Well all was going well with the departure plans until we actually tried to put them into practice. A 5am alarm had us on deck and releasing the lines for the off. Well not actually all the lines because we discovered that there was a pickup line from the pontoon firmly wrapped around the propeller!

It seems that the engine trials the previous evening, following the repair, had drawn the line, which was firmly attached to the pontoon, tightly around the propeller. This was only discovered after casting all the others off and drifting forward into the fairway. Pitch darkness added an air of drama to the event but the swift action of turning off the engine prevented any serious damage. However, we were still ‘moored’ to the pontoon by a rope which we couldn’t untie.

The solution was to unfurl the fore sail and allow the wind to pull us away from the pontoon thus stretching the rope and bringing it into reach below the back of the boat. A boat hook and a sharp knife enabled us to detach ourselves and make our way slowly down the port.

Unfortunately, a sizeable piece of the rope remained trailing from the stern of the boat and we were forced to anchor near the mouth of Mahon harbour whilst I put my scuba diving skills into practice. Not the way I had planned to leave Mahon but we were, nevertheless on our way.

Now 8 hours into the passage towards Ibiza we are becalmed and drifting on an oily looking sea.

Funny how all these things never seem to feature in the brochure!