Cala Ratjada

Wednesday 16th July 2014

Before leaving the cala today we took Mango Tango for a paddle about. We read that there was a cave nearby and wanted to go and explore....

[caption id="attachment_1369" align="aligncenter" width="640"] A family party camped on this beach last night...[/caption]

I’m amazed at the cliff face here...the trees and plants growing from it seem to just be clinging on to life...and their roots grow down into the dry arid soil.....





A quick tidy round and a swim and we again sailed quietly away from our anchorage, with many waves and thumbs up from the other boats!

[caption id="attachment_1336" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Who is sailing Windekind?[/caption]



[caption id="attachment_1338" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Such an amazing colour...[/caption]

 

Today we are heading towards Cala Ratjada ....we came here two years ago on our very first trip on Windekind.....swam ashore to the beach bar for a beer which we paid for with very soggy euros.....!!!!

It was a glorious sail today....we stopped for lunch at an amazing piece of coast line...





as you can see the water is crystal clear...so much so that Windekind’s shadow can be seen on the sand beneath the water!





[caption id="attachment_1379" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Sitting on a sea of glass[/caption]

Mango Tango was taken on a little tour again too...we had seen lots of caves on our approach to the bay so, of course we wanted to go and explore.





[caption id="attachment_1341" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Not a good photo…but this is the whales belly cave…..[/caption]



 

 

The colours of the water are exquisite....and the seaweed growing just on the edge of the water line is a most vibrant pink...the colours don’t show up on the photos, but, believe me, they were stunning!



Some of the caves were so big we were able to kayak straight into them....one of them in particular felt like paddling into the mouth of a whale....the green and pink colour of the rock and the shapes of the cave made it feel very whale stomach like!!!!....not as fishy though!!

[caption id="attachment_1332" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Inside the whale...[/caption]











After a swim and some rock climbing to take some pics of Windekind we sailed onwards....





[caption id="attachment_1380" align="aligncenter" width="480"] BT on his way to rock climb...[/caption]





Once safely anchored in Cala Ratjada we took Mango Tango ashore for an ice cream and beer....yes, they go quite well together!!! Today is the official day for the Festival del Carmen and as we found out, Cala Ratjada was getting ready to celebrate. Brightly decorated flags decorated many of the small catalan boats and huge fishing boats....fireworks were also being laid in readiness for a display later.

[caption id="attachment_1359" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Fishing boats all decorated...[/caption]



We discovered that the service, preceding the procession around the harbour was taking place on the quayside...so we sat on Mango Tango and watched the proceedings...







until, that is, we were told by the officials that we wouldn't be able to take part in the procession with the boats as we were a liability!!! In actual fact, the service went on for so long that it was dark before the little procession of boats following the statue, left the harbour...it was quite amusing to watch as you couldn’t actually see anything except for the lights circling around the bay!! It all then came to a halt as an amazing whizzy, sparkly, bright noisy firework display showered the bay with colour and noise....by which time we were sitting on the back deck enjoying our nightly (not quite) rum!

[caption id="attachment_1367" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Whizzzzzzzz!!!![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1368" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Pop!!!! Bang!!![/caption]