sySpringDawn

We were keen to take Tom and Kate to one or two of our favourite spots in Mallorca and top of the list was the island of Cabrera which we'd visited a few weeks earlier.

If you've been paying attention readers, you'll remember that Cabrera is a nature reserve where anchoring is prohibited and where we had to apply for a permit to pick up one of the buoys in the main bay of Puerto de Cabrera.

With permit applied for, paid for and received (all done online which is very convenient) we had a cracking sail for a couple of hours from Sa Rapita to Cabrera. Cap'n Robbie decided to get the windvane steering mechanism set up. It looks like a terribly complex mechanism of a rudder, a sort of plastic sail and a large amount of bits of string and line going from the windvane to the helm – a veritable cat's cradle! However, despite its appearance it carries out an extremely good job of steering the boat which is just what we needed in the circumstances.

I may have said this previously but Cabrera is truly a gem of a place, it's beautiful, peaceful and the little harbour area where there's a small cantina is just charming. When I last blogged about it I think I described it as like something out of a spaghetti western and Kate was thinking along the same lines as, while we sat outside the cantina having an early evening drink and tasty tapas, she said she was waiting for Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid to burst through the doors of building at any moment!

We spent the rest of the evening on board and were treated to a wonderfully clear night sky, with no light pollution around the Milky Way was clearly visible. After dinner, Kate and I lay on the foredeck, checking out the constellations and watching a few satellites wizzing across the sky and generally enjoying the peace and beauty of this lovely place.

The next morning we went ashore and while Tom, Kate and Robbie hiked up to the fort on top of the hill, I wandered off along to the head of the bay to discover parts of the island I hadn't seen before. I was surprised to find tucked around one of the corners, quite a large amount of low level housing – there's a military presence on the island and this was obviously the barracks/living area for the military personnel and their families. However, the rest of the bay remains unspoiled and a truly delightful place to visit.