Alcudia and our Cruise of Mallorca

We arrived back in Alcudia on 2^nd September and spent the night in a small Hotel overlooking the Harbour called Brisa Marine. The next day Lace was put back in the water at 12.30pm.

During July and August we had various work carried out by Alcudimar Port under the control of the lovely Malen including:

Hull anti fouled with International Micron Extra, Exterior of Hull and Boat upper rinsed to remove dirt and grime, then washed using ‘A Glaze wash and shine Shampoo. Hull prepared with ‘A Glaze Marine surface preparation’ and the Hull was sealed with ‘A Glaze Marine surface sealant’ Teak oiled bathing platform and finally the Hull Anodes were replaced

A1 Marine’s (Mailspeed) team including Scott, Mark and Jenny completed the following work on our behalf:

Replaced 4 Sea cocks with Ball Valves, Rubber deep sea seals Port and Starboard Shafts, 4 Cutlass Bearings to P Brackets and shafts,  Fabricate and Install Levers to open/close Raw water Sea Cocks to each engine from the Saloon without having to take up floor and the Bow pulpit was modified to create the ability to disembark at the Bow. Gelcoat repair to Aft Deck hatch, I had a little accident with a lump of concrete.

Replaced Upholstery in Saloon, cushion Zip Port Aft Deck Seating, fitted Mesh Window to Windscreen Cover, renewed Vinyl Windows to Awning front Screen and Installed covers to protect from Sun in the future. In an attempt to solve a long term problem we had the Holding Tank pump serviced, aft manual toilet serviced and replaced the Vent pipe and cleared the deck vent fitting removing the grill that keeps blocking up!

Scott Weston, Paseo Maritimo 1, Local 15, Port d’Alcudia,

07400 Mallorca, scottmarine@hotmail.com

Phone 0034647788068

Jenny’s contact No is 637594440

Lace looks as lovely as ever and we are ready for our trip around Majorca, this is our plan we are stopping of in Puerto Cala Bona for hopefully a week to coincide with Anne and Michael’s trip to Cala Bona                              

 Click here to view our Proposed Cruise of Mallorca

We left Alcudia on the 11^th September to avoid being delayed by an impending Storm which duly arrived while we were in Pollensa

 

We left Alcudia at 1309 arriving off Isla De Alcanada at 1320

 We headed to Cape Menorca on the way we sighted this large speed Boat, which we understand is a Hawk, firmly moored on the rocks, maybe he thought he could jump them, it seems mooring boats on the rocks is becoming a Mallorca national pastime.

We arrived off of Cape Menorca at 1340, two days earlier we had helped the German Owner of a 8 Metre speedboat haul his boat off the beach, it seems on the previous day in 2 metre waves he had broken down and been swept on to the beach, he ended firmly stuck half way up the beach.

After bringing a team of about 15 strong men together the combination of their strength and Lace we managed to haul the boat back into the water to the delight of the crowd that had assembled. It was a simple matter to tow her back to Alcudia for repairs to the stern gear.

On this occasion we continued on our trip rounding Cape del Pinar at 1350, we enjoyed a trip around Pollensa Bay which we believe is one of the most beautiful in Majorca arriving in Puerto Pollensa on the Town Quay at 1500, with the changes to our Bow Pulpit, Bow Mooring was a practical and much quicker than lowering the Dingy and Gang plank to get ashore.

We enjoyed our stay on the Town Quay at Pollenca leaving at 0800 on the 16^th September for Puerto Soller on the N Mallorcan Coast, here we are at Pta Del Vent at 0854, I am not sure of the relevance of the little rock window you can see in this picture

Seven minutes later we were passing around the mighty Cape Formentor with the lighthouse peeping over the top, not a nice place in a storm but today was calm

Having successfully made it around to the North Coast the scenery was stunning as you can see. Cala Font Salada

Other than fishing boats and the odd sailing boat we saw very few boats on this coast, this larger yacht passed us doing 15 knots under power.

We arrived at Torrenti De Pareis a beautiful Cala where we anchored for an hour. I enjoyed a swim around the boat in crystal clear water.

