From Pollenca, around the north of Mallorca to Palma bay

Tuesday 13th June Engossaubas via Cala de Calobra to Soller

We made an effort to get under way reasonably quickly, and were soon around Formentor under engine. We enjoyed the mountainous scenery as it passed by, until we arrived at Cala de Calobra, where we anchored close in to the beach.

The beach at Cala de Calobra	Sandy holds forth on the stage

The beach at Cala de CalobraJohn remained with the boat, as the wind was somewhat variable, while Mo and Sandy went ashore by dinghy, to walk through the tunnels to the next bay, where there were bars and restaurants, hotels and shops, serviced largely by the tourist boats out from Soller. It was a fascinating place. Finally we set sail again out of the bay, initially with a good force 6 behind us that forced us to tack down wind. This persisted until just before Soller, when it died, and soon afterwards came up as a headwind! We are beginning to realise that this is par for the course in the Balearics. We were soon in Soller, and dropped anchor in the middle of the bay, which was fairly crowded.

Wednesday 14th June Soller

We soon realised why there was space where we had anchored. We were right opposite the boat channel into the beach used by the tourist ferries! We decided to move out of their way, and found a spot just off the moll transit. We noticed that while the 'moll' had appeared crowded when we came in last night, there was now plenty of room if we had wished to walk off the boat. Mo and Sandy decided to explore Port de Soller, while John remained on board ostensibly doing jobs. After lunch, we all went ashore and caught a tram up to Soller town itself.

A tram leaves the station for the port

These lovely old open trams are great value for money, as they rattle past the vines, orange and lemon trees. The tram connected with the train to Palma, so we went up onto the platform to see it off. This too has open carriages, and is an experience as it negotiates the mountains in between. We returned to the main square outside the church, and enjoyed a couple of drinks as we watched people, mainly children playing there.

Thursday 15th June Soller to Puerto de Andratx

We had to motor much of the way from Soller as the wind died. On arrival at Andratx, we decided for convenience to take one of the last available berths on the moll transit, which involved rafting next to a rather houseproud Austrian with an expensive looking boat out from Arenal, although we still had our own lazyline mooring aft. To go ashore we had to cross his deck barefoot, and wipe our feet carefully on his mat on the way back. Having settled down, we decided to have a walk ashore, and soon found ourselves in a bar. We had noticed that the cloud was building in the west ominously, and it would only be a while before it rained. All the restaurants were set up with their table cloths along the front and up many of the streets. As the rain arrived, there was much excitement as a mini-tornado tore through the harbour. Mo and Sandy left the bar to try to catch tables, chairs and glasses for the restaurant opposite, who were desperately winding down their covers. A couple meanwhile continued with their meal as if nothing was happening! On return to Fuga, we found our cockpit cushions had been blown into the bottom of the cockpit, along with the light foam cushions, one of which had gone missing altogether from under the cockpit hood.

We were up to collect the car in plenty of time, and parked it up the hill. We left Sandy completing the wash-down of the boat to get rid of the sand that had come down with the rain last night. The road was a bit disrupted by new roadworks, and Mo reckoned John was driving rather too fast, which was probably true in the circumstances. We arrived on time, and Mo was soon texting that the flight had landed, so there was not long to wait before her son, David, emerged. We had a quick pizza before motoring around to Cala Mermacen, just around Pta de las Agujas, on the southern side of the harbour entrance. This 'spectacular anchorage' certainly impressed us. We had to get perilously close to rocks at the head of the cala to find the sand at a depth of 5 metres over which the pilot suggested we anchor. In the end John tried to anchor downwind. By the time Fuga had swung into the breeze, which was blowing into the Cala, we were close to the rocks at the rear, and no one was very comfortable with our situation. We decided to abort, but at this point our difficulties started. As the anchor cable came up short, the anchor refused to budge from the crevice between two rocks into which it had been pulled. We do not generally set trip lines, as they tend to complicate matters, and now we would pay! John tried to drive it out, but with limited room to manoevre and a rocky lee, this achieved nothing. Dave donned a mask and went to have a look, while John tried to slip a bowline down the chain (without much success) to get it around the shaft of the anchor. Mo stood by the helm. Sandy (she says with the help of her sister and some angels) managed to attract the attention of two chaps who had been snorkelling from the rocks. They swam over, and being large guys and used to diving, had soon manually removed it from its crevice, allowing us to depart thankfully and without more ado. It being late, we returned to anchor off Andratx and to prepare the supper of barbequed dorado.

