At least as far as Ibiza!

Sorry about that last post.   Google told me it had uploaded and in fact it was only in draft.  Try again!

After we left Torrevieja - this is the sort of company we keep nowadays.   Circa 100ft. and that isn't just a boom basket - it's a walkway! Nice to see a very active sailing school in most harbours -  and passed Benidorm at a safe distance [good grief] I was very excited to note on the chart

 that we were now 00 deg. EAST!  Mike kindly pointed out that we had looked at the possibility of stopping at Marina Greenwich, and there may have been a hint there.....

We had a couple of nights anchored off El Rinconet which was far more attractive [thanks to Vickie for the suggestion] & then departed NNE for Ibiza.  At least 15 miles out, this fellow landed with an exhausted clatter on our reefing lines at the end of the boom

 beautifully camouflaged in black and khaki. We weren't sure if he was trying to get to Ibiza or Spain, but he rested there peacefully enough until the wind got up and Mike tried to move him so we could hoist the main.  Sadly, his attempts to remove him to safety failed, and he flew off.  We hope he made it!

 Our first choice of anchorage in Ibiza was jam packed, so we headed to this group of islets on the SW tip.

Like most of the places we visited, it was busy during the day with all manner of craft, but particularly Isla Conjera - a good, horse-shoe shaped bay, was quiet at night as all the motor boats & super yachts headed for home

But before one of the biggest gin palaces left, we were treated to the most extraordinary sight. .  A powerful jet ski tows some sort of hose which delivers two jets of water to the person's boots.  If they manage to stay upright - and we saw one girl going face first into the drink many times - this is the effect.  They didn't  go very far like this - height seemed to be the object.  What will they think of next?  [I have to say, most children would be itching to have a go, wouldn't they?....]

There was a NE blow forecast, so we headed round the island to Cala St. Vincent, tucked under Cabo Grossa.  Not bad little shops and an excellent "Bar on the Beach" - extremely hippie in tone [proprietor, Dutch former lawyer, I think] and really good food.  A shopping trip was planned, the Beeb launched with MJS at the oars, favouring the new seat at the stern. Pretty good at rowing in a straight line, very inexperienced in even mild surf, I spotted a small boy exactly where we were planning to land and immediately pulled the wrong oar, putting us sideways on to the waves.  Skipper managed to step nimbly over the side and hold onto the boat, up to his thighs in water, but MJS rolled smartly off the [slightly tippy, as mentioned] seat and into the water, head first.  Completely unhurt except pride and a very uncomfortable sandy squelch up to the beach shower [what an excellent invention] to attempt to remove the sand from everything.  Three cheers for the rucksack given to us by Tania and Ruaridh - everything inside - wallet, cash, etc. survived well.  But the sand continued to annoy us for several days!