We were soon joined by this rather larger Cruiser, added a sort of class!! We left our anchorage at 1250 and arrived at Soller at 1345, We spent two enjoyable days at Soller, we continued to have problems with the Bilge pump filter blocking up, sooner or later we will have a clean bilge.

 

On the 18^th September at 0815 we headed out of harbour for Andraitx, the north Westerly Swell of around a metre a constant battle but not really much wind around half way to Andraitx and for about an hour the wind picked up to about 10 knots and swung around to the South East so we had wind against swell. Duly the wind dropped and even the swell seemed better  as we approached Isla Dragonera at 1039

Within 10 minutes Dragonera was looking bigger as we approached the channel between Mallorca and the off lying Island, as we got nearer to Andratx and lost the shelter of Dragonera the swell once again increased and once or twice we were bounced by waves coming at us both on the bow and on our side at the same time, we duly arrived at Andraxt at 1115 unscathed

On arrival at Sa Rapita we refuelled and to our delight found that our fuel performance had improved from 25 litres an hour to 16 litres at between 8 and 9 knots. So the maintenance carried out by Tony Mace and the team at Alcudia is paying dividends. We decided to stay 3 days at Sa Rapita to take advantage of the best Marina Wifi we have encountered in the Balearics and the quayside self service launderette, we also sampled the ‘Cantina’ and enjoyed a 3 Course Meal of the day including bottle of wine all for the princely sum of 16 Euros that’s for two!! Here we see Lace sporting her new Saloon Window Sun Screens, lets the air and light in without all the heat, also seems to help keep out Mosquitoes, although they have not been a big problem

The photo was taken on the 23rd September showing how close we were moored to Sa Rapita Marina entrance, still overcast but calm, on the previous day we sat on the back of Lace watching a Storm approach when I noticed in the black clouds, what appeared to be a tornado forming suddenly there was an almighty crash and I thought a large vehicle had plunged into the harbour but there in the air was a Canoe and a tornado almost looking like it was stationery in the harbour entrance wondering where to go, luckily it went along the harbour wall towards the beach and then over the wall into the marina lifting and emptying the contents of an industrial bin over the yachts in the marina and then it headed inland WOW what an experience, the canope had been stored on the harbour wall and no one was injured!!

We left Sa Rapita at 1054 on the 24^th September called in at Puerto St Jordi at 1138 to find they were full and headed for Pta Salinas at 1156 arriving there at 1230 as we rounded the cape we faced a 1.5 metre swell and 15 knots on the nose, here we are arriving at the entrance to Cala Figuera at 1330.

On our approach to the transit Moll at Puerto Figuero

The view once we had moored

The moon light view from the stern of Lace

The Morning view

Lace moored at Figuera on the 26^th September

We enjoyed Lunch overlooking Puerto Figuero, with Lace in view

Just over the wall from Lace at Figuera this fisherman was busy mending his nets, each morning the fishing boats put to sea around 4am returning around 3pm

We left Cala Figuera at 0910 on the 28^th September en route for Port Colom on the way we found the beautiful Cala Mitjana

We arrived at Port Colom at 11.00 and I took this photo from our berth 31 minutes later, the camera is on UK Time, it appears that Christopher Columbus had a substantial connection with this port that appears to be named after him although other than his name on street signs we could not find out any more

This is the view in the other direction from our berth taken just as the Sun was going behind the Mountains

On our Trip to port Colom we visited Cala Mitjana and decided on the 30^th September to spend the day there, we duly dropped anchor and in order to stop us swinging too much, we lowered the dingy and I took a rope ashore to a convenient mooring bollard that the pilot said we would find.

