Ibiza to Mallorca
Click on chart to view at full resolutionAfter nearly two weeks anchored off Ibiza it was time to head for Mallorca.  Early in the morning of July 11 Sarah and Whoosh departed Cala Blanco on Ibiza and headed for the harbor at Palma de Mallorca.

The chart on the left shows Sarah's cruise from Ibiza to Mallorca and along the coast of that island.  The course is shown by a thick black line (looks thin on the thumbnail).  Click on the chart to view it at full resolution and see the detail.
Click on screen capture to view at full resolution

There was about zero wind the entire day and both Sarah and Whoosh motored to an anchorage near Palma called Las Illetas (SOB screen capture on the right).  This is another of the calas with a large tourist development at the head of the cove with a buoyed-off beach area, forcing yachts to anchor well off-shore.

When we arrived the cala was full of boats, forcing Whoosh and Sarah to drop our hooks on the edge of the anchorage in over 40' of water.  I particularly had some difficulty getting Sarah's anchor to grab quickly and ended up too near another yacht.  So I pulled up the anchor, moved further off-shore and re-set the anchor. 

After all of that work, half the boats in the anchorage immediately pulled up anchors and departed.  Now we had plenty of room to anchor closer to shore, but I wasn't going to go through that exercise again.  So Sarah remained at the edge of the anchorage.
Palma de Mallorca, July 11 - 14, 2006
Click on picture to view at full resolutionBefore we arrived at the Las Illetas anchorage, both Whoosh and Sarah reserved berths at the Real Club Nautico de Palma for the following night.  The next morning we both pulled up anchors and moved to the marina.  I decided to stay for two nights and Whoosh stayed for just one night (at €80 per night).
Click on screen capture to view at full resolutionThe Palma de Mallorca port is not only a major yachting destination, it is a major commercial and military port.  The SOB screen capture on the left with the commercial vessel plots via AIS shows the level of activity.  Sarah's berth is shown by the green position target in the northern portion of the harbor.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionMallorca is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe.  In addition to the airlines, it served by a number of high-speed ferries from most ports in western Spain and southern France.  This is the ferry between Palma and Barcelona just departing the Puerto de Palma as I arrived on Sarah.

At 30 kts this ferry should be in Barcelona in less than 4 hours.  Probably faster than flying (given security, etc.).
Click to see the wheel cover detail Click on picture to view at full resolutionPalma de Mallorca is mega-yacht territory.  A 20M yacht (65'-70') is considered a tender in this area.  Click on the picture of the  yacht on the left to see what I mean, or for a clearer picture just click on the Port wheel cover.

