Friday 1st April 2005
Left Portals Vells at about 9am, far too early these days, but I just woke up and felt like setting sail. I'm planning on setting out across Palma bay and starting my lap of the island. I have 2 weeks to do it before Mick and Deb come out with Kev and Katie, so plenty of time!
I motored out of the bay and pointed her up into the wind, set the autopilot and started hoisting the main, that's where things started going wrong!! The mainsail halyard is a 14mm braided rope and not exactly new! The outer braid seperated for a short length, just as the rope came out of the mast. If I let the sail down, it would be stuck in the mast, but if I pulled it up, the outer braid was jamming inside the mast! I cleated the rope and spent the next hour working with long nose pliers, and screwdrivers, to get the braid outside the mast and accessible to be fixed. I managed to feed it out and through the cleats, so I could finish hoisting the main. Out with the jib and set sail, but now for Portals, where I knew I could get a new halyard!
As I sailed over to Portals, I was able to pull the outer braid tight and put a whipping on it to stop it from getting worse. It was on a low stress part of the halyard, so I could now raise and lower the sail safely until it was replaced. Time for a coffee!
I phoned James and warned him that I'd had a disaster at sea and needed his help! He panicked a bit as I explained how I'd set sail at night, been buzzed by the Guardia Civil and arrived in the dark at Portals Vells to find it full of other yachts! He was offering to help with any repairs I needed, when I confessed it was really just the main halyard, but I'd appreciate a hand in replacing it!
I sailed into Portals Nous well before lunch, so anchored up and set the boat away for a day or 7. James agreed to pop over at lunchtime and we would plan the repair! In typical style the planning involved a few pints in Key West, and an agreement to do the job tomorrow! We stayed in Key West until Happy Hour (6 - 8) when Duncan arrived with three girls escorting him! This was clearly unfair, so we invited ourselves to join them and had a great evening chatting with Duncan and his guests, who turned out to be 3 sisters out for a week in the sun. I'm not sure what time we finished, but I managed to invite the girls out sailing the next day, so I think we all had a great night?
Saturday 2nd April 2005
James woke up not feeling too good, having stayed over on the boat. I think he's used to the sea after 50 odd years on boats, so he must've had a bad pint? I took James ashore and he went home, then popped over to see the girls and find out if they still wanted to go sailing? They were all in good spirits, so we had coffee on their yacht, then set off for a day out on mine. Duncan stayed back to do some work, but couldn't resist watching us set off in my tender.
| After a quick guided tour, we motored out of Portals and I hoisted the sails. Sue made me agree not to go out of sight of land, which I accepted, then pointed out the binoculars! We had good winds, 15 - 20 knots, but not great sunshine, so we managed to cover a few miles, but they ended up sunbathing on the trampolines with their fleeces on! | |
| The girls loved it, for people who were unsure about the idea of sailing, they were sat on the steps at the back as we were sailing along at 6-7 knots, without a care in the world! | |
| We headed back mid afternoon and went for a coffee back at theirs, catching Duncan asleep on the sofa, clearly having done no work whilst we were out! | |
Sunday 3rd April 2005
Chilling out day!
Monday 4th April 2005
James arrived early and we set off to buy a new halyard for my mainsail. In typical James style, we went for breakfast first, to set us up for the day!
James recommended we use a chandlery in Palma, they had the right rope, but not enough of it, so we tried my preferred shop and they had plenty. 50m of 16mm braided rope later and we're heading back to the boat.
James had offered to go up the mast and do the work, as he thought I'd be too heavy for him to hoist up there! He then changed his mind by the time we were back and decided it was best if I go up (something I wasn't so keen on!) We clipped the bosuns chair onto a spare halyard and used another one as a safety line, in case we had problems! James gradually hoisted me up on one, then tightened the other every few feet or so. I know I'm not the lightest guy around, and James is 65, but it took forever to get to the top! Once up there it was ok and I was able to get on with the job, but I have to admit that the going up part was not fun!!! I fed the rope through and sewed the ends together and whipped it to form a loop as James had advised, then started the journey down, which was much quicker and easier for both of us!
