Saturday 7 July 2012

Ibiza - Finally Nics diary part two

Below is Nics entry.

So we left albufiera, got to Estapona , filled gas tanks from a friendly german, next Mar Menor, then Torrevieja, now Ibiza, Jamie would miss the girls here, lots of scantily clad young females for him to hit on, so many he could not fail ;)

Nics entry below, hope to get a new camera soon...


Nics Diary – Part 2
We had a pretty rubbish first day in Mar Menor. Mar Menor is an inland sea that is entered through a small canal and draw bridge. The bridge only opens every 2 hours, and we just missed it after our 48hr sail to get there. We entered the sea when the bridge opened at 12 noon, hoping to find a nice anchorage and rest a little. No such luck – it was very windy and Stevie didn’t feel that our anchoring was safe. I hoped to get a wee hour rest, but it was far too hot in the sheltered sea. We would have loved to jump in to cool ourselves down, but Mar Menor is well known for being full of stingy jelly fish – so we waited another 2 hours, and left at 6pm. Really tired, and tempers a little frayed! We anchored in a quiet, secluded part of the canal, but not next to the other anchored boats, as we felt it was a little too close for comfort there. I now wish we had squeezed in, as our secluded anchorage resulted in us being mugged! We stupidly left 2 cameras, our hand held radio, and a chart plotter outside in the cock pit. The really annoying thing is that it took 3 days before we noticed! On the bright side – I am kinda glad we left such nice ‘gifts’ on the deck, as I could not even begin to imagine how I would have felt if they had entered the boat whilst we were sleeping! For the last couple of days we have been having a laugh – any time we see something nice we say ‘quick take a photo!’ he he!! Well you have to see the funny side!

So, Mar Menor was ok apart from the jelly fish and the mugging, we stayed four nights and then did a day sail to Torrieveija,  where we rested before heading overnight to Ibiza.

Funny things – snap, crackle and pop! Apparently there are little things like cray fish that eat all of the crap of the bottom of boats when they are at anchor. You lie in bed at night, and it’s like the boat is floating in a bowl of rice crispies – really weird!

Other funny things – on our sail to Ibiza we saw a bright orange flotation device in the water. We approached it and lifted it out of the sea (incase it was better than ours and we wanted to keep it!), but never guess what was written on it Costa Fortunia (the cruiseliner that sank recently). Pretty small sea this med!
I cooked and tried to eat my tuna that I caught, but it was very disappointing as it tasted really salty – nothing like the fresh tuna steaks you buy in the supermarket. We think that they must be treated some way before being consumed, and plan to google it to see. In the meantime fishing is on pause.

I have decided to occupy myself on my 4 hour watches by starting to plan my menu for the 3 wk atlantic crossing.  Stevie likes meat for every meal so weeks 2 and 3 of the menu may be a challenge as we don’t have a freezer so any suggestions would be appreciated.

Anyway nearly at Ibiza, so time to go and party! Luv to you all xxx

8 comments:

  1. Sounds braw (apart from the robbery obviously) , jealous jealous jealous ! I'm away to sit on a bowl of rice crispies now , just to get into the spirit of things !

    Paul x

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  2. im glad you both are still ok and enjoying your sail , thinking of you both all the time
    luv mum

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  3. Hey,

    sounds cool- shame about the robbery, but you live you learn!! I can't believe you are in ibiza now- how cringe worthy- is it not full of nineteen year olds, or 30 year olds going throu' a mid life crisis?? You are both funny!
    Well have now been to wagga and it was funny too. Full of country people- most of them really cool, some of them a bit stand off ish- couldnt work out if it was coz i was either a) from the city b) few years older than them and fully employed (most of them are students) or c) being from scotland?? Who knows, but it was 4 days of full on study. I spent the mornings in lectures, then afternoons doin prac work- id-ing primals/ retail cuts/ learning about pricing & eating quality traits of carcases. And evening having a dinner and other talks. Was pretty good, i knew some stuff but feel that there is still lots i don't know that well and really need to work on. Was interesting to hear all about the farm/ pre-slaughter side of things, rather than just the post-slaughter stuff i am used to. On sat morning had to get up at 5am for the prac exam which was at the abattoir there and came home sat night (via sydney)
    Mum prob told you too, we bought some new cars, or maybe i did, can't really remember? but jess picked me up from the airport on sat night and i got to drive his new car home- so suupppperrr smmmmoooooththttthth on the road, very impressed. On sunday took mine for a spin and also lllllurrrurrrvvvvvvvvvvvvvveeeee it tooo. it's great and no need to worry about clutches or gear boxes anymore- thankfully.
    Other than that just getting back to usual routines now. Going to go to dance class tonight to work up a sweat, as i haven't been since b4 the wedding and feel like i have stacked on a bit of weight=few kgs at least.
    Jess has taped a doco for me to watch about the oceans- i saw a clip and it nearly freaked me out, some of the sizes of waves that you can be exposed to, will let you know when i have watched it!!
    I am just using this website to keep in touch as i figure u prob look at it more than your emails?!
    Look forward to talking to you one day! But for now enjoy and glad to hear things are going welll for the two of you,
    Love you millions xxxx

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  4. Hey Nic,

    sorry to hear of the theft of your items. Hilarious to read that you found a Costa (un)Fortunia life jacket - was it the captains?? As regards keeping meat for weeks at sea, try researching curing/brining it but dont give everyone food poisoning (sorry, bad joke). Hope you enjoy Ibiza and are fully recharged for the big crossing! All fine this end, some git climbed on board the noodle and helped themselves to some parts of my engine so no boat owners are safe!! Settled back into life after Oz, Shelly is now on school hols for 10 weeks but doing some lessons throughout. I am studying for that wine course, to take the exam in september. Keep safe and best to Stevie and the crew. take care, lots of love Neil & Shelly xxx

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  5. do you not have access to a freezer? i thought there would be one in the fridge- surely thats best for preservation of meat? Just go careful about which tuna are actually endangered species- need to do your research sister- assume nothing!

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  6. Jesus nic, was reminisce of oz mind u got robbed, glad u ok both, u protect that stevie now! Lolz, just learn u lessons tho, not everyone is nice as you guys. Ibiza !?? I'm going tenerife, can u get there!? Miss u ma pal my beee-atch lots of love xxxx

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  7. Actually remember talking to stevie one nicht about this crossing and fresh meat thing, we think you should get chickens! Ask him! I'll meet u in cuba xxxx

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  8. luv the accent lolly xxx

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Thanks for your interest!

Nic n Steve.