Roobarb's Reach

I havent been updating the blog of late as we have had a busy time. There is an adage about the Med that there is either too much wind or too little and usually in the wrong direction. Over the years when we have chartered sailing boats or taken our old Narrowboat out, we had a limited amount of time, objectives and an agenda. This has meant island or bay hopping plans to max out the best of a short time and do lots of Evolutions, go ashore and get the best out of a limited journey. I have been consciously trying to break that mould. This is retirement and a holiday on retirement. The spin off is a decent shakedown, break what was going to break and adapt our thinking and get the logistics right. (Clothes, food, comestibles, and stress the water and energy budgets.) I haven't sailed since i was last in Croatia some 7 years ago so i am rusty. Mrs whilst technically a Day Skipper is rustier still...meaning evolutions like taking on water or diesel  resetting anchors or shortening sai...

As an FYI, whilst the quick posts are easy and I can post snaps...its not a well thought out narrative. That requires a keyboard, good WiFi.and a reliable 230v connection. Lots to post about the reality of this lifestyle..but the gist is that behind every Instagram worthy pic of someone wanting about like a sunbaked hippy in a travel ad,  there is a pile.of dirty washing, tool boxes, cockroach spray cans and tubes of antisan for the mosquito bites.

Quick post from us in Cala San Miguel. Form demands I have some San Miguel beer on the go in the pic. But we are on the Rosé.

Well I can get IGR on FM apparently but I dont have an FM receiver other than my working channels. Also in the way over from Formentera i had a good look at Cala Yondal...home to Blue Marlin, Pete Tong etc. Full of giant and I mean giant super yachts. By that i mean the sort of things that look like a footballers bathroom. But bigger.  I know Ibiza attracts the Monaco and Money set...but one of them was the size of a destroyer. So as for popping in.to see Pete Tong in 13th Sept. Lets see...not sure I like the idea of paying 200 quid for a buoy, no water and no juice all for a 50 quid burger while Tongy is on. But I guess Ibiza is that now. Where the rich euro trash come to be seen. There was a very large 'party' boat in the bay of Cala Hort last night. DJ Booth and a good 30 to 40 mostly young girls posing for each other on their phones. Does make you wonder. Rich Daddy paid for a 21st party?  Who knows. But as they circled the bay sniffing out a good anchorage, the youngsters...

A classic view from the White Island. Happy memories of the first time I was here...some 20 odd years ago. A lot  busier now! But something of a dream-come-true of turning up here in my own boat. I have an article in draft about the crossing and landfall in Formentera. But its long winded and I wanted to get this in while I had a bit of 5G. So spending a day at anchor, scrubbing decks, fiddling with BBQs and doing a spot of planning. There's a 24hr gale in the forecast for Wednesday, and its a toss-up between hunkering down with all the chain out, or riding the tail for a sleigh ride to Majorca. In the mean time I want to faff about with my anchor. Happy weekend readers. Wish you were here.

Tabarca is a small island about 15 miles Northwest of Torrevieja - kinda the gateway to the Balearics. I may have mentioned it before.  We used it as a first sail destination and now we used it as a stage post as we needed to do diesel and the likes before heading out.  Thus begun our first proper  sail - out of sight of land, living off the boat and getting used to her ways. After gassing up and generally faffing and trying pack away in 37 degree heat we spent a good 3 hours chugging over. This time the conditions we fine and we had good holding in 10 meters in sand and rock. Tabarca, dawn. We spent the day pottering about, generally being 'retired' (IE doing eff-all) but I prepared 'crossing food'.  Stuffed wraps Brandy laced very  strong coffee (No 'pressing nautical matters' here - IFYKYK). We then had a hearty hot lunch. And on to digging out the night gear.  Powerful binoculars, previously only used to spy on the neighbours and bird watching in the Se...

Our first night away proper. OLYMPIC 1 is the rest of this month pottering around the Balearics getting used to the boat and her ways and re learning how to drive a boat the size of an artic truck.  All sorts of jobs and issues on thr boat as she is old...but mostly she is filthy. Eastern Spain is plagued with Saharan dust...which combined with rushing to get the boat ready means the decks are grubby, so are the cushions and the gelcoat is covered in black marks. We will be spending a lot  of time cleaning and tidying up.  Anyway.  Some pics for our readers. 2 miles out At anchor. What are they eating? Dawn. 

First night at anchor.  Tarbaca Island actually achieved. Next...off to Formentera with an eclipse and Meteor shower for company.

3 weeks of shelf stable supplies. Doesn't include the Vino, slabs of beer, tonics and soft drinks. Fresh and frozen gets done monday for refrigeration straight aboard. ETD for OLYMPIC Is Tuesday. About a week late...but we have had to get stuff done.

(Author's note, this contains sailing technicalities locally known as 'nautical bollocks') O kay so we needed to bite the bullet and go out on the water sooner or later.  We spent Saturday shuttling to the boat to load up the last kit we have been buying (everything from plates to Duraglit glasses to new fenders). Final food for a 2 day voyage was sourced and held in Quesada for a run down to Marina Salinas in the morning. We have been slow to move about here. Spain in the summer is pretty slow moving as it is, (see other posts about the Kafkaesque bureaucracy) but it has been hot. 36 to 40 Centigrade, with humidity in the high 70%'s to 80%. Working below in a twelve-ton Tupperware box pretty quickly becomes intolerable and by noon we have to find air-conditioning. Add to this its been 28C-ish at nights, we have been pretty worn out.  That's why we have been slow. A daily drudge of getting up at 0630, getting ourselves together, getting down to the boat for about 8,...

W hat have we been doing since I last wrote? I haven't updated my public for a wee while because we have been 'busy'.  It hasn't felt like we have been retired at all. Since we got to Spain (21st July) We have not  been living the life of the indolent retirees - more like being back at work. As I have alluded to before, this phase of NEPTUNE has been  a blend of 'winding up the old', stabilising the current', 'Preparing for OLYMPIC', and snagging out where we find ourselves. There has bee a lot to go at, and we have been very much in the thick of it since we got here. Broadly our separation of duties has stood - so Mrs D has focussed on the the run-off for our home in York - and my priority has been commissioning the barky (boat) so she is sea-worthy at least, tolerably comfortable - and commodious at best. I will give a flavour of the issues (fun?) we have had over the last two weeks - but TBH, most of the tribulations warrant a post of their own. M...