Balearics and Beyond

Balearics and Beyond
So we left Moraira at 0730 on Tuesday 17th April with two CBYA yachts sailing out with us
for the first few miles, Emma Louise and Tricky D with the Mudges, Sloggies and Richard on
board. We definitely had not had enough sleep after our farewell dinner at the Nihao, which
was attended by nearly 50 friends and well-wishers followed by the world’s worst coffee on
board Emma Louise . We are very grateful to everyone for the great send off…………we’re
only going sailing you know.
We had a fantastic, very brisk sail to Sant Antonio, Ibiza. Unfortunately the sail exposed a
few problems with the boat, particularly the main battery bank which runs all the domestic
services, fridges, lights, pumps and rather importantly all the instruments including the two
chart plotters/GPS navigation systems. Also the handheld VHF had decided to stop working,
as had the cockpit repeater for the main VHF.
We had suspected a battery problem a few weeks prior to leaving and had them tested in
Denia and were told they were OK. A chandler in Ibiza lent us another battery tester and
again they tested as OK. The electrical system is based around a Mastervolt inverter/charger
and Mastervolt generator so we made an appointment with the Mastervolt distributor in
Palma de Mallorca for the following week.
Strong winds kept us in Ibiza for a few days which gave us a chance to unwind after all the
rushing to get our house ready for summer rentals and moving onto the boat. On Saturday
21st we sailed up to Andraitx, Mallorca, for the weekend. Andraitx is the opposite of Sant
Antonio, very expensive: posh restaurants and coffee shops and backstreets full of designer
boutiques. However the harbour master can’t be arsed to work weekends, so we stayed 2
nights on the town quay for nothing and left early Monday morning for Palma.
Palma has several Marinas and we opted to stay in the “Marina Port De Mallorca” which
turned out to be a good choice. Over the weekend in Andraitx we had established beyond
doubt that our batteries were knackered, so our first mission in Palma was to try and source
new ones without getting completely ripped off. Palma is absolutely full of “superyachts” and
one of the chandlers said that when someone had paid 20 million for the yacht they weren’t
too worried by the cost of spares. We had quotes of up to 1450 euros for the three batteries
we needed, for which we eventually paid 980 euros for exactly the same items. Having fitted
the batteries, checked all the connections and left them on charge overnight we then called in
the Mastervolt man to check over the functioning of the full system, which thankfully was
given a clean bill of health.
The atmosphere in the marina was of frantic maintenance, repairs and obsessive cleaning
from dawn till dusk. The yachts are cleaned using water fed through special softener systems
so that they get no lime scale spots when the water dries. We even saw crew abseiling down
the sides of the yachts to polish them. The teak decks were all immaculate and no one is
allowed on board wearing shoes, white socks or bare feet being the order the day.
This 11 year old 141 footer is for sale for 11.5 million
We ended up spending six nights in the marina, and doing lots of odd jobs around the boat as
well as shopping (Swee found an Asian food store, Andrew found a great coffee shop and
Jeremy found the ultimate yacht chandlers so everyone was very happy!) and a bit of
sightseeing too.
We took the open topped sightseeing bus around Palma which was fairly expensive and the
tour was a bit short on highlights. Previous similar bus tours in Valencia and Barcelona, that
we had done had proved worthwhile but the Palma one was less so and we would have been
better hiring a car for a couple of days. However the Cathedral and fort were both worth the
effort and we also found an excellent restaurant for lunch in the old town.
La Seu (Palma Cathedral) Known as the glory of Palma, a truly magnificent cathedral which
stands head and shoulders above the city.
Castell de Bellver.
This is probably the most well maintained royal fortress anywhere in the world. It was built
almost 700 years ago and looks brand new. It is a testimony to the architect Pere Salva who
was also famous for Almudaina Palace. The castle itself is quite unique as it is entirely round
instead of square. It has 3 large towers and a central courtyard. The courtyard shown in the
photo is split into 2 levels, and from the roof you look down into the courtyard and see how
well designed the castle is, and then turn around and be amazed by the views out over Palma
Bay. The word Bellver means ‘lovely view’ in Catalan.
The view of Palma harbour from Castell de Belver
We still had nearly two weeks before we were due to meet Kate & Trevor in Menorca but we
decided to move on and we set sail for Porto Petro on the East Coast of Mallorca on Sunday
morning having parted with 366 euros for 6 nights in the marina, which we thought was good
value for money.
