Mallorca - 3-4 day charter out of Cala D'or - some advice please

We attempted to get to cabrera from Port adriano today ,but turned back at about halfway, the sea was chopping up and the crew werent up for it, went back to cala fornells instead.

The sea has been quite choppy all week.
 
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So Day #1 not going so well. Provisioned the boat last night and did hand over as there was no-one else chartering it.

Get to the boat this morning, slight breeze, all looking ok.

On the way past the fuel dock in Cala D'Or, incoming boats shouts across "very rough". We get out of the marina, into the first bay and we can see it's blowing harder and a decent size swell up ahead. We go about 3/4 mile out and it's 1m+ short swell. Boat is getting very wet and so are some of the crew... Not happy campers. So we turn round and head back to Cala D'Or for the day :-(

Tomorrow doesn't look that great either and we're booked into Cabrera. Wind is blowing NE/E again.

Anywhere more sheltered? Should we be going east out of Cala D'Or? Colom etc?

At least it's still hot where you are, it's p*ss**g down here and chilly into the bargain.:encouragement:
 
Keep us al posted as what your doing is EXACTLY where I want to be next year, the idea of 4 chartering a boat that's on my list next seems very good.
 
Keep us al posted as what your doing is EXACTLY where I want to be next year, the idea of 4 chartering a boat that's on my list next seems very good.

Just go for it Paul, and enjoy your boating on every visit.

Cannot guarantee calm water on every visit but the water is always very warm and the sun shines all day.

Suggest you contact Sea Teach S.L for boat charter in Cala d'Or. They are a small but long established company run by Mike and Sylja plus staff, all of which are very friendly.

I think I remember that you came to Cala d'Or last year but unfortunately we were not there but you are most welcome to give us a knock if you return next year.

Contact details for Sea Teach are email@sea-teach.com Tel 0034 971 648 429

Doug
 
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Just go for it Paul, and enjoy your boating on every visit.

Cannot guarantee calm water on every visit but the water is always very warm and the sun shines all day.

Suggest you contact Sea Teach S.L for boat charter in Cala d'Or. They are a small but long established company run by Mike and Sylja plus staff, all of which are very friendly.

I think I remember that you came to Cala d'Or last year but unfortunately we were not there but you are most welcome to give us a knock if you return next year.

Contact details for Sea Teach are email@sea-teach.com Tel 0034 971 648 429

Doug

Many thanks Doug I certainly will look you up when next on the Island.
 
Just thought I'd update this quickly as we're coming to the end of our hols and gave the boat back yesterday. I'm also reading with interest the Gary's med thread, the quadcopter thread and chartering.

Firstly, I just wanted to say a big thanks for the info on this thread, the PMs and text messages from people with helpful tips, locations, restos etc. Made making decisions very easy.

Advance warning - some of the photos are a bit pants - didn't really take many.

We picked up the BCU/EBY Targa 47 from Cala D'Or last Sunday. The boat was well prepared, clean, full fuel and water and nicely chilly via the aircon. We also got access to it on Saturday and Nick Barke lent us his car (very nice of him) to do a Supermarket run. So the fridges were full, the drinks cold and turn-key ready to go.

Sunday was nice and sunny with a little bit of wind. On the way out of the marina, we passed once of the BCU guys coming back in via the fuel dock who said it was a bit rough in the bay. Being the adventurous types, we decided to go have a look (well, you would wouldn't you). He was right. We went about out nearly a mile and he was right, it was rough - lots of spray coming over the hardtop which was obviously originally open! So we turned around and went back to the marina to dock a "new" boat med-style. All went according to plan which was useful as we had a big audience.



We spent the rest of the day in the marina mainly eating. Every time I saw a boat coming in I went to have a quick chat with the Skipper to ask about the conditions. The best quote I got, from a decent sized Sunseeker, was "I wouldn't want it any rougher". So in front of SWMBO and our guests, that was our day knackered. Time to hit the pub...

Monday we ventured out and there was still a small swell so some of the bays to the south/west we were planning on were out. So we headed up the coast to Portocolom.

We picked up a mooring buoy there and messed around in the tender.







Restaurants were great although the one we were recommended was closed on a Monday. All through the time, we've tried to eat spanish/med even though there's a huge German contingent and they're well catered for. Schnitzel anyone?

We were booked into the marina for the night but decided to stay on the buoy instead and use the tender. All worked out well although a bit rocky/rolly overnight and we managed to twist the lines on the buoy somehow which resulted in the small yellow hook-up banging against the hull from 4am.

Tuesday we decided to stick to our original plan and go for Es Trenc. A 50min or so run down the coast and round the point and we were there. The swell increased when we rounded the point and that didn't bode well. On arrival at Es Trenc, there was hardly anyone there and those yachts that were on the anchor didn't look like they were having a very good time. So we turned round and decided to bay hop.

We tried to get into Cala Marmols but it's not very big and there were two yachts there already. Didn't think we'd fit so moved along the coast.

We found Cala de sa Comuna and anchored there for lunch and a swim. Still a bit of swell but good sandy bottom between rocks. Managed to drop the hook perfectly and used about 40m of chain in 20m of water which wasn't ideal but held us well.



Spent an hour and a half there before it started to become uncomfortable so we moved on. At this point we'd been doing some serious pootling and we continued to do that at c. 8-9 knots. A large lunch, pootling and rocking/rolling, I was seriously struggling to stay awake. Look around and our friends and SWMBO are all snoozing! We put our nose into a few more calas for a look and then headed to PortoPetro for an overnight. We turned up without a booking but they couldn't have been more helpful and gave us the last buoy they had - helped us tie up etc.

carp picture taken through the porthole and mosi-net.



Wednesday morning, we had to give the boat back and predictably, the weather was fine, no swell etc etc. On the way back to the marina, we poked our nose into Cala Gran.

Should probably call this "Quadcopter bay" now. This is what it looks like at 0800 without 5 boats rafted up :-)



And Cala Gran beach/bar etc. Lots of nice houses all around it.



So then back to the marina via the fuel dock. 400l later - didn't pootle that much :-)

In conclusion, we had a good time but our original plan, including Cabrera went out of the window due to the weather. However, the places we got to, we loved, which means that the other 98% must be equally as nice. We're now in Palma, doing the city bit and loving it too. We spend a lot of time in the US so going on hols in the med is a bit new, I haven't been regularly since I was a kid.

Re boating in the med, would I move. Yes. End of. SWMBO is talking about it more than me! Question is whether to take our boat (+ aircon, pass. etc) or to upgrade. Not sure about location, maybe mainland Spain, maybe Mallorca. I fear this short trip may have cost more than I bargained for!

Again, a big thanks to all for the help. It made our research a lot easier and PM, texts etc helped with real-time info.

Off for a beer and dins in Portixol. Beach club tomorrow..
 
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