Back down and a quick tidy up, then back to Key West for a celebration pint! I was certainly glad to be down again!!
Tuesday 5th April 2005
Spent most of the day with the girls, great fun, they were loving their holiday!
Wednesday 6th - Sunday 10th April 2005
Just chilled out, tidied the boat, did laundry ready for my Mick, Deb, Kev and Katie and relaxed for a few days. Did a bit of sailing, but not a lot!
Monday 11th April 2005
Mick, Deb, Kev and Katie arrived, Hurrah!!! They had been up since 3am and arrived in Palma at 10am after a £35 return flight from Bournemouth! Good deal we say!!!
I met them at the airport on my bike as we wouldn't all get in one taxi otherwise, so we loaded their stuff into a taxi and I went to get my bike and follow them! No chance, they were out of sight the moment I turned round! I was slightly disobeying the speed limits as I raced round the Via Centura (Palma ring road) peering into every taxi I passed. I had told the driver to take them to Portals Nous, but they didn't know where when they got there!
I caught the taxi with about half a mile to go before the turn off for Portals, so slipped in front and lead them down to the car park near my boat. Tales were told of the lady taxi driver racing and overtaking police cars and Mick expecting to be stuck in the middle of nowhere, not even knowing where he was supposed to be going!
We ferried everyone aboard and were soon on our way to fill up with fuel and water before setting off on a weeks cruise! We upped anchor and motored into Portals Marina, when Kev asked if we were supposed to be dragging the tender upside down?? We had clipped it on, but forgotten to hoist it, in the excitement of new crew aboard!!!! Hopefully nobody noticed our professinal arrival and we pulled into the fuel quay for a topup. Fuel was easy, and we only needed 80€, shich wasn't bad, since my last fill was on December 23rd! I guess 20€ a month is ok for fuel usage? Water is costing me nearly 10€ a month????
We set sail from Portals, heading for Santa Ponca, which is only 12 nautical miles, but the journey was slightly more eventful than planned! Sails up, Mick and Kev hoisting the main, then back in the cockpit to set the jib. Deb set to her routine of brewing the Tea and we were off. There was a steady breeze, but nothing to worry about and we were making good speed across Palma bay. Cup of tea in the hand, shades on, friends aboard, this is the life.......Then there was the crack! Suddenly there was a loud noise, lots of whirring and the mainsail had dropped onto the boom! The sewing and whipping I'd done on the mainsail halyard had lasted for 2 days sailing, and the new halyard was now coiled inside the mast! We tied the sails down and fired up the engines as we were half way to Santa Ponca by now. I knew this meant I had another trip up the mast coming and this time had to do the job right!
| We anchored in Santa Ponca, near to the beach, with crystal clear water down below. Another cuppa and decided to fix the halyard today, so we wouldn't waste tomorrow doing it! This time, we had Mick on one winch and Kev on the other, I was at the top of the mast in a couple of minutes and it felt so much better than when James had gradually hoisted me up! I had some stronger twine, which I used this time, instead of the thinner whipping twine I'd used for the first repair. I also tied a bowline round the halyard pin, then just whipped the ends, so it shouldn't come undone again! Mick and Kev set off in the dinghy, taking photos of me whilst I was up there, hence the evidence in the gallery! They lowered me smoothly and I could honestly say that it was ok that time and I didn't mind going up there! I didn't actually enjoy it, but it was OK! |   |
We went ashore to celebrate and I took them to meet Matt in The Canny Lad and then on to Craig in Mickey's Bar. Yet another disaster followed! We won the pub quiz at Mickey's and were given some really bad shots! We continued drinking and chatting there until 3am, then had to go back to the boat on the tender! A few more drinks on the boat and it was gone 4am before we eventually crashed! The crew had left home at 3am the previous day, so must've been a bit tired!!!
