I can put my hand on my heart and report that there was a thunderstorm every single night of Tim and Annabelle’s stay with us! Fortunately the weather during the day wasn’t too bad, although it was a week of extremes; when it was sunny it was gorgeous but when it rained, it was monsoon season! We managed to make the best of the good days, and whilst they were with us, we almost circumnavigated Mallorca, starting from Andratx and heading east, finishing in Soller, which is an hour or so north of our starting point.
The trip from Andratx to Cala d’Or was not bad, we nosed into Portals Vells on the way and also into Mondrago, but by the time we got that far it was drizzling so we weren’t inclined to stop. Things were improving as we arrived in Cala d’Or, where we were given the best spot, right in front of the restaurants on the quay. By the time we were tied up, it was sunbathing weather again, and we made the most of it. With good weather the following morning, we put out to sea again, still heading north. This time conditions were brilliant, it just got calmer and calmer as we approached our destination, Formentor (not to be confused with Formentera), a beautiful, unspoilt bay where we dropped the anchor. It was such a delightful spot that we didn’t want to move, so we fired up the barbeque and had the night on the hook. Of course, we had our usual thunder and lightning through the evening and in the night the wind came up, slapping against the hull and making it a noisy night for all on board. Just before morning, the wind dropped off again and by the time we emerged, it was flat calm and bright sunshine. Tim dived straight off the back, frightening the fishes, which had gathered to enjoy the bread I had been throwing in for them. We took the dinghy over to the beach and went up to the Formentor Hotel for a full English. So engrossed were we with our food that we didn’t notice the wind rising again and our return journey to Zaffina resulted in a good soaking for all on board!
It stayed windy and choppy for most of the day and eventually we decided to head for port; Pollensa was just a short distance away and although there was some confusion about whether or not they had space for us, we ended up moored on an outside muelle, which turned out to be more sheltered than a position inside the marina. Once out of the wind, it was a sunbathing afternoon but I was feeling rough and cried off as the others went out for dinner at a quayside restaurant.
We decided to press on with our journey the next morning and slid off our mooring into a beautifully calm bay, ready to soak up the sun’s rays en route. Once we were round the northern tip of Mallorca, things changed! Clouds gathered, the wind rose and the swell was against us. Somehow the conditions matched the dramatic backdrop of the rugged cliffs of the north, towering majestically above us and making us feel very insignificant as we ploughed through the rough seas towards Soller. Frank pulled back the throttle as we approached a larger than average wave and a shriek came from Annabelle, who had been sitting reading in the cockpit. Apparently she cartwheeled overbackwards, landing on her butt in the shoebasket. Thereafter she was known as “Shoebox Annie”.
We were glad to get into port, all the more so when the sun popped out again, casting Soller in bright sunlight and raising our spirits accordingly. However, the forecast warned us that it wasn’t too last, and we knew we would be stuck in port for a few days. It wasn’t a bad place to be, the town was pretty with a selection of good restaurants nearby and a regular tram service to Soller town (Soller Town and Soller Port are a few miles apart but both are towns in their own right).
We were moored between several small ferries and the refuelling pontoon and were warned that one of the ferries needed to come alongside to refuel. They would warn us, they said, before they came into position the following morning. In the event, they didn’t bother, and before we could drop the bowline or get extra fenders ready, the ferry was up against us and trying to force itself into part of the space we already occupied. The result was a damaged bow rail on Zaffina and raised blood pressure for Frank! To cut a long story short, we’re making a claim on their insurance for the damage and Frank’s blood pressure eventually came down with a large glass of red wine.
Whilst in Soller, we popped up to La Residencia one evening and had a fabulous dinner there, and on the day of Tim and Annabelle’s departure, we opted for lunch at El Faro, a restaurant perched high on the cliffs above the entrance to the port. The rain was torrential and in the five yard run from the taxi to the door, all four of us got utterly soaked! A warm welcome and a great lunch made up for the weather – we couldn’t even see the view for the first half hour but when the rainclouds drew back, it took our breath away. As we watched, one of the day trip ferries wallowed from the port to the open sea, the waves buffeting and rocking the boat, giving its poor passengers a horrible ride; in the end, it gave up and returned to the harbour. For once we were glad to be on Terra Firma!
