Mahon Menorca
Show on MapPresently holed up in Mahon on the island of Menorca while a mistral wind blows its self out. We are waiting to cross to Sardinia, approx 200nm, which hopefully will be Friday. A mistral wind is one of the most feared in the Med and comes down from the Rhone Valley when a low comes in from the Bay of Biscay and creates big seas and strong winds. Leaving Soller on Mallorca we motored up to the top of the island and rounded Cape Formentor passing very close to cliffs in very deep ink blue water. Around the Cape we find beautiful bays with clear, clear, water and a lot of diving.You get the feeling not to pollute and so move to Cala Formentor, holiday home to the rich and famous, poets and artists. Pine covered mountains surround this big bay where one cannot anchor, but instead, pick up moorings. We are told you have to pay, but we arrive late and leave early, so they don’t catch us this time.
On the 28th, the wind is ideal, so we depart for Menorca and have a great spinnaker run for the 30 miles into the port of Ciutadella a very narrow inlet. Once inside, the camera is out, and what a beautiful old fishing port. If you have the pilot book of the Balearic Islands, this port is on the cover and the big yacht in the foreground is exactly where we moor; stern to the wharf - but that’s another story!When Ian spotted a space only 1.5 metres wide, and we are 4 metres, I am shocked, but the old saying ‘trust me’, is on. To the amusement of restaurateurs and neighbouring yachts, we push and shove our way in backwards. Ian called us ‘crazy Australians’, I called it �crash Australians. This little exercise gave us the best berth in the harbour at a third of the price to the Rolly Yacht Club option.
Bikes out, we explore this very different island. There are no mountains, only low cliffs line the
coastline, with small inlets leading to small beaches. It’s a bit like going back in time with a lot of history preserved in time. We biked five ks inland to the oldest standing building in Europe still surviving from the Bronze Age.
Tourism is a big part of their economy, of which I will only say I have never seen so many socks and sandals! Cruising here is still naturally beautiful and any one interested in history should visit this place.
Sailing around the south coast, we find what is recognized as the most idyllic small inlet in the Balearics, Cales Coves. Anchored, and with mooring lines astern to the cliffs, we stay two nights.
This bay is a historical site, with 145 caves used by the pirates over the centuries, and lived in until recently by locals. The nights are very dark, making the surrounding cliffs look close and spooky. We walk around the cliffs, through fields growing with wild rosemary, over stonewalls that are centuries old, throwing us back in time.
It’s 1st of October, and we move on to the capital, Mahon, the home of mayonnaise. It is the best natural harbour in the Med with a vast history - too numerous to mention. A prized possession, it has been occupied by different nations, including England for many years.
It is surrounded by sandstone forts from the different cultures. Today we are anchored off the fort of La Mola and join a tour for three hours, visiting the Fort and Prison where Franco held and executed his political opponents.
We ran into an Australian (a member of the coastguard), who tells Ian he is flying the wrong National flag. Red rag to a bull, Ian went to great lengths to find out from John Vaughan, the leading Vexillographer in Australia, what flag we should fly.
He recommended the blue National flag, rather than the traditional red ensign, as both are now allowed, as it would be easily recognized as Australian. This has actually proved to be correct, as the other yacht in the bay, which left six years ago, flys the red ensign and is always being confused as English, and we don�t want to be called Poms do we?
Karl and Minda from Danger Island, sailing on Karminda 11, a 32 footer he designed and built himself, left Sydney in 1997 and plan another two years before returning home. They have given us great advice on wintering over in Rome and also an excellent web site for weather from the university of Athens forecast.uoa.gr. Note, no www. To get all of Med, rather than just Greece, go to Skiron.
All stocked with wine (still enjoying wine at $3.50 a bottle), and freezer full of meat, we are ready to cross to Sardinia.
Spain has been great, the cheapest place in Europe, so we are told, but looking forward to another new adventure and country.