Mallorca Cruise and delivery to Barcelona

I think this was a great buy and especially with UK boats effectively being ruled out for Irish buyers with VAT. I saw the photos and she needs some of the salt cleaned off for sure but those engines shout be well suited for the type of cruising you do. I would say it’s not harm re-sealing all windows at that age. We’ve re sealed both side saloon in our 38, front port side going from the dinette to cabin in recent years. It will look great after a proper clean and polish. Best of luck!
 
Thanks Whopper, yes Brexit has ruled out buying in the UK and there are very few Brooms outside the UK and Ireland. I sold my old Broom in 6 days for above asking price due to such short supply. I have done lots of compounding and polishing and even wet sanding gelcoat so I don’t mind that at all. I’ll have her looking like a new pin in a few weeks.
I inspected the windows for leaks but I couldn’t find any. There was a bit of varnish lifting beside one of the bow cabin windows but it looked more like UV. I’ll be keeping an eye out for any leaks.
 
I am based in Cala Dor and go next week. I have previously been based in Palma and Andraxt.

I would do sone day trips out of Palma ( Portals Vells, Camp De Mar) to get used to the boat. Andraxt is nice so you might want to do a trip to Andraxt and then back to Palma stopping at the above on the way.

Once happy and things have stopped breaking and falling off ( Palma has good chandlers and support) I would head Cabrera, then Cala Dor ( days in local Cala night in Marina) then head towards Pollenca ( lovely yacht club) with an overnight anchor stop on the the way.

Then round the corner and onto the North Coast. Anchor for the day / night in Sa Colobra ( stunning place) then into Soller. Finally cross to Barcelona ( 4 hours or so).
 
Thanks everyone for the great advice. I will watch the weather in the week leading up to the trip and decide on a route. It looks like both sides of the island offer plenty of options. I think we will spend a few days local to Can Pastilla to get everything sorted and do a few afternoon trips. Cabrera might be a nice option for one of those nights.
The crossing to Barcelona is around 100nm from Soller or Pollensa. It seems that the best option is to depart early. I think a 6-7am start and a cruising speed of 16-18 knots should be a good option. Are there any particular wind directions to avoid ?
I think the crossing will dictate our cruising plans as we may need to go when the weather suits.
 
In an ideal world the wind and waves would be behind you but the world is rarely ideal.

Make sure you are happy with the boat and take spare filters and basic tools with you.

The crossing is not scary but it is a fair way in a new to you unknown boat.

Passage weather is what I use. If the weather is not right just wait. It is not worth a rough crossing.

Post on here when you are proposing and someone ( me included ) on here will be on the island to help.

Don’t be in too much of a rush. Med boating is nice so enjoy it.

If it were me I would keep it here for as long as possible. Do a few trips. Get to know the body. Enjoy the sunshine and then take it back.
 
Nothing to add really apart from a recommendation for Coast 2 Coast. They were brilliant with my transport last year and did exactly what they said they would on the right days etc. I’m a very satisfied customer and wouldn’t hesitate to use them again.
 
I agree with jrudge's comments.
But we have done the crossing between the islands and the Spanish mainland lots of times.
Obviously check the weather carefully but there will be more opportunities to cross than not.
We work the other way round - keep the boat on the mainland and cross for a few weeks at a time.
Most of the time in the islands, we anchor and keep a watchful eye on the weather for our return trip.
But if the weather gets too bad, we have often "checked in" to a marina on the islands.
But, as I say, during the summer months, it is often easy to get a good crossing.

This video wasn't taken during a crossing but it depicts the kind of weather you can get during Med boating.


So, I also suggest you take your time and enjoy some Med boating.
 
Unfortunately, time is very restricted as my other half is self employed in a business that is inundated with rescheduled events due to Covid. So I really only have a 10 day window to play with. I will watch the weather closely and be flexible to suit the conditions.
I have requested a service history for the boat and I will also carry plenty of spare filters, etc. The surveyor knows the company who maintained the boat and said they excellent.
A run out to Cabrera and a few day trips to Cala’s would be a nice shakedown to check everything.
The boat comes with a rather agricultural looking passerelle, will I need this for most marinas or will there be options for alongside or finger moorings?
 
Without "teaching grandmothers to "Suck eggs""
I suggest that you do a number of runs over 20 miles in length to test" the boat's range"
So, if you do a run to Cabrera, try to go with full tanks and run at full cruising speed both ways.
Then top the tanks again and work out your consumption at that speed.
Then, if you get time, do the same for a displacement speed.
If you get both runs (full and displacement speeds) done, it will give you the confidence on the longer run to Barcelona.
We did that for a friends boat a couple of seasons ago before bringing the boat back from Cala D'Or to Sant Carles.
Well worth having that data.
 
