Balearics with friends

July 19

I have noticed a definite trend here.  Each year we have begun the summer sailing season later and later.  This season was to be no different.  It’s not because we don’t want to go sailing but marinas have been upping the incentives to stay a little longer.  In London you were expected to leave at your six month date.  That typically arrived around mid April.  Sicily gave an extra month if you reserved your winter berth early.  Cartagena simply let you stay at your winter rate as long as you wanted.  Why leave when the weather isn’t perfect?  But finally, the pull to explore just overwhelms and while the weather wasn’t going to allow us to leisurely cruise up the coast and then day sail over to the Balearics as we had hoped, we found a small window that would get us there without banging into the winds if we did it in two days.  We departed Cartagena at 5:30 a.m., before the sun, or anyone else for that matter, was stirring about.   Fourteen hours later, we laid the hook down in Puerto de Calpe just off the Penon de Ifach, a stunning rock peak jutting into the sea.  Puerto de Calpe, located at the north eastern end of the Coasta Blanca would put us just west of our next day destination, Formentera, the Balearics southern most island of the four island chain. On arrival, the anchorage was a bit sloppy but just as the sun slipped into the sea the winds calmed and the waves melted to an inky glass slick. Sleep did not take long to arrive.

We anchored our first night out just behind Penon de Ifach,

The forecast partly cooperated the next morning allowing us to motor sail the 65 or so miles to Formentera,  The Balearics is a highly popular group of islands off the east coast of Spain.  Each island is spectacular in its own right with water that invites you to take a dive off the boat into the bluest of blue waters and mountain cliffs that take your breath away.   The down side, we are arriving  at the height of tourist season.  It was a long twelve hour day between Puerto de Calpe and Formentera but felt grand to finally be on our way again.  We claimed a spot just off the beach for the night and quickly realized that we had landed on the ferry runway to the harbor.  Ferries run constantly till 2000 hrs and pick up early again early morning.  A move to lessen the wave action made little impact and put us in a downwind path of the ferry fumes.   I revolted at the idea I would be sea sick at anchor so off to Ibiza we went.  

Puerto El Espalmeador marine reserve.  Buoys only

Ibiza, known as the party island, did not disappoint.  The music from the disco ashore in Cala Yondal was almost as loud as that coming from the mega yacht anchored next to us.  Everyone had a much later bed time than us.  We moved around to the next bay, Cala De Port Roig, early the following morning and found it a bit crowded but sweet relief from the constant base thumping.   Our last day in the area was spent back in Formentera.  King made reservations for a mooring buoy at the marine reserve, Puerto El Espalmeador.  No anchoring allowed to protect the fragile Poseidon seagrass in the area.  The white sand beach curved from one side of the bay to the other.  A stunning spot, not to mention more bare breasts than King has seen in a long time.

Sailing in the buff seemed to be popular

Did I mention our on again/off again 3^rd crew member and neighbor was joining us in Mallorca?  It was time for Ostinato to move northeast.  Mallorca is the largest island of the Balearics and Palma, its capitol, is crowded and lively this time of year.  It also is where Vince and Barbie, SV Horizons have been exploring and is where we hope to catch up with them for a few days.  ((For Shell Point friends, Vince and Barbie are new lot owners at SP.) Winds between Formentera/Ibieza and Mollorca were light but enough to keep us moving.   Another long 12 hour day but what a surprise when we entered the anchorage in Santa Ponsa and saw not only Horizon sitting there but also June and Gary on SV Friendship, our neighbors from Cartagena.  What fun to catch up! 

Catamaran Friendship and Horizon

Bill arrives in Palma!

Catching up with Gary/June and Vince/Barbie in  Santa Ponsa

July 26 – We caught the bus to the airport and picked up Bill.  Thankfully, the winds were calm enough for us to get him and his suitcases aboard without mishap.  We did our best to explore Palma, including a hop on hop off bus.  The heat was so bad that it was like being baked alive on the top deck.  Thankfully, the rides between sites were brief.  On the return bus home to Santa Ponsa, I left my sun hat and SPF shirt aboard.  The bus had long gone by the time I realized it was missing in action so we waited for the bus to do a round trip but after checking several, gave up.  King on the other hand got the phone number for lost and found and the quest was on.  It took 4 phone calls, 2 buses and a subway (who knew they had subways in Mallorca!) and 14 killometers of walking.  He returned with both hat and shirt.  My hero!

(Editors note: She owes me a lot!)

In Santa Ponsa during the eclipse.  King got the best photos but this wasn't too bad. 

Found a sail painted by Joan Miro 
in a tiny gallery in Soller

We said goodbyes in Santa Ponsa and moved Ostinato north up the east coast.  Each anchorage more beautiful than the last, Peninsula de la Foradada, Puerto de Soller, the outrageous spectacular Cala de la Calobia and Calla Murta where we were entertained throughout the day by one boat that reset his anchor well over 10 times while baby goats on shore sang background music.  We swam each day in blue swimming pool waters, cooked dinner on the grill and enjoyed a glass of wine as the sunset.  Every anchorage was jam packed during the day but around 6 p.m. each night boats would begin pulling up their anchors to return to their marinas, leaving us to delight in mother nature at her best in quite solitude.