The sail out across Palma bay, along the bottom of the island and 10 miles up the east coast
was the first real test of the new battery system and we made a point of using as much battery
power as possible with the autohelm steering all the way and all instruments, plotters and
fridges fired up. Thankfully everything performed is it should………….what a relief! It was
another brisk sail and the boat went well, as did the crew. We had decided to spend the night
in Porto Petro and arrived at 16.30. There are several places to anchor in the harbour, but with
strongish winds still blowing we thought a night tied to the Club Nautico quay would be more
settled. With the aid of a marinero, or marijuana as Swee calls them, we were soon tied up in
a vacant berth and completed the formalities at which point the marijuana announced that the
cost was 68 euros for the night. A brief marital discussion followed and then to his dismay we
told him it was too expensive, and went and anchored a few hundred yards away in Cala d’els
Homos Morts where we had a safe but slightly bouncy night, with no other yachts in the
anchorage on the first night.
Blue Chip at anchor in Cala d’els Homs Morts
Porto Petro is a pleasant enough little town and there is a large but low rise hotel which
happens to have a very strong wi-fi signal that enabled us to surf the net and catch up with e
mails. Andrew received news from Jaguar about where he will be working, so we booked his
flight from Menorca back to Blighty and he spent ages on Rightmove researching property to
rent, and getting car insurance quotes. We spent a second night in the same Cala, but this time
with five other yachts accompanying us, all Germans.
The next morning we undertook the massive passage, about four miles, to Port Colom which
is supposedly the largest natural harbour in Mallorca and the Pilot book shows several places
to anchor in the harbour. We duly anchored, but within half an hour were told by the “Ports
IB” marijuana that we were not allowed to anchor and had to use one of their buoys, which
we did and after twenty minutes completing paperwork we handed over 11 Euros and went
off exploring the town and in fact had a five or six mile walk right round the perimeter of the
harbour. Some of the area is developed for tourists but most of the area was Spanish
occupied, with a huge number of very small fishing boats and generally feeling a bit rundown.
The following morning we set off to Mahon, Menorca with virtually no wind and motored all
the way, about 60 miles. In fairness we had enjoyed fair winds up until this point, and whilst
it was calm it was also sunny. From a previous visit to Mahon in 2010 we had already learnt
that all the fantastic anchorages in the harbour, of which there are several, have now been
made no-go areas by the harbour authority, and the only anchorage you are allowed to use
would involve a trip in the dinghy of nearly two miles to reach any of the shore side facilities!
The reason for this is that the port authority handed over the running of all berthing facilities
in the harbour to a variety of different private businesses. We spent our first night in what is
called the “Sunseeker” marina which one might have thought from the name was a marina
specially for naturists, but in fact was nothing more than a section of the old town quay, with
the attendant traffic noise, to which you moor stern to and part with 57 euros for the
privilege. Other sections of the quay have been franchised out to various marine related
companies, and then there is also a decent sized marina called Marina de Mahon. The one
thing they all have in common is that they are all less than half full. Another company called
Ocibar have been given responsibility for moorings in what used to be the old anchorages.
They have laid out a number of pontoons and a couple of “artificial islands” which are
glorified pontoons in a square formation to which up to 22 yachts can moor stern to. The
“islands” are supplied with water, mains electricity and even a cold water open air shower.
The “islands” are supplied with water, mains electricity and even a cold water open air
shower.
The boat houses on the shore were built so that modest ladies could take to the waters
without exposing themselves!
We have spent five nights on one of the islands and they have proved to be very tranquil
places to spend a few days with the benefit of water and electricity and also the knowledge
that the boat is safe and you don’t have to worry about dragging your anchor. Having said
that, we would have much preferred to anchor and save 33 euros a night! On the town quay
there is a separate dinghy pontoon for Ocbar customers to use for coming ashore, which was
described by the lady in their office as opposite the statue of the “lady with fish legs”.
The harbour area of Mahon feels quite run down with many empty shops and restaurants and
semi derelict buildings. The locals say that in the past there would be hundreds of yachts
anchored in the harbour, and of course all the crews would be spending money with the local
restaurants and bars, but since the port authority have stopped yachts anchoring and forced
them to use marinas businesses have suffered greatly. By contrast the city of Mahon itself
seems pretty vibrant and a pleasant enough place to spend a few days, with good shops, and
quite a lot of history to absorb.
The main reason we are spending so long in Mahon is the need for dental treatment, Swee
had a filling fall out a few days ago and Jeremy also had a filling come out as well as an
infection under a molar for which the dentist has prescribed a 5 day course of antibiotics prior
to extraction. All a bit of a pain, but best sorted here rather than ending up with a more
serious situation in some remote Greek island.
With the dental treatment sorted by the excellent Alfredo at “Dental Clinic Mahon” we were
free again to go and explore a bit more of Menorca. We hired a car for three days from a
company on the waterfront, a Daewoo with 83,000 clicks on the clock, cheap and cheerful.
