Casting off the docklines is always difficult but soon Diomedea was weaving her way out of the Palma harbour, into 20+ knots of SW air. Wet and wild for some time before the angle relented and we took off for Cabo de ses Salienes. Our destination for the night was the small Cala Mondrago in a tiny bit of National Park. A quiet night in a very pretty bay however did not make up for the windward thrash for 20 miles the next morning down to Isla de Cabrera (Goat island), a land and marine national park with no development at all. Overnight stays are permitted only on pre-booked moorings for about AU$40 per night. It is a rugged, semi-arid, and gorgeous limestone area, remarkably similar to islands in the Aegean.
The island has been inhabited since prehistory, and there is a reasonably well-maintained 14th century castle overlooking the harbour. It was probably built as a defence against corsairs. There is a memorial marking the death by disease and starvation of up to 12,000 Napoleonic soldiers who were imprisoned here after the Peninsular wars of 1807-14.
An excellent walk takes one to the Faro d’Ensiola light in the south, built in the mid-19th century with the lighting supplied, of course, by the Chance Bros in the UK.(They introduced the Fresnel diffractive prism lens to lighthouse optics as well as mechanical rotating systems, and did a huge number of lights in the western world.)
With the SW flow finally abating it was time to leave for Ibiza, 65nm to the west. The forecast northerly did not amount to anything so we used the 130% diesel coupled with the non-overlapping jib for the passage. Quite a pretty island we found refuge in the narrow, scenic Cala Binirras on the west coast. One could count the anchor chain links on the fine rippled sand in 9 metres of water. The main event however was a majestic drumming session on the beach which went on for many hours. Attended by a large semi-naked audience, the tumultuous but rhythmic drum jam climaxed as the sun set out to sea (about 8.30pm), but then continued on…..