Nothing beats the view of the sun setting on the water.....especially in Manorca

Peninsula de la Foradada

Cruising along the east coast

Cala De La Calobra, our favorite anchorage in Menoca

View from the beach

The Norwegian Royal family anchored next to us. 

The baby goats sang to us all day

The food didn't matter.  Just had to have air conditioning!

August 4 – Ostinato’s anchor was up at 0630 for the short jump to Fornells on the north coast of Menorca, the most eastern of the island chain.  The anchor was down by 1600,  the dinghy released from her davits minutes later and we were off to “town” to explore.  Within 15 minutes we had located the supermarket and several gelato shops.  Yep, all we need!  Or so we thought.  The heat wave entered Fornells sometime that night under the cloak of darkness.  I moved to sleep in the cockpit to search for a cool breeze sometime around 3 a.m.  By 9 a.m., it was already clearly going to be a scorcher.   The water was getting so warm a swim was like soaking in a warm tub.  At 104 degrees on the temp gauge, we decided to go ashore to find somewhere cool for lunch!  AHHHHA air conditioning.  The wonderful thing about European restaurants is they don’t rush you along so we stayed cool all afternoon!

August 8 - We hung out in Fornells for 3 full days.  Long enough to get several coffee gelatos, eat Mallorquinas, the local pastry delicacy (thank you granddaughter, Julia), and watch the coming and goings of the mega yachts that anchored nearby.  We could see our time in the Balearics quickly coming to an end and it was with reluctance that we moved three hours to the east to Mahon which would be our last port of call.  Mahon is an ancient port according to the Pilot, founded in 206 BC!  I’m sure there was plenty of anchoring available during that time but we anchored in Cala Teulera which appears to be the only free anchorage left in the area.  As anchorages go, it was fine.  A 2 mile dinghy ride into town but doable as long as the winds were down.  You can only stay 3 days at anchor here then you must move on or find a marina for a day before you can return.  During the day we roamed about town. Zapatos (shoes) was one of my first new Spanish words when we arrived in Spain last fall so what could be more appropriate than to buy shoes on my exit. I found a small shop that made Mallorcan sandals and ordered myself  2 pairs….to be picked up the following day.  

Plenty of room on our first day in the anchorage in Mahon

We returned to the sandal shop the next afternoon but they were not ready and I was asked to return tomorrow.  I was given a sandal shaped key ring by the owner for my trouble.  By the time we got back to Ostinato, the anchorage had filled.  King counted over 45 boats in an area that shouldn't have more than 25.  One sat only 20 feet away from our bow and no one was on board.  Much too close.  Yikes.

King was worried and set his alarm for 3 a.m. to get up and take a look around.  That quickly resulted to an all hands on deck. As if on cue, the winds began to howl and mini torpedo drops of rain plummeted our heads as Bill and I rushed about the decks deploying fenders.

As the little boat next to us swung within a foot of Ostinato King started yelling at the boat …”get up, get up, get up!”.  They struggled out a deep sleep and promptly pull up our anchor chain with theirs.  Chaos broke out as winds reached 35 knots and we had no choice to but to motor into it.  Two sailboats behind us became entangled at their bow and were running up our backside screaming for us to get out of their way.  Our anchor chain was finally released from our neighbors anchor but there was no possibility that our anchor would hold until we had to time to reset it.   King expertly handled Ostinato as boats were moving throughout the anchorage but you had no idea who was dragging, who was trying to stay in place, and who was pulling anchor with hopes of escape.

Winds peaked at 60 knots. King tried to put me on the wheel so he and Bill could get the anchor up but I couldn’t keep her steady in the gusts.  He aborted that plan and just worked to keep Ostinato as far away from the other boats as possible with Bill on starboard and me on port giving updates on the status of our tangled neighbors behind us along with anyone else that looked like a potential threat.  Finally, Bill went forward and did an expert job of getting our anchor up.

In what seemed like days but was likely only 60 minutes, it was all over.  The anchorage was lit up like Christmas with several sailboats still entangled, many pulling up their chain to reset their anchor and, a few who had held tight and simply took in the sight with wonder.  How we were not hit is simply amazing and a tribute to King’s ability to handle the boat.  We had a cup of tea and then fell into bed.  The next morning, in a half empty anchorage that included the 2 little boats still attached at the bow, it was another beautiful morning in a serene cove.

This is the closest I got to getting my zapattos

After the night's excitement I was less than excited about the long dinghy ride to pick up the shoes but King knew I had looked forward to getting them so off we went.  Were they ready?  Yes.  Were they what I ordered?  No!  I give. No going away with Zapatos.

Sardinia is calling.......