Photo: Fornalutx
We finally pulled the anchor off the bottom of Fornells on Monday 18th July at 06:30, destination Mallorca. However plans can change and 12nm along the coast we spotted a nice Cala and decided to go in for a look. We had the anchor on the bottom again at 08:50 in Cala Algayarens, still in Menorca. The Cala was so good, crystal clear water, the anchor chain was visible in 9m, busy but not too busy, we ended up staying for 3 nights enjoying the swimming and Lynn her kayak. We counted 69 boats in the bay one morning, of which probably 50 were French flagged. Finally on Thursday morning 21st July we pulled the anchor off the bottom and motor sailed the 38nm to Mallorca.
We dropped the anchor outside the marina in Puerto de Alcudia, not the prettiest anchorage you have ever seen but it will do for a couple of nights despite the weedy bottom. It’s surprising how deceptive looks can be, whilst the anchorage, when facing the commercial port was not attractive, Alcudia Old Town was lovely. It is another walled town, where you can walk around part of the wall and look down into the old town. The local church was worth the visit, it had domed, brick ceilings with their central roses, stained glass windows and very ornate alters, whilst still having a simple look. The ruins of Pol-lentia, just outside the city walls and still an active archaeological site, date back to 123BC, the remains of several houses, a forum and amphitheatre are open to the public. Pol-lentia marked the beginning of urbanisation in Mallorca and because of its strategic position became the most important city in the Balearics during the Roman period. To get to the old town, we walked through the marina with the best chandlery Brian and Dick have seen so far, needless to say many items were purchased, around the water front which is full of resorts, bars, cafes, restaurants and tourist shops, and along the main road, past the Mercodona supermarket, the biggest and cheapest around. We stayed for 4 days, partly because of a small blow, and partly to allow time to explore.
Monday 25th July we refuelled at the marina fuel wharf then motor sailed down the east coast, dropping the anchor on a sandy bottom in Cala de Canamel. This was a nice stop, dolphins in the bay, although the jet skis harassed them a bit much for our liking, crystal clear water for swimming and although there were resorts on the beach we were far enough away not to be bothered by them. The highlight of the stay was the Caves de Arta, well worth the 14 euro entrance fee, they were spectacular. Opened in 1802, and home to the largest stalagmite in Europe at 22meters high, named The Queen, they were vast. The highest point was 45 metres, the lowest 40 metres deep, all the stalagmites and stalactites were large or even huge, only 20% of the caves were open to the public but it is believed the rest of the caves have been explored.
We left the following morning, anchored in Cala Magraner, a smaller Cala. Being smaller, the anchoring was interesting with many boats in the Cala, although several left early evening. But one guy, who was anchored behind us all day decided to move just before dusk and re-anchored too close to us, as we did not speak French and they had very little English, Brian invited him aboard to explain he had laid his anchor right next to ours and when the boats turned around in the night we would hit. He looked at the angle of our anchor chain and understood, and moved further out of the Cala. As predicted at midnight, with the swell increasing, 2 rafted boats disengaged and motored out of the bay. With the swell predicted to remain up for a few days, we left the following morning and picked up a mooring buoy in Porto Colom.
We turned the corner into Porto Colom and wondered what we had entered. There appeared to be hundreds of boats in the bay and to our surprise a good number anchored as all the cruising guides and charts had Porto Colom as no anchoring. The following day we picked up a rental car with Lynn and Dick “Wind Pony” and headed for the north/north west of Mallorca, an area we were not going with the boats. It was an easy drive on the road around Palma and soon we were heading into the mountain area. Our first stop was at the Torres des Verger watch tower, built in 1579 and apparently appears on many of the Mallorca tourist pictures. It was an interesting climb up a steep ladder to the top of the tower, but worth it for the view. The scenery along the coast and through the mountains was spectacular. The tower is about 1km from Banyalbufar where we stopped for morning tea. The area we were travelling through is known for its many hiking trails through the mountains and we saw many hikers in the small towns/villages as we drove. Deia was another small village we walked around, to accommodate modern traffic in the summer period there were temporary traffic lights making the road through the village into a one way system as it was not wide enough for two cars to pass. However this was a taste of things to come as we made our way toward Soller. As we passed through Biniaraix we had to breathe in to get the car through some of the streets, amazingly we made it, as they were very narrow, as gasps were heard from Lynn in the back seat. We stopped in Fornalutx for lunch and had a walk around the local church and streets before heading to Soller. One of the things we wanted to do in Soller was to get the tram to Port Soller. We finally managed to find a car park and immediately a tram turned up, we jumped on and paid our 6 euro each for the 10 minute ride to the port. Oh my god, there was not a spare inch of water without a boat, or grain of sand without a body on it, touristville to the max. We stayed for an ice cream then got back on the next tram back to Soller, only to be informed the driver was taken ill and it would be some time before a replacement driver would arrive. We decided to get a taxi back to Soller, cost 8 euro for the 4 of us. Back in Soller, we visited the train station for a bit of culture and viewed the Miro and Picasso ceramic exhibitions. From there we visited St Bartholomew’s cathedral, an amazing structure, although we have seen so many cathedrals and churches they are all melting into one. This cathedral first had a primitive church on the site in 1236 but the latest is Baroque style from 1688-1733. It was then time to head back to the car and return to Porto Colom, dinner ashore and then back to the boats after a very enjoyable and long day.
We plan to leave Porto Colom tomorrow, Sunday 31st July and head for the south coast of Mallorca, making our way towards Palma.