the island of Mallorca ahead!

We would have extended our stay in Santa Eulalia by an extra day to allow us to visit Ibiza town but the latest forecast suggested that if we didn't leave tomorrow we'd have to spend potentially another week moving between calas to avoid both the wind and swell. We decided to cut our losses, give Ibiza town a miss and head off towards Mallorca instead. The closest harbour is Port Andraitx, just 55 miles away from Santa Eulalia.

The sea was lollopy and the wind that was predicted didn't really transpire so we motor-sailed. With exceptionally good visibility we were able to see the mountains of Mallorca from Tagomago point on Ibiza - that's around 42 miles although some threatening clouds were loitering around Mallorca (the forecast had indicated possible showers and thunderstorms).

Anchoring is forbidden in Port Andraitx, but there are choices of a marina, a floating pontoon, a harbour quay or buoys either owned by PortsIB or Club de Vela - not surprisingly the prices vary. We weren't sure how busy it was going to be so tried to book a buoy online at Club de Vela but without success - there appeared to be a problem with their website. In the end we telephoned the club an hour or so before our arrival where they confirmed availability.

The entrance to Port Andraitx is absolutely breathtaking with many tastefully styled houses built on the hillside each side of the cala, very reminiscent of Salcombe, Devon but in the sun ;-). This is obviously an expensive and classy part of the island!

A quick call on the VHF resulted in a marinero turning up on his RIB who then guided us to a buoy and took our ropes. He handed us all the usual paperwork together with a plan of all the town/club facilities and the club magazine. He advised that his colleague would follow shortly to collect the completed paperwork together with our payment (cash or card) and that rubbish would be collected daily at 7pm.

Total distance this season: 699.99 miles