Swallow's adventures

The wind and sea had calmed down on 22/08/2917 so we left Ratjada and headed for Menorca, some 20 odd miles away; we were sad to leave Mallorca with its pretty coastline and beautiful calas and beaches but we would soon see that Menorca has its own charisma too. We spotted a few pot buoys as we left so Paul reeled out his line- we live in hope! A giant cicada hitched a ride on our genoa; he soon legged it when we unfurled the sail.; after that we saw a massive dolphin swim across our bow, at first Paul thought it was a whale and I was terrified that we were going to bump into him; we watched skuas swoop down for small bait fish but still no bites on the fishing rod! The sun felt hotter than ever today, the deck beneath our feet was scorching. With five miles to go we could see that the island is pretty much flat with some development on the western coast; we turned the engine off for the last hour and glided peacefully into Son Saura on a gentle beam reach; the sound of the waves lapping around Swallow is so therapeutic. It was now 1700 and the sun was glistening on the sea behind us with the silhouette of Mallorca in the distance; this is what I had imagined the Med would be like. There was a slight pink tinge to the cliffs and we could see quite a few masts in the cala and hoped that there would be room for us; we soon realised that all the sandy spots were taken so we set the anchor in weed, which didn’t give us any problems. We met a lovely Spanish family on the boat next to us in Ratjada and they recommended this beautiful cala, which is split into two beaches backed with evergreens; the water was crystal clear. Nightfall was simply a mass of anchor lights and constellations of bright twinkling stars- so tranquil.

The following morning we were up at 0830 and the beach was already busy with sun worshippers, they weren’t to be disappointed as it was another roasting day; at 1030 we left this delightful spot and headed off around the western coast for an anchorage in the north, Algaiarens, so that we could reach Fornells by 25/08/17 as we’d booked the Ports IB marina. This coastline here is much flatter than that of Mallorca; the low, ragged, laminated cliffs are topped with vegetation; there are small developments of low-rise, red-roofed buildings- we couldn’t see much evidence of touristic towns. I watched people walking along the coastal paths, admiring the sea, whilst we were appreciating the land. Algaiarens is another stunning cala, we arrived here early afternoon and paddled the dinghy ashore to explore the paths and sand dunes; we finished off another lovely day sat up on deck with a beer and chicken roasting on the Cobb.

After two nights in Algaiarens we tacked close hauled into the F4 wind for 12 miles to Fornells; we sailed swiftly into the large bay, past Sega, who were there on a mooring buoy, and bounced our way, bow to, up to the pontoon; Manuel, the marinaro, jumped aboard to help Paul haul in the slimy mooring line- the winds were crazy by now and we found out later that they had just closed the harbour; we got in just in time. Later that afternoon a motorboat, who had entered the closed harbour without permission, tried to approach the pontoon next to us to pick up his wife and her shopping- the wind took him and he ploughed bow on straight into our starboard side and completely bent one of the stanchions; I was down below enjoying my book at the time and came dashing up on deck after hearing a loud thump; I asked the Spanish wife, who spoke no English, what had happened and she said it was nothing and all ok- luckily Paul then arrived, he’d been walking back to the boat and saw it all happen; we were jumping up and down trying to get some acknowledgement from the skipper who wasn’t playing ball; eventually the woman gave us her name and contact details, then they swiftly departed! The marinaro in the office was wonderful, he immediately phoned the guilty party and insisted that they send us their insurance details asap, he also took photos of the damage and informed the police. We knew we had a weather window to leave for Sardinia in a couple of days so the insurance company agreed that we could get it sorted there, in the meantime we had to be careful not to lean against the guard wire which was very slack and would not have held our weight. It’s good that insurance helps in situations like this but nothing can make up for the inconvenience and delayed plans that can occur. Most of our time in Fornells was occupied with telephone calls and emails to sort it all out- we did however manage to meet up for a drink with Sega and have a nice walk along the shore of this beautiful, deep bay which has an island in the middle of it. The holiday resort with its ruined castle walls is fairly upmarket, hence the supermarket was expensive; despite this we stocked up so that we could prepare meals for our impending two day trip to Sardinia. We learnt, from the very friendly neighbouring Spanish yachtsmen, that Menorca has been in British hands three times and that many British people have in fact settled here in contrast to there being many Germans in Mallorca and Italians in Formentera.