39:08.75N 02:55.97E

The forecast was good for 23^nd August – Wind south west 2 to 4 maybe 5. Sea state slight locally moderate. We headed for La Rapita on the South Coast of Mallorca – about 90 miles from where we were anchored on Ibiza. The anchor came up at 0900 and we took it in turns to helm and sleep. Or tried to sleep. It gets a bit difficult when the crew is singing at the top of her voice just above your head. This was followed by dancing, swearing when she couldn’t keep up the boat speed as the wind dropped, and constant winching and tweaking of sails because she’d seen Barrie do it and it looked easy. Nobody down below could have slept through that lot.

Now we’d seen some expensive looking boats around Ibiza but just as we were leaving we saw one that had all the toys on board.

So after 22 hours and some fine vocals we were tied up in our chosen marina in Mallorca. Skipper immediately went to apply for a permit to visit the island of Cabrera the following day.  The marina staff were very helpful but doubted whether we would get a permit through from Palma so quickly as you were supposed to give 3 days notice. We got on with the inevitable jobs that go with pulling into a marina. Engine and gearbox oil was changed, the laundry was done, the food and drink replenished and the empty rusty gas cylinders swapped for full non rusty ones. We had a nice meal ashore and slept.

Next morning skipper went back to the marina office. “Any permit” enquired skipper? “No - not yet - but wait a minute there is a fax coming through as we speak – aha – pemit for Peejay – you are very lucky”

Within minutes we had cast off and were on our way to Cabrera. Cabrera is the main island in a small archipelago about 10 miles South of Mallorca. There’s about a dozen islands and they all form a marine and nature reserve. Nobody can go there without permission. There are mooring buoys when you arrive as anchoring is forbidden. The only way to get there is by boat. We arrived at 1700 and tied up to a buoy.

The water was the clearest I have ever seen and we immediately went snorkelling.

Next morning we were up at dawn to get some good photos.

There’s a castle on the island dating back hundreds of years

We went ashore early to walk up to the castle before it got too hot.

As ever the views just got better as we climbed higher

The castle had commanding views over the island.

Pat on her way up the external steps of the castle

You wait till you see the next lot of stairs

It was very dark on these stairs but suddenly it got bright again and you popped out near the top of the castle.

The views were well worth the effort

We were lucky – we got up there before anybody else and had the place to ourselves.

But then other people turned up so we headed back down and walked around the foreshore.

There’s only certain parts of the island you can go to on foot and we exhausted them before it got hot.

We wandered back round to the jetty to go and have breakfast on Peejay

After lunch we decided to go and look for some caves in the next bay. The pilot book said it was ok to sail there as long as you didn’t anchor. We went round in the dinghy and took turns to snorkel.

Then we found the caves.

There were several caves

Dinghies are very versatile craft so we could easily go inside the caves

We even saw some more rock art. Amazing how these rocks have such recognisable features.

We zoomed back to the harbour to find out if we could stay another night as each permit is only valid for one night. The warden gave us a right telling off as he said we’d been in forbidden territory and that the pilot book was out of date. But all’s well that ends well and we got to stay another night because all of the mooring buoys were not in use as dusk fell.

It’s a really special place and if ever you get the chance to go there – grab it.

As we left after our second night the weather forecast looked awful with big southerly winds turning round to gale force from the north during the night. Dilemma - should we choose a north facing bay to drop an anchor overnight as the swell from the south was by now quite rough. Well and good but if the wind did turn round during the night you were in a dangerous situation.

Eventually skipper decided to run to Menorca and go up the river into Mahon. We’d been there before and it was safe from all directions but it was a lot further than planned. Pat wasn’t exactly ecstatic about a further 5 hours in potentially rough seas but it made the most sense. Could we get there before dark? It would be close. What if the wind changed earlier than forecast and turned against us? Pat prepared dinner before it got too rough. The good thing was that although the southerly wind was strong it was great for our direction and even reefed down we were making 7.5 knots. Brilliant – we got to the river entrance just after sunset and were able to follow the navigation lights the 3 miles all the way into town. But where were the mooring buoys we used last year? They weren’t there any more so we had to tie up to a floating pontoon instead. It was dark – why do we always end up in the dark? – but we managed ok with a little help from others on the pontoon..

By now the southerly wind had dropped to about 1 knot. Skipper would be cross if it didn’t turn round and come blasting through in the night after all that extra effort. And sure enough it pounded us from about 0200. Skipper laid awake listening to the noise with a quiet satisfaction in knowing he had made the right choice.

Next morning the forecast showed sea state as high. In terms of nastiness it goes glassy, calm, smooth, slight, moderate, rough, very rough, high. You don’t often see high in the summer months in the Med. The port officer came round for his mooring fee and told us there were two metre waves at the river entrance this morning. When we came in last night they were about two centimetres. Skipper had a few beers to celebrate. It’s scary just how quickly conditions can change in the Meditteranean.