Swallow's adventures

Mallorca welcomed us on 29/07/17 after a pleasant, gentle, 10 hour motor sail of just over 50 miles; just as we reached the headland before Andraitx the wind picked up considerably and we were bombing along on a nice beam reach. After studying the predicted winds we anchored in Cala Egos, close to Andraitx as we’d booked a mooring buoy for the following day. After a refreshing swim we repositioned ourselves a couple of times until we were happy that we weren’t going to swing into the surrounding rocks when the wind picked up; the last time we did this was in the dark with the waxing moon, Venus and the stars shining down on to the sea- this beautiful cala was completely void of life so hence no lights on the shore. We shared this peaceful anchorage for the night with only two other boats; daybreak brought in many high speed motor boats who had little regard for sailors swimming around their yachts!

We spent two days on the mooring buoy at Club Vela, Andraitx; William, the very friendly marinaro, gave us free tokens for the luxurious showers; this was a prestigious club in an affluent area. This is where we first met Liz and David on Yacht Sega; we had been in contact on the Cruising Association mednet as, like us, they were planning to cross from the Balearics to Sardinia; we all hit it off straight away and were looking forward to our onward journey, sailing in company. Also we were delighted to hear that Ali and Trev (very good friends from back home) were on holiday in Palma and would be coming here to meet for drinks- a very emotional reunion for me! The following day we took advantage of knowing that Swallow was safely secured to a buoy and took the bus to Palma; the bus was ridiculously overloaded with passengers which I am sure contributed to the bust tyre we had as we arrived at Santa Ponsa- consequently everyone bundled onto another bus bound for Palma, too many sweaty bodies packed in for my liking! Palma is bigger than I had expected, the old town , with its cathedral and ancient building, is very quaint. We visited an air conditioned (bliss after the oppressive heat outside))art gallery which housed several Picasso paintings, bought a cd from an African street band, meandered around the little streets and finished our day off with some delicious tapas.

On 1/08/17 after stocking up with supplies from Euroski we headed off for Santa Ponsa, a
rather touristy town with a strong German presence. We had a very relaxing time in this beautiful bay swimming off the back of the boat and watching the tiny fish being chased by pipe fish. Liz gave me a lesson on her stand up paddle board (commonly known as a SUP)- what a laugh that was, great exercise too! We stayed on anchor here for three nights and the second night brought in very strong winds; Paul was up most of the night on anchor watch as we , as well as all the other vessels, were kiting around- luckily our delta anchor held fast; Ray, on Kady, had to reset his anchor several times throughout the night. We said goodbye to Kady here and set off to spend one night in Palma Bay with Sega- this was so that we could take a trip ashore to Decathlon; David and Liz had tried Paul’s new all-in-one snorkel mask and were keen to have one too.; there didn’t seem to be anywhere to take dinghies ashore so David dropped Liz and I off in the dinghy onto the littered beach, the sea was rather dirty - I definitely wasn’t going to be swimming here! Well big mistake for the men to leave the shopping ashore to the women- we had great fun buying lots of extra things in Decathlon, including some very bright turkish towels which will act as throws for our sofas ; of course we needed a cold beer on the way back too!

Playa de Trench was to be our next stop 23 miles away so we started the engine at 10.45 on 05/08/17; the chain was wrapped around the anchor so Paul had a tough job hauling it all in and then the luff of the sail didn’t want to go up- once all that was sorted he was exhausted before we even left! Palma Bay is great for sailing, if you have wind of course; we barely had enough to lift the tell tails. As we approached Cabo Blanco the wind picked up dramatically and whipped away Paul’s straw hat ; we managed a close reach but the white horses gave us a bumpy ride. Thankfully we had a peaceful evening; we tucked in to our already prepared Mr D’s spag bol and rice pudding and then paddled over in the dingy to Sega for a nightcap. The next morning brought in 14 knot winds which made swimming quite an effort so I spent my time making a madeira cake; the evening was a little cooler with a fantastic sunset followed by a full moon- a good night’s sleep for the crew! The following day we moved in closer to the beach in the SE corner by a hotel- a great spot; this enabled Liz and I to go food shopping ( not as exciting as our last jaunt ashore together). Later we all went in for a drink at the beach bar; Paul caused much hilarity for the onlookers on the beach as he fell into the water trying to get into the dinghy on our return. Our evening’s entertainment aboard was supplied by a very bad singer at the hotel- and the crew on acatamaran beside us joining in.

High winds were predicted for the next few days and we were booked into Porto Colom marina for 10/08/17 so we booked a mooring buoy at Porto Petro 6 miles before there; this was another rolly passage and we were glad to be secured to the bouy when the storms came in the following evening. Porto Petro is very pretty but the marina staff weren’t particularly friendly; the bouys were quite a way from the harbour and the dinghy ride was a rough one! The passage to Porto Colom was horrible- we were punching against 20knot winds and high breaking waves; we were relieved to tie up at the marina and plug in our electric kettle! Our stay here was filled with back to back boat jobs- cleaning, laundry, engine checks and making new mossie nets; we rewarded ourselves with a delicious meal out with Sega at a seafront restaurant; David and Liz are great company- a fun time was had by all.

After Porto Colom we had a short pit stop for one night at Arenal de San Servera, a long beach lined with a touristy resort which resembled Benidorm ; this anchorage was very rolly and so we departed early the next morning heading for Pollensa Bay, passing Alcudia Bay en route. The scenery in this area with its high eroded cliffs, rolling, tree-topped hills and rocky mountains is stunning. We anchored near an impressive, sympathetically extended castle which was featured as a location in the TV series The Night Manager; we were also opposite the sea plane base and saw several of these aircraft take off and land. The views all around were breath-taking and the strong, cool breeze was so refreshing.; the motor boats and jet skies which came in and out of the harbour were very annoying, passing us way too close for comfort at great speed, and one day made so much wash that I got soaked whilst eating my dinner! The evenings, on the other hand, were incredibly still. Pollensa Bay offers great shelter and holding even in high winds. After a couple of days we moved closer to the port and went ashore to see what Pollensa had to offer: a shallow beach with a pleasing promenade, lined with small hotels and restaurants. We bought some figs and cherries from the large, sprawling market, which were expensive but really yummy. This is another fantastic bay for a day sail- we saw lots of kids out on Optimists having a great time.

On 17/08/17 we set off at 9am for Ratjada, which was to be our last port before heading to Menorca, rather a lumpy close reach but on the plus side Paul caught a fair sized mackerall .Ratjada had an extremely rolly entrance and there was a strong surge making tying up tricky but it gave great shelter from the strong north easterlies so we sat here for five days before heading off again. The harbour wall was about a foot higher than the bow so walking the bouncy plank was challenging. We saw plenty of fishing boats here which gave Paul hope that there may be many fish around. There was a very pretty cala, which we walked to, around the corner from the marina; the tiny beach was packed and boys were diving off the high rocks; we saw a few boats anchored here too. Ratjada was busy with many shops and restaurants, which lined the curved waterfront and seemed to cater mainly for the German tourists (all of the menus being in German as the second language). This is a busy harbour with pleasure boats coming and going, including a glass bottomed catamaran; we saw a couple of beautiful Rivas come in, so sleek. We had a chilled time here planning our next move; we’re coming for you Menorca!