Chris is falling to bits.  Literally.  The thumb nail he trapped on the way from the Canaries finally dropped off yesterday (euww) and his nose is peeling.  If he renews any more bits I'll have me a whole new man.  Not that I want one of course.

We spent two nights at anchor at Tagomago, but didn't end up going ashore.  No need.  We explored the caves in Tiny Dancer and swum and snorkelled off the boat.  Chris donned his diving gear and scrubbed DecaDance's prop (couple of barnacles, two too many for Chris) and then headed off for some quality time with the fishes.  He surfaced with a huge grin and a lust to get to Pigeon Island in the Caribbean, one of the best dive sites in the World.

We left for Mallorca at 7pm on Tuesday, with favourable Gribs (weather files).  The winds were lighter than expected to start and we were topping the whole of two and a bit knots.  Just after mum remarked  "We could do with some dolphins to liven things up," a whale breached less than 20 feet off the back of the boat.  And then again several times.  Magical.

The winds didn't quite increase as forecast.  But an hour into my watch (and Chris's three hours of sleep), I felt things changing and then there were flashes of lightening off the starboard stern.  And then again.  And then roll of thunder that went on for so long I really believed it was an aeroplane until mum convinced me otherwise.  So I woke up Chris and we spent the night running ahead of the storm and dodging another that sneaked up on our port beam.  That's sailing for you.  Running on the edge of the storm moved us so quickly we diverted further eastwards than planned and followed a cat on our AIS into an anchorage.  So we're anchored just outside Puerto Portals, directly opposite Marineland.  We were greeted when we arrived by the "arf-arf" of the sea-lions and they continue to serenade us all through the day.  And night.

Puerto Portals happens to be the most prestigeous marina in Mallorca.  The place to see and be seen.  Huge motor boats in there.  If you want mouth-watering food at eye-watering prices there are plenty of restaurants along the marina front.  However, some bright spark in the design department decided to put parking spaces and a single lane road along three quarters of the water's edge, so when you're sipping your €4.80 small beer you're overlooking a constant stream of traffic.  OK every second car is a porsche or stretch limo, but exhaust fumes are exhaust fumes.

We spent the day in Palma yesterday and had a lovely time touring the city on an open top bus (top tip, if you sit on the right-hand side of the bus watch out for over-hanging branches!) and then exploring the maze of little side streets.  And now we're just about to head off to Formentera.

To follow our progress in real time, track our AIS signal on marinetraffic.com

To see photos of our journey make friends with Deca Dance on Facebook

Find out how you can join our adventures on www.DecaDanceYachtCharter.com.