Dino said:
Unfortunately, time is very restricted as my other half is self employed in a business that is inundated with rescheduled events due to Covid. So I really only have a 10 day window to play with. I will watch the weather closely and be flexible to suit the conditions.
I have requested a service history for the boat and I will also carry plenty of spare filters, etc. The surveyor knows the company who maintained the boat and said they excellent.
A run out to Cabrera and a few day trips to Cala’s would be a nice shakedown to check everything.
The boat comes with a rather agricultural looking passerelle, will I need this for most marinas or will there be options for alongside or finger moorings?
Click to expand...
There are very few along side or finger moorings Majorca, the vast majority are stern to.
 
Dino - I think you're crazy to not take advantage of a boat being in the Balearics.... keep her there for the summer and bring her home at the 'end' of the season around Sept? I know you say your OH has commitments... wouldn't stop me!! You'd find no shortage of people to do the crossing. I was only delighted to do a delivery trip (with owners) on a new Sunseeker from Poole to Cork before (granted, we're all mates). We even had a 'forum cruise' here on-board Blue Angel with BartW. It was a mix of an (epic) cruise / dive trip, but Bart was also bringing the boat to Toulon for the winter, so it was a "kill 2 birds" situation.
 
I hear you Alt, my preference would be to take 3 or 4 weeks off and do a decent cruise. I might send the OH home and stay on for an extra week. If I did leave it down there for the season I would be pretty limited to a few long weekends and a 2-3 week holiday. I’m a regular employee so the 9-5 gets in the way a lot.
All going well I’ll be heading for the Med in 12-14 years time once I retire.
 
Which compared to the U.K. will be paradise. Leave it there and bring it back at the end of the season.

With one exception ( the public moorings in ciutedella ) all mooring is stern to. You can sometimes take the fuel quay if the marina is full and you agree to be gone by 8:30am but may will not be full.
 
Quick question… Do I need any qualifications to use my new boat around Mallorca and across to Barcelona? I have completed the yachtmaster theory and vhf course but that’s about it apart from lots of experience
 
Dino said:
Quick question… Do I need any qualifications to use my new boat around Mallorca and across to Barcelona? I have completed the yachtmaster theory and vhf course but that’s about it apart from lots of experience
Click to expand...

A grey area - I think the requirements of the country that the boat is registered in (not the requirements of the country who's waters you are sailing in) dictates what qualifications you need, so in theory if the boat is UK flagged then no formal qualifications are required, however if the boat is spanish flagged then I think you will need to look at what the spanish law requires.

Having said that , despite my boat being uk flagged (and therefore not strictly requiring any formal qualification in uk law) I am sometimes asked when I check into a marina in majorca for my 'skippers/captains licence' , so rather than try to argue points of international maritime law in pigeon spanish, I give them a copy of my ICC cert, this always satisfies their request.
 
AFAIK, the ICC is a statement by the RYA stating that you are "competent" to skipper a British registered vessel.
You can get an ICC by either (I believe) completing an ICC course of completing a course that can be used in place of an ICC course.
For example my SWMBO has an ICC that she got whilst doing her Day Skipper.
I got mine years ago in my sailing club.
ICC isn't a very "taxing" qualification - we always joked that it was like filling in a competition on the back of s Shreddies packet!!!
You then have to keep the ICC up to date either by paying the RYA or by being a member of the RYA.

A VHF radio licence/certificate is, of course, required for you to operate a VHF radio but you will never be asked for it.
But, I believe that you may be asked for an ICC although I never have been asked to show mine.
And you will never be asked for a Yachtmaster Certificate - in fact, the authorities probably wouldn't even know what a Yachtmaster Certificate is.
 
No but.

The Spanish require a licence for their own vessels. If you were stopped ( if ) showing some sort of licence is likely to make life easier.

I have been here 8 years. I have never been asked. I still renew my day skippers every 5 years so I have a licence on the boat as for £40 or whatever it may save me a load of hassle.
 
I was stopped once. Neither coastguard spoke English so I made an assumption that there was no chance that they could read English. I couldn’t find my ICC so i showed them the UK tax certificate we were all getting re Brexit. They studied it carefully, gave it back and left……
 
Dino said:
Thanks folks,
I’ll look at getting the ICC sorted before I go.
Click to expand...
As I understand it, you need to satisfy the regulations for the countries waters you are in regarding qualifications, Spain have agreed to recognise the RYA qualifications after Brexit, so safest would be to get an ICC. You may never be asked for it, but sometimes things go bump in the night that's not your fault.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top