca. Therefore, we are aiming to travel northeast from here.

    Our course is upwind from Tarida towards the north. After a mile or 10 we are getting close to the northwestern corner of the island when the wind dies. We only have a few miles to go to a dream anchorage, secluded with just cliffs and rock formations. Unfortunately once we get there the swell happily rolls in and additionally we would have to drop the anchor in about 12 meters of water. So we continue. Sadly, the wind is still nowhere to be found but we have 7 more miles to go. Perky the engine it is.

    On the upside, this side of the island is absolutely gorgeous. Even though we get sprayed by some rain, it is a nice trip. We finally make it to our anchorage Cala Benirràs after a long day. We took our time in the morning, having a cup of tea with the Watertuin, go for a shower and thus a swim since the color of the water again is mesmerizing and thinking we had the whole day ahead of us. By time the anchor is hooked the sun starts to set and we go inside for dinner and a another early night. We sleep, swell wise, okay but not great. So the next morning we wake up early and move on to the next bay.
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  • Ibiza VI: Cala Tarida

    Mar 4–7 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 17 °C

    We were about to get a lot of strong easterly wind. So we decided to move further to the lew side of the island together with Beautje. Not the regular crew of Beautje, Hilda and Lajla, but Hilda and her two sisters Gonnie and Gerdina.

    The wind was already blowing from behind so we decided to sail with only a reefed main sail. This was going fine until we got back to the point where you have to pass through Es Vedra, the big rock formation just of the coast. The wind was funny last time we passed through here and it was again this time. We would go from being very happy we were reefed double with the wind blowing 29 knots to hoping for the next burst of wind when we only had 3-5 knots. At some points, even though Beautje was right next to us, either we would get a gust which only boosted us forward while Beautje would fall still and the same thing happened multiple times the other wind. It makes sense with the many rock formations and cliffs which can cause odd fall winds, but it is still quite odd when you go through it. On the last leg the wind was turning more and more against us. While Beautje was tacking its way to the anchorage we cheated a bit and turned on the engine for the last mile or so😬

    In Tarida we worked some more and explored this part of the island. Since it has rained a lot for the past week, a lot of the flowers and plants have finally started to show themselves and it is gorgeous! Hilda and her sisters invited us over for dinner on the second evening. Hilda still had some tuna in the freezer which they had caught at the coast of the Spanish mainland. We went through all of us Lajla's storage, the main chef on board of Beautje, and made some delicious dinner together while we chatted away.

    Beautje left the next day and soon after they were gone Watertuin arrived. We had briefly passed them in Gibraltar when we had just gotten diesel and they were on the way to the fuel station. The next morning we had a cup of tea/coffee together before we went out way again. Up North we go!
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  • Ibiza V: Cala Es Jondal ⚓

    Feb 28–Mar 4 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    This was one of those anchorages where the time passed very quickly and we are not sure what we actually did. We worked for a couple of days, read a lot in our massive books by Ken Follet, had some drinks and dinner with our neighbors Beautje and Noordster, and only went ashore once. We did have a lot of gray and rainy days so it does make sense this anchorage wasn't too memorable location. once it was another pretty one though. But all in all, not much to say.Read more

  • Ibiza IV: Ibiza City

    Feb 27–28 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    How much can you do in 24 hours? Turns out, a lot. We arrived around noon in Ibiza Marina. We were the only boat on the pontoon. Our view? The old town, read castle on a hill, of Ibiza. Not too shabby. And by that we mean awesome! Normally Ibiza Marina would be a big no go for us. In season it would cost us someahere between €150-€250 a night here!! Since it's the low season, we now pay nowhere near that kind of money. So we took the opportunity and enjoyed it.

    We arrived around noon and we had a lot of plans, but very little time. The next day we would have to check out, just like a hotel, by noon again. On our to do list: doing laundry, grocery shopping, finding a new pan, exchanging our gas tank, go to the Decathlon for snorkeling gear, go into Ibiza Old Town and have a client meeting. Somehow we managed to all of that in 24 hours and all by foot. On day one we did laundry, found a new pan, discovered where we could go for gas after many failed attempts and went into Ibiza town. On day two Bart got the gas while I Had my meeting and afterwards we walked about 20 minutes, instead of the suggested 45 minutes by Google, to the Decathlon and grocery store. You just have to walk like a local here, cross where in the Netherlands you would never. You're fine and it saves a lot of time😉

    Ibiza Old Town was gorgeous. It is build on a hill and it mostly consists of a castle and is surrounded by small streets filled with white painted houses, bars and restaurants. Unfortunately, the downside of it being low season is that everything is still closed. Luckily, our main attraction when we visit a city is walking around anyways so it doesn't matter a lot. The vibe just is pretty sad instead of vibrant. We did however find a nice wine bar with a little terrace with heaters. So we concluded our very successful day with a drink there. Just a drink, because the snacks were outrageously expensive 😉
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  • Ibiza III: Cala Llonga ⚓

    Feb 22–27 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    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.
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