Tuesday 12th April 2005
A quiet day! For some reason it was nearly 12 before anyone appeared! There was a distinct lack of enthusiasm for doing anything, Craig had broken us all the night before!!! We did some swimming by the boat and went ashore for shopping, but did very little else!
We did manage a BBQ though, with the combination of Mick's cooking, Debbie at the oven and the coleslaw team, turned out pretty well. The burgers from the local butchers were so tasty, they have been nominated as the best burgers ever!
Wednesday 13th April 2005
OK, today we're up for sailing! There's not much wind and the sun is out, but we're determined to go somewhere, so Santa Ponca to Andratx is the plan. It's only 8 nautical miles, so again not too far. We set off with less than 10 knots of wind, but as it's not far we should be ok. As we near Camp De Mar, we see another catamaran motoring out of the bay and hoisting sails up ahead. They're flying a German flag and in a larger cat, so the race is on! Somehow, we manage to overtake them on the way to Andratx and are clearly sailing about 1 knot faster than them, even though they have bigger sails flying and there' s now very little wind.
We took a clear lead and headed in to choose the best spot for anchoring in the port. There's an old catamaran which has been in Andratx all winter and we see a good spot near them to aim for, so sail slowly round the back of them ready to bear up into the wind and drop sails. All is looking good, with 2.5m of water, until suddenly the boat lurches and we've run aground!!!! Just outside the beach restaurants and in full view of everyone, including the German boat we overtook!!!!!
We tried reversing off with the motors, but no luck, so I lowered the tender and dropped the anchor into it and a good length of chain. I then motored under the hulls of my boat and dropped the anchor 15ft off the stern of the boat. This allowed us to use the windlass to pull the boat back from the shallows, and combined with the engines in reverse, pulled us almost clear. We would have to move the anchor again to get fully clear, but we were on our way out.
At this stage, the tender from the German boat came over, and speaking fluent American, offered their help! They were unable to pull us with their tender, so we took a rope across to their cat and we were instantly free.
Much thanks to the Americans, who had chartered the German registered boat so I took a bottle of Cava for them as a thank you.
We decided it was time for a meal out this evening, so went to the Chinese restaurant that Mick and Deb had visited with me at Christmas. The food was excellent, and great service, followed by the free chinese spirits in the "interesting" shot glasses. (A clear spot in the bottom of the glass reveals a naked lady or man when covered in alcohol).
Thursday 14th April 2005
There's not much to do in Andratx and the wind's up, so we set off to sail around Draginera island. It's a nature reserve on the Western tip, and fairly close to Andratx, so should be good. As we start Broad Reaching through the Dragonera passage, the wind picks up to about 25 knots and we're hitting 10 knots on the boat. Quick decision and we decide to go for it and sail up the North West coast towards Soller. It's 26 nautical miles and we make good progress until about 1/2 mile short of Soller, when the wind drops to nothing, then starts doing 360's before finally settling in the opposite direction to earlier! As we were nearly there anyway we decided to motor the last 1/2 mile and get into port about 4pm.
We anchor up and get ashore for shopping and a beer, before returning to the boat for tea and a film.
Friday 15th April 2005
Up early and set off from Soller, as it's 35 nautical miles to Pollenca and depending on wind, could take some time. The wind is Westerly, so we are running goose winged (one sail either side) for almost the entire coast. We've tied the sails out each side with preventers, set the autopilot, then had nothing to do, except gaze at the cliffs for 6 hours. One of the most impressive sights were the Torreinte de Pareis, a crevac going several miles inland, like a big crack in the mountains.
