Raffaellesco - Bill and Suzette's Sailing Adventure

 5/15/23 Ibiza City, Ibiza, Spain I was up early to get the boat ready to sail. I looked at the weather forecasts and decided today was the best day to cross in spite of being single handed. The wind was about 15 knots from the NE, but expected to die off and shift S by afternoon. This put my destination, Denia, Spain, on a lee shore. I was standing at the marina office door at 0900 so I could pay and get going. I was pleasantly surprised, 109 euros for 3 nights. I had not asked the price as I had no choice, but to stay here. With the wind on my nose, it was an easy departure. It was a 5-mile motor south to the pass between Ibiza and Formentera. The wind and sea were moderate. I made the pass and turned NW toward Denia. The sea was running about a 1 to 1.5 m swell from the North putting it on my beam. The wind was good so I unfurled the jib and main and the boat was on a comfortable reach. I had 60 miles to go and wanted to arrive before sunset, which at this time is about 2100...

 5/10/23 La Longa Marina, Palma, Mallorca, Spain Up early so Suzette could revisit her masseuse from a couple weeks earlier. I ran a few errands for some odd items we could not find yesterday. The Raymarine tech came and did the permanent install of the antenna, which was the reason for our return to Palma. We departed about 1300 and headed to the fuel dock for a much needed fill up. We took on 395 ltrs of fuel. The price was the best we had seen since Gibraltar, 1.61 eros/ltr.   From here we motored out of the bay, around Punta de Cala Figuera and into the port of Andraitx where we picked up a birth to avoid the wind and swell overnight. This was also the closest jumping off point back to Ibiza. We had a Halburg Rassy on our port side with a great couple from the Netherlands and a Hanse on starboard with an interesting couple from the US and Canada. Enjoyed talking at length with the Netherlanders. They have been cruising for a couple years working on and off from the b...

 5/1/23 Mahon, Menorca, Spain May Day for us, Labor Day for the Spanish, either way it is a holiday here. The day started out with rain predicted for the morning and lots of wind. The marineros stopped by to get paid and we asked for two more nights. They said no problem, but we would have to move to the other side of the pontoon. That did not sound fun in this wind, but they agreed to a move by 1600. The wind came, but no rain so we headed out for a walk outside of the city. The country side is beautiful with rolling hills and a wide variety of evergreens. Suzette sampled a couple of plants along the way, the Anice was plentiful and flavorful. When we returned to the boat for lunch the marineros stopped by and asked if we could move now because they would be siesta time soon and they would not be able to help us until after 1600. Fortunately, I convinced them that it would be unsafe in this wind and we would be ready to go at 1600.   The prediction was that the wind would d...