The anchorage in Formentera was as good as recommended by Tina (thanks) although the second night was a bit roly poly until I brought her round ninety degrees so that she faced the swell rather than the waves. I did this by fixing a rope to the anchor chain  and then letting out another 10 metres. The other end of the rope was then taken to a genoa winch and tightened up until the nose was pulled round to face the swell.

We went in to Sabina to fill up with diesel and water before setting off for Mallorca. This was another good sail using the cruising chute. For the first 16 hours we were making over 6kts and up to 7.5 but we had to slow down as I didn’t want to enter Porto Pedro in the dark. Porto Pedro is a lovley place and a well protected anchorage.

The entrance gives you an idea of the protection inside

Minka on her hook

Technical stuff warning – skip the next two paragraphs if not interested

Those of you who know Minka well will notice the staysail is not parallel to the genoa. This is because I have had to temporarily  move the tack forward onto the bow cleat to get the dinghy behind it fully inflated on deck. I have had a problem with the windvane steering which I eventually figured out was caused by the servo pendulum being bent forward an inch. At some time I must have backed her into a pontoon but I can’t remember doing this. I looked on the maker’s website and the spare parts were about 600 US dollars. With nothing to lose I had a go at bending it straight  using the two genoa winches and suitably routed bits of string. Amazingly it bent straight and now seems to work like new.

Using anchorages for some time has highlighted the need to fix my dinghy outboard.  Rowing ashore is ok until the wind gets up and then it is really hard work with the danger of bending the aluminium oars. I could have got it fixed in Brighton but was so shocked by the quoted £350 for a new carburettor that I didn’t. However, I priced the same model of outboard in Formentera and they want 1200 euros  so £350 is now looking like a bargain. The outboard is ten years old but has only been run a few times. The problem with the blocked up carburettor is completely my fault as I left fuel in it and didn’t run it for at least two years.

Final picture of the marina taken from a local cafe – Porto Pedro

As I write this we are on our way north up the coast in light winds but we are sailing………….not sure of the destination yet.