Andiamo - Let's Go!

[benjenbav]

George III used to sleep soundly knowing his boats were moored in Mahon.

Mind you, he also talked to trees...:encouragement:

 

[MedDreamer]

I've heard that Portals can be susceptible to storms (boats damaged). Is this a frequent event / legitimate concern? Same question for Andratx and Palma.

Certainly seems to be a regular (almost annual) issue in Andratx although I think it probably depends where you are in the marina. I've seen boats damaged against the outer harbour wall in Portals but these were boats either at anchor or on swinging moorings outside the marina, I'm not aware of any issues on the berths. Can't comment on Palma.

 

[Hurricane]

Cala Addaia in Menorca is pretty hurricane proof.

I nearly wrote a reply about Addaia - agreed - definitely a safe haven.
Here's a pic

Are there swinging mooring buoys in there - I can't remember.
Good facilities to get ashore using the little marina in there - in fact the little marina would be a great place to keep a Targa 34.
And a pic of the little marina in there

However all this doesn't work for Pete - off season flights to Menorca are far fewer than Sant Carles.
Friends of ours have villas in Menorca and during the winter months they have to fly through Barcelona to get there.
SC is less than 2 hours from BCN with lots of daily flights throughout the year - IIRC there are 7 BA flights per day from Heathrow and 2 Easyjet flights per day from Bristol.
Likewise, Palma is well served with flights from the UK.

 

[julians]

I've heard that Portals can be susceptible to storms (boats damaged). Is this a frequent event / legitimate concern? Same question for Andratx and Palma.

Re portals , I'm not aware (but it doesn't mean it didn't happen)ofny boats being damaged when moored in the main port (IE tied up to the concrete quays safely in the marina), I am aware of boats being damaged on the swinging moorings that are just inside the sea wall but that's not at all surprising. I guess it's possible for boats moored on the inside of the main sea wall to get a fair bit of spray in really rough conditions. There are a very large number of boats left in portals 365 days of the year so I think it's generally considered to be safe.

Andratx has known issues in certain locations in certain wind conditions,but I don't know which locations within the port are considered safe in any weather.

I leave my boat in Adriano 365 days per year, with no issues in the 12 years I've had my boat located there, and I haven't heard of any damage to boats in Adriano . I have heard of damage to boats on the swinging moorings outside the marine though.

 

[petem]

Thanks all for the continued comments. I think the optimum plan would be Palma for the Winter followed by Alcudia for the summer. Just need to secure berths at an agreeable price and work out how I'm going to get the boat to Palma without ******** myself!

 

[julians]

Thanks all for the continued comments. I think the optimum plan would be Palma for the Winter followed by Alcudia for the summer. Just need to secure berths at an agreeable price and work out how I'm going to get the boat to Palma without ******** myself!

Being flippant ( I know what the risks really are) It's only 100 or so miles and you have two engines,pick a good weather window and head off before first light.

Or the safest approach is to head over with another boat, going with hurricane seems like a good opportunity.

 

[NGM]

I've heard that Portals can be susceptible to storms (boats damaged). Is this a frequent event / legitimate concern? Same question for Andratx and Palma.

I was in Andratx on 15th July which was the evening of the storm and mini Tsunami. We couldn't get a berth until the following day so for that evening we were on one of the mooring buoys, which in hindsight was very fortunate. We had a very uncomfortable night but had we been allocated a berth as a visitor we would have been on the outer wall of the main central pontoon. Several boats broke their mooring lines, none broke completely free but they were damaged. The wind was only 25 knts but the tsunami caused 10+ knts of current through the harbour. There was no issue with any boats inside the marina which is where you would be as a permanent berth holder.
As an aside I thought is was a lovely marina (v nice pool and restaurant) and nice town with some great restaurants - thanks to jrudge for recommendations !

 

[Garold]

We spent last winter in RCNP in the centre of Palma and the convenience of Palma airport is a huge benefit. Though your taxi ride to Portals would be slightly more, the number of flights to the U.K. even in Winter makes visiting easy - usually <£50 e/w per person during 6 months of winter season. (And £50 pw car hire out of season or a cheapest taxi ride).

Portals sounds like a great option at a great price. If you work out the cost saving on your time for transfers, more (and probably cheaper) flight options, closeness to great cruising grounds, etc etc, it’s even more convincing.

We also spent a couple of months in the spring in Santa Ponca marina on a private berth. The swell in there is surprisingly regular and noticeable for such an enclosed marina, and we were far inside up near the boatyard. Most of the permanent berth holders have the mooring ropes with s/s springs and have cross ropes too.

As for drinking water, at the end of last year we toured round Ibiza and Majorca for two months and we only had bad water in Cala d Or. We had to empty and rinse the tanks at the first opportunity. Otherwise, water was drinkable everywhere though we do use a Seagull filter for drinking water.

Ibiza would be fun, but a whole season in San Antonio would not be everyone’s choice - it’s busier/noisier at 5am there on the quay than it is at 5pm. . Botafuch in Ibiza town on the other hand would be a nice option because the run down to Formentera is shorter and mostly on the sheltered side of Ibiza so Formentera days out are easier and cheaper.

