The title is from a famous Swedish song, where the poet says he can sail without a wind and row without oars, but not leave his friend without shedding tears. I can hereby verify that this is a truth solely in the poetic sense. There was some wind when I left Port Portinatx, so I raised the main already at the anchorage. When I came out of the bay, the wind had turned so I had to beat against the gentle breeze, but I was soon going to turn south towards Ibiza town and get the wind on the beam and be able to stear a straight track. Fat chance. When I had turned, so did the wind, now coming from the south. My plan for the day was to go in for fuel in Ibiza city, and then cross over to the south side of Formentera and anchor there for the night. From there I wanted to go the 130 miles to Cartagena the following day and night. With this plan I was not in a hurry so my slow progress didn´t bother me that much. '

Around three in the afternoon I had filled up the tank with 50 liter. I want to come with as little in the tanks as possible when I arrive in Gibraltar, to be able to fill up with tax free diesel.

Going out towards Formentera, the wind piped up and I was soon making around 5 knots. It lasted for two hours, then I had to fire up the engine.

When the sun set I was at the anchorage. Checking the latest weather updates I got second thoughts. If I stayed the night here, I was in the risk to end up in strong winds big parts of the passage to Cartagena. The anchorage didn´t look that inviting either, so after some minutes contemplating my options I decided to go for Cartagena at once. Good winds was forecasted for the whole night, and then increasing during the day, but the really bad weather was not to come until Saturday.

But the wind never came, not during the night, not the following morning. For 23 hours I went for the engine, getting more and more furious over useless weather forecasts.

First around three in the afternoon the wind piped up, so for some hours I made good speed towards Santa Pola marina. Cartagena was a bit too far away now, so I just picked a suitable port from the Navionics map. I was in port in time for going to the supermarket and get a late dinner in town.