Polenca to Cala D´Or

Pollenca, Mallorca During the summer of 2004 we circumnavigated the Balearic islands of Mallorca, Minorca, Ibiza, and Formentor. We start our journey clockwise round Mallorca from Pollenca to Cala D'Or.

We finally departed Barcelona for Mallorca May 13th after being delayed several days by bad weather. The trip was largely uneventful but the first few hours were quite uncomfortable due to the confused state of the sea. We departed an hour after Rob and Michele on Odette and caught them up about half way through the 21 hour journey then held position about 3 miles behind them. We moored on the public quay at Pollenca and were soon joined by Rob and Michele who decided against anchoring in the bay.

Puerto Cristo Puerto Pollenca is a clean tidy town set at the foot of the mountains in a very large and beautiful bay. The port is a vibrant working and leisure town with all the facilities close at hand. The picturesque old town is about 7km away and can be reached easily by bus or by bike. While in Pollenca I went up the mast with the help of Rob and Tan to fix the mainsail in-mast furling.

After 11 days we headed south again for Cala Bona but on arrival discovered that there was only 0.3m clearance under the keel with hard concrete below so we departed hastily and continued to Puerto Cristo. We arrived there at 18:00 and moored on the public quay between two boats who had their dinghies moored between them. They reluctantly moved them when they saw I was coming into that space anyway (it was the last one). Puerto Cristo is more of a tourist town than Pollenca but most of this area seems to be largely dominated by the German speaking tourists. There is a nice little beach at the end of the port but it was too cold to swim while we were there.

Calla Mitjana After a couple of days we left for Porto Colom and motored close inshore admiring the cliffs and caves. Porto Colom was very full so we decided look at Cala Arseau and Cala Mitjana on our way to Cala D’Or where we knew we had a mooring courtesy of a friend of Tan’s. We moored between a wooden "Pirate" ship manned by people in pirate costume and a bright yellow 15 metre power boat capable of 56 knots.

We spent a total of 26 nights in Cala D'Or partly because it was free but also Rachel and Dean came to visit us and we needed a base. Cala D'Or is a very expensive and prestigious marina but it gets very hot being completely sheltered from the breeze so we would go out and sail occasionally. On one occasion we practiced anchoring in the very confined space at Cala Mitjana then had a good sail offshore where we did a man-overboard practice when a fender fell overboard, then back to Cala D'Or.

Jack and jellyfish at Cala Deia There are some beautiful little cala’s around this part of the coast. A cala is a narrow inlet into the rocky shore often with a sandy beach at the head and sometimes only approachable by sea. Tan’s daughter Rachel and husband Dean came to stay for a few days so we took them sailing to Cala Mitjana where we had lunch onboard and went swimming in the crystal clear water over white sand. They took us to Palma by car and apart from the underground car park designed by Alfred Hitchcock we were pleasantly surprised by Palma.

Evening at the Rop's residence Whilst at Cala D’Or we accepted Dick and Anna’s invitation to stay at their home in Deia. They drove across the island to collect us, we had hoped to have a sail before returning but the weather didn't cooperate. They have a very beautiful house overlooking the sea outside Deia and made us most welcome. We first met Dick and Anna travelling down the Rhone and often travelled together or met up at various places along the way. We had a wonderful 5 days with them visiting Soller and Fornalutx and walking down to the very pretty cala and back through the mountains to Deia. We returned to the boat armed with some of their superb homemade marmalade and in return we introduced them to pickled garlic!

Cala D´Or to Andraitx

Calla Mondrago, Mallorca We left Cala D’Or on the 24th June and sailed just over 2 miles down the coast to anchor in Cala Mondrago . It is a beautiful four fingered cala with beaches at the head of two and with turquoise sea and white sand, ideal for swimming. One of the two beach restaurants is small and family run with a good menu and excellent value. We dinned there twice, enjoying fresh fish and pleasant service. We don’t eat out very often preferring to buy fresh produce and eat on the boat since we usually have an enviable location. Most cala's can get busy in the daytime but we had this one to ourselves for the first two of the four nights we stayed. Idyllic.

Calla Marmols, Mallorca We left Cala Mondrago on the 28th intending to visit Cala Figuera for a couple of hours and stock up with fresh provisions but we found it such a pretty place we decided to stay overnight. It’s a charming old fishing village which has retained it’s character and has successfully managed to seamlessly blend some tourist expansion. The next day we had a good sail with two long reaches to Cala Marmols where we anchored (bow and stern) in 3m over sand between two high cliffs. Marmols is deserted except for the occasional day boat and the "sea-sweeper" that comes around every morning. Very good swimming, no need for clothes!

