Mallorca

Dolphin Escort Our loose plan for the summer was to go Mallorca and Menorca then to the north and east coasts of Sardenia (which would be new territory for us) returning to Menorca before the busy holiday season of July and August. The plan fell apart!

We left Vilanova on the 22nd April at 13:22. The forecast was light winds and half metre wave height decreasing through the night. It was a slow crossing (23 hours 13 minutes) because for the first few hours the wind and waves were against us. I don't know the average speed because the speed through water log wasn't working although we had speed over ground data from the GPS. As usual we had an unpleasant swell for a few hours while Tan was trying to prepare food. The only highlight was a school of about a dozen dolphins playing in the bow wave. On arrival we went onto the quay at Pollenca because we were due to meet Mike and Chris for lunch the next day.

We spent 42 days in Pollenca, 35 of which were on the town quay. Tan broke out in quite a severe rash which persisted for well over three weeks despite two visits to the doctor and a long course of antihistamine. While at anchor I cleaned the depth and speed log transducers and parts of the hull underwater the water being a pleasant 25C. We ate out quite frequently, usually menu-del-dia at either El Posito (10€) or La Bodeguita (9.50€) or Blau Maritim and occasionally at night at Can Ferra,

Menorca

Turanor Planetsolar With the loose plan in mind we set sail (literally) for Menorca on the 8th June. For the first hour or so there was fog so I used the radar. After that we managed a few hours under sail in the light winds and finally anchored in the serene and beautiful Cala Fontenelles where Tan had her first swim of the season.

After three lovely days and nights at anchor at Cala Fontenelles we went to Fornells were we spent a total of 22 nights alternating between anchoring a mile down the bay (14 nights), 7 nights on the Club Nautic pontoon and finally 1 night on the expensive posidonia buoys because it was convenient for an early start to Sardinia the following day.

The town quay is a concrete quay built on the inside of the harbour wall but the rubble footing extend quite a way out which means that you have to go bow-to making it impossible for Tan to get off. The Club Nautic Pontoon, opposite the town quay is a bit rocky with boats coming and going but at least we can go stern-to and there is water and electricity. The always cheerful Mario found us a good berth close to the landward end. We also met Xavier with his little dog Nutella who between them look after the Posdonia buoys.

While at Fornells we met Terresa and Mike a few times and ate at the restaurant and snack-bar Sa Nansa

Fiesta Virgin de Carmen On the 1st July I slipped the buoy just before dawn at 05:30 and motored out of Cala Fornells en-route for Sardinia. The forecast was good for the thirty six hour crossing with moderate SE winds. I got the sails up and we were making good progress apart from a very uncomfortable swell which literally jerked us forward every few minutes. After four hours and 22 miles we decided we didn't want another 32 hours of this so we turned round and set sail for a cala about a mile away from where we started. The sail back was perfect and we made good progress, arriving at Cala Tirant at 10:30. In hindsight, we were lucky not to have got to Sardinia because they took the brunt of a lot of storms through the summer.

We anchored in crystal clear water over white sand in the centre of the bay with tourist villas on either side. It's a nice quiet bay and we were the only boat at anchor apart from one other which arrived late afternoon. Unfortunately the cala is wide open to northerlies so we only got to stay one night.

Next day we headed west along the north coast of Menorca. We explored Cala Binimel-la but there were many submerged and awash rocks so we continued on to Cala Rotja. We endured an unpleasant swell overnight so the following day we retreated back to Fornells where we spent the next two weeks, again alternating between anchoring and on the Club Nautic pontoon.

At various times we shared the anchorage with the largest solar powered boat in the world, the Turanor Planetsolar and with three superyachts. The Turanor Planetsolar was built in Kiel and launched in March 2010. It is 31m long and 15m wide with a top speed of 14knots. It has a crew of four and carries a staggering 8.5 tons of batteries which are charged with 93kw of solar panels!

While in Fornells the not-so-old Honda outboard died with the same problem as the previous one, namely a rusted oil-sump, so I bought a new Parsun F2.6BM outboard from a local chandler. The new outboard is only 0.3hp more than the old Honda but it has a slightly longer shaft which makes it much faster.

Aboard Moondance at the Fiesta The Fiesta Virgin de Carmen was on the 16th July. We joined the is a huge parade of boats on Moondance with Michael and Teresa and several others. The parade culminates with a blessing and throwing a wreath into the sea. There were all types of craft from Kayaks and dinghies to power and sail boats. Its amazing that there were no collisions.

It was now too late in the season to go to Sardinia and the winds had been very unpredictable with many storms from the Gulf de Lion so we decided to return to Mallorca.

Mallorca

We left Fornells at 08:30 on the 17th July and dropped anchor at Pollenca at 18:55. The bay is now very busy with lots of mooring buoys and many boats at anchor. We spent seven nights at Pollenca, some at anchor and some on the quay even though it is the high price season. We stocked up on supplies and had menu-del-dia a few times.

By the 25th July it was time for a change of scenery so we went to Aucanada where we spent five days at anchor. It never gets busy here apart from day boats at the weekends. Mike, Christine and Niel arrived and anchored near us so we went over for pre-lunch drinks. On the 30th July we motored down the bay to Puerto Alcudia where we got diesel, petrol and water, then anchored behind the port for the night.

Fornells, Menorca The wind had supposedly changed so on the last day of July we went around onto the North coast of Mallorca to Cala San Vincente, one of our favourites. We dropped anchor at 12:49 but there was quite a swell. We decided to wait to see if it would abate, it didn't, it got worse so at 16:10 we weighed anchor and returned to Aucanada.

Next day we took the dinghy to the beach and walked into Puerto Alcudia where we had a menu-del-dia at Blau Maritim then walked into the town of Alcudia for shopping at Mercadona. We took a taxi back. When we got back the wind had picked up and changed and piled up lots of dead posidonia weed on the beach and in the surf. Then we noticed that one of the inflated tubes of the dinghy was flat. Inspection showed that it wasn't a small puncture but one of the seams had come unglued. I stripped off to my underwear dragged the dinghy into the weed and swell and we limped back to the boat. Raised the anchor and re-anchored in a calmer position behind Puerto Alcudia. What a day!

Our not-so-old Carribe dinghy was a big disappointment, it was literally falling apart at the seams so while we were at anchor behind Puerto Alcudia I bought a new dinghy, a 2.2 metre Ultra-light Mercury. It has a fully integrated inflated floor which gives it a V shaped hull and the seams are welded - not glued.

The whole of August and September we spent around the bays of Pollenca and Alcudia. Either anchoring at Aucanada, Bonaire, or Pollenca or on the quay at Pollenca.

We had planned to meet Barry and Jacqui while they were on their walking holliday in Soller. So accordingly, we set sail very early on the 2nd October and arrived at Port Soller at 12:55 where we secured a berth on the town pontoon. We stayed five nights, during which time we had Barry, Jacqui and thier friends Dave and Jane on board for drinks and tapas and they invited us to a buffet dinner at their hotel (the Eden Nord).

After leaving Soller we spent a couple of quiet nights at anchor in Cala San Vincente. This time there was no swell! From there we went to Bonaire where we anchored off the marina and met Mike and Chris, also at anchor.

We arrived at Port Pollenca on the 10th October where we spent eight nights on the quay. We went to Canyamel with Mike and Chris for there fantastic buffet lunch. Tan also had drinks with Gigi and Don a few times. It was hot and sunny and we over-indulged in menu-del-dia.

On the 18th October we said goodbye to Mallorca and set sail. 108 miles and 20 hours 38 minutes later we were at Vilanova i la Geltru.