whisper
New member
Reporting back for duty after 8 days. Potted log as follows:-
Sat. pm - boat handed over at Palma. Dinghy has no oars, Navtex doesn't work otherwise seems ok. Tapas as main meal - restaurant a bit greasy spoon like - anchovies had been marinated in diesel.
Sun - Not much wind , motor & sail to Puerto Andraitx. Berth on port authority mole . Stop for lunch & evening meal. Pretty place, good restaurants.
Mon - Crew increases to 4. Wind fitful then NE 2/3, motor for 5hrs into wind to Puerto Soller , suspect engine is overheating about 1/2hr from home. No room on any of Quays so anchor at 3rd attempt. Old fashioned, slightly down at heel little town. It and Soller itself worthy of exploration.
Tues - Inspect raw water filter - dry; and fresh water header tank - empty! Refill both. Canadian owner of super new Oyster hails us to say locals tell him that Maestral is on its way and will blow from NW. Trapped if we don't move. Up anchor and engine cuts out whenever we try to increase revs. Eventually, after phoning base we discover we had inadvertantly knocked fuel cut-off to the off position - DOH!! Leave late and head NE into NE 3-4 under power. begin to feel lousy, program the GPS (Furuno GPS 31 - super bit of kit) & take to my berth in the forepeak and learn how to do somersaults between berth and deckhead when yacht descends into 3-4 metre swell. Eventually able to sail and I return to the fray after a couple of hours. Finally round Cape Formentor and enter Puerto Pollensa in the dark - moor to port authority quay. Quite like the place. Good meal.
Wed. Hoping to go to Minorca but decide not to bother. Fill up with fresh water - flood the boat - see other post re. Charter Boat. Sail around the bay and end up at Porto Bonaire. Nothing there but a very expensive marina and a superb family run restaurant. Told that gales expected that night , they came - 50-60knts.
Thurs. Forecast says 30-35knt winds, need assistance to get yacht turned in marina. Decide to make a run for Cala Ratjada at lunchtime - wind dropped to 25 knts then to 10 knts but swell 4-5 metres. Cala Ratjada worth a visit. Header tank empty again.
Fri. Need to go on but wind is back up and sea looks very rough to the East. After much prevarication we decide to go as a couple of hours should see us in more sheltered seas. Most exhilarating 2hrs sailing of my life - wind 25-40 knts seas 5 metres and over 6 when the swells peaked together, tops all blowing off. 6 to 7 knots with just a scrap of Genny. 2 hrs later wind speed had dropped down to a force 2 at most. Berthed on quay at Porto Petro, which is a delightful little place. Club Med mentioned in Islas Baleares Pilot now seems to be derelict. Remnants of swell caused some quite severe eddies within harbour and we just touched bottom occasionally during the night. Our draft was 1.95m. Superb meal again, overlooking the quay.
Sat. Hard slog into SWly then Wly wind and swell back to Palma - thoroughly boring. Motorsailed for 4 of the 8 1/2 hrs it took to do just 40 mls . Engine overheating again. But Palma is a lovely city so we forced down another great meal, albeit rather an expensive one in this case.
Sun. Returned home for £27.50!! with bmibaby after a very varied trip, absolutely knackered.
I would thoroughly recommend Mallorca, early or late in the season, for its varied ports/anchorages, super scenery and wonderful food. Oh and the weather can be interesting as well. Biggest drawback was the/our difficulty in getting a comprehensible weather forecast early each morning.
Sat. pm - boat handed over at Palma. Dinghy has no oars, Navtex doesn't work otherwise seems ok. Tapas as main meal - restaurant a bit greasy spoon like - anchovies had been marinated in diesel.
Sun - Not much wind , motor & sail to Puerto Andraitx. Berth on port authority mole . Stop for lunch & evening meal. Pretty place, good restaurants.
Mon - Crew increases to 4. Wind fitful then NE 2/3, motor for 5hrs into wind to Puerto Soller , suspect engine is overheating about 1/2hr from home. No room on any of Quays so anchor at 3rd attempt. Old fashioned, slightly down at heel little town. It and Soller itself worthy of exploration.
Tues - Inspect raw water filter - dry; and fresh water header tank - empty! Refill both. Canadian owner of super new Oyster hails us to say locals tell him that Maestral is on its way and will blow from NW. Trapped if we don't move. Up anchor and engine cuts out whenever we try to increase revs. Eventually, after phoning base we discover we had inadvertantly knocked fuel cut-off to the off position - DOH!! Leave late and head NE into NE 3-4 under power. begin to feel lousy, program the GPS (Furuno GPS 31 - super bit of kit) & take to my berth in the forepeak and learn how to do somersaults between berth and deckhead when yacht descends into 3-4 metre swell. Eventually able to sail and I return to the fray after a couple of hours. Finally round Cape Formentor and enter Puerto Pollensa in the dark - moor to port authority quay. Quite like the place. Good meal.
Wed. Hoping to go to Minorca but decide not to bother. Fill up with fresh water - flood the boat - see other post re. Charter Boat. Sail around the bay and end up at Porto Bonaire. Nothing there but a very expensive marina and a superb family run restaurant. Told that gales expected that night , they came - 50-60knts.
Thurs. Forecast says 30-35knt winds, need assistance to get yacht turned in marina. Decide to make a run for Cala Ratjada at lunchtime - wind dropped to 25 knts then to 10 knts but swell 4-5 metres. Cala Ratjada worth a visit. Header tank empty again.
Fri. Need to go on but wind is back up and sea looks very rough to the East. After much prevarication we decide to go as a couple of hours should see us in more sheltered seas. Most exhilarating 2hrs sailing of my life - wind 25-40 knts seas 5 metres and over 6 when the swells peaked together, tops all blowing off. 6 to 7 knots with just a scrap of Genny. 2 hrs later wind speed had dropped down to a force 2 at most. Berthed on quay at Porto Petro, which is a delightful little place. Club Med mentioned in Islas Baleares Pilot now seems to be derelict. Remnants of swell caused some quite severe eddies within harbour and we just touched bottom occasionally during the night. Our draft was 1.95m. Superb meal again, overlooking the quay.
Sat. Hard slog into SWly then Wly wind and swell back to Palma - thoroughly boring. Motorsailed for 4 of the 8 1/2 hrs it took to do just 40 mls . Engine overheating again. But Palma is a lovely city so we forced down another great meal, albeit rather an expensive one in this case.
Sun. Returned home for £27.50!! with bmibaby after a very varied trip, absolutely knackered.
I would thoroughly recommend Mallorca, early or late in the season, for its varied ports/anchorages, super scenery and wonderful food. Oh and the weather can be interesting as well. Biggest drawback was the/our difficulty in getting a comprehensible weather forecast early each morning.