For the later part of the journey, we could make out a yacht in the distance, gradually catching us. They were just a mast on the horizon, but it was definitely getting bigger. As they closed on us, we realised they were motoring, as they had no sails up! This made us feel a lot better, as they were clearly cheats, yet they still only passed us at about 1 knot more speed. We were doing about 5 knots under sail and they were on about 6 or so. They beat us to Formentor by less than a mile, and as we rounded the Northern tip of the island, the wind picked up and we started reaching across Pollenca bay at over 7 knots. Change of plan and we decide to aim for Alcudia, in the next bay round, as this would make it more likely that we complete the lap of the island during the week. We were clearly catching the other yacht and would've overtaken them, but did have some help, when the Guardia Civil turned up in their launch and stopped the other yacht! Lots of comments from us about how they should've sailed, not cheated, but we started feeling sorry for them when they were still adrift with the Guardia after an hour! I don't know if they stopped them and let us go, just because we were sailing, but I'm certainly glad they did!
We had dropped anchor and completed 40 nautical miles fcrom Soller to Alcudia by the time they had been set free!
We went ashore and found a great British Bar, where the ratio of single women was very positive, but as I was the only single guy in our group, I was persuaded to leave with the rest!
Back to the boat for a quiet night!
Saturday 16th April 2005
I went shopping with Deb early to get provisions, then we set off down the Eastern coast for Porto Cristo. The wind was showing 20-25 knots straight across the bay, directly behind us, so we upped anchor, hoisted sails and set off for the day. We were again running goose winged, as the wind gradually increased to a steady 25 knots, with gusts of 35 knots during the 10 mile crossing fo the bay. We had full sails up, force 6 - 7 winds and we were doing 10 - 12 knots, the fastest I've been since owning the boat. Meanwhile Deborah is down in the galley cooking breakfast and making cups of tea and soup! It would have been so different on a monohull! Admittedly we did regularly say how much smaller the waves would be round the next headland, next headland, next headland etc! They did calm down eventually, but we saw our biggest waves of the week as we surfed down them in a 42ft 7.5t surfboard!
| We managed 35 nautical miles to Porto Cristo in good time, with just a little excitement, beating back in towards the coast in only 25 knots of wind. Sails down and stowed in the shelter from the cliffs, then motored into the most attractive bay we had visited so far. Todays journey saw a total of 35 nautical miles and the strongest winds, but nothing that made us want to reef the sails or stop drinking tea! |  |
| As we were there fairly early, we looked at the list of jobs to do and Mick and I started fitting a new horn I'd bought the week before. I managed to slice my hand with my leatherman, so Mick the first aider decided to bandage it up so it wouldn't open up! Mick then finished the work, whilst I stood by and felt useless! |  |
|
We'd also had problems with the anchor light, so we sent Mick up the mast, with Kev and me hoisting. As Mick used to do lots of parachuting, he wasn't at all bothered by the height and I think he enjoyed the view? For some reason, Katie was reluctant and didn't trust us to only lift her a short way up the mast!!! |
 |
Sunday 17th April 2005
Today, we stayed in Porto Cristo, having a day off sailing!
We went into town, then tried to get a taxi for 5 to the Caves of Drac, which we knew were nearby. The first taxi in the queue could only take 4, as could the next 5, but we couldn't have the bigger taxi until all the others had been used, so we would have to use 2 taxis! They then explained that the Caves of Drac were only 400 metres away and pointed, so we decided to walk! It was a long 400 metres, but not very far, so we stopped for a beer, then went and bought the tickets.
I think we were all impressed by the caves, the walk down into them just kept going on and on and eventually opened up into a chamber where there's the second largest underground lake in europe. Some gondolas brought musicians across the lake, with some lighting effects, then the long walk back up and out of the caves. Very spectacular and well worth the visit if you're on the East of the island.
Monday 18th April 2005
Today we left Porto Cristo and headed for Porto Colom, it's only 10 nautical miles, but a good spot for the taxi back to the airport. The guys have to be at the airport for 8am, so in the taxi for 7am, so we decide it's best to get into harbour and sort it all out early today.
