Balearics -Dan's adventure

Mallorca - Palma to Puerto Bonaire


Dan arrived that evening and after a quick shopping trip in the morning we headed off for Playa Trench, we were supposed to go further but after beating up wind for hours and only making around 30 miles we called it quits.  It was dinner and then to bed.

The long sandy beach was nice but the colour and clearness of the water was amazing so we had to get in for a swim to the beach before leaving,

the sea was the clearest we had experienced, such a stunning colour.  After a few miles we rounded Punta Salina and the water was still such an amazing colour. 

 We sailed (hurrah we had wind again!) 19 miles to Porto Petro which was slightly bigger than some of the Calas as there was a small marina but we were able to find shelter off a small beach.  Again we all jumped off for a bit of a snorkel, what was really shocking was the amount of human debris in the water -  plastic bottles, rubber tyres, crisps bags – yuck!  The night was a lightly rolly with some swell rolling and we were joined by 2 other sail boats but all pretty quiet.

The morning could not go without a quick swim but then we headed off as we knew we were expecting strong northerlies that night and we needed to find some good shelter.  Just under 4 miles up the coast and we spotted what looked like a nice Cala and from what we read in the pilot book it would be sheltered from the north east.

Cala Mitjana  was a tiny Cala but really beautiful.  It seemed to be surrounded by a private garden and amazing house/hotel, we could not see any residence but the gardens were beautifully kept.  Then there was a tiny sandy beach.  We were joined by various small powerboats during the day and at one point a huge tourist boat but it was all relatively quiet.  Swimming was a concern for us all of us once we saw a jellyfish but we had to get in as there were some amazing fish and the cormorants were also making the most of the fish.

Bay from Magnum

We also dingyed ashore had a little walk around the ground (yes we were probably trespassing!) it is always nice to get a photo of Magnum peacefully sat in the anchorage.

Stunning Grounds

Amanda & Magnum

The only negative about the anchorage was the absolutely awful night we had with probably the worst swell hurtling into the Cala and off the rocks, all night! We had warps out to the rocks either side plus the anchor and it still made for an uncomfortable night.

Dan taking a line ashore

Next day we were glad to see the sun come up and headed off 10 miles to Porto Cristo, we were able to anchor just outside the marina (yes we are on a budget).  Porto Cristo surprised us is being a very pleasant little town, some of the normal tat souvenir shops but not completely overloaded with English pub, etc.  Nice having Dan here as feels like real holiday and even treated ourselves to an ice cream mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm yummy.

Mark & Dan with Magnum in the background

We had a quiet nice once the wash from the glass bottom tourist boats had died down.

The following day we were treated to a display by the local sea plane, it was really low over the water.

Sea Plane

We were lucky to be getting wind everyday for at least a couple of hours and usually northerlies and although winds were light we had it a good angle which made for some lovely sailing allowed us a speedy course north up the coast. 

Next stop Cala Gat just east of the resort of Puerto Ratjada.  We had the strangest snorkelling experience; there were full size trees under the water! They were cut and at some point had been washed into the water!  We did manage a dingy ashore after a very peaceful night, the resort was really nice with selection of seafront restaurants, bars and cafes and a long promenade, it was very much a German resort and we were probably the only Brits wandering around.  

Dan at the helm

Wind came up and we were off again, round to Cala Gaya (less that 4Nm) for lunch, this anchorage looked so scenic in the pilot book that we had to stop.  It didn’t fail to please, the beach was slightly busy but we were able to anchor in shallow, clear, water over sand quite far out.  The snorkelling here was fantastic; we were seeing different fish all the time.  We all had a swim before and after lunch but then we had to get on our way.

I was a bit sleepy by this time and collapsed on the foredeck and feel asleep for over an hour whilst we sailed along! Shouldn’t really have allowed myself to get that tired but nice to have a sleep!

We finally made it round into Alcudia Bay and it was stunning much larger than I had pictured and surround by fantastic mountains.  We anchored Cala Es Calo, as now seemed normal with it being later in season and being further north on the island we were the only boat in the anchorage, the sea was calm, the wind dropped off and we had a beautiful sunset.

The next day we got up early and headed off for a mountain trek.  I wasn’t too impressed as I had shorts on and my legs were cut to pieces but Dan & Mark were like mountain goats, the view over the bay was beautiful (shame our camera is not the best).  It was hours before we saw any other walkers and we had a good couple of hours before it was getting too warm.

Magnum all alone at anchor

View of mountains across Alcudia Bay (about half way up)

Mark & Dan enjoying the walk

This was another fantastic snorkelling Cala, clear water and lots of different fish.

We then had another great sail, we headed across the Bay (around 10 miles) to Port Alcudia, we anchored in the murky water outside of the harbour. The night was spent singing along to the pub entertainment from the marina (whilst still on boat), she had a wide repertoire with Madonna, Dolly Parton, Carpenters, Fairground Attraction and many many more!

We found a bar by the marina with a small area where we could pop our dingy and head into town for a look around.  Mark was pleased to find a couple of chandleries to search through for some boat bits and pieces although it is all a bit pricey out here.  Beach was long and clean but it was a bit filled with completely tat shops and British pubs.  Dan treated us to a lovely cake at a bar in the marina, good job we do not have visitors every week – cakes, ice creams, alcohol!

We sailed round into Pollensa Bay in the afternoon and anchored in the bay just outside of Puerto Bonaire ready to go into the marina in the morning.  We were all woken in the night by the rain which seemed to bring the swell!

We spent Dan's final day walking into Alcudia town but the weather was awful with torrential down pours all afternoon, so we settled down to some food and a bottle of wine.  Even with the rain Dan was still not keen to be going home and back to Uni on Monday!

First Mate (or possibly 2nd) has been at sea for 8 days and over 120 miles sailing and probably nearly as much as that swimming.