Spirit of Discovery blog

It was certainly a windy start this morning with 30 kts of SW’ly wind right across the harbour entrance. After the pilot boarded at 0700 the planned manoeuvre was discussed on the Bridge and he suggested we swing outside the harbour rather than inside. As this was my first time in this port, I decided to take his advice and swing the ship outside the harbour. As we approached the swing position it became clear that the best way was to “stem” the wind and allow the ship to gently drift sideways through the harbour before guiding the ship astern towards the berth. With all cabins having balconies the sides of Spirit of Discovery are like a huge sail so if the wind is on the beam the ship can drift sideways with quite some speed. I was very pleased with this morning’s manoeuvre as it was one of those that really focused the mind!!

We were all fast by 0745 and ready to let guests ashore by 0800. With sunrise at 0811 at least we had some twilight and it soon became very apparent that it was a much brighter day than yesterday’s “washout” in Cartagena. There was a good selection of tours on offer today including “Hippy Ibiza” “Jeep Adventure” “Explore Dalt Old Town on Foot” and a couple of evening tours “ Visit the Famous Café Del Mar at Sunset” and “Night Walk through Classy Ibiza”. In addition of course Saga provided a courtesy shuttle bus service into Ibiza Town throughout the day and until 10.00pm so plenty of opportunity to enjoy a full day and late evening call in Ibiza.

There was another plaque exchange as it was once again a Maiden call, so with a good representation from the port, tourism board and ships agents we had a great discussion over coffee. Photos of course followed (one attached)

Just a 17km bike ride for me as by the time I headed off at 1700 it was rush hour in town and definitely a place to avoid, so with my cycling buddy Rico we “headed for the hills” and in the opposite direction to the traffic jams!! We got a great view of Ibiza town and the ship.

With everyone on board at 2230, we sailed at 2300 and headed for Palma, Majorca.

Captain Julian Burgess