Majorca Storm - some pics

[mjkinch1]

We were on the boat a couple of weeks ago, when we had the strongest winds and rain we have ever seen in Majorca. Lucky we were berthed, but even so we got chucked around, and even with the lazy lines holding our bow, we came very close to the concrete pontoon with our bathing platform. Put out a couple of extra fenders and we just bounced around a bit.

The day started out really nice and calm, but there had been a gale warning over the VHF from radio Palma, so we decided to stay in.

It started around lunch time, when we were sitting in Bistro Mar opposite the Pontoon (for a coffee) and suddenly the water rose up over the pontoon, onto the path, and into the road. Luck the cafe is raised, so the water got within an inch of the ledge, than as fast as it came it went. A rise of around 1-1.5m in a matter of seconds.

Time I got the camera it had receeded but you can see the floods...

This is the Pontoon entrance to Pantalon 4, you can see the water running over the top of the pontoon, The waiter said he had never seen it happen in the 10 years he has been there.

The water actually covered the bottom of the gate, which is partially open as all electric tripped.

Part of the problem was the end boats like this one that rode up, and then the fenders were too high, and boats got scratched. This particular boat had fenders on the wall as well, but not many others have.

About an hour later a dark ribbon of cloud came across and the winds instantly increased

and just to make it a little more dramatic!

It lasted about 20-30 minutes and then was gone pretty much as fast as it started. There was one yacht that drifted onto the rocks, which you can see here being re-floated..

..and some smaller boats that came a cropper, but were soon righted.

So a little bit of drama, in an otherwise pretty OK couple of weeks. The rest of the night you could hear all the chainsaws as they cut up all the fallen branches and trees, and cleared up.

Tons of sand was deposited in the shopping areas, and the beaches flooded, leaving big lakes of water, which were cleared by tractors the next day. Two days later you wouldnt have known it had happened!

Thanks

Martyn

 

[Sneds]

Blimey, could have been a nightmare!
Thanks for the pics, I must invest in some dock fenders

 

[blueglass]

impressive pic -especially that black cloud! whoah!

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Scary, Martyn. Down in Palma, several boats were damaged at the RCN and some units on an industrial estate were blown over. I was in Palma this weekend and divers were working on the main breakwater; word is that some boats were blown onto the breakwater and sunk although I saw nothing to confirm that in the local rag

 

[volvopaul]

My friend roger was in RCN marina, the pontoon he was attatched too was a write off he only sustained minor gelcoat damage and a bent bathing flatform he was on board at the time, some small boats were blown on to the main road, lots of lazy lines snapped, bent rails etc.

 

[ccscott49]

Dont know which waiter you were talking to, but this happened last year as well! Lots of boats damaged with bathing platforms torn off a few, but that was apparently a mini tsunami.
But the surge around these parts is well known especially between Mallorca and Menorca, cuitadella can actually almost empty and has done quite frequently, not just for mini tsunamis, happens when weather conditions are just so, with gales and low pressure etc etc. It's also to do with the geography of the shape of the bay.
Was there last year when it happened, could have been the year before, but sure as hell not long ago.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Yup, there was a surge in Cuitadella last year. It's a well known phenomenon that occurs on occasions when, as you say, there's the wrong combination of wind and atmospheric pressure but the damage in Majorca this year was caused by a violent storm hitting the island causing a surge in places like Alcudia and Palma which AFAIK has'nt occured before

 

[Dave_Snelson]

Wow - great pics Martyn - and scary stuff. It must be bizarre watching water suddenly rise up higher than the harbour wall when the sun is still shining!

Reminds me of quite some years back, we were in SoF with 3 young kids. The day started mildly overcast with light drizzle. No dramatic storm fronts like in your pics. The rain intensified in the morning and the sky grew darker and darker. Then the lightning and thunder claps sarted. They didn't just hang around for 30 mins and leave - no, they came and stayed all day. We had rain like a tropical monsoon (great for our family tent!) so we went driving up in the hills. There we saw the blown up stumps of trees recently hit by ferocious bolts of lightning. At one stage we saw an electricity pylon get hit by what looked like an ordinary bolt of lightning which came and went. Split second after, another bolt followed the same ionisation path and hung bright blue in the dark sky, and it seemed to stay for seconds. That was more than the grid could stand and out went all the lights right across the Riviera!

We drove back through badly flooded roads toward Le Lavendou and we came to a roundabout. You know what kids are like..."Dad, can we open the window just a little to hear the thunder?" After a number of no's, I relented and one fo them wound the window down and just at the same time a colossal lightning bolt hit a telegraph pole behind and to the right of our car. The resultant flash and instant ear-splitting crack (like a close up canon shot) was just terrifying. You have never seen a child try to wind a car window up so fast in yer life! There was nothing left of the telegraph pole.