Beautiful bay of Cala Mitjana

The View towards the sea, the exit has a dog leg so the Cala is very sheltered. We were informed by a visiting yacht from Cala D’or that the property around the Cala is owned by one of the 10^th richest families in Spain and the property has been visited by the King Juan Carlos. It seems the families had the franchise for producing match sticks in Spain. We shared the Cala for most of the day with a Chartered Catamaran with a mixed German Crew that we met again in Port Cristo, they introduced me to Barbadian  Rum called Mount Gay, I must try and buy a bottle

 

Just before Sunrise, Val spotted this Broom Ocean 42 moored on the other side of Port Colom

Just before Sunrise, picture taken by Val, I was still in bed asleep

Sunrise at Porto Colom on the 1^st October what a sky

On the morning of the 1st October we left Port Colom and motored across to talk to those on board the Ocean 42 as it was the first Broom we had seen in the Balearics. The owner turned out to be friendly as you would expect and we exchanged details, it seems that Roger Witham on board Sea Blaze was going around Mallorca but in the opposite direction to us

This is John on board his boat Ocean Star, this was the cheerful face that greeted us when we arrived at Porto Cristo on the Ist October, with would you like a hand mooring, we quickly said yes because the town quay has rings for cleats. During our 5 days in Porto Cristo we had a great time with John, Hewitt and Margaret moored on our port side in their boat Lady Margaret. Both Hewitt and John had vast experience which they were willing to share with us, one of the great things about boating

Ocean Star getting ready to leave Porto Cristo at 1030  on the 5th October 2007

Ocean Star clears her moorings at Porto Cristo

John on Ocean Star from Malden Essex leaving Porto Cristo Mallorca en route for Cagliari Sardinia, John estimated he should arrive about the 8^th October and texted us when he arrived safely in Sardinia, we really enjoyed our time with John, the gentleman with the soft Irish accent and the wry jokes.

The next day we left Porto Cristo to meet Michael and Anne (Val’s Sister) at Cala Bona where we were spending a week together

After a quiet day we decided to visit the Caves of Arta with Anne and Michael we entered the caves at 1220 and these are a selection of the Photos of our 40 minutes in the caves

That is the largest Stalactite in Europe

That’s Pretty

Its photo time down in the Caves, the Sister and that’s me in the middle, not sure what the light means!!

 

Now its Michael’s turn

For my money these Caves surpass the Caves of Drac at Porto Cristo

These Caves are big, are those the cave dwellers

Looks like the entrance to some ones Grotto, mind your head

Looks nasty, answers by email what you think it is?

The exit from the Caves of Arta, yes that’s Michael and Anne

Its 0827 at Cala Bona on the 9^th October as the Sun rises as seen from the deck of Lace today we are going on the train from Palma to Soller with Michael and Anne

The Church Spires at Soller from the train from Palma

Its 1454 and we are back on the train on the way to Palma and we got the soft seats again, this the last train back to Palma until 1830

We left Cala Bona at 1150 on the 14^th October having enjoyed a week there with Michael and Anne we arrived off Cape Vermey at 1230 and passed the entrance/Exit to the “Caves of Arta” at 1257, so this is the view from the sea

This is the German Stronghold of Puerto Rajada, the port has little room for visitors and you are normally rafted out in an area of the port affected by swell, so we gave it a miss. Also we were keen to get around Cabo de Pere in good conditions

Yes, that’s an upside down row boat about 500 feet above us by the lighthouse wall, don’t think the waves get that high, this is Cabo de Pera, on our last trip in May we had to contend with 3 metre waves so was unable to take a photo

Last time we came this way in May it was too rough to go on the shore side of this rocky island, incidentally named Farayo de Aubarca

At 1353 we rounded Cabo Farrutx and entered Alcudia Bay , this is Cala Es Cala, by the way that’s our dinghy were towing it.

We were surprised at the contrast at this side of Alcudia Bay, this is Can Vicens

 

We arrived at Colonia San Pedro on the South side of Alcudia Bay at 1430

On the 15th October we spent the afternoon and night at Puerto Can Picafort before returning to Port d’Acudia on the 16th October our base port and completing our cruise around Mallorca. Port D’Alcudia is our Home Port until next April.

