Quick stop in Mallorca

We left Menorca with 20-25 knots north easterly, we were glad to have the wind and keen to have a quick crossing but within 2 hours the wind had dropped off to about 10 knots we had full sail up but progress was slow. By mid morning the wind had gone completely and we were motoring but luckily by lunch time the wind was back and we were back sailing, With us both being tired from the night before we hardly spoke all day, both engrossed in our books (both reading the Hunger Games) and would only communicate when the wind changed and we had to adjust the sails. By the time we were approaching Mallorca it was back up to 20+ knots and we were anchored in Porto Petro by 4.30pm after a good day sailing.

We had visited Porto Petro twice before and were happy with the anchorage but whilst putting the sail away a rib came over telling us we were not able to anchor on the weed as it is a protected species, but he could offer us a buoy in a not very protected area of the harbour for 20 Euros, didn’t sound very appealing. He advised that he could not do anything to stop us but the Guardia might turn up, we took the risk.

A grey looking Porto Petro, it is actually very nice

Porto Petro is a nice quite anchorage and in the morning we planned to head off but due to light winds forecast and the tiredness from the day before catching up on us, we moved our anchor onto a sandier patch and decided to stay for the day.  We dingyed into town, a small resort with a couple of nice port side restaurants and a couple of shops for basic over priced provisions.

We rested for the day and were joined by a Brit flagged yacht which was actually owned by 2 Americans, Bob was particularly chatty and came swimming over, they had been cursing for 12 years and it was a shame we did not get to hear about more of their adventures but he shared a few stories about the dangers of the Caribbean which were interesting. They apparently carry a stainless steel shotgun and seemed prepared to use it if their boat is threatened! Unfortunately the next morning we were heading off which is so often the case when you meet other cruisers, you are on different timetables.

Next day we had light winds which made it a long and hot sail south and west into Palma Bay and another favoured anchorage Illetas, busier that we had visited in the past but still plenty of room to anchor. We were in for a rolly night with a big swell rolling in, it was probably one of the rolliest nights we have had at anchor and after getting up just as it got light we spent an hour or so waking up before I decided we would get off the boat and head for a run.  Nice idea to get off the boat but not so great when trying to land and launch the dingy from the beach with breaking waves, nice to use the legs again though. Luckily the swell died as the day went on and we were able to have a quiet night.

Sun just coming up over Illetas