I always keep a sharp weather eye (especially when anchoring) using the short wave radio and lap-top computer for 5 day forecasts and Navtext for 24 hour local area forecasts. La senora (Admiral Forsdick) doesn’t like uncomfortable swells whilst at anchor. So we left Marmols and headed for Sant Jordi on the 1st July because NE force 4-6 winds were forecast for the weekend. Sant Jordi is a very small but pleasant little town with two reasonable supermarkets but it's a long dinghy ride from the side of the bay that’s well sheltered from NE winds.

Cleaning boat After three nights and a good forecast we headed off around Mallorca again. It was a great day for sailing so we went across to Isla de Cabrera and back to mainland Mallorca at Ensenada de la Rapita just a couple of miles from where we started. Isla de Cabrera is a nature reserve about 10 miles off Mallorca which requires a permit, applied for in advance to enter the protected zone or to land. Later we discovered that at that time of year it’s possible to get a permit directly from the warden on shore. In the height of the season charter companies block-book their boats and pay the fee regardless of whether the boats go there or not. Back on mainland Mallorca, Rapita was very crowded so we only stayed one night.

On the 5th July we left Rapita and anchored in Cala Pi. It’s a very small pretty cala but slightly disappointing because we had heard so much about it and we had already experienced Mitjana and Marmols. There is a small supermarket, part of the Cala Pi holiday complex. on top of the cliff reached by a good flight of steps. Bread but no fresh meat or fruit. It’s also the start of the tourist season and it got very crowded with six boats squeezed in so we only stayed one night.

Cala Pi, Mallorca Palma is just around the headland so we sailed round and into Palma looking for the Public Quay mentioned in the cruising guide, but alas it no longer exists having been overrun by massive marina development, many of them currently empty, the rest touting for business. We tied up alongside the pleasure boat quay looking for water. A very nice tour/pleasure boat owner connected us to his supply so we could refill our tanks and the harbour master said we could stay there until 15:00 when the next boat was due. Tan took the opportunity to raid the supermarket and re-vitalize the boat, poor girl staggered back laden-down. Then we left Palma and anchored in the lee of Las Islettas in the bay of Palma. Las Islettas is a group of three small deserted islands protruding from the mainland and providing good shelter but almost impossible to go ashore because of a private holiday complex and a military installation. We spent a total of five nights at anchor in Las Islettas, waiting for the wind to change direction.

When anchoring, water and power are two major things to monitor. We carry 540 litre of fresh water and have 420 amp/hour of battery power from which we can generate up to 2.5kw of 240 volt AC power. We can typically go 10-14 days without a water refill, and run the engine 45 minutes in the morning and evening to maintain power and hot water.

Las Islettas We left Islettas on July 10th and went to Cala Portals passing Magaluf and some ancient cave dwellings on the way. We left C. Portals early next morning because the wind didn’t change as predicted and the swell was uncomfortable. We rounded Punta Figuera and out of the Bahai de Palma passing on the inside of the impressive Isolete El Toro through a 200m channel.

Cala Santa Ponsa is a large bay with a shoal running part way down the centre but with well sheltered anchorage. It has nice beaches and a very expensive marina at the entrance. There are two very good Eroski SYP supermarkets within easy reach and a Caprabo a little further out. Jet-skis and water skiers were a bit of a nuisance at the weekend and it gets very full in the daytime. We liked Santa Ponsa very much even though it rained for a day, the first time in months. We stayed four nights before leaving for Cala Blanca just 3 miles away. Although very pretty we had an unpleasant night at anchor there so headed back to Santa Ponsa again. Dick and Anna came to see us in S. Ponsa the next day and we took the boat to a cala where we had lunch and a swim.

On the 19th July we left S. Ponsa and sailed round to Puerto Andraitx, a pleasant fishing port and town. We were lucky and managed to tie-up stern-on to the public quay. We stayed two nights, filled up with water and fuel and left for Ibiza

Ibiza and Formentera

Cala Portinatx, Ibiza We left Mallorca at 08:30 on the 21st July and sailed the 55 nautical miles to Isla Ibiza making between 4 and 6.5 knots. Our plan had been to go to Cala Vincente on the south coast but the wind and swell would have made that uncomfortable so we went to the north coast and anchored in Cala Portinatx. A beautiful three-fingered cala cala between steep cliffs with a lovely beach in front of a small well designed low-rise hotel. We liked it so we stayed two nights.

