Ibiza and Mallorca 14th - 16th September 39:32.42N 002:22.67E
Tioram 4
Tina & Tony
Sun 19 Sep 2010 16:43
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On the 14th September we slipped our lines from the
marina in Ibiza town and sailed north along the east coast of Ibiza in 9
knots of breeze. Tioram skipped along at 6 knots in a moderate swell, patchy
sunlight and a slight threat of drizzle.
We arrived at Cala Llonga, a nice sheltered inlet which
faces south east, and so the south easterly breeze was pushing into the bay,
creating a slight swell. We motored in and out and decided not to
stay.
We continued a sail north up the coast line passing Santa
Eulalia and numerous Calas (inlets/bays) heading for a small island called
Tagomago. Dark cloud seemed to be hanging over Ibiza and the Island of
Tagomago in the distance was illuminated by sunlight. Sadly on arrival we found
the sheltered cove to be uninviting, almost quarry-like and so we continued
along the coast to Cala Saint Vincent where we anchored for the
night.
During the night the lovely anchorage turned into a
ride in a washing machine on 'rock wash'. The wind speed was light but it
changed direction to sit us beam too (side) the growing swell. By 6 am
we were beaten--- or shall we say beaten up!!--- and decided to lift anchor and
leave for Mallorca.
The light wind on the nose (bow) ranged from 3 to 6 knots,
but we occasionally managed to motor sail on a flat calm sea. Land ho,
Mallorca was called at 27 miles to go and we arrived after the total 48 nautical
miles in Andraitx on the south west coast of Mallorca.
Andraitx is a beautifully sheltered bay. As you enter
there are many interesting individual villas on both sides of the inlet. A wide
range of designs, some contemporary, minimalist white villas with panoramic
windows and balconies, others traditional with perfect mixtures of local ochre
stone, whitewash, terracota tiles and terraced gardens with tumbling
flowers layering down to the rocks and sea.
The old church and town of Andraitx sits away
from the seashore, nestled into the hillside two miles inland.
We didn't find a beach only a marina and the local
town quay adjacent some interesting taverna style restaurants was full----
partly with a half submerged traditional 40ft motorboat--- an eerie
sight.
So we anchored alongside the rocks near the villas for
lunch and a rest after our trip from Ibiza.
Later we motored along the south coast heading east and
anchored for the night in Cala Camp de mar. A nice inlet with a small rock
island in the centre of the bay accessed by a wooden bridge/walkway.
The island has a small quaint looking restaurant on it which was
unfortunately closed whilst we were there.
We dinghied ashore with Ian , for whom the thought and
experience of 3 people in a small dinghy left him with white knuckles. Poor Ian
has been in and out of the dinghy on numerous occasions, launching himself off
our stern transum ( back of boat) into the inflatable dinghy which rises and
falls with lively swells. We had a nice meal ashore on the evening in Cala Camp
de Mar but on our return to the boat nearly lost sober Ian into the
sea between the dinghy and the boat ! No harm done we saved him to
experience the fun of the ride again another day !!
To add to our 'fun', once again the light wind changed
direction a little during the night to put us beam too a growing SW swell
and the washing machine ride started again.
We know the wind in the Med is flucky and changeable
but we realise just how spoilt we were in the Caribbean when tucked
behind the simplest coral cays for protection from an almost constant glorious
Easterly wind.
We made another early start, lifted anchor and headed for
Santa Ponsa. When we arrived in Santa Ponsa bay there were many yachts anchored.
The swell was pushing in from the open sea, violently rocking the yachts which
were sitting beam too it. No fun there, so we decided to push on
east along the coast.
We finally cleared the headland of Punta de Cala Figuera
which marks the beginning of the large bay of Palma. The south westerly swell
seemed to switch off almost immediately, protected by the punta so that when we
entered the tiny bay of Cala Portals it was flat calm.
What a beautiful anchorage, a small three fingered inlet
with tiny beaches. No doubt impossible to get into in high season as even in
September it got crowded as the day progressed.
So many yachts and motorboats arrive, drop the hooks and
within minutes are swimming and enjoying food etc. It all sounds idyllic until
they start dragging around, closing distance upon one another. We had
a great swim and snorkeled enjoying the clean water, fish and seabed---- as
well as marvelling at a 60ft swan yacht whose anchor was sitting on the
bottom without any part of it in the sea bed.
We enjoyed a nice lunch and lovely afternoon there
but decided to move on after Tony went back up onto deck to find a 45ft yacht
backing away from us at around 15ft away, thankfully missed us.
We continued along the coast motoring east past
Magaluf and then entered the bay of Palma Nova around 5pm. The bay has
a lovely gently shelving beach, perfect to anchor if you have a small draft
(keel), however once the shallow sand ends, thick weed begins and is extremely
difficult to anchor into. We tried for two hours, with Tony snorkeling on the
anchor and carefully motoring backwards to dig the anchor in as we had hoped to
go ashore.
Finally we gave up and moved across the bay and dropped
the anchor in a small area of sand where it held, dug in nicely, Tony, now a bit
cold snorkelled on it again---thumbs up--- thank goodness---- hooked in safely
for the night.
The next day we launched Ian into the dinghy
again--risking life and limb--- a few laughs---and headed to shore for
breakfast.
Love to all
Tina, Tony and Ian x x
Photos of the trip.........
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