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In Cartagena, besides cleaning sand off the boat, we visited the 13th century castle on top the hill with a beautiful view of the harbor and ancient Roman theater, plus also some of the archaeological sites left by the Carthaginians and Romans. We were impressed with how the city of Cartagena displayed these discoveries. We visited a Punic Rampart, a Roman religious building, a Roman road, and an old Roman house. Interestingly, it was from Cartagena that the Carthaginian general Hannibal started his famous expedition across the Alps with about 40,000 troops and a force of elephants to fight the Romans in the Second Punic War.

Sunday morning, June 12, we departed Cartagena for the Balearic Islands, 137 nautical miles away. The weather report predicted light southerlies. Instead, we had variable winds and crazy seas and so mostly motored with just a little motorsailing. By early evening the seas calmed down making for a more comfortable passage. That evening we crossed the Greenwich Meridian, officially marking our transfer from west to east longitude. At noon on Monday, June 13, almost two months after our departure from Lagos, we arrived in the Balearic Islands. We anchored in Cala Sabina on the northern end of Formentera, glad to finally be in these islands.

We plan to spend almost two months enjoying the Balearic Islands before sailing to Barcelona, Spain. Our present intention is to spend a couple of weeks in Barcelona before heading to Sardinia and Corsica. We will be in Rome, Italy, around the first of October.

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