The island has a reputation for being slightly more up-market than its neighbours Ibiza and
Mallorca and there is very little high rise tourist development, but the island seems to lack
scenic beauty and is littered with light industry and not very attractive small towns. Driving
through the countryside you almost feel that you could be in Wales, with fields full of cattle
and sheep, bordered with dry stone walls. The rainfall must be quite high as the agricultural
land is very green and lush. Menorca is dependent upon tourism to quite an extent, but also
has successful cheese and leather goods industries.
Apparently 85% of the population are Menorquin, and the invasion by German and British
retirees has been quite limited. The islanders resist change and whilst it is easy to see
commercial opportunities are being lost it is also good to see the development that has
blighted so much of Spain has been avoided.
Fornells viewed from the highest point on Menorca
In many ways the island seems more attractive viewed from the water and there are many
beautiful calas and harbours. After we had delivered our son Andrew to the airport for his
flight back to his new job in the UK we returned the hire car, and set off in the boat to visit
Cala de Addaya which is a very peaceful long narrow estuary cala on the north coast which is
absolutely teaming with wild life, and was a very peaceful place to spend a couple of days at
anchor. The entrance is strewn with submerged rocks and quite challenging the first time you
enter, but worth the effort. We also spent time at Puerto de Fornells, which is an inland sea
nearly two miles long and a very safe anchorage with lots of good restaurants around the port
area.
We returned to Mahon to attend a performance of Swan Lake by the Moscow Ballet in what
apparently is the oldest theatre in Spain. The building had been renovated in recent years but
many of the original features were preserved, and the stage was slightly smaller than we had
expected, but still large enough for the fourteen cygnets. The performance was absolutely
breath-taking and a great treat.
Our final night before the arrival of Kate and Trevor was spent at Cala Taulera, which is just
inside the entrance to Mahon harbour and gives very good protection from winds from all
directions.
And so we come to the end of the first phase of our summer cruise. What do we think of it so
far? “It’s the dog’s Balearics!”
Next stop Sardinia.
On Saturday 12th May Kate and Trevor joined us for nearly three weeks and the next leg of
our trip which is the passages to Sardinia and to Sicily. We enjoyed a good meal together at
one of the waterside restaurants, having already visited a local supermarket to provision the
boat. On Sunday morning we took a two and a half hour guided walk around Mahon which
was very interesting but eventually we were all suffering from information overload.
We had planned to sail to Sardinia on Monday morning, a distance of just under 200 nautical
miles. We planned the passage based on an estimated speed of 7 knots, so we would be at sea
for around 30 hours and it is critical to get good weather information before departure.
Fortunately we have been able to get WiFi in most places, and also had a Spanish dongle to
give internet access. The websites that we use regularly are Weatheronline, Windfinder and
Windguru. Whilst they rarely agree with each other you can usually interpolate roughly what
is going on, although the reality is that the forecasts are only correct for about 60% of the
time.
We also have a Furuno Navtex receiver on the boat. Navtex is an acronym meaning
navigational teletex which is a worldwide narrow band radio teletype system that delivers up
to 14 categories of message including navigational, meteorological and search and rescue
messages. The messages are transmitted by stations strategically located around the world
including 8 stations in the central Mediterranean area. In Mahon we were picking up
transmissions from Algiers, Rome, Split and Toulon. The advantage Navtex has is that the
messages are stored on the system as text, so you don’t have to listen at specific times and
also the messages are all in English.
From all these sources we concluded that Monday would be OK provided that we were in
Carloforte, Sardinia before Tuesday evening by which time the winds were steadily
increasing until a full gale was expected for Wednesday. We left Mahon on Monday at 0645
and started off in winds of around 17 knots, which quickly increased to 20 knots. The wind
direction meant that we were on a beam reach, which enabled us to keep full sail up and to
charge along at 8.5 to 9.5 knots. We were definitely at the point where we should have been
thinking about reefing, especially as Kate and Swee had just spilled the porridge, but as the
forecast was for the winds to decrease throughout the day we hung on to full sail and made
very rapid progress. After a few hours the winds did reduce and by three in the afternoon we
were having to motorsail to keep up any speed.
Through the night we worked a four on four off watch system with the off watch couple
trying to sleep despite the engine noise and the banging around of rigging and sails caused by
the still lumpy sea. Throughout the passage we keep an hourly manual log showing position,
speed and course, wind strength and direction and engine hours. We also always have paper
charts so that if the electronics all pack up we can still do old fashioned navigation.
Trevor announced that he had “done a log” at 07.00 and Jeremy said that he hoped he had
flushed it away! We raised our Italian courtesy flag at 8.00am and were tied up in Sifredi
Marina, Carloforte at 09.00hrs some 26 hours after leaving Mahon. The weather forecast
from Weatheronline proved to be accurate and it blew old boots all day Wednesday, by which
time we were out enjoying our first Italian pasta in glorious sunshine! Swee has also
developed a liking for Foccacio !