I didn't see the Mean Machine in the harbor so I assume it is elsewhere, probably in Valencia for the America's Cup trials.  I did Google on "mean machine" and found there is a TP52 racing yacht of that name in Valencia this summer.  So maybe in this case the tender is bigger than the tendee.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionThe Puerto de Palma is a very large port handling a number of large cruise ships, such as the one on the right, as well as dozens of RORO cargo ships.  This is also a port of call for the U.S. Navy in the Med, and during my time in the Balearics I often heard a Navy ship in contact with port and traffic authorities, but while in Palma no warships were visible.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionAs I was leaving Palma, one of the high speed ferries to the Spanish mainland was also getting underway.  This what the serious end of those ferries looks like. 
Click on picture to view at full resolutionBy the time this one dropped off my AIS plotter it was doing over 35 kts, but it looked like it was still accelerating.
Puerto de Andraitx, July 14 - 21, 2006
Click on picture to view at full resolutionThis day Whoosh and Sarah were headed for the town and port of Andraitx, on the west coast of Mallorca.  This is the Cabo de la Mola, which protects the southern approach to the harbor.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionEven on the top of huge cliffs such as the Cabo de la Mola, you can still see the Spanish national bird - the High-Rise Construction Crane.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionThe anchorage area in Andraitx is not very large, but fortunately I arrived early in the afternoon before it filled up and found room on the outside, just out of the main channel.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionWhoosh was anchored nearby.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionThis is the anchorage in Puerto de Andraitx as seen from the shore.  The anchorage is very full, with yachts anchored much closer together than we Americans are used to.  However, the closeness is necessary to allow the maximum number of yachts to share the harbor.  Most everyone deals with this situation in good humor and a spirit of cooperation.  In the states the late arrivals would be getting the evil eyed stare from those already anchored if they even looked like they might want to invade the anchored boats territorial rights.  By and large I prefer the European relaxed attitude to the righteous American one.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionWhoosh and Sarah share the anchorage at the Puerto de Andraitx.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionBecause Sarah anchors with a rope rode and only 50' of 3/8" chain I try to anchor on the outside of an anchorage.  With the other boats riding on all chain, Sarah would take up a lot of swinging room in the center of the anchorage.  In Andraitx the outside of the anchorage put me very close to one of the channel buoys.  Although I set the anchor pretty solidly on arrival, the nightly anchor dance as the sea breeze died and the gradient wind took over caused the anchor to slip a little each day.  By the fourth day in Andraitx Sarah was missing the buoy by less than  20'.  It was unclear which would come first - my pulling up the anchor because it was time to leave Andraitx or my pulling up the anchor to keep from hitting the buoy.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionThis is the mooring field just outside of the inner harbor at Andraitx.  It is directly across the channel from the anchorage.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionThe Puerto de Andraitx (this is how the cruising guide and most of my charts spell the town name, many local signs spell it Andratx) has a very pleasant waterfront with shops, restaurants and bars as well as a promenade.  This is a major improvement over many other harbors which are given over totally to large tourist developments.  Andraitx caters to tourists, but it does so by maintaining at least a small measure of charm.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionThis is the inner harbor and small boat marina.  The Club de Vela is on the other side of the harbor and is the yacht marina.  This picture was taken from one of the waterfront bar/restaurants.  The dinghy dock is just below the picture and to the right.
The fuel dock in Andraitx is at the Club de Vela.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionThe weekend Whoosh and Sarah spent in Andraitx coincided with the celebration of the Fiesta of the Virgin of Carmen, the patron saint of the fishermen.  For this festival all of the local fishing boats where decorated for the parade of boats on Sunday evening.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionThe parade began just after sunset with the fishing boats and yachts parading out of the inner harbor.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionSomewhere on this boat is the statue of the virgin.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionThe parade exited the harbor, then returned just before dark.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionAround midnight the fireworks began and lasted for about 1 hour.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionFinally after 4 nights anchored together in Andraitx, Whoosh and Sarah parted company.  Jack & Patricia were headed up the northern coast of Mallorca to Soller and eventually a crossing to Menorca on their way east in the Med.  I have decided that Mallorca is as far east as I will go and I have friends, Mike & Kathy, arriving in Palma in less than 2 weeks.  So I was in no hurry to move on.

