GIBRALTAR
We arrived at Gibraltar early in the morning on Thursday 18th August after a long 3 night, 4 day passage. Light SE winds blew us along til the last 24 hours when they petered out completely. The 2 knot current was against us so if we continued sailing we would go backwards; also we were aware of a gale forecast to blow up the next day, so we motored to get to Gibraltar in the calm and just as well; some friends who decided to keep sailing arrived in the midst of the storm and were flattened by 50 + knot winds as they motored into the bay; even the large tankers and cargo ships at anchor were having problems.
We didn't stop at Ibiza as we were running out of time and the thought of beer swilling drunken Brits didn't inspire us much. We had good winds behind us and sailed all the 120nm to Cartegena in 36 hours.
We stayed in a fancy marina (60 euros a night) at Cartegena which was a pleasant change after all our anchoring. The old town was very pretty with a lovely walking street which turned into a tapas bars and restaurants at night.
Menorca to Mallorca
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| Miss Molly sailing along the NW coast of Mallorca |
The scenery along the North Coast of Mallorca was spectacular with sheer, rugged cliffs plunging into the sea; nestled in between were tiny sandy and pebbly calas (coves). A lot of this coast is inaccessible by road. In fact much of it is a world heritage site of biosphere and cultural interest. All the vilaages are built of stone and tone walls hold the terraces in place on the steep hillsides.
Puerto Soller is the only harbour on the north coast offering a protected anchorage, so very crowded in summer. Makoko was surrounded by boats which was a bit of a problem; in flat calm because of the currents and the differing weights of boats we had yachts drifting into us as well as anchors dragging when a gale blew up and the wind was piping in at 30+ knots, creating a very uncomfortable swell; so it was fun and games the first few days til the weather settled down.Despite being a tourist town, Puerto Soller still has its traditions. The little harbour is full of these fishing boats which brave the swell and at times inhospitable seas.
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| Puerto Soller harbour |
Until the tourists moved in Puerto Soller was an idyllic, small fishing village. Now the old historic town with colourful buldings and narrow cobbled streets is completely over whelmed by hotels, apartments, restaurants and shops. The sandy beaches around the harbour were packed with umbrellas and sunburnt, overweight Poms and Germans.
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Tourist train from the port to the old town of Soller |
To get away from the beach scene we decided to take a trip inland over to Palma, the capital on the south coast of Mallorca. We caught a little tourist tram which chuffed 4 kms uphill to the old medieval town of Soller built inland from the port to protect it from pirates. A large cathedral dominated the leafy square which had a real old worldly feeling about it. From there we caught a traditional old victorian train to Palma. For an hour we lapped up the luxury of sitting in a small carraige with old leather high backed seats; the scenery was stunning as we climbed up the mountain pass,deciduos forests and lower down the slopes,stone walled terraces of olive trees.
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| Enjoying the trip tp Palma on old Victorian train |
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| Street scene Palma |
Palma was an exciting place to visit. It was very atmospheric with lots of buskers, musicians, artists all competing for your attention and money. We enjoyed expolring the old medieval part with its narrow cobbled streets, brightly painted buildings and historic churches. The Cathedral was very impressive with its cream white washed walls, soaring vaulted ceilings and little chapels. The chandelier over the altar and the wrought iron balustrades were designed by Gaudi and gave the Cathedral a unique modern feeling.
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| Even in Church Dave has to play with his eyepad! |
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| Magnificent Gaudi chandelier in Palma Cathedral |
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| The spires of Palma Cathedral |
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The young model was beautifull but painfully thin |
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| Model shoot in Palma near the old harbour |
Friday 21th July: Early morning start to sail 53 nm from Mallorca to NE Ibiza
in light winds
in light winds
Monday 8th July: We are now at Puerto Soller on Mallorca anchored with lots of boats riding out a 7 knot gale. So we have been on the boat all day, watching others drag their anchors; it has been mayhem as it is so crowded. Luckily Makoko is rock solid.
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| Town Hall, Es Castells, Mahon, Menorca |
On our last day before leaving Mahon we dinghied across the bay to the quaint small fishing village of Es Castells formerly known as Georgetown when the British occupied thtis area in the 18th century The main buildings around the big squar, once military barracks, are Georgian in style and painted British miliitary red. The town has a distinctive English feel about it and many of the buidings have English architectural details such as bow and sash windows.
Restaurants and little boutique shops lined the old fishing harbour; the quay was closed to traffic and so it was very relaxed and peacefull except for the local lads jumping of the quay into the water.
We had a fantastic meal at Restaurant Irene; 18 euros for a 4 course meal including wine, plate of local olives and bread. Not only was it good value but of Michelin quality. Starters of dates wrapped in proscuito were followed by shrimp, mussels and roasted pepepper in a light consommecold soup; then the girls had wonderfully succulent lamb shanks and the boys TB steaks from Argentina, the size of a dinner plate. To end with strawberries and lemon sorbet.
We had a wonderful 6 day stay exploring Mahon
and its surrounds.
The anchorage was delightful but at times very
crowded, hence the fenders out on the side of
Makoko. But it was time to move on as there was a good weather forecast for sailing along the NW coast.
We were interested to see the huge Vickers Gun camouflaged on top of the cliff.
We had a great afternoon sail in light SE winds; for 22 nautical miles the wind was behind us so we had a mizzen stay sail which we call Claudie ( a name inherited from the previous owners) and the head sail poled out the other side ( a uniques Amel design). Unfortunatley there was no one around to take a photo.
We spent the night in Cala Rotja a big bay with a lovely long red/golden sandy beach.
Next morning an early start for the 34nm passage to Mallorca. again the gods were with us and we had a good sail, although at times a bit rolly polly withl a SE wind pushing us along at 7+ knots.
We arrived at Cala Figuera, a spectacular small cove surrounded by high cliffs just inside the headland of Cabo de Formentor.
Our friends Phil and Monica on Good Golly Miss Molly sailed around from Pollensa to join us and we celebrated with a wonderful shrimp curry cooked by Phil as the moon rose behind the cliffs; unfortunatley I didn't have my camera with me to record such an amazing sight.
The wonderful scenery inspired us to have an early morning exercise session. We climbed the steep path to the saddle and then ran along the road to the summit.
I wasn't as energetic as Dave as I stopped to take lots of photos.
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| Dave trying to race the cyclist through the tunnel in the cliff |
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| Spectacular sunrise at Cala Figuera |
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| Mountain goats grazing in the saddle and lovely pine forests in the background |
After climbing the mountain, I had a lovely long swim out to Makoko in crystal clear water.
we then set off to sail 25 nm to Puerto Soller.
The coastal scenery was spectacular; sheer cliffs and rugged mountains interspersed by the occassional little sandy Cala.
Again the wind was behind us so we had Claudie and the poled headsail to move us along.
Cala de la Calobra one of the iconic scenes on Mallorca. We are unlucky that we are here in August as most of the calas are very crowded with Spanish and French boats.
We arrived at Puerto Soller late in the afternoon to find the bay very crowded; we managed to squeeze in and anchor next to a big gin palace.
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| Crowded anchorage in Puerto Soller harbour |
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| Crowded anchorage in Puerto Soller harbour |