Porto Colom is the best natural harbour in Mallorca, very well protected, but not as nice as Porto Cristo. We sailed in and headed straight for the fuel quay to fill the water tanks, only to find that we had to wait there for an hour or so for the attendant. We had lunch whilst tied up and had a visit from the Guardia Civil to check papers etc, then were able to fill up with water, another 7€, and get out and anchored.
We headed ashore and went for a walk round town and to the beach, then returned to clean up on the boat before going out for a farewell meal. The restaurant was right opposite where we had anchored, and appeared to be run by Germans, with a waiter who was so camp Graham Norton would've been embarrassed! The food was excellent though, so a perfect setting for the last night with the crew.
We had a few drinks back on the boat, then turned in fairly early ready for the early start next day!
Tuesday 19th April 2005
6.30 am and alarms ringing everywhere! Not a good start to the day, but Mick, Deb, Kev and Katie had to be ashore for the taxi at 7am, so needs must! The taxi was a few minutes early, just as we were going ashore, so many hugs and see you soon comments, best holiday ever, just wait til they come out and it's hot and sunny??
As I was up early, I set out straight away, with a view to completing my circumnavigation of Mallorca, I sailed back to Portals Nous 45 nautical miles away and arrived in time to anchor up, freshen up and get ashore for happy hour at 6pm. Lap completed in 6 days of sailing, plus a few rest days.
Wednesday 20th April 2005
Jim and Dave came down to visit me in Portals, they were running in a new engine that Jim had just fitted to an Avon Jet RIB so they had to do 3 hrs on it before selling the boat. I had a play, we lifted it up on my davits and it fitted the boat, I was very tempted to buy it!!
I stripped the beds and took the bedding to the Laundry, then spent most of the day relaxing and just chilling out!
Thursday 21st April 2005
I checked my finances and decided to go ahead with buying the RIB. It is definitely overkill for using as a tender just to get to shore in, but it was great fun and should be a good toy to play with this summer. It can pull water skis and ringos, I'll just have to spend some more money buying them!!!! I paid Dave and we agreed to deliver the boat Saturday morning.
Friday 22nd April 2005
Boat Cleaning and laundry collected, I'm almost ready for Lesley's arrival on Saturday night.
Saturday 23rd April 2005
I rode over to Santa Ponca, parked the bike up and met up with Dave as he was going to give me a lift with the RIB back to Palma Nova, from where I could motor across the bay to Portals. In the water and all running well, I dropped my crash helmet and other bits off back on my boat and decided to test the RIB by motoring back to Club de Mar in Palma. I phoned Paul and told him to put the kettle on, and then set off at 15 knots, arriving in Palma in 15 minutes. This would've taken well over an hour on my old tender, and may not even have been able to get there! I opened it up a bit more on the way back, it's a new engine, so I was trying to stay below the 35-40 knot maximum speed! I was definitely impressed and know this will be fun in the sun!!
Back on the boat and I Tied the tender on the back, before setting sail out of Portals on my way round to Santa Ponca. Paul had left Club De Mar today for his first real sail and was going to join me round the coast for the journey.
I arrived first in Santa Ponca and anchored up in my usual spot, then motored over and had tea with Paul and Karen
Lesley was due in at 10pm, so I headed over to the airport and arrived 15 minutes before she was due in. Lesley had already arrived 10 minutes earlier, so had had time to collect her bag and meet me outside as I got there.
We had a quick catch up, then set off on the bike, Lesley had her crash helmet with her and put her bag over her back for the ride out.
Sunday 24th April 2005
Slightly overcast today, so we went sightseeing on the bike. We visited Peguera which was very German and Cala Fornells which was absolutely gorgeous, but we didn't bring a camera between us! We then headed back and had a drink in the Canny Lad before going out to a Spanish restaurant for tea.