During our stay in Alcudia we have been introduced by A1 Marine to both Scott Weston and Jenny who is brilliant at Sails and Boat Covers, Jenny’s contact No is 637594440. Scott’s our Engineer and is great, his contact details are:

Scott Weston, Paseo Maritimo 1, Local 15, Port d’Alcudia,

07400 Mallorca, scottmarine@hotmail.com

Phone 0034647788068

Our Preliminary Plans for 2008/2009 are to cruise Menorca, Sardinia, Corsica, the west coat of Italy and down to Sicily, In April 2009 we hope to cruise the heel and toe of Italy and arrive in Corfu in May 2009 

What follows is our Cruise from Almerimar in Southern Spain to the Balearics in April/May/June 2007

 

During our Stay in Almerimar, Lace was looked after by Ian and Mary Mc Knight ably assisted by Sharkey who is a wicked boat cleaner

McNight Marine Services Calle Osa Mayor 48 Residencial Almerigolf 04711 Almerimar (Almeria) Spain Tel and fax: +34 950 607 953 UK Tel: 0844 7343293 Mobile: +34 650 007 700 Email: mcknight-services@europa-network.com

We enjoyed a celebration meal with Ian and Mary on the 21st April to thank them for their help

The rest of this section covers us leaving Almerimar and our cruise to the Balearics

Talking about cruising at Leo’s bar, ably run by yachters Geoff and Jenny, Val is having a quiet drink; Roy and Jeannette from Hoo Kent are in intense conversation.

On our last night in Almerimar we had a get together at Leo’s. Here are the Girl’s Mary, Amelia, Val and Annette

 

 

Doug and Roy

Val and David, I am particularly happy I have just beaten Ian at Pool

George and Linda from Lady Linda, who are just leaving for Greece via Majorca

Roy and Jeannette from Leah

After days of gales we at last get a good forecast for getting around The Cabo de Gata on Tuesday 24th April, we intend leaving Almerimar around 10am to arrive at the Cabo around 2pm as the wind drops, well that is the Plan, we should arrive in San Jose around 3pm and hope to enjoy a meal at our favourite Fish Restaurant in the harbour

 

 

Almerimar to the Balearics Thats the Cruise so far from the beginning of September the following section covers our Cruise from Almerimar in Southern Spain to Mallorca from April to June 2007

Here we are leaving Almerimar Harbour, as we left our mooring we picked up a loose bit of rope and spent 5 fraught minutes dealing with it and then the rope cutters did their job

Its 28 miles across Almeria Bay to the Cabo de Gata, possibly our longest crossing so far, we saw Dolphins on the way but they escaped the camera, we arrived here in almost perfect conditions

That’s safely around

We left Almerimar at 0925 and arrived here at San Jose at 1354 having covered 35 miles. This port is one of our favourites and has a couple of good fish restaurants.

One of David’s Family favourite beaches

The development at what was once the unspoilt Macenas Beach

 

On the way to Garrucha we passed Mojacar Homes run by our friends Bob and Patricia

Mojacar Village from the Sea. We arrived safely at 12 Noon on the 25th April at Garrucha and had an Italian meal with Bob and Patricia from Mojacar Homes

We left Garrucha at 0812 once again in perfect conditions, here we see Mojacar and Garrucha disappearing into the mist

The Fish Farm off Villaricos that we passed at 9am

 

That’s Calm and Sunny!!

The last Cape before Mazzarron where we arrived at 1225 and enjoyed Gambas cooked in garlic oil with salad and the odd glass of wine

We left Mazzarron at 0822 still in good sea conditions but overcast as we went across Cartagena Bay at 0930 we passed this oil Tanker called Front Ardenne from Oslo

And that’s the other side

We arrived at Puerto Cabo de Palos at 1212 and enjoyed our afternoon and a leisurely evening meal at a restaurant on the quay. This photo is taken just before we left the following morning at 0810.

Unbelievably we enjoyed our 6^th consecutive sailing day with perfect conditions and arrived at Torrevieja at 11am on the 28^th April. The Forecast for the next two days continues to look good and we hope to make Compello and Moraya but expect to have then to wait for about a week for the right weather for our crossing to Ibiza

We left Torrevieja at 0824 on the 29^th April at 0957 coming in the opposite direction on virtually our course approached this Spanish Customs boat, we thought it was best to change course to starboard and get ready for the bow wave, needless to say the customs boat did not change course and passed us doing about 30 knots, for the maritime our position was 38 07 200 N 000 33 300W about 6 miles south of Cabo de Santa Pola