Tim and Annabelle left but forgot to take the rain with them! Frank whisked me back to La Residencia for our wedding anniversary, where we had lunch at the pool bar with thunder and lightning playing all around, then a lazy massage to the sound of rain cascading from the heavens! We stayed there for the night and awoke to the view of thunderclouds over the mountains but by the time we checked out and returned to Zaffina things were improving and with little wind around, we decided to make the run down to Palma. Coming out of Soller was quite hairy; at slow speed we were rolling around and wondering whether we had made the right decision to move at all, but as soon as we turned south and gave Zaffina her head she flew through the water effortlessly. Things got better and better and in addition to the seas improving, we also left the cloud behind, arriving in Palma under blue skies.
We then had two and a half glorious days of almost unbroken sunshine, and made a return visit to El Trenc, one of our favourite beaches (that’s the one with the naked sunbathers.) It was lovely to just chill out on the beach again (wearing our bathers by the way) and swim in the water which was slightly cooler than last time we were here but still very pleasant.
Last night we had another exceptional dinner on the terrace at Hotel Son Vida, overlooking the city of Palma and today we’re back on board and guess what? It’s raining and there’s thunder and lightning raging all around us…just for a change! As soon as things improve we’re hoping to head back to mainland Spain so, fingers crossed, Barcelona here we come!
Monday, 28 September 2009
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
Still in Andratx - Wednesday 16th September
On Sunday evening the storm started. The skies over Mallorca were lit by flash after flash of lightning and the thunder rolled and roared. Good, we thought to ourselves, it should have blown through by the time Tim and Annabelle arrive, but no. This wasn't just any storm, this was a T&A storm and it went on and on and on. Thirty six hours later the thunder and lightning were still in full throttle and then the rain came down. To give you an idea of what it was like, we drove into Palma yesterday and the cars were FLOATING along the road. We had a bow wave, something we only usually experience at sea, and most delightful of all, the sewers couldn't cope with the sudden influx and were overflowing into the streets. You didn't want to be wearing flip flops.
It's still overcast this morning and there was a rumble of thunder a while ago, but the wind has dropped and the sea is calm so we're going to set off back to Cala d'Or. We had hoped to turn northwards from here, but the wind has moved around and we saw the seas off the northwest coast on our drive yesterday and immediately decided to head in the opposite direction.
Wish us a bon voyage...
It's still overcast this morning and there was a rumble of thunder a while ago, but the wind has dropped and the sea is calm so we're going to set off back to Cala d'Or. We had hoped to turn northwards from here, but the wind has moved around and we saw the seas off the northwest coast on our drive yesterday and immediately decided to head in the opposite direction.
Wish us a bon voyage...
Sunday, 13 September 2009
Balearics 2 - 13 September 2009
The wind rose on a bit last weekend, so we ended up spending several days in port at Cala d'Or. As places to be stuck go, it was pretty good with plenty of restaurants, friendly marina staff and good facilities. We took ourselves off to the nearby beach one afternoon but to be honest it was overcrowded with mainly German tourists and wasn't any great shakes. Em and Rory joined us on Sunday evening after I'd managed to get 19 towels and assorted bedding washed, dried and sorted from our previous guests. Talk about a Chinese laundry!
We spent the next few days retracing our path along the south coast of Majorca - the wind had turned, making a trip to the north coast impossible. Still, the beach as Es Trenc was as gorgeous as on our previous visit, and we found a fabulous restaurant just set back from the shoreline and worth a return trip. From there it was back to Portals which was much quieter than last time - we've obviously passed peak holiday season, but it didn't seem to have occurred to the shop staff that, with so little trade around, they ought to be pleasant to potential customers! Unless you're a Russian, a hooker or a pimp, you don't get much attention from them (no comments, thank you.)
We returned to Andratx after an afternoon at anchor in Portals Vells, a very pretty inlet with 4 small beaches separated by rocky outcrops. With loads of fish in the very clear, warm water, it was a lovely place for snorkelling. When we were about to leave, the yacht in front of us was performing all sorts of strange manoevres, threatening to reverse into us on several occasions. Eventually we realised that their anchor chain had twisted around ours, and it took some time to extricate ourselves - in fact, Rory dived down and untwisted it, no mean feat.
The sea conditions were some of the best we've experienced during our entire trip, flat calm water, absolutely idyllic. The following day we returned to Portals Vells and dropped anchor again. This time, we were a bit far out and getting moved around by the wake, so we decided to shift position. As the anchor came up, it rammed into its cradle, snapping the metal bridge which holds it in place and then it swung over the side of the bow. We were unable to get it back into place, so with the anchor hanging loose, we tiptoed back to Portals to get it fixed. It wasn't our best day - when we got into port and moored up, the Marineros came and told us they'd put us on the wrong mooring, so we immediately had to move.