Monday 25th April 2005
Sunny, Sunny, Sunny, this was probably the sunniest day since I've been in Mallorca! Lesley had hoped to do a bit of sunbathing and this was certainly the day to start! We stayed in Santa Ponca all day, just sunbathed, read books and chatted, and even went swimming until the sun eventually went down in the evening.
Tuesday 26th April 2005
Lesley explained that she wasn't a keen sailor, because she had been sailing once before! Unfortunately, her last trip was in a force 8 gale across the Bay of Biscay, sailing from Swansea to Spain. They'd taken 8 days, with 2 of them being blown backwards by the storm!
I reassured Les that this wouldn't be like that, so we planned to visit Cala Fornells from the sea, then go on to Camp De Mar for the evening. We motored across the bay as it was only about 2 miles and there was no wind! Cala Fornells didn't look at all special from the boat, which surprised us as it was lovely from the shore! Camp de Mar was a revalation though! I've never heard anyone say "look at the water, it's so clear!!" as many times as we did when we arrived there! What a spot, definitely the place to stay for a couple of days.
We swam, sunbathed and had a barbeque with the great burgers from the butcher. We played with the RIB and decided that this really is the life! What more could you ask for?? A couple of motor boats came in to share our bay, then left us alone for the evening!
 |
 |
 |
Wednesday 27th April 2005
We woke up and the water was still so clear! We tried fishing again to no success, even though we could see the fish! They are definitely taught not to eat the bread with the hooks in over here!
Yet another very sunny day, so more sunbathing and swimming in the crystal clear water!
After lunch, we sailed back to Santa Ponca and anchored up for the night. A text message from Paul had let us know that he had sailed round to Andratx, but at some point, his propellor had fallen off, leaving him with only one usable engine! He hasn't had a lot of luck with that boat!!
Thursday 28th April 2005
| We decided another change of scenery was required, so took the bike today and went to San Telmo. It's a small resort, just past Andratx and on the coast overlooking Dragonera Island. We spent another great day there, beautiful scenery and water so so clear!!! Lesley found another rock pool to relax in and I was definitely enhancing my tan this week, Lesley was just looking so brown!!!! |   |
We popped into Andratx on the way back and met up with Paul and Karen for a coffee. They had paid a diver to search for their propellor to no avail and had to order one from the local chandlery! Back to Santa Ponca and another lovely evening in the bay.
Friday 29th April 2005
| Today we actually got up and set sail to Portals Vells. I've been there quite a few times and it's a lovely spot, but it's now becoming a bit busy as the season has started. We anchored off the thirdc beach, where I'd not been before and Lesley was first to spot that it's a nudist beach! Mostly men, but a few younger ladies arrived later! We spent a few hours there, on the boat, not the beach! and visited the caves, where there's a shrine that's been carved into the rock. Lesley also found a little rock pool with water that was so clear! that we decided was her spot! |  |
| We set out for Portals Nous about 5, but there was no wind, so had to motor to get there for the evening. Anchored up, then went ashore in time for Key West and Happy Hour! This was a big mistake, as it was standing room only, and so loud, we ended up going outside, drinking up and leaving! We went for an Italian instead, which was really good and did the tourist thing, looking at the super yachts in the most expensive marina in the Med! Then returned to our yacht anchored for free outside! |  |
Saturday 30th April 2005
Lesley had her flight booked for 10pm, so we had all day to enjoy and decided to motor over to Palma Nova and Magalluf. I hadn't actually been there by sea, so we anchored off Magalluf beach and did a bit of sunbathing, then went ashore to experience the resort! We had a good lunch in Robinson Crusoe's, did some shopping, then returned to the boat to finish off the afternoon.
I went and got my bike from Santa Ponca, then we headed ashore to make our way to the airport. We had plenty of time and went to San Castello for tea, before dropping Lesley at the airport in time to check in. We said our goodbyes, it had been another brilliant week, so different from the previous one with Mick and Deb, but equally great. I waved Lesley off, then headed back to Magalluf for a night out!!!!!