To Mahon

Altea
Fri 25 Jul 2014 12:12
39:52:68N 04:18:53E

7 July 2014

It is just a short sail round the corner to Mahon. I have to fly home for a day on Wednesday, so it will be a good stepping off point, and I am also keen to see the historic harbour from the water. It is the scene of some of Captain Jack Aubrey's adventures in the Master and Commander series by Patrick O'Brian and, like Gibraltar, one of the key Mediterranean ports in its day.

We anchor in what must be one of the world's most protected anchorages, on the northern leg of the entrance to Mahon in a small lagoon called Cala Teulera. We take a longish dinghy ride up the harbour to the town and have a look around. Steep steps take us up to the historic centre. After a beer and a failed wi fi session, and some nice croquets, we scoot back to the boat, as rain clouds threaten. Luckily we beat them to the boat and the rain comes down after we are aboard. On a boat nearby three girls skip around naked on the deck of their boat, enjoying the rain. Great to see such innocent fun.

Slightly more disturbingly a man on a nearby motor boat, who had been naked earlier, as he bent diligently over his anchor, was obviously now feeling the chill, and had put on a slightly short heavy metal T shirt. He clearly felt as warm as toast below, as he remained starkers in the shorts department. Not quite as amusing as the man who had gone by proudly in the buff, standing at the helm of his boat in Es Grau.

Anyway, enough nakedness. We watched a film and went to bed.

8 July

The plan was to go out into open water to run the generator and the watermaker again, as the water in the anchorage was not clear enough. We learned last year from James that plans do not survive first contact with the enemy. Sure enough, as I turned up the pressure in the watermaker the whole system stopped. A quick look at the dials showed that the generator had lost all voltage. S consulted the manuals, and identified that the capacitors were the first thing to look at. We anchored briefly at Binebecca, while we stuck our heads in the engine room and S skilfully extracted the high voltage capacitor and electronics box.

A couple of calls later and we had ordered 9 new capacitors from Fischer Panda in the UK. I would pick them up on my trip back to England.

Now in need of a good battery recharge and some water, we decided to take a berth in the marina. Something we try to avoid if we can. The charge is €190. Not the most expensive but more than we would like to pay. However, it is a good berth in a wide fairway with plenty of room to turn, for a change. We park nose in, with zero fuss, and head off to town to do a supermarket shop. We also pick up some Mahon cheese and sausage, from the covered market. We now have Mahon gin, Mahon cheese and Mayonnaise. I never knew that mayonnaise originated here, but apparently it did.

I have been keeping my eye out for a guitar shop, and just as we are leaving the old town with our supplies we spot one. I choose a nice Spanish made nylon strung guitar. I wanted a small one and this is a child's guitar. It has a nice tone and I am very pleased with it.

A slight irritation as I misplace my wallet and have to cancel credit card, thinking it may be lost. But a memorable beer watching the second half of the Brazil / Germany semifinal at the world cup. Germany win 7 - 1. Wow.

Credit card (now useless) and wallet found in the morning and off I go to London.

9, 10 and 11 July

The only relevant thing about my trip was the lead item on the morning news. A piece about a new clamp down on traveling with electronics. I was about to put 9 large capacitors in my bag, but now need a plan B. After a hunt round I find a new canvas case, and the capacitors are duly condemned to the hold for the flight back. They all arrive intact.