Here we are approaching Cabo Santa Pola at 1032

By 1154 we had crossed Alicante Bay watching planes take off every 5 minutes, here we are passing Punta De Las Hueratas, we arrived at Campello at 1230 negotiating, rowing boats, small sailing boats, a yacht as well as two motor boats coming out of the entrance, well it is Sunday. We loved Campello

         

By 1154 we had crossed Alicante Bay watching planes take off every 5 minutes, here we are passing Punta De Las Hueratas, we arrived at Campello at 1230 negotiating, rowing boats, small sailing boats, a yacht as well as two motor boats coming out of the entrance, well it is Sunday. We loved Campello

We left Campello at 0825 the next morning on the last leg of our trip up the Spanish Mainland, in the left of the picture you can just see the Club Nautico

Passing Isolte de Benidorm which is about 3 miles off of the Mainland another world, if you ignore the trip boats

At 1007 we past the skyline of Benidorm in particular in the left of the picture you can see a Hotel where the top floors are stepped in, this was the tallest Hotel in the 90’s and is the Beni Beach Hotel on Pontiente Beach, Valerie’s first introduction to Mainland Spain

Its 1035 and we have escaped Benidorm Bay and are now tackling the currents in the approach to Punta Del Albir

By 1038 we were approaching Punta del Albir and passed, what appeared to be a waterfall

Approaching Punta Ilfach dwarfing Calpe at 1138

                 

Punta Ilfach and the last Cape before we approach Moraira our last mainland port before we embark for San Antonio Ibiza, the crossing is 58 miles. We arrived in Moraira at 1215 on the 30^th April and the forecast suggests a suitable weather window for the 2^nd May, we are checking forecasts hourly and will make a final decision about 6.30am on the 2^nd

At 06.30 we checked the forecast with fellow sailors Miggy and Neal off of Bella, checked over the sea wall and made the decision to go. At 0706 Lace and Bella slipped harbour with us heading for San Antonio and Bella headed for Formentura just south of Ibiza. At 0859 we have been at sea nearly 2 hours and we are 15 miles off the Spanish coast with Cabo Antonio and Denia disappearing into the haze. At this point still affected by the mainland currents we experienced our worst conditions with Swell approaching 2 metres but as we passed the 100 metre depth line matters improved, we made radio contact with Bella who were aprox 3 miles behind us and reported improving conditions.

Its 1259 and we are in view of the offshore islands with Ibiza in the background, behind us we have had a good crossing with maximum wave heights of around 1.5 metres with between F 2-3 winds but being south Westerly it was following us. During the crossing we passed 3 yachts and a sports cruiser going back to Spain. 22 miles out we sighted a school of Dolphins but they were camera shy. After 32 miles an ISCOMAR Ferry that appeared to be bound for Ibiza Town overtook us within approximately a mile.

It seems unbelievable that virtually since leaving Moraira at 0706 we have been on the same heading 69 degrees and now some 51 miles later we are approaching the first of the offshore islands off of Ibiza Isla Redonda Este at 1312

At 1324 we are approaching Isla Conjera 7 miles off of San Antonio

We arrived in San Antonio Bay Ibiza at 1353 having completed the 64 mile crossing in 7 hours

We woke up next morning to find this ferry from Denia almost moored alongside

                         

On the 4^th May we hired a car for 2 days to tour the North of Ibiza as all the marinas are on the southern side, here we are overlooking Cala San Miguel at 11am

That ugly brute is me!! We came to San Miguel to visit the Caves De Can Marca and here are the pictures to bore you, We are reliably informed that the caves are over 100,000 years old and that stalactites come down and Stalacnites go up, seem to remember a schoolboy rime for remembering that, answers on a postcard to!!

                         

 

Well we liked caves!!

