39 59.6N 03 49.9E

Monday 1^st June Cala Dagollador

We left Pollensa on Monday morning and motor sailed to the NW coast of Menorca; a fairly uneventful passage no animals apart from the occasional moth going as fast as us! We decided to have a look into the harbour of Cuidadella but to anchor in one of the nearby bays as we had heard the prices had gone up significantly on the 1^st of June. It is certainly an interesting harbour – very narrow and twisting so plenty of protection once inside. However with a car ferry coming and going twice a day we wouldn’t fancy the prospect of mooring there. We looked at the first bay Cala d’es Frares, just inside the harbour entrance to port, but decided it was not particularly sheltered so motored down to the next alternative Dagollador which was just great! A wide start with room to anchor or further in where there was more shelter so we chose the latter as we were the only boat around. The pilot shows a row of swimming buoys but these were not in place so we pick a suitable spot and dropped the pick over sand. The water was very clear so it was easy to see the bottom and to select somewhere. Due to the narrowness of the cala we decided to put out a stern anchor too so for the first time Rob rigged the new ‘Fortress’. This done he duly rowed out and dropped it along with the 5 metres of chain and some 20 metres of rope. I then had a swim with the snorkel to check both anchors were bedded in. The water temperature was 22.5 degrees so lovely! The local swimmers enjoyed our boat as they seemed to use it as a target to swim out to from the rocks.

Tuesday 2^nd June

We had a very good night and in the morning took the dinghy to the beach at the head of the cala and walked into the town of Cuidadella. It is very historical and there were numerous churches etc. We went into the Cathedral which was lovely- very light as the stone is almost pink; inside the main alter and the stained glass windows were fantastic not ornate or showy like most Catholic churches just vibrant colours in the tall narrow windows; some of the lower ones looked very modern.

We wandered through the narrow lanes and found the old market with meat, fish and fruit and vegetable shops and in every plaza there were cafes with people sitting in the shade having coffee etc. All in all a good place to visit.

We returned to the boat and I had a final swim before we manoeuvred out of the Cala with Rob still in the dinghy being towed along with the stern anchor and line around his feet. When we had some sea room we got everything on board lifted the dinghy and set off for Mahon. No wind, wind on the nose and wind dead astern was the pattern for the passage so needless to say it was another motorsail! The south west coast was pretty uninteresting compared with Mallorca, just a few calas and low coastal rocks. However the passage between the main land and Isle del Aire on the south east tip was worth going through the water was again crystal clear and turquoise, with least depth seen by us of 5.5 metres.

On arrival in Mahon we called up the Marina d’Estrella (the old Sunseeker  outfit) and fortunately Ash (who had been recommended by friends met in Lagos was still there and he gave us all the help we needed to get to a suitable berth. His assistant Sam was waiting to take our lines so all went well and we are now on the quay near to the edge of Cala Figuera.