Emerald Tales

Currently sailing the eastern Atlantic visiting Maderia, the Canary Islands and the Azores

26 August 2024 | Terceira, Azores
18 August 2024 | Sao Louenco Bay, Santa Maria Island
08 August 2024 | Santa Marina, Azores
13 July 2024 | Santa Maria, Azores
22 March 2024 | Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
01 March 2024 | Porto Santo
23 February 2024 | Porto Santo
22 January 2024 | Madeira
15 December 2023 | Porto Santo
13 October 2023 | Porto Santo
15 September 2023 | Porto Santo
09 August 2023 | Porto Santo, Madeira
28 July 2023 | Porto Santo, Madeira
23 June 2023 | Porto Santo
15 January 2023 | Porto Santo

Life in Alcudia

29 July 2014 | Alcudia Bay, Mallorca
Nichola / rare wet stuff coming from the sky
We're still in Alcudia! Nearly three weeks now but sometimes we like to just stop and chill rather than constantly moving from one place to the next. Plus it's a pretty good place to wait a while.

We've been here so long now I've become immune to the occasional unwelcome visits of the inflatable toys boats that weave their way around the anchorage towing a bunch of a screaming holiday makers.

Alcudia anchorage
Anchored in Alcudia

The holding here is a bit soggy - soft mud topped with weed. A patch of sand that our friends found turned out to only be sandy because it was where the flyboard operated and the jets had cleared all the weed away and also then cleared away the sand from above their anchor! Not much swell if you can get a spot in behind the breakwater wall, where we moved to after a week. A chop gets up when the wind is from the south to south east but as there isn't much fetch across the bay it doesn't last long once the wind goes away. There has been a fair bit of dragging going on when the wind gets up; especially last night where four boats went wandering off, one with no one aboard that came close by us. They had arrived yesterday afternoon, dropped the hook, went ashore and paid no heed to the wind that got up and nearly scuppered their hire boat, not arriving back aboard until after dark. They dragged again this morning, the anchors on charter boats don't look very substantial really, which is annoying when we're left protecting our home from wayward boats. If may be overkill but we haven't budged so far with our 30m of chain in 2.5m of water!

It's been great having company with Pimentao and Red Snapper, passing the time with walks, BBQ and our first noodle exercise session.

Coll Baix
Walk to Coll Baix

Our best walk was to El Col Baix via Coll de na Benet, a little over 10 miles round trip from the harbour. The intrepid trio of myself, Angelique and Pat set off at 9am to beat some of the day's heat but it was already scorchio as we turned off the busy road to Alcudia for a quiet, narrow lane. Along here for a while and then off the track and up a rocky path, climbing until we had fabulous views to Pollensa and down into Alcudia Bay. The views gave us lots of excuses for a rest! From the summit of Coll Bennet we headed down past dry riverbeds but looking at the tree debris left behind there must have been some fierce flows down there. We were now under trees so thankfully cooler, we turned a corner and this little cairn grotto appeared, full of stone towers like a little pixie village. We added our own and oo'ed and ah'ed at the other creations. We then rejoined the main forest track and found loads of cars but we'd seen no people. Where were they all? A little bit more up and we saw where they'd gone, a crescent of beach nestled way back down a steep, narrow path, the thought of having to come back up it and still walk back to Alcudia put us off going all the way down, but we did go down a bit to have a peek at the view. We took the road-track route back, which was easier going than the outward route, and just a little bit sweaty and dusty we arrived back to Alcudia where the boys joined us for beers ashore. The bars around the harbour are a bit pricy, obviously going for the tourist €, but one street back we found a great locals bar - Cafe Port de la Mer - where the beer was €2.20 a pint and served in freezing cold glasses where the ice breaks off the inside of the glass and swirls around like little ice bergs. The wine was €1.70 and each round included tasty free tapas - we even got free shots when we asked for the bill. Cracking day!

Another walk was through Alcudia and out the other side to Pollença Bay where the coast is more rocky and dotted with little coves. A marked path goes along the waters edge to Mal Pas from where we headed back to Alcudia.

Pollensa bay
View from Manresa over Pollença Bay

A shorter walk goes to Alcanada, past the old power station and down some steps to a waterside track walk in front of some smart houses, arriving at the shallow anchorage of Alcanada which was heaving with weekend powerboaters out from the marina.

We will try and head on to Menorca later this week. We've decided not to go to Corsica this time round, we just can't be faffed with fighting for space or having to pay extortionate marina fees during high season. Instead it's likely we'll aim for the west coast of Sardinia, go south from there and across to Sicily. We're looking forward to a big Italian pizza!

Comments
Vessel Name: Emerald
Vessel Make/Model: Kelly Peterson 44
Hailing Port: No fixed abode
Crew: Colin 'Skip' Wright, Nichola Wright
About: One from Northern Ireland, one from Yorkshire, UK
Extra: Emerald has been our home since 2004. We've sailed around the UK, the western Baltic and have spent 7 years in the Med. We're currently in Portugal, planning a refit. Lot's more information about us and the boat can be found at www.yachtemerald.com
Home Page: https://www.yachtemerald.com/
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