Valerie survived the caves

The Residence opposite the Caves

We then ventured down to the beach at San Miguel and enjoyed Lunch

The next day 5th May we continued exploring the west Coast and here we are at Cala Valdella

We had now reached the southern most end of Ibiza and what a view tomorrow we will be crossing this bay

On the 6th May We left San Antonio at 8.30 am on our way down to Ibiza Town at first we had a Force 5 on the nose but once we had the shelter of the off lying islands we enjoyed a following sea and better conditions

At 10am we were about half way to Ibiza Town and conditions continue to improve

On the 7th May we took the High Speed Ferry to Formentura 11 miles south of Ibiza Town, it took just 25 minutes

When we arrived we hired a car and spent the afternoon on this beach at Arenals Forventura

 

It could be the Caribbean

I had to have a lovely swim

Back at the Port our High Speed Craft awaits us

Fishing off of Furventura

An anchorage off of Furventura

A sunset as we approach Ibiza Town after a great day on Furventura

On the 8th May we left Ibiza Town and had a good sea trip to Sante Elualia, on the 10th we took the bus to Cala Llonga and on the 11th to Es Cana pictured here

On the 12^th May we caught the local bus from St Euluaria to Ibiza Town around 6.30pm, we joined mostly teenagers going to Ibiza town for a Saturday night, here we are at 8pm walking into the Castle at Ibiza Town during the 2^nd day of a 3 day Festival

At 9pm were enjoying a meal at a Restaurant on the Placa Del Sol

This was the view from our table looking up the hill, notice the man mending a bike and the little old lady sitting on her doorstep watching the world go by

At 10pm we made our way down from the castle to meet the 10.30pm bus back to St Euluaria, we once again met all our teenage friends on their way home, they were noisy but well behaved

After a very good week at St Eulalia Ibiza we set sail at 0630am on the 16^th May to cover the 60 miles to Andraitx in Majorca

We placed this ship on our Radar as a target which confirmed that our courses were to cross so I temporarily changed course from 46 degrees to pass starboard to starboard after all ‘The Mar Rochio’ was a little bigger

Its 0755 and we are about 12 mile off Ibiza

Its 1237 and we are about 6 miles off of Andraitx Majorca having covered 52 miles since 0630 in almost perfect conditions

Its 1300 as we approach the beautiful Port of Andraitx Majorca

                                 

The next day we left Andraitx on Lace at 0953 with a 15 knot wind, passing Punta de Cala Fiquera at 1028, we were being shadowed by a cruise liner about 4 miles to the seaward as we approached Palma at 1116 this Baleria Ferry ‘Malodia passed us coming out of Palma.

Then suddenly Palma Cathedral was in front of us

It was all happening at once the cruise ship that was shadowing us was now making its approach to Palma as was this Cruise Ship Sailing Ship

Here is the Sailing Ship Cruise Liner arriving

                                   

Soon after we arrived this block of Flats on Water arrived namely ‘The World’

As we were leaving Palma we noticed this Ship bound for the Caribbean with a deck full of Yachts and we believed all those stories of Yachters crossing the Atlantic almost single handed, yes with a gin and tonic!!

                                     

                                   

After doing our Bus Sight Seeing Trip of Palma we decided to leave the next day for Puerto El Arenal with its 7KM of sandy beach. We stayed at El Arenal for 4 days and hired a car

Now one for Roy Newing and his friends, on the 20^th May we travelled to Palma and caught this 1913 Train from Palma to Soller what a trip, we had been tipped off by  a couple from North London to travel in the first carriage as it had leather seats, it was very comfie

The narrow gauge train travelled out of Palma as the centre section of the road passing shops and the houses before passing under the motorway and out into the Almond Groves

Yes that’s us, we almost match the upholstery

The train trundled on towards the more mountainous north of Majorca and our destination Soller

As we came closer to Soller the mountains grew bigger and the train was now regularly passing through tunnels

When you arrive in Soller there is a tram (Ex San Francisco carriages) that takes you down to the Port. It seems that this port was so often attacked in the past that they built the Town further inland on top of a hill. We found a nice restaurant overlooking the harbour and enjoyed a leisurely lunch

We had left this port out of our itinerary because the Imray pilot says ‘there is little room for visitors’ As you can see in the picture a new pontoon has been installed on a refurbished town quay, we booked a berth for the 2^nd June during this visit

A feature of the refurbished Town Quay, a metal Orange Tree complete with Oranges

For Roy a San Francisco Tram in Soller Majorca, I can feel a combined Boat House Boaters and Train Spotters Trip coming on!!

