We left Santa Pola, Spain on May 20th with a plan to sail North up the Spanish coast to Calp or Greenwich and the following day book it across the Med to the island of
Formentera. We motored for the first hour before the winds built enough to set the sails and we were close hauled but able to keep close to the rhumb line. The winds built through the day and started to clock to the NW which meant we were pointing less towards Calp and more towards the Balearic Islands to the East so we changed plans and changed an 8 hour day sail into a 23 hour over-nighter. It turned out to be a great decision.

Our first island anchorage was a taste of what the rest of the Balearic islands would deliver. Crystal clear water, white sand beaches and anchorages and turquoise water that you can see the bottom and all the fishes swimming around. Yes the lucky ones that Janine left behind.

Leaving Santa Pola we pass by the island of Tabarca. We probably should have taken time to stop in here to explore this little island so it is on the list for our return passage in 2025ish.


We motored until the winds picked up and then headed to wind to hoist the Sails up and away we went. 45NORTH and our SA Buddy boat Let Go Lets Go. What is a rhumb line? It is the pink line shown on the chart plotter that marks our passage way. Today's chart plotters will show you how far off L or R you are from the line. We use that reading to properly adjust for current because when you are sailing you can't just set the heading of your point of sail to the compass bearing. If any of you smart people can contact Garmin or B&G to have them add a new feature called "Adjust for Set & Drift" that would be amazing. If I can adjust the boats direction manually surely to goodness a computer can too.
Watch our video.

The chef tried her hand to catch some fresh fish for din-din. But no bueno.

We sailed with a three hour shift system all through the night and timed our arrival perfectly with a 730am arrival in Formentera. Janine did the 1200-0300 shift and I took the sunset and sunrise shifts. Jon, from LGLG, and I bounced a few ideas back and forth during the night passage on an ideal anchorage to pick when we arrived.

The anchorage selection was perfect. The beach was a short paddle board away. We are down to one paddle board to start off this season and Janine's exploded last summer when we were in Portugal. We plan to pick a new one up when we get to Ibiza.

Let Go Lets Go arriving.

We took Smug Druggler (aka our Highfield dingy) in to the main port on the island to bike around for a day. The island is the smallest of the four main ones so we were able to bike partway across the island to the town of Sant Frances Xavier.

This little house was covered with poems, hand written on colored flags. Pretty cool.

The church of Sant Francesc is the oldest of the three churches on Formentera, along with the Pilar de la Mola and Sant Ferran de Ses Roques. It is located in Sant Francesc de Formentera, the capital of the island.

Some after dinner entertainment for Kai and Jay - hanging out on 45North. They loved Janine's kitty cat clock.

Snap! The skipper and crew from Let Go Lets Go.
Our first polaroid picture of 2023 for "our friendship wall". Got to love the Cruising Life.
Nice to have company. You must miss your own grandchildren.
We went to Nick's funeral, yesterday. The Greek church is interesting. Had lunch afterwards with an English speaking family of 5 women from grandmother to granddaughter. The name of the oldest is Marguerite. Enjoyed them.
Love, Aunt Frances