Saturday 17th June At Andratx, to Airport again

We had a relaxing morning, and enjoyed swims and showers to taste. After an early lunch, we set off with Sandy to the airport, which proved to be much easier than the day before as the road works were not happening and there was much less traffic. We dropped Sandy, and returned to Andratx via the Lidl store, where we topped up on the essentials of life, wine, beer, whisky at incredibly low prices, smoked salmon and a few other items. We were able to park the car within yards of where we had left the dinghy, which made the loading operation relatively easy. We had intended to set off for an anchorage on the way to Palma, but decided to relax instead, and got out the BBQ once more.

Dave with Mo, relaxing on the foredeck

The buzz from the shore eventually enticed us to take the dinghy in. John was busy looking at a particularly noisy bar (with two pretty ladies) when he failed to notice a tree planted in the pavement. The next thing he knew he was measuring his length on the road. Someone rushed over, but only his dignity was severely damaged. Puerto de Andratx has many bars and restaurants, and quality shops with expensive clothes, as well as a useful supermarket.

Sunday 18th June Andratx to Cala Portals

John had chatted with Henk Oosterwijk, on the Dutch yacht Sogno D'Oro. Henk had been interested in the Aquair generator, known by us as Willie, that was hanging in the rigging. At some point he called over when he lost his dinghy in the process of loading stores, and John rescued it and towed it back to him. This was rewarded by a tiller extension for the outboard that Henk no longer required. He must have asked our plans, because this morning he rowed over and asked if we minded sailing in company to the anchorage we had mentioned in Palma bay. This was all agreed, and so when we were all up and ready we set off together. We had a great sail with a rare south westerly breeze, mostly downwind. When we arrived at Cala Portals we found it very crowded with many motor boats, but found a spot in which to anchor. Henk had a lot of trouble getting his anchor to set. We asked him to come over for a drink, as he did not want to join us in our planned meal out. John trudged up the hill to the restaurant in the heat of the afternoon to check it out, but as chance would have it, it was not going to be open that evening. The beach restaurants were both closing shortly too, as he found out atripping over nudists on the way up the steps! We had to fall back on a spag. bol. out of the freezer, that Mo had prepared earlier. The cala emptied out, as all the motor boats but one departed, and their place was taken by a few incoming sailing yachts. The wind of course had to have the last laugh, and as it veered easterly we were left with an incoming swell. We raised anchor in the dark, and found a spot under the Phoenician caves with a little more shelter, although worryingly close to a large rock against which the waves surged ominously.

Monday 19th June Bay of Palma to Playa del Trench

We woke early with the alarm set to a fresh easterly breeze. We got ourselves organised and were soon under way to cross the bay to Ca'n Pastilla where we planned to drop Dave. We anchored off the beach and roused him in time for some breakfast, before dropping the outboard onto the dinghy to go ashore. We found the taxi rank quickly, said our goodbyes, and were soon back on Fuga. John wanted to check whether La Goulue, the boat we wanted to buy at one stage, was still at Arenal, and rationalised this by suggesting we pick up fuel there. In the event there was no sign of La Goulue, and a queue for the fuelling berth, so we gave up. The wind had more or less died by this time, so we motored for a while. Then the breeze came in and we were able to more or less fetch our course. We had decided to head south east back towards Porto Colom, and so complete our circuit of the island, rather than head back via Soller, where Mo hoped to get John on the train to Palma. The wind then freshened and veered, so for a while we had a pleasant sail under reefed main and engaged in an informal race with a boat that happened to cross our path. It did not last for long, and we were soon back motoring directly towards the anchorage that we had selected, off a sheltered part of the beach, Playa del Trench, just north of Colonia de Sant Jordi. This proved to be a winner, with nice clear water, over sand, and with sheltering rocks to each side, and shared by only a handful of boats. As always, the morning was to demonstrate John's unerring instinct for selecting nudist beaches.

Tuesday 20th June Playa del Trench back to Porto Colom