The Victoria Shadow Association

CALADH

Ibiza to Sardinia, July and August 2009

After a night at anchor in St. Antonio on Ibiza, on 6 July we headed for the tiny island of Espalmador, which lies between Ibiza and its neighbour Formentera. Espalmador has a beautiful horseshoe shaped bay lined by a white sand beach with crystal clear turquoise water. Consequently it is an extremely popular anchorage. Here and in a number of the busier anchorages, the Balearics Counsel has laid mooring buoys to protect the posidenia grass which covers the sea bed.  These moorings are currently free and can be booked on-line for up to 2 nights, which we had done. When we arrived at Espalmador about lunchtime the anchorage was packed with all available space to moor or anchor seemingly taken. When we eventually found our mooring buoy, it was occupied by a large Spanish motor boat. When we advised its owner that we had reserved this buoy, his answer was “No comprende” and to retreat into his cabin and ignore us! However eventually we secured an alternative buoy where we spent a very pleasant couple of days swimming, relaxing and exploring ashore. We resisted the temptations of the very smelly sulphur mud baths on the island, although apparently the mud was very good for the complexion and people wearing nothing but mud were frequently spotted wandering along the beach!

The next day we headed further along the north coast with a forecast of S or SE winds force 2-4. There was no wind for the first 4 hours and we motored towards Capo de Formentor, a high headland on the north east corner of Mallorca marked by a large lighthouse. When we were about 6 miles from the headland we could see a line of white water ahead and within half an hour the wind had filled in to a gusty F5-6, we had reefed down the main and genoa and were beating towards the headland in a lively sea. Once we had settled ourselves it was an enjoyable and lively sail, if a little wet, but the wind change seemed to have caught some of the charter boats by surprise as they struggled with too much sail and seemed on occasion to be alarmingly close to the cliffs of a lee shore. By 4pm we were romping into the Bahia de Pollensa, where we were lucky to secure a vacant mooring under the Punta de la Avanzada, an attractive headland topped by a large privately owned castle about 2 miles across the bay from Pollensa town. We spent a relaxing 2 nights here, swimming and chilling out before heading into Pollensa for fuel, water and provisions. We managed to secure a berth on the port authority quay and decided to stay a few nights and hire a car to explore some of the interior of the island. 

Generally we had found the climate of the Balearics more comfortable than the Spanish mainland – it was just a little cooler at about 30 degrees, a little less humid and with more breeze, especially at night, although this may also be because we spent more time at anchor. However, we hit Pollensa in a mini heat wave and for 2 days it was a stifling and humid 40 degrees. Luckily we were able to use the swimming pool at the yacht club to cool off.

On the Saturday morning we collected our hire car and headed for the hills. We were accompanied by Pedro from a neighbouring yacht, who had asked for a lift to Lluc some 20 kilometres up in the mountains from where he intended to walk back to Pollensa. He spoke little English but we managed to communicate in French and he gave us useful advice about places to visit.

Lluc has an interesting monastery and botanic gardens and we spent an hour exploring before heading further up into the mountains which fringe northern Mallorca. The scenery was spectacular and we spent an enjoyable few hours motoring along winding mountain roads with stunning views. It also seemed to be where the wealthy come on holiday and the small towns and villages along the route had some beautiful hillside properties. We returned via the main road to the old town of Pollensa, a few miles inland from the port, where we climbed the Carre de Calvari, a steep set of steps leading to a small chapel from where there are good views across the Bahia de Pollensa. Our final stop was to drive to the lighthouse at Capo de Formentor, a lovely coast road ending at the top of the high cliffs. It was a very enjoyable day out and good to see a bit more of inland Mallorca.

The north coast of Mallorca

The following morning we left Pollensa about 8am bound for our final port of call in Mallorca, Porto Colom about 40 miles distant on the south east coast. It proved an uneventful passage with only enough wind to sail for the last couple of hours. We arrived about 4.30pm and were lucky to secure a vacant port authority mooring in the busy harbour – a bargain at 5€ a night including use of the on shore showers. The following morning we decided to take the dinghy ashore. We had been towing it around for the 3 weeks we had been in the Balearics and when we lifted it in deck to put in a bit more air found it was growing a healthy coat of barnacles on its bottom, requiring a good scrub off. We should obviously pull it out more often! We spent 3 nights in Porto Colom. There was certainly evidence of money here – large properties bordering the picturesque harbour and expensive restaurants on the quay but parts of the town also had a sleepy, dusty, run down feel. It was not too touristy though and we had a relaxing couple of days before setting off towards our final Balearic island, Menorca.