So I bid farewell to good cruising friends who are always willing to share their knowledge and experience with others.  We will keep in touch via email and Skype as we each continue on our separate cruises.
Cala de la Calobra, July 21, 2006
Click on picture to view at full resolutionAfter a full week in Puerto de Andraitx I pulled up the anchor and headed up the north coast of Mallorca.  Immediately north of Andraitx is the rugged Isla Dragonera, here seen from the north after I passed between the Dragonera and Mallorca.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionDragonera is an impressive looking  island, with a sheer cliff along its western shore and a steep slope down to the eastern shoreline.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionI had planned to stop at Cala Tuent just north of the port of Soller.  I had been warned by Whoosh that Soller was a very crowded and less than pleasant anchorage, so I by-passed it on my way up the coast.  I thought the small Cala Tuent would be a good stop.  It is half way between the popular anchorages at Soller and Cala de la Calobra, so I thought it might be ignored by most of the other cruising boats.  It was not full of boats, but they were strung out across the head of the cala in such a way that I wasn't comfortable anchoring between them.  This is one more time that my rope and chain rode made it difficult to find a good anchoring spot with all of the other boats riding on just chain.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionFortunately for me I didn't anchor in Tuent because I would have missed the spectacular Cala de la Calobra.  This is a cala set in among sheer cliffs with two beaches at the heads of the cala.  There are actually two corners to the cala, this is the NW corner.  The SW corner contains a pier for the excursion boats out of Soller that put in here to deliver the tourists to the beaches in the cala.   Because the excursion boats go into the other corner of the cala, this anchorage remains fairly peaceful.
Click on screen capture to view at full resolutionOn the right is the SOB screen capture of the anchorage at Cala de la Calobra.  As you can see I dropped the anchor just outside of the 15 M depth contour.  Once again I felt uncomfortable riding on rope in the middle of an anchorage of boats on all chain rode.  So I moved further out from the beach before dropping the hook.  I thought I was dropping in a little less than 15M, but by the time the boat lost its forward momentum and I lowered the anchor I had moved into 18 M depths.  I got a good workout the next day pulling all of this ground tackle back on deck.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionI had thought this cala would be overcrowded with boats as it should be a very popular destination.  Apparently everyone else thought so as well.  There were only six other boats in this corner of the cala, which could have easily handled twice that number or more.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionCaves have been bored through the cliffs in the cala to allow the beach goers to get from one corner of the cala to the other.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionThis is the beach at the head of the NW corner, where I was anchored.
Cala Formentor, July 22 - 24, 2006
Click on picture to view at full resolutionAfter the workout of getting the anchor, chain and nearly 300' of rope back on deck the next morning, I departed Cala de la Calobra and headed for the Cabo Formentor - the northern most point on Mallorca.  As I looked back I took this picture of Puig Mayor, which I believe is the highest point on Mallorca.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionThe north coast of Mallorca is the very rugged and mountainous.  There are few ports and only a few decent anchorages between Soller and Cabo Formentor.
For once there was also no evidence of the Spanish National Bird.
Click on the screen capture to view at full resolutionI cleared Cabo Formentor then head SW to the mooring in Cala Formentor.  Anchoring is forbidden in this cala as all of the space has been turned over to moorings.  Although the mooring fee was expensive (€24/night for just a hook) I was glad to pay and not have to deal with setting and retrieving my ground tackle.
I learned later that Whoosh had taken mooring in the harbor a Pollensa (lower left corner of the chart) a few nights earlier and the mooring was free.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionMost of this cala appears to belong to the Hotel Formentor.  According to my cruising guide this is a 4 star hotel with prices to match the rating.  I don't expect to have the opportunity to validate that rating, but based on the mooring fees I believe the prices must be impressive.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionMy mooring was just off the swimming beach in Formentor.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionAlthough the cala is wide and open to the SE, the small Isla Formentor provides protection from the direction.  With the Cabo de Pinar in the distance, little in the way of sea enters the anchorage.  That is not to stay it is not rolly in here, but that is do to all of the power boats and PWC.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionThe Balearics in general and Mallorca in particular provide a playground for the super rich.  While on the mooring in Cala Formentor I noticed the restored J-Class Sloop, Velsheda, tie up to its tender just outside the mooring area.  The J-Class Sloops were the pinnacle of the America's Cup racing between the two World Wars, when the Lipton and Sopwith families competed with the Vanderbilts for the prize.  Interestingly, although the U.S. J-Class sloops were never defeated in the America's Cup regattas none of them still exist, while there are several of the British challengers, including Velsheda, still afloat, restored and actively sailed and chartered.  Maybe not all of the spoils go to the victors.
Click on screen capture to view at full resolutionHow did I know that large sloop, a mile away was Velsheda.  Obviously because I am a great student of sailing vessels and can recognize not only the classes, but individual boats from great distances.

Of course it helps that these are commercial vessels for hire and therefore must carry an AIS transponder, just like cargo ships.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionAs I departed the cala the next morning I took this picture of Velsheda and her tender, Bystander.  Later that day I had Internet access and was able to Google Velsheda.  I learned that the original tender for this yacht was also named Bystander.  I'm not sure if this the same Bystander, restored, or a replica.  Obviously the current owner has decided to operate and maintain the yacht in the same manner as the original owner.

