This year Float Your Boat is Space's official pre party boat, and yesterday I headed to Playa den Bossa to jump aboard and warm up for Carl Cox's Space Tuesdays. One of two boats heading out to get things started for Coxy, I could have simply hopped on the vessel heading out from my doorstep in San Antonio, however with only one father and son DJing duo Just Be and Oliver Moon on the bill - and Playa d'en Bossa their boat of choice, there was no question that I was making the two-bus journey across the island to see them in action.
The party started at 2pm, so with the sun still out in full force the party-goers were welcomed onto the boat - and what says welcome aboard better than a giant bin full of sangria to get things started? Just Be aka Bushwacka! was nowhere to be seen as the engines purred into action - but more of that later - and it was down to younger generation Oliver Moon to kick things off behind the decks, setting the tone with Evelyn Champagne's upbeat classic Love Come Down. It was a chilled out atmosphere to begin with, as the boat sliced through the crystal clear waters and everyone lay back to drink in the spectacular views of the east coast (and of course their complimentary sangrias).
However this is Ibiza we're talking about, and so of course things soon heated up as people got up out of their seats and onto their feet as Moon laid down bass heavy tracks like David Penn's People Loving People. The bar was kept busy with some of the most reasonable prices I've seen yet on the island (or its waters) - tequila slammers for 2€? Rack 'em up barman!
As I mentioned earlier, Oliver Moon's old man - the DJ with many guises - Just Be aka Bushwacka! was noticeably absent from the jetty when the passengers and crew were filing on board earlier in the day, but fans of the Ibiza deck veteran needn't have worried, as at 3.30pm a dot on the horizon turned out to be none other than the man himself, arriving fashionably late James-Bond style on a speedboat. After climbing aboard, he was straight into the captain's cabin and behind the decks, seamlessly taking over from Moon.
With the men who were later going to be hitting Space's Terrace responsible for the soundtrack, it was - unsurprisingly - a steer away from the more commercial playlists you'd normally hear on a boat party. A refreshing change, it was an educated mix of melodic beats and some heavier bass, and the crowd for the most part was congregated on the top deck to dance under the sun, all ready for their journey up to Space later that night, where they did it all over again.
WORDS | Joanna Wright PHOTOGRAPHY | Float Your Boat