With the anchor repaired (we had discovered that it had been wrongly put in place when the cradle was originally assembled) we spent the following afternoon at anchor in Santa Posa before returning to Andraxt. Em and Rory departed on Friday, and once they'd gone, Frank decided to launch himself off the steps to the bridge resulting in a bad bruising to both his back and his pride.
We now have a brief 3 days alone before Tim and Annabelle join us once again. And after 3 months of unbroken sunshine, guess what the meteo is forecasting for their arrival? Batten down the hatches folks, there could be a storm brewing!
We spent the next few days retracing our path along the south coast of Majorca - the wind had turned, making a trip to the north coast impossible. Still, the beach as Es Trenc was as gorgeous as on our previous visit, and we found a fabulous restaurant just set back from the shoreline and worth a return trip. From there it was back to Portals which was much quieter than last time - we've obviously passed peak holiday season, but it didn't seem to have occurred to the shop staff that, with so little trade around, they ought to be pleasant to potential customers! Unless you're a Russian, a hooker or a pimp, you don't get much attention from them (no comments, thank you.)
We returned to Andratx after an afternoon at anchor in Portals Vells, a very pretty inlet with 4 small beaches separated by rocky outcrops. With loads of fish in the very clear, warm water, it was a lovely place for snorkelling. When we were about to leave, the yacht in front of us was performing all sorts of strange manoevres, threatening to reverse into us on several occasions. Eventually we realised that their anchor chain had twisted around ours, and it took some time to extricate ourselves - in fact, Rory dived down and untwisted it, no mean feat.
The sea conditions were some of the best we've experienced during our entire trip, flat calm water, absolutely idyllic. The following day we returned to Portals Vells and dropped anchor again. This time, we were a bit far out and getting moved around by the wake, so we decided to shift position. As the anchor came up, it rammed into its cradle, snapping the metal bridge which holds it in place and then it swung over the side of the bow. We were unable to get it back into place, so with the anchor hanging loose, we tiptoed back to Portals to get it fixed. It wasn't our best day - when we got into port and moored up, the Marineros came and told us they'd put us on the wrong mooring, so we immediately had to move.
With the anchor repaired (we had discovered that it had been wrongly put in place when the cradle was originally assembled) we spent the following afternoon at anchor in Santa Posa before returning to Andraxt. Em and Rory departed on Friday, and once they'd gone, Frank decided to launch himself off the steps to the bridge resulting in a bad bruising to both his back and his pride.
We now have a brief 3 days alone before Tim and Annabelle join us once again. And after 3 months of unbroken sunshine, guess what the meteo is forecasting for their arrival? Batten down the hatches folks, there could be a storm brewing!
Sunday, 6 September 2009
In and around the Balearics - end Aug - Sep 2009
Balearics
It seems strange being almost settled in one place after so long on the move,so I'm not charting each trip any more. Now we’re in the Balearics we’ve turned into a floating hotel with guests arriving or leaving every few days.
The first few nights in Majorca were spent in Andraxt which is gorgeous, everything a Spanish port should be – good facilities, a pretty town, a supermarket nearby, a few interesting looking shops (by that I don’t mean chandleries…) and a swimming pool! Greg joined us there before we moved onto Santa Ponsa for one night, where his friend Vish came on board and the two of them enjoyed the delights – or otherwise – of Magaluf. On Friday, Christian, Adam and Leonie arrived, by which time we were in Puerto Portals, an upmarket marina where the small shops of Andraxt were replaced by designer boutiques and matching price tags. I did a quick restock at the local supermarket and almost keeled over when the tab came to 135e (I was expecting it to be about 50e, but I should have realised how ridiculous the prices were when I saw “fish bread” for sale – it was actually yesterday’s stale bread which you could buy to feed the fishes!)
With the kids keen to sample the nightlife, we took them over to Ibiza and spent the day at anchor in a delightful, unspoilt bay where we jumped off the back of the boat into the clear water and the boys took the dinghy and headed off to the nearest beach shack. In the evening we went into San Antonio. The place gives a dump a bad name! English tourists of the worst variety were drunk on the streets by 8pm, some of them dressed in nothing more than their underwear – when a bunch of 20 somethings tell you that the place is vile, you know it’s bad! However, they all went out clubbing at one of the clubs they’d heard about and returned to the boat a couple of hours before us oldies were getting up the following morning.