 
Click on picture to view at full resolutionA few days later, while motoring to Porto Colom I once more crossed course with Velsheda.  She was motoring north, apparently back toward Formentor.  My guess is she picked up a charter group in Palma the day before was now taking them to the north (and more scenic) end of the island.  About 1 nm behind Velsheda was Bystander.  So my further guess is the charter party was on Velsheda for trip, but then transferred to Bystander when anchored for meals and sleeping.  A truly elegant way to cruise.
Puerto de Alcudia (Alcudiamar), July 24 - 27, 2006
Click on screen capture to view at full resolutionAfter two nights on the moorings in Cala Formentor I headed to Alcudiamar to take on fuel, water and supplies.  I had been warned by Whoosh that getting water in Pollensa was not easy and the guide stated that the supermercados were a long way from the marina.  The guide offered that there were supermercados within walking distance of the Puerto de Alcudia, just around the Cabo del Pinar from Formentor.

So I motored to the Alcudiamar marina in the morning with the intention of spending one night so I could do some shopping that afternoon and maybe clean up the boat.  While at the fuel dock I noticed the marina has a WIFI.  The marinaro running the fuel dock spoke little English, but I understood that I could sign up for WIFI Internet access at the office.  Since I had not been on the Internet since Andraitx I decided on the spot to spend 2 nights in Alcudimar and get this web page updated.  It was pleasant looking marina with good facilities, what could be wrong.  Well I was about to find out.

After getting Sarah secured in a berth I went to the office to register.  When I entered all but one of the young women in the office except one were working with other customers.  That woman invited me to sit at her desk and gave me the registration form to fill out.  While I was completing the form she answered her phone and began talking to someone.  After a few minutes I had completed the form, pushed it in front of her to let her know I was ready and waited for her to get off the phone.  Five minutes later she was still on the phone having turned away from me so she wouldn't make eye contact.  I now realized this conversation was not with another customer, but a boy friend or significant other.  My registration process was way down her priority list at that moment.  After a few more minutes when it was clear she was not going to end this conversation very soon, I moved to another desk where the woman was no longer occupied.  She processed my paperwork and I paid for 2 nights.  I then asked for the location of the best supermercado in town.  She showed me on a map and I headed into town forgetting to ask about the WIFI. 

Once in the town I realized this was a low-scale tourist destination.  Puerto de Alcudia appeared to be for packaged tours and low-priced accommodation.  Everything along the main promenade, restaurants, shops, bars, etc, said, "Tacky".  Puerto de Alcudia makes Benalmadena seem very upscale.  I found the supermercado, and it would have been fine if all I wanted to buy was liquor, cigarettes and German periodicals.  I went to the Tourisme kiosk and asked about other supermercados.  The woman just laughed said something in Spanish that I understood to mean, "Take a taxi to Palma".  So I bought a couple of bottles of wine at high prices and walked back to the marina office having now remembered to sign up for WIFI.  "Sorry, the WIFI is not working", was the response.  So I'd paid for 2 nights with the expectation to restock the boat and catch up on the Internet, neither of which were going to happen.

I decided to at least clean the boat and fill the water tanks.  Then I noticed that this marina has a completely different hose connection than any of the marinas I've been to so far.  So for €20 I added one more hose adapter to my collection.  At that time I noticed that the voltage shown by the meter on my electrical panel was down to about 105VAC.  Not wanting to risk tripping a breaker, I turned off the water heater and the voltage went back to barely 110VAC.  Connecting up the water hose I discovered I could get only a slow dribble of water.  That wasn't sufficient for boat cleaning, but I could at least fill the tanks.  Of course with that water flow it took nearly 3 hours to bring about 120 gallons onboard.  Did I mention that I was paying €70/night for this low water pressure and voltage, no WIFI and no supermercados?

The next morning I discovered there was decent water pressure and I was able to clean off the decks.  The electrical power was still down, so I kept the water heater turned off.  With a whole day to kill I walked into town just to find an Internet Cafe and see if there were any decent shops where I could do some re-stocking of food.  One block from the supermercado I was sent to, I found two more that were much larger and actually stocked fresh meats and vegetables.  A further block away I found a good fish market.  Why wouldn't the woman at the marina or the Tourisme lady have sent me to one of these shops?  I also found the only Internet Cafe in town, but it did not have a way for me to connect my PC to their network.  So this web page did not get updated in Puerto de Alcudia.

