Cala Addaya

Innamorata
Steve & Carol
Mon 23 May 2022 16:26
40:00.249N  004:11.979E 
We set off again and had another slow sail further east along the north coast, with most of the sailing boats we see going in the opposite direction 😬🤔 we do question ourselves but decide to keep going and have a look at the Cala, as we approached we saw Toodle-oo pop up on AIS from inside Cala Addaya, we had no idea where they were as their AIS on Marine Traffic last picked them up at the south of Mallorca! The Cala has a well buoyed channel with a couple of sharp turns in it around some shallows and Isla Monas once past the island there is a marina tucked behind  and the channel opens up into a pretty protected hill and tree lined anchorage and further in mooring field. It is possible to get past them deep into the Cala but only really if you have a shallow draft boat, so it's too shallow for us. Once in if there are strong easterly or northerly winds it's too dangerous to try and leave so we know we have to move on again if theres no room or we decide it doesn’t look any good for strong northerlies / Tramontana. 
Tramontane, that sudden and violent wind in the Mediterranean Sea
The way into Cal Addaya                                                         Our view out once anchored
 
There were only 3 boats anchored which look like visiting yachts plus a couple at the side which look like they live here, Toodle -oo was to the east with 2 small boats in the centre, one south of the other, initially we anchored near Toodle-oo but in the soft mud the anchor didn’t set immediately and then the wind changed as predicted so we moved to in front of the mooring field in the south, the little French boat in the middle said he was going into the Marina for the blow so we dropped the anchor fairly near him and just let it sink into the mud for a while before reversing on it to ensure it had dug in well. It looks like it should be a good anchorage to stay in for the next few days and though open to the north, because the channel has a few bends in it, it should stop any sea getting in although there is a bit of fetch we are hopeful it will be safe and comfortable🤞.
Once we were settled we had some lunch and then went for a little wander ashore to stretch our legs and get a couple of things from the small shop in the village as well as just see what it has for future reference! The area is quite affluent and a lot of the properties look like holiday homes many of which have swimming pools and terraces, almost all of them are white  with terracotta tile roofs. The next day we went for a walk to explore, we set off through a little wooded area in the town and soon we spotted a tortoise, I didn’t realise that the western Hermann's tortoise is native to here - it was very cute. We also liked the cute gates and fences that we are seeing everywhere around this area. Innamorata and our friends Bill and Laurie on Toodle-oo anchored in the distance
   
This one was rather unusual and not white!                             Probably the only old building in the village!
 
         
An Oyster 56 came in and anchored so there were 4 of us and the 2 local boats, we had chosen a good well sheltered spot and had a far more restful couple of day than expected, we did stay on board for a couple of days before going ashore again - who wants to get rained on! We could just about see the waves beyond the entrance with binoculars - we wouldn’t have wanted to try and leave! The owner of the Oyster serenaded the anchorage every evening (when it wasn’t raining) playing his accordion on the back deck before he took his ensign down, the first night we heard him we went on deck to listen and so he played another tune for us.
You can see how protected we were in the photo below
  
After 2 days on board we were going stir crazy, we were hoping to be able to leave on the 28th to go across to Sardinia, so we took the opportunity to stretch our legs and have a look at what the entrance looked like,  
View looking our to sea and then into the anchorage, pictures don’t really show how rough it was. 
 
We decided that it didn’t look like we should be trying to leave in the morning which was the initial plan so we stayed until Sunday which gave me a chance to go for a lovely kayak further up the Cala past the mooring field.