Queen Victoria! Ibiza From Portinatx we did the short journey to anchor in Cala Binirras, Isolete Bernat guards the entrance to the cala and in certain lights looks like Queen Victoria on her throne. We stayed two days and apart from swimming, we went to the supermarket by dinghy in an adjacent cala (San Miguel). By now the weather was very hot and we were both developing good sun tans. Next was Cala Salada, surrounded by desirable residences and where the fishermen’s huts were being used as weekend beach huts.

By the 27th July we were in San Antonio where we dropped anchor, went to the supermarket and left the following day for Cala Bassa. This is a fairly large cala but frequented by large tour boats from San Antonio disgorging their passengers onto the beach. We anchored at the opposite side to the bay where there wasn’t any pedestrian access and the swimming was good. There is a large campsite behind the beach but surprisingly very little opportunity for provisions. We had difficulty leaving the calla the next day because the anchor had fouled and the trip line was too short, so I had to dive to extend it. Finally got to Cala Moli, yet another nice small cala with clear water and white sand. What a life!

Ibiza City It’s now the end of July and it’s starting to get busy with charter boats, some of which have experienced skippers but others were best kept well clear of. Cala Port Roig was our last stop before the short crossing to the islands of Espalmador and Formentera. Espalmador lies 2 miles south of Ibiza with several small islets strung between. There are two usable channels, one involves passing over a shallow bar with 3 to 4 metres depth, the other is deeper and wider but the high speed ferries roar through it. Interesting!

The island of Espalmador is connected to Formentera by a narrow sandy spit. Espalmador is a long low island with miles and miles of sandy beaches. Tan wasn’t impressed because she doesn’t like beaches. Our first stop on the island was Puerto del Espalmador, not a port as the name implies, just a very large and busy bay surrounded by beaches and one large house. The whole area is privately owned. According to the pilot book the bay can accommodate up to 100 yachts at anchor, packed like sardines!

There’s a lot of nude sunbathing around the islands, and here you often see people walking along the beach covered from head to toe in dried grey mud. They take photographs of each other and wash it off in the sea, it’s a bit like a scene from an early Attenborough documentary. The next morning we were approached by a large RIB, selling bread, newspapers, etc. Very useful and enterprising, they even come round in the afternoon with ice-cream and take the rubbish away. We bought bread and a Sunday Times.

Toasted Rachel 2nd August, anchored off Port Savina on the island of Formentera and took the dinghy shopping. What a dump but the supermarket was ok and we had fresh food. Departed Port Savina at 13:30 and motored round to Cala Sahona. The next day we sailed across the bottom of the island to Cala Raco d’Es Mare, an attractive cala nestled below 100m high cliffs. For the past several weeks the weather had been glorious so we did a lot of swimming. Tan’s daughter Rachel was coming to visit us so the next day we continued round Formentera and back to Ibiza anchoring in the southernmost part at Ensa de Canal. The bay of Ensa de Canal is quite attractive with a couple of beach restaurants and a pier where they load sea-salt brought in by lorry from the salt-pans.

It was just a short hop back around to Ibiza city where we tied up at the Club Nautico ready to meet Rachel the next day. The marina is the oldest on the island and probably hadn’t had any work done on it since it was built but they still charged a staggering 93 Euro a night. It was a local holiday when we arrived and we were in a good position to see a spectacular fireworks display. I also took the opportunity of being on land for 2 days to get the first 500 hour engine service. It was good to see Rachel again.

Bombay Saphire - G&T service! Because Rachel was flying out of Ibiza in a weeks time we decided to go back to Espalmador and Formentera again. Whenever we sailed Rachel would ensconce herself in the dinghy which was stowed on the aft deck. It made the perfect sunbathing platform! So effective you could watch her turn brown, she tans so quickly. We arrived back at Espalmador and couldn’t get the anchor to hold in the very crowded bay. We finally got it to hold after 4 attempts and a lot of stress so decided to stay for 2 nights, then back across to Ibiza to Calla Bassa. The beach and bars were plagued by flies and were a bit tacky so we only stayed one night and then went to San Antonio.

Although San Antonio is quite a pleasant town my experiences were not good. I had an oar stolen from the dinghy and I dropped the mobile phone, and myself, into the sea when I went to collect Rachel just after midnight. I searched the seabed the following morning to try to retrieve the sim but to no avail. Telephonica were excellent, they replaced the SIM card with the same phone number and credit at no charge.