All the above is from a yachtie point of view but I thought our recent experience may be useful.

Garold

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Cala Addaia in Menorca is pretty hurricane proof.

Agreed and I guess Fornells would be similarly protected

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I've heard that Portals can be susceptible to storms (boats damaged). Is this a frequent event / legitimate concern? Same question for Andratx and Palma.

I've not heard about any boat damage in Portals but certainly Andraitx marina has suffered damage https://www.ybw.com/news-from-yachting-boating-world/two-luxury-yachts-sink-after-storm-in-port-dandratx-mallorca-48801

If youre worried about storm damage then either Club de Mar or Club Nautico in Palma harbour would be the safest but I'd steer clear of Marina Port de Mallorca because the swell can get quite lively there both from vessel traffic and southerly winds. If you have a good offer in Portals frankly I'd take it. Relatively close to the airport and lively even in winter and yes I know its full of orange Germans who are the same colour as Trump

 

[MedDreamer]

Pete

I seem to recall that annual contracts for Alcudiamar run January to December. This is your best bet for renting directly from the marina otherwise you would need to look at private rental which may be more expensive.

 

[westernman]

Cala Addaia in Menorca is pretty hurricane proof.

The disadvantage is that there is little in the way of restaurants, bars, shops etc within reasonable walking distance. I seem to remember that the only place around was the bar/snack at the small port which at the time did not look very attractive.

And it is far to mountainous for a folding bike!

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

The disadvantage is that there is little in the way of restaurants, bars, shops etc within reasonable walking distance. I seem to remember that the only place around was the bar/snack at the small port which at the time did not look very attractive.

And it is far to mountainous for a folding bike!

Agreed. When we visited in Aug 2007 I remember walking quite a distance uphill to find a restaurant. It must be totally dead in winter. I also remember that the shorepower voltage was a lot less than 220V but maybe they've improved that since!

 

[Hurricane]

Thanks all for the continued comments. I think the optimum plan would be Palma for the Winter followed by Alcudia for the summer. Just need to secure berths at an agreeable price and work out how I'm going to get the boat to Palma without ******** myself!

Is September too early to cross.
I'm planning a crossing/cruise - three weeks (probably from the second week in Sept).
Almost certainly we would head for anchoring in Santa Ponsa - as usual.
Weather related of course.
You could cross with us.
But it really is very doable as long as you do the usual weather checks.

 

[petem]

Is September too early to cross.
I'm planning a crossing/cruise - three weeks (probably from the second week in Sept).
Almost certainly we would head for anchoring in Santa Ponsa - as usual.
Weather related of course.
You could cross with us.
But it really is very doable as long as you do the usual weather checks.

Thanks Mike, I think that might be a little early as we are planning to have the boat antifouled and engines serviced at the end of September. We've also paid for our SCM berth until the end of Sept.

I'm sure it will be fine even if we have to do the crossing alone. We can cruise at 28 knots with a clean bum so it's only 3.5 hours. If we do opt for Mallorca then I can see if anyone from SCM is going over nearer the time.

I haven't ruled out Altea or San Antonio either yet.

 

[Hurricane]

Thanks Mike, I think that might be a little early as we are planning to have the boat antifouled and engines serviced at the end of September. We've also paid for our SCM berth until the end of Sept.

I'm sure it will be fine even if we have to do the crossing alone. We can cruise at 28 knots with a clean bum so it's only 3.5 hours. If we do opt for Mallorca then I can see if anyone from SCM is going over nearer the time.

I haven't ruled out Altea or San Antonio either yet.

OK
If you are going to Mallorca at the end of Sept or early October, you may like to make it a bit of a cruise and join us somewhere.
Plans like that have to be a bit fluid but it might be fun to get together in the islands (maybe some other Mallorca boats might like to join in as well).
We will probably end up with other boats from Sant Carles (probably mostly yachties).

Who knows, we might even get an Axopar joining us!!!

 

[adey]

It took him 10 years to find the right boat. Finding a new marina's not going to be easy..

 

[MapisM]

It took him 10 years to find the right boat. Finding a new marina's not going to be easy..

That's harsh, what do you have against those who take their time when searching a new boat?
All of us know too well that boat ownership ain't a bed of roses - and even less so when it comes to selling.
That practically leaves us with the search as the most fun part of boating, I reckon…
Of course, some folks might prefer just signing on the dotted line - each to their own on that! :encouragement:

 

[John100156]

Pete

I took my 2006 Targa 34 across from SCM to Soller at the mid-end of September 2008, just myself and SWMBO. I recall, despite some careful planning, it did get a little bumpy mid-way but very doable and like most trips, a nice easy crossing if its flat and you can throttle-up a bit in the middle! We spent around three weeks over there managing to pick up a berth inside Pollensa, then back to Soller, before the trip back.

There's not a lot of difference IIRC in distance from SCM to Soller to Andraitx. We returned in the first week of October. Just keep an eye out for any storms north of SCM and allow a day or two for things to settle and you should have a good run, mind you, if you can get a tow from Jenny Wren it might make the trip a little easier......

 

[stelican]

If you are in any doubt at all about the crossing hire a skipper for peace of mind
Worth every penny