Cala Pi 39:21.76N 02:50.06E
Red Skies
David Alexander
Wed 25 May 2011 12:48
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Tuesday 24th May. Yesterday evening we
again wandered around the old town of Palma and alighted on a tapas bar that
looked full of character (El Tunel) so we went in.The advertised tapas menu (a
predefined selection) at 15 euros was, we were told by a surly waitress, only
enough for one person and we could not share one between two. As we weren't that
hungry we almost got up and left - if only. However, we looked at the menu
and decided that, as we were in Palma, tapas and sangria had to be done. We
ordered two selections of tapas and a small jug of sangria. Needless to say, the
tapas were less than exceptional, the delivered portions too much for us to
finish and the sangria over-priced. Further charges were made for the water,
bread and olives, which together with the tax came to very expensive rip-off
snack.
We left Palma on Tuesday morning, heading South
East to a cove called Cala Pi. Before the wind died after about an hour, we had
a pleasant gentle sail. This cala is a delight - very small with steep cliffs on
either side. We anchored alongside the then only other boat in the bay and David
swam a line ashore to attach to the rock face to limit our swing. Soon other
boats came and went and we were anxious every time than one might foul our
anchor but at the end of the day we one of only three boats here, so we feel
reasonably safe.
 Cala Pi from cliff above beach
 Red Skies and another yacht at anchor in Cala
Pi
 Red Skies with a stern line to the rock
face
We took the dinghy ashore through turquoise clear
waters and shoals of fish and walked along the cliff top to the tower on the
headland. There was a small development at the head of the cove - an aparthotel,
a few brestaurants and bars but it is beautifully quiet.
Wednesday 25th May. We had planned a
leisurely morning in this lovely cove and were pleased when the other two boats
left and we had it to ourselves. However, this was not for long, as an official
looking rib, with a diver and beach safety guys on board proceeded to lay yellow
swimming buoys across the best part of the cala (for anchoring), leaving
just a gren-red buoyed channel for local fishing boats.
 Diver in water by one of the buoys
 Pic showing how far the buoys are from the
beach
 Installing buoy almost under our stern
line
 The now restricted cala as we left
They also cut off loops of rope left on the cliff
which successive boaters had used to tie on to (we hadn't - we fixed a
piece of our chain around a rock outcrop and fixed a line to that), presumably
to ensure there were no mixed messages and anchoring there was now forbidden. We
assumed that this change must have been at the request of the aparthotel to
preserve an exclusivity to the beach. In reality, swimmers hardly ventured up to
the limit set the buoys and the odd snorkeller had stayed close to the cliffs.We
were disappointed that so much of the safe anchorage had been put out of bounds
and felt that this had changed the atmosphere of this little cove and we
were lucky to have seen it, off-season for one day.
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