As a complete contrast, we then went back to Formentera, where the beach is so perfect it’s hard to believe you’re in Europe. Lunch was at one of those beach cafes where your feet are buried in the sand and the fish is so fresh it has barely stopped swimming. Frank kindly took us for a stroll in the afternoon, ostensibly to see the view but strangely enough, he led us straight to the gay/nudist beach! We spent the night at anchor in the bay, sharing a glorious sunset and apparently there was a glorious sunrise to match the following morning but Frank was the only one up and about to see it. Later in the day we had a reasonable crossing back to Majorca and returned to Portals, and the following day Greg and Vish left.
We headed next for Cala d’Or, stopping en route for an afternoon on the beach at Es Trenc – what a gorgeous place. The water was crystal clear and the beach lovely, although again quite a few people strolling round wearing nothing more than a smile on their faces. Christian was positively traumatised by an overweight woman of an age when she shouldn’t even be topless rising from the water alongside him completely naked!
Cala d’Or is lovely, a small port tucked up a meandering inlet with the town perched on the hill above. From here we went out to spend time at anchor at Mondrago, just 3 miles away and the last afternoon with Christian, Leonie and Adam ended with all of us diving from Zaffina into the deliciously warm water of the bay. They left us on Saturday and Frank and I are still here, waiting now for our next guests to arrive in a couple of hours.
It seems strange being almost settled in one place after so long on the move,so I'm not charting each trip any more. Now we’re in the Balearics we’ve turned into a floating hotel with guests arriving or leaving every few days.
The first few nights in Majorca were spent in Andraxt which is gorgeous, everything a Spanish port should be – good facilities, a pretty town, a supermarket nearby, a few interesting looking shops (by that I don’t mean chandleries…) and a swimming pool! Greg joined us there before we moved onto Santa Ponsa for one night, where his friend Vish came on board and the two of them enjoyed the delights – or otherwise – of Magaluf. On Friday, Christian, Adam and Leonie arrived, by which time we were in Puerto Portals, an upmarket marina where the small shops of Andraxt were replaced by designer boutiques and matching price tags. I did a quick restock at the local supermarket and almost keeled over when the tab came to 135e (I was expecting it to be about 50e, but I should have realised how ridiculous the prices were when I saw “fish bread” for sale – it was actually yesterday’s stale bread which you could buy to feed the fishes!)
With the kids keen to sample the nightlife, we took them over to Ibiza and spent the day at anchor in a delightful, unspoilt bay where we jumped off the back of the boat into the clear water and the boys took the dinghy and headed off to the nearest beach shack. In the evening we went into San Antonio. The place gives a dump a bad name! English tourists of the worst variety were drunk on the streets by 8pm, some of them dressed in nothing more than their underwear – when a bunch of 20 somethings tell you that the place is vile, you know it’s bad! However, they all went out clubbing at one of the clubs they’d heard about and returned to the boat a couple of hours before us oldies were getting up the following morning.
As a complete contrast, we then went back to Formentera, where the beach is so perfect it’s hard to believe you’re in Europe. Lunch was at one of those beach cafes where your feet are buried in the sand and the fish is so fresh it has barely stopped swimming. Frank kindly took us for a stroll in the afternoon, ostensibly to see the view but strangely enough, he led us straight to the gay/nudist beach! We spent the night at anchor in the bay, sharing a glorious sunset and apparently there was a glorious sunrise to match the following morning but Frank was the only one up and about to see it. Later in the day we had a reasonable crossing back to Majorca and returned to Portals, and the following day Greg and Vish left.
We headed next for Cala d’Or, stopping en route for an afternoon on the beach at Es Trenc – what a gorgeous place. The water was crystal clear and the beach lovely, although again quite a few people strolling round wearing nothing more than a smile on their faces. Christian was positively traumatised by an overweight woman of an age when she shouldn’t even be topless rising from the water alongside him completely naked!
Cala d’Or is lovely, a small port tucked up a meandering inlet with the town perched on the hill above. From here we went out to spend time at anchor at Mondrago, just 3 miles away and the last afternoon with Christian, Leonie and Adam ended with all of us diving from Zaffina into the deliciously warm water of the bay. They left us on Saturday and Frank and I are still here, waiting now for our next guests to arrive in a couple of hours.
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