After 2 nights in San Antonio we went to Playa Carallet, the southernmost beach on Ibiza. It’s a very nice beach with crystal clear water but with swell from the many high speed ferries that ply between Ibiza and the mainland. We had a very pleasant surprise when the Bombay Sapphire catamaran came along and dispensed free Gin & Tonics complete with glasses and swizzle sticks. What service!

13th August and unfortunately Rachel has to leave us so we went to Marina Botafoch in Ibiza harbour, filled with water and diesel and dropped Rachel off to catch her plane. Then we anchored in the outer harbour just outside the marina but we were evicted at 17:45 by the pilot boat so we went round to Cala Talamanca and anchored.

Now that Rachel has gone we headed back towards Mallorca. We motor sailed along the coast, tried to get into Santa Elulia but the marina was full and we grounded in the bay. A very kind man in a rib guided us out through the shoals. We arrived at the very pretty cala Boix at 14:30 but there were lots of jellyfish so we continued round to Cala Vincente but it too was infested with jellyfish and more open than cala Boix so back to cala Boix. And the jellyfish had gone! We have now circumnavigated Ibiza and Formentera and have done over 2000 nautical miles since leaving England.

Mallorca and Menorca

Andraitx, Mallorca again 15th August, we had a very good day’s passage on the 40 nautical mile sail back to Andraitx. It’s still the silly season with lots of charter boats but we got a good position and anchored in the outer harbour so we could swim. It's just a short dinghy ride to the nicest part of town and there’s an excellent Ferreteria and a good supermarket. We love Andraitx so we stayed 6 nights.

From Andraitx we sailed to Soller on the rugged north coast of the island where we anchored in the bay which can get very busy with boats arriving well into the night and squeezing into the tightest places. Soller is close to where Dick and Anna live so on the 23rd we moored on the public pontoon so we could visit easily. A few days later, our friends and neighbours John and Linda from Marina Port Vell in Barcelona arrived in their boat Guardian.

John & Linda at Soller, Mallorca After 10 days we left Soller in the company of Guardian (John and Linda) who resumed their southerly course while we turned north to Cala Tuent. This is a beautiful high sided cala surrounded by mountains with 3 converted fishermen's huts and a large deserted house on the beach. Goats and sheep came onto the beach in the late evening when it was empty.

On the 1st of September we left Soller for Cala Vincente where we anchored in 3.3m over sand. Despite the large ugly hotel at the head of the cala it is still quite attractive and we went ashore for fresh provisions. The next day we motored most of the way to Pollenca. We have now completed circumnavigation of Mallorca.

At Pollenca we anchored under the lee of Punta de Avanzada for 4 days due to the strong easterly winds but jellyfish prevented swimming for the first 3 days. It’s very hot and humid with thunderstorms all around but we had just the odd shower which covered the boat in red dust. The anchorage is next to the military flying boat station and we were lucky enough to watch them practicing on several occasions. Their main duty is fire-fighting but they also keep a good lookout around the coast.

Fornells, Menorca On the 6th September we moored on the public quay and met-up with Nigel (from Barcelona) on Sinbad and also Brian of Magic Wednesday who we had met here in May. Then the SSB radio stopped working so my long range weather lifeline had been cut, which was very worrying but during the 8 days we were in Pollenca I managed to fix it. We both love Pollenca very much.

It’s now getting a bit late in the season (10th September) and we want to see Menorca (the windy isle) so off we set. The forecast said Southerly so we headed for the north coast. We motor-sailed until 11:30 then sailed progressively reefing both the main and the Genoa until we had 2 reefs and were still exceeding 6kn. We arrived at Cala Algayerens, an attractive cala with 2 wide beaches and a lovely fishermen's hut and pine trees down to the edge and a lagoon and nature reserve behind the beaches. Despite the wind we were in the lea of the island so it was calm. That’s the trick!

Addaya,, Menorca After 2 nights we left Algayerens because the forecast was for strong NW winds which is directly into the bay so we went to Fornells for shelter and were lucky enough to pick up a mooring buoy just outside the harbour wall. The town is very picturesque and very well maintained but with very limited supplies from the 2 supermarkets. Meat only on Wednesday and Saturday morning and very poor fruit and veg. The weather was very rough for several days (NW force 7) but we were well sheltered. One night the dinghy flipped over and submerged the outboard but fortunately after a little maintenance and oil change it started.

Six days later the wind and seas had abated and the forecast looked good so we went to Addaya which is another very pretty cala but with a difficult to negotiate entrance and a long winding channel. We had a very pleasant walk along a very narrow path which ran along the edge of the sea all the way around to the next calla.

