Mallorca Cruise and delivery to Barcelona

Dino

Dino

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Hi,
I’m in the process of buying a boat in Mallorca, based near Palma. I’m planning to deliver it to Barcelona to truck it home to Ireland. The rough plan it to take 9-10 days and see a bit of Mallorca and then do the trip across to Barcelona and spend a night or two there.
The boat will be surveyed, sea trialled and engines serviced and we hope to do the trip in early to mid May.
Is this peak season?
Where are good marinas/towns to visit? We will have a dinghy and outboard but would prefer marinas overnight with a nice Cala for lunch.
Was thinking of departing the island from Soller or Alcudia.
Can anyone recommend a good itinerary?
 
Have you already made your arrangements in Barcelona?
Who is going to do the overland transport etc?
Coast to Coast for example are often delivering/collecting from here in Sant Carles.
I would think that lift and storage ashore here in Sant Carles would be cheaper than Barcelona.
Good boatyard facilities here and a local lagoon to play in whilst you are waiting etc.
Nice new club bar here as well.
Sant Carles is about 120 miles from the North tip of Mallorca and about 97 miles from Dragonera (on the West tip of Mallorca).

On Mallorca.
The north coats of the island is beautiful BUT not during any weather from the north.
Soller is nice but a bit "on its own".
A few bays around Soller for day trips and a good overnight in Calobra - all assuming wind from the south or east.
Anything from the north or west will make that side of the island uncomfortable.
If you are heading from Palma, the shortest route would be clockwise round the island.
In that case, you would be passing a couple of anchorages on the right before you leave Palma Bay.
Illettes is (literally) just outside Pamla - then Pamla Nova a couple of miles further on.
Both have somewhere to take th tender ashore - good restaurants in Palma Nova.
Continuing round Portals (Vells) is probably the last anchorage you would use before leaving Pamla Bay.
After Palma Bay, Santa Ponca is one of our favourites - safe in any weather except winds from the west - lots of restaurants ashore but tendering need some careful thought.
There is also a marina in Santa Ponca but I would suggest Andraitx might be a better option - 6 miles or so further on - again good restaurants.
If you can book into the main marina in Andraitx, you get use of the swimming pool and club facilities.
After Andraitx, there isn't really any safe marinas until Soller - quite a bit further on.
There are buoys in Sant Elm - between the Dragonera island and Mallorca itself but it is a bit exposed.
We usually just head across to Sant Carles from there but if the weather is nice, there is a good lunchtime stop at Cala Basset (just as you leave the gap between Dragonera and Mallorca.

If you go the other way round, there are a lot more calas. The land is flatter - very different from the north side.

You mention Alcudia.
If you are going that far, there is also Pollenca in that area.
I will get flamed for this but Alcudia is a bit like "Blackpool in the Sun".
Actually, we like Alcudia (more than Polencia anyway) - nice seaside town - lots of apartments and hotels etc - and a large marina.

But if you are planning on using the marinas, you must book ahead.
At that time of the year, the season is beginning to start so marinas will be filling up and prices will almost be peak rates.

I'm sure some of the Mallorca boaters will comment later.
 
Thanks Hurricane,
Coast2Coast are the hauliers that I have been in touch with and are better priced compared to a few others I checked with. I suggested Barcelona as it is probably the closest point to Mallorca and it would be an interesting place to visit. Also an easy place to fly home from.
The boat is in Can Pastilla so we will spend a night or two there to prepare for the trip. I have a friend who works in the marine industry in Palma so he can help with prep.
I hadn’t thought of Saint Carles so I will look into that.
 
hurricane has pretty much covered it.

But here's some more suggestions.

If you go anti clockwise round the island to get home, its definitely worth visiting cabrera for a night , its about 15 miles off the south eastern corner of mallorca, you cant anchor , but have to use their buoys, you can book a buoy on here, theres a small very basic bar on the main island that sells basic snacks and beer. Its probably worth visiting cabrera regardless of which direction you go round the island.

Form (caib.es)

In the clockwise direction, in distance order from palma :-

Puerto portals marina has a lot of bars and restaurants and is worth a visit

Portals vells bay is nice, and shouldnt be too busy at this time of year - make sure you anchor in sand though, they dont like people anchroing in the weed. Theres a nice lunchtime restaurant on the middle of the 3 beaches , called es repos, worth a visit for the paella.

Port adriano marina has a couple of decent restaurants in the 'old' bit of the marina, the new bit in the middle is a bit pretentious (IMO) , but it may suit.

