Formentera....... part two!

Right: damaged by boarders


Below: BBQ looking good

Sorry, but I just like looking at the anchorage!

The following day - 2nd July - was another gruelling day, swimming from the boat and a trip to the beach by dinghy to get a different view. And an evening on board "Sundancer" with Ken and Louise, and Pat and Roy from "Infinity" who had now also arrived from Ibiza and who we knew from our winters in Torredembarra. We spent the next couple of days socialising and swimming, even venturing ashore for a stroll on a couple of occasions.

On the 6th we visited San Francisco - the local town - to watch Lewis Hamilton win the British Grand Prix in a local bar. Later that evening we went aboard "Ipsos" for a BBQ only to be interupted by a large Spanish Motoryacht trying to share our buoy - they had apparently reserved the buoy in advance but were not prepared to wait for us to move. They had boarded our unattended boat and were trying to winch themselves alongside using our stanchions as strongpoints - they had already pulled out a stanchion from the deck. A fracas ensued during which they denied having damaged us and physically tried to ram us as we were trying to board from our dinghy. Many local and visiting Spanish boats had seen what was happening and several came to our assistance, eventually driving off the intruder. We were visited by many tenders with people apologising for the antics of their fellow countrymen against a visitor - they could not have been more helpful and we were very grateful.

The following morning the marinero visited as he had heard something of the happenings. After confirming our report with other boaters he returned and apologised on behalf of the authority and asked if we would talk to the police with a view to prosecuting. He understood when we explained that we did not want to waste a lot of time in a long drawn out procedure.

Our BBQ eventually restarted and a good evening was had, rounded off (unfortunately) by a party on the nearby shore accompanied by beating drums until 5.30am. We often had cause to wonder when the Spanish slept.

The following day we said goodbye to our friends and retired ready for an early departure to the mainland.