 

On the 21st May we returned to Palma by car to visit the Cathedral, above the Alter you can just see Galdi’s (famous for his architecture around Barcelona) contribution to the Cathedral. The next day we left Puerto El Arenal at 0920, as we past Cabo Blanca at 1034 the wind changed to Easterly (on the nose) and increased to 25 knots gusting 30 knots. Force 6/7 we arrived off Punto Plana at 1125 and the wind gradually fell to 15 knots as we arrived at our destination Puerto de la Rapida at 1145, Valerie commenting, just a sail in the park!

The Marinero’s at El Rapida worked very hard on the day’s we were there mooring Charter Yachts which we gave the name ‘The Wreckers’ you sometimes wondered if the skippers actually had sufficient experience for the size of Yachts they were handling

We enjoyed our stay at El Rapida which had the best Wifi facility provided at no extra charge, we did not mind staying an extra day because of the forecast wind of Force 5-6. At 0835 on the 25th May we left for Cala D’Or in almost perfect conditions save for the 1m easterly swell, as we approached Punta Salinas and its Light house we sighted this Motor Boat on the rocks, it had landed in the same direction as the swell, which had been reported as about 2 meters high the previous day.

I wonder if she can be refloated and how? What happened to the skipper and any crew?

We arrived safely at Cala D’Or at 1113 and found our friends Bruno and Eva from Sweden in their Yacht Shangri-la, which Bruno built in his Garden over 10 years, a yacht to be proud of and a Skipper that put ‘The Wreckers’ to shame. We first met Shangri-la at El Rapida when we were astounded by Bruno’s ease of mooring in difficult conditions.

Cala D’Or holds the record so far for mooring fees after I said we wanted to stay 2 nights I found out they charge 63 Euros a night, to add insult to injury without asking they debited my debit card in Sterling adding 2% commission!! We took the tourist bus/train and visited the local Cala’s, here we sat enjoying a Gin and Tonic, Valerie had to calm me after the shock of the mooring fees

Lace at Cala D’Or sitting proudly among the Azimats, SunSeekers and Fairlines, know what I would want to be on caught in a force 8

On the 27^th May we left Cala D’Or at 0815 for Porto Cristo passing Cala D’Mallorca at 0906, it seems many of our family have had a holiday here over the years, we went by bus and had a lovely walk along the newly improved cliff path

We arrived at Porto Cristo at 1005 just as our friends Bruno and Eva were leaving on Shangri – La, the next day we visited the Caves of Drach (Dragons)

After our trip to the Caves, we jumped on a bus and headed for S’Illot, Cala Millor and Calla Bona all past favorites’ of Valerie , Anne and families. We found Puerto Cala Bona and immediately decided to make it our next stop in Lace. Here we spotted this bird on the rocks, answers on a postcard to!!

There is a closer shot does that help?

 On the 29th May we left Porto Cristo at 0930 and headed for Puerto Cala Bona,

           Here we are passing S’illot at 0950

We arrived at Cala Bona at 1020 and with help from the very helpful Capitan we were soon safely moored

We loved Cala Bona, English Restaurants’ and a Thomson Gold Hotel ‘The Levante’

One of our favorite Harbours’ Puerto Cala Bona

We left Cala Bona in smooth seas but by the time we were past Puerto Rajada we encountered increasingly higher swell of up to 2.5 metres which moderated as we crossed Alcudia Bay where we spotted the largest dolphins we have seen, but they were camera shy as you can see.

We arrived safely in improving conditions at Port Pollensa at 1326 on the 2nd June

On the 5th June this Military Sea Plane over flew Lace in Port Pollensa at 0940 just clearing the mast tops. The Sea Plane is based in the Bay of Pollensa North of the Port

Here she come again

On the afternoon we headed out into Pollensa Bay to pick up a buoy for the night and its free!

The Sun Setting on our mooring

The next morning the sun came up at 0640 and yes we were on deck to greet it

We were moored on the 6th June at 0923 opposite the Military base in Pollensa Bay when this seaplane got ready for take off.

0952 as it takes off

 

There she goes

She then over flew us

At 0952 she drops this water bomb – WOW, what a display it seemed like it was just for us, after a swim around Lace we headed back aroung Noon for Port Pollensa, what a great introduction to mooring off in the Med