Cala fornells bay is nice

Camp de mar bay has a nice restaurant on a small island close to the shore
 
Thanks for the great info folks. I’ve been to Alcudia on holidays and I agree, some parts are not great but the area around the marina was fine. I had a chuckle when Santa Ponsa was mentioned. I was there as an 18 year old on a lads holiday. I do remember the marina being nice.
Are there any good online resources for cruising information, guides, etc?
 
Santa Ponsa
In the past during bad weather and staying out on anchor, we went from Santa Ponsa to Palma Nova to Santa Ponsa to Palma Nova etc .............
When you are in Santa Ponsa, you are protected from strong winds from the south.
In Palma Nova, you are protected from strong winds from the west.
So anchoring in one or other, you can "sit out" any bad weather.

You have probably seen this video but it does sum up some of the places mentioned - Cabrera (julians recommendation) is about 1 minute into the video.


I understand that Coast 2 Coast's agent/Spanish employee is based in Bilbao and knows the run from Sant Carles to Bilbao well.
You might get a return trip back to Bilbao and then ship to Cork perhaps - worth talking to C2C about something like that.
They are used to picking up here in Sant Carles and, as I say, it is still a holiday resort so you could enjoy your time here - lots of Brits here.
 
Have to say I agree re @Hurricane re Alcudia. Personally I would absolutely go to Cabrera as a first stop. One of the most beautiful places if not the most beautiful in the Balearics, and would be a shame to miss it. From there you can either head clockwise and not much to add to comments other than in Andratz you can get a buoy also from the marina. This is cheaper, you can swim off the back, and is also closer to where all the restaurants are. You may want to consider Menorca if you elect to go anti clockwise. Not massively out of your way but Menorca is smaller, generally less crowded, the South coast has great and generally good Calas to anchor in and Mahon has the most spectacular harbour you are likely to see anywhere - I believe it is the worlds third longest harbour. There are three marinas there and plenty of places to find a berth. On the top of the island is Ciutedela which is also an absolute must to go, quite an interesting marina to berth in (its a harbour wall rather than a marina but amazingly protected from almost any weather, but restaurants etc right off the back of the boat. I use an App called Navily which I think is an absolute must for planning anchorages, harbours etc. It is free but for £18 pa you also get weather, distances and the ability to download the maps for offline usage. This will help you plan the best places. You can also book marinas through it but it has all details you will need. Good luck, sounds like a lot of fun. The water will be cold in May btw although compared to the Irish Sea probably feel like a bath!!!!
 
So you bought it then?!
Exciting times and what a great way to start cruising with a new boat! ?
 
Yes, deal done and survey next week. Just went sale agreed on my Crown this evening. Lots of interest, sold in 6 days.
I bought a Broom Ocean 38 with twin Perkins Sabre M265Ti’s. She was looking a bit lost down in the Med. Needs a bit of modernisation and a serious cut and polish.
Lots of people seem to have looked at the advertisement online but I was the only one to get on a plane and view it.
 
Dino said:
Yes, deal done and survey next week. Just went sale agreed on my Crown this evening. Lots of interest, sold in 6 days.
I bought a Broom Ocean 38 with twin Perkins Sabre M265Ti’s. She was looking a bit lost down in the Med. Needs a bit of modernisation and a serious cut and polish.
Lots of people seem to have looked at the advertisement online but I was the only one to get on a plane and view it.
Click to expand...
Which marina is the boat currently in?
 
Dino said:
Yes, deal done and survey next week. Just went sale agreed on my Crown this evening. Lots of interest, sold in 6 days.
I bought a Broom Ocean 38 with twin Perkins Sabre M265Ti’s. She was looking a bit lost down in the Med. Needs a bit of modernisation and a serious cut and polish.
Lots of people seem to have looked at the advertisement online but I was the only one to get on a plane and view it.
Click to expand...

A classic boat, still look good, whereabouts in Ireland will you be based?
 
Thanks Harvey.
I’m based on Lough Ree on the River Shannon but I like to head out to sea fairly regularly and cruise the Kerry and West Cork coasts. The Brooms are great for both purposes. My Crown was great but I wanted something that was capable of faster cruising at sea.
 
Dino said:
Thanks Harvey.
I’m based on Lough Ree on the River Shannon but I like to head out to sea fairly regularly and cruise the Kerry and West Cork coasts. The Brooms are great for both purposes. My Crown was great but I wanted something that was capable of faster cruising at sea.
Click to expand...
Photographs would be nice :)
 
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