Ibiza to Mallorca
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Ibiza the city we enjoyed for its restaurants, pretty people all set in the cobblestone lane ways of the old castle. Very vibrant nightlife but nothing starts till 3.00am in the morning so we left it all to the young ones. The local yacht club front door requests in its English translation, that to enter the club you must wear clothes, so that says it all for this area.On our way back to boat at 1.00 in the morning we were suddenly confronted by the Guardia Civile and an area was roped off only a short distance from the yacht club. Anyone trying to get through to the nightclubs was threatened with handcuffs. After waiting patiently for an hour we hear two explosions and were finally allowed to the boat at 4 in the morning. We heard the next day it was a bomb scare and the noise was the doors being blown open on the suspect car in the yacht club car park. Just another day in our adventures.We sailed to the north of Ibiza and the following day sailed the 50 miles to Mallorca, well actually motored, as it only blows when we are at anchor. Mallorca on first approach looks fantastic, and to date has not changed our thoughts. This is paradise with sophistication.
We have been here three days and only one storm, with the papers reporting damage to houses and boats. During the storm we were anchored on a lee shore and were preparing to go to better shelter when the yacht next to us had both his dinghies upturned in the 35 knots.His inflatable broke free, and drifted ashore, luckily to the beach. A guy came down to beach to help, so we thought, and in front of our eyes and the screaming owner, removed the outboard, deflated the dinghy, put it in his van and disappeared. Our dinghy is now firmly pad locked wherever we go.
Our anchor problems are now sorted. The problem is the local weed and it is essential to drop the anchor on white sand and avoid the dark patches.
Talking to the locals, no anchor will hold on the weed. We also learnt another trick. The local pilots for the area are fantastic, and when we found a nice sheltered bay, the pilot advised putting a trip line on the anchor due to all the old mooring lines on the bottom.
Our yacht has one with a buoy and we duly fitted it. Sure enough, the next day when we lifted anchor, it came up to within two metres of the surface and wouldn’t budge, and we see a fouled mooring. The trip line worked a treat by taking the weight and letting down the chain and we were free.
We are getting our best information by just talking to other cruising yachts and an English couple have given us software so that we can download free weather fax data off the HF Radio.
The service is in English out of Hamburg and breaks the Med into eight areas with a five day forecast for each. It is not the same as the maps we receive in Aus, but is very thorough and appears to be accurate.
Seeing the whole Med has helped us plan our trip. The Gulf of Lyon which is Barcelona through to France has been blowing Force 9 (50 knots) from the north for days (the famous Mistral). From this we have now decided to stay longer in Mallorca and see Murry and Anna Thomas on the 22nd and then sail to Sardinia to meet up with our daughter Janey on the 12th Oct. We will go back to France next year.
At the moment we are anchored in perfect turquoise water off a white sandy beach. We will stay free anchored as long as the weather lasts or we may just never leave.