Having picked up some fresh meat, fruit and vegetables I was anxious to get underway the next morning and depart Alcudiamar.  I got up at dawn and prepared the boat to get underway.  The final preparation was my morning constitutional, which involves 2 cups of coffee followed by 15 minutes of reading on the toilet.  At the completion of that task I discovered that the head was clogged and could not be flushed.  So I spent the rest of the morning taking the toilet, then the hoses apart to find the source of the blockage.  I finally found that the fittings around the Y-Valve had accumulated so much calcium deposits that the inside diameter of the hose had shrunk from 1-1/2" to about 3/4".  A chunk of calcium had broken loose and become clogged by toilet paper flushed through the toilet.  I cleared the clog, I couldn't do much about the calcium deposits without taking the entire system apart - a 2 or 3 day task.  So I put everything back together and verified that the toilet flushed properly.  Until I could clean out the hoses no more toilet paper will be flushed through the toilet.  I'm going back to the off-shore practice of putting the paper in a small bag and chucking it overboard.

By this time it was nearly noon and I had a lot of cleaning up to do (both the boat and myself) so I reluctantly paid for one more night in this marina.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionThe next day I successfully escaped from Alcudiamar and headed down the east coast of Mallorca.  As you can see from the picture on the left there was once more no wind.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionFurther down the coast I passed the Cabo de Pera, the eastern most point of land on Mallorca
Porto Colom, July 27 - 31, 2006
Click on screen capture to view at full resolutionThat afternoon I pulled into Porto Colom (SOB screen capture on the left).  According to the guide this is the best natural harbor on Mallorca.  I was having problems getting weather data from Winlink and the latest forecast I had was over 24 hours old.  It called for relatively strong wind (Force 5, gusting to 6 or 7) that evening.  So I chose Porto Colom as my destination for the protection it provides.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionAccording to the guide the anchorage in Colom is large enough to accommodate more than 100 yachts safely.  Well, not anymore, as the anchorage is now filled with moorings.  When I arrived I couldn't see any un-occupied moorings and I could see no one managing them so I anchored on the edge of the mooring field in about 5M of water.

There was another anchorage on the other side of the entrance channel, but that was off a large tourist beach with many excursion boats moving about the anchorage.  I decided to stay on this side of the channel.
Click on picture to view at full resolultionSarah at anchor in Port Colom.  I dropped the hook just inside the entrance (lighthouse on the right side of the picture) and on the edge of the mooring field.
Click on picture to view at full resolultionThis is the entrance to Port Colom, the powerboat is heading out into the Med.  The entrance is marked by the distinctive black and white striped lighthouse (Punta de ses Crestas).
El Arenal, July 31 - August 2, 2006
Click on picture to view at full resolutionAfter four nights on the hook in Porto Colom I headed for Puerto El Arenal, where I planned to meet up with Mike and Kathy who are flying in from Barcelona to spend 8 or 9 days on Sarah.  They plan to sail with me from the Balearics to Alicante, ES.

On the way to El Arenal I rounded Cabo Blanco on the southern end of Mallorca.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionI also passed between Isla Cabrera and Mallorca.  Cabrera is a nature reserve that can be visited by yacht only by permission.  Once the permission is applied for you have to wait to be notified when you can sail there.  You then have a 48 hour window for your visit.  This doesn't work very well with my cruising itinerary, so Cabrera was bypassed.
Click on picture to view at full resolutionAs I approached El Arenal the Copa del Rey Regatta was underway off Palma.  This is a major racing regatta with a number of very large sailboats participating.  The Rey is Juan Carlos, the King of Spain and an avid racing sailor.  I expect one of his yachts was participating in this regatta.
The large sailboat in the photo on the left was just a spectator.
On July 31st Mike and Kathy joined me onboard Sarah and we began the cruise from Mallorca to Alicante.