From there we went to Cala Gran, a beautiful village very nicely maintained. We stocked up at an excellent supermarket in the village and would have liked to have stayed more than just one night but the long range forecast was not good and there is very little shelter around Menorca so we headed for the safety of Mahon.

At Mahon we anchored in Cala Taulera, a very sheltered calla behind the fortress of La Mola. This is where the British fleet lay at anchor during the period that Britain governed the island. It’s 40 minutes by dinghy to Mahon city and 15 minutes to the very pleasant town of Es Castella. Es Castella has 3 good supermarkets and a very picturesque quay with lots of restaurants and café’s. We were effectively trapped on the boat for 2 days by gale force winds but the cala is so well protected it wasn't at all uncomfortable. We could see the entrance to the harbour and watched the big ships going to and fro including a cruise ship with 5 masts.

Ciutadella, Menorca At the end of September Rachel was coming again so we moved to a berth at Nautica Melia in the port of Mahon. Throughout the summer we have had good weather even when wind has been strong it was still hot and it continued to be hot while Rachel was here. Early October and we are waiting for favourable conditions to explore the South coast but the winds continue doggedly from the southern quadrant albeit moderate so we left the berth and anchored in Cala Taulera again.

After a total of 16 nights in Mahon we departed for the south coast and anchored in Cala Trebeluja. A very nice cala with a small river behind the beach which we rowed up in the dinghy, one oar! It was very tranquil and rural with lots of wildlife. The beach is very difficult to get to by land so it's popular with nudists but a tour boat arrives and deposits tourists on the beach for a few hours each day. We were the only boat in the cala at night.

The following day we continued around the south coast and looked at Cala Mitjana but there was too much swell so continued on to Cala Galadana. This is very different from last night, it has a big ugly hotel at the head but the cala is large and still quite attractive. To our surprise the town was very pleasant, clean and well maintained. There is a river which runs behind the beach and has been converted to a small boat harbour, very convenient for the dinghy. We ate at a restaurant in town that night.

The next day we left Cala Galdana because the swell was becoming uncomfortable and went to Cala Marcarella. This is a very beautiful cala more sheltered from the SW however after an hour Tan was uncomfortable and despite offering to deploy a stern anchor we left and went to Ciutadella where we moored alongside the quay at the Club Nautic. I’m glad we did because the wind increased to Force 6 and swung round to the west which created a terrible swell in the port, however it's much better to be here than in the cala. Sunday was even worse so all the boats were moved from Club Nautic to the Ferry quay which was very calm. The ferries were cancelled so we stayed there until Monday morning then rafted to a fishing boat since they were in all day because of a fiesta.

Jackie's Birthday, Soller Mallorca On the 13th September the forecast was for several days of Northerly winds so we left Ciutedella to spend some time in cala’s on the south coast. Son Saura is a large deserted cala with trees and shrubs down to the beach. There were a few sunbathers on the beach and the swimming was very good but the weather swung around to the SW in the night and the swell started to build up by morning. The latest forecast showed a thundery front passing with various wind conditions so we decided to leave the south coast of Menorca and head back to Mallorca.

The 34 mile passage to Pollenca took just under 7 hours, the sea state was moderate and the wind picked up to Force 5-6 starting SW then becoming NW so we had a good sail. We moored on the public quay at Pollenca once again and on the 17th we hired a car for 3 days and went to Arta and Cala Rajada. On the Sunday we went to Soller taking in the spectacular scenery from the road through the mountains and had lunch with Jackie and Barry, Tan’s friends, who were there on a walking holiday. Later we went to Deia and stayed the night with Dick and Anna. A wonderful weekend.

We like Pollenca very much so it was easy for 10 days to pass before we left, but on the 24th we finally departed for Cala Vincente on the north coast. Even at this time of year the weather was still hot and sunny and it was still nice to swim in the sea. The following day we decided to go to Soller again, this time by boat, via cala Calobra. Calobra is spectacular with very high sided cliffs and a narrow gorge through which a river runs in winter.

We had a berth in Barcelona booked from the 1st of November so we were keeping a weather-eye open to make the crossing back to the mainland. On the 30th we left on the 83 mile trip at 09:00 and made very good time, despite having to motor all the way, arriving in Barcelona in just over 15 hours. This is our winter berth for the next 6 months and we were back in time for the Marina Party and for the Barcelona boat show. Excellent timing!