Porto Colom in the evening light

On 29 July we set sail at 7am and motored the entire 48 miles to Mahon on the east coast of Menorca in a very light easterly breeze. It was hot and dull and annoyingly the sea breeze only set in as we were taking our sails down in Mahon harbour! We had been warned that most of the berths in Mahon, the capital and main port of Menorca, were unaffordable with the exception of visitor’s buoys or anchoring and that the anchorages were well away from the town. As we approached Cala Llonga, an inlet about 2 miles from the town we saw several free visitors buoys and decided to pick one up for the night. Before long, someone came in a rib to collect the mooring fee of 15.50€ for the night. We enquired about mooring buoys nearer the town but were told they were all full so the next morning we took the dinghy ashore in the hope of getting a bus into town. We were disappointed to find there were no buses from here and as a 2 hour walk in the heat did not appeal, we bought a few provisions in the small supermarket at the head of the Cala and returned to the boat. The following morning we decided to go in to Mahon for fuel and water and try and secure a mooring nearer the town. We thought we’d struck lucky when we picked up the only vacant mooring in Cala Rata, a short dinghy trip across from the main quay but a marinero quickly appeared and told us we could not stay as this was a resident’s mooring (for which the owner had paid a lot on money!) and not for visitors, despite being the same distinctive bright yellow colour. Things worked out though – a neighbouring visitor’s mooring became free and we picked that up and stayed for the next three nights. Interestingly the other mooring was continually being picked up by visiting boats only to be shooed away by the marineros! You’d wonder why they didn’t put a notice on the buoy indicating it was private.  

However on chatting to the marinero the next day we discovered the mooring situation is likely to get worse next year as his company had just lost the contract to manage moorings in Mahon and the new company was expected to remove all the moorings and put in pontoons to tempt larger boats and significantly increase the prices from the already expensive 50€ per night for a pontoon berth in high season. It seems the needs of the ordinary yachtsman are being neglected in favour of the super rich in their super yachts, already much in evidence in the harbour. Nonetheless we liked the harbour and town, its old buildings still showing evidence of the British occupation in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. The old town is reached by a steep climb from the harbour affording lovely views across the bay. Its narrow winding streets were fun to explore and it has a lovely covered market and fish market.

The busy harbour at Mahon

After a few days there, we headed north to Fornells in the north east corner of the island. It was one of the few overcast days we have experienced with an unpleasant one metre swell but we were able to sail the final three hours and by the time we arrived the sun was shining and we found a good spot to anchor south of the town. Fornells sits in a very large beautiful natural harbour with the town in the north-west corner. The rest of the bay appeared very undeveloped. Our anchorage was near a busy sailing school and we had much entertainment watching the mainly young pupils learn to sail dinghies and wind surfers. The town is picturesque and offers agreeable walks out to the nearby headlands. We very much enjoyed our few days here and took the opportunity to visit Cuitadella by bus on the west coast. Cuitadella used to be the capital of Menorca and is a very attractive old town on a narrow inlet, although there is now little room for visiting yachts as the visitors quay is closed following several accidents between yachts and ferries. We had a good lunch in the local yacht club overlooking the harbour, which reminded us a little of St Marten in the Ile de Re in France. An afternoon of exploring the old town and shopping included the purchase of a pair of traditional Menorcan sandals at a bargain price (always the way to a woman’s heart!) 

We had met up with Terry and Emma on Libertine again in Fornells and agreed to cross to Sardinia with them – a passage or about 190 miles. They had headed south to Mahon and on 7^th August we received a text indicating the next two days looked a good weather window for the trip. Reviewing the weather forecast in an internet café we agreed with their view – it was anticipated to be a little breezy the following morning with N to NE 4 – 5 breezes but decreasing to F3 by the afternoon and then be settled for the rest of the weekend. After some rushing about all day Friday to get food and water on board and prepare some meals to eat at sea, we were ready. We’d leave from Fornells and Terry and Emma from Mahon some 20 miles south and keep in touch by VHF radio. 

We rose at 0530am the following morning, checked the weather which had not significantly changed and departed at 0610am. The wind was a useful NE F4 giving us good speed with one reef in the main and full genoa sailing at about 60 degrees off the wind (sorry if this is a bit technical for our non boat owning readers!). The sea however was rougher that we’d anticipated giving us an uncomfortable and occasionally wet passage until the middle of the first afternoon when both the sea and wind decreased. By 6.30pm we had to start the engine as the wind died away, before eating our pre-prepared home made cottage pie to sustain us through the night! Taking it in turns to keep watch and sleep through the night proved uneventful in the calm and moonlit conditions, without sighting another vessel. Annoyingly our Navtex failed to receive an updated weather forecast from either France or Spain so we trusted to luck that the forecast was still settled.

The following morning dawned hot, sunny and still and stayed that way all day. No further sailing was possible and by the time we spotted the Sardinian coast about 1.15 that afternoon the sea was like a mirror and it was very, very hot with no wind. We finally made landfall in Alghero on the north-west coast around 4.30pm on 9^th August after 34 hours at sea, just inside our target of 36 hours. We had failed to raise Terry and Emma on the VHF radio throughout the crossing, probably because we were just too far apart, but found them in Alghero having arrived two hours ahead of us. The harbour was very busy as this was Italian’s peak holiday season but we did manage to secure a berth (albeit with no toilets or showers – but that’s another story perhaps in the next instalment) and were pleased to be in port after the longest crossing we have done two-handed.

Making landfall in Alghero, Sardinia

We very much enjoyed our month in the Balearics. Much of the islands remain unspoilt by tourist development and are very beautiful. Although many marinas are prohibitively expensive in high season there are numerous sheltered anchorages and moorings and although it was of course busy, we always managed to secure a berth. We also enjoyed some good sailing particularly on the longer passages between the islands. We look forward to visiting the islands again one day.

Simon and Jo

page last updated 30/10/2009