Menorca, Balearic Islands, Spain

We really didn’t know what to expect of Menorca – naturally we had read the Pilot guide to have an idea of where to head for an anchorage for the first night, but geographically we were unprepared for how different it was to the other Balearic Islands.

We had set a course for Ciutadella, on the west coast of Menorca, with a plan to anchor in a neighbouring Cala to the main port, which had been recommended by several people.  On approach to the western side of Menorca our first impression was of a low, flat barren rock – over the course of the next three weeks we discovered that the island is remarkable in its variety of landscapes. 

Ciutadella is one of Menorca’s two major cities (the other being Mahon, its capital) and has a fairly long but narrow natural harbour.  We knew that there would be no space along the town quay or in the marina as they are both filled to capacity, even in the low season, but had been told by several yachties that the nearby Cala Degollador offered good protection and was within walking distance of the Old Town.  A large cruise ship, the Seabourn Sojourn, was anchored near the entrance to Ciutadella harbour and was discharging tender after tender of passengers.  We had a fairly brisk southwesterly wind and the seas were choppy but as we headed into the Cala, the seas calmed.  Immediately we could see that the Cala was much smaller than we initially thought from the charts – there is a rock in the middle of the widest part and only patches of sand within which to anchor.  While this Cala might be a good anchorage in northerly or easterly winds, it was not going to be suitable for us that night.

We did drop the anchor and in doing so, for the first time, managed to get the fishing line wrapped around the port propeller and sail drive!  We had been so transfixed in getting the sails, down, trying to find a suitable place to anchor and getting anchored, that I had completely forgotten about winding in my fishing line!  It was only when Karl noticed my lure floating about 10 metres from the boat that we realised that the line had been severed while anchoring!  Luckily the water was warm and clear and I quickly got my fins and mask on, jumped into the water and retrieved the lure.  I then spent the next 10 minutes or so cutting and unraveling the fishing line from the propeller.  It was really a stroke of luck that we had noticed it so soon after it happened so no damage was done.

We decided that since we were securely anchored, we would have a swim and some lunch before moving on to find a more suitable anchorage for the night – as the winds were still southwesterly and predicted to turn southerly we headed north up the west coast.

Menorca is a fairly small island in comparison with Mallorca and distances are relatively short, so within an hour or so of leaving the Ciutadella area, we had found our perfect anchorage!  Cala del Amarrado was spectacular with low-lying cliffs, caves, turquoise water, sandy bottom and calm seas.  The wind had picked up and was blowing quite strongly but we had a good holding and ended up being the only boat that stayed the night (there were only two or three other boats in this large Cala when we arrived).  This area has no road access, and is only reachable by foot, bicycle, horse or boat – hence the isolation.  The amazing thing is that it is really only about 10km from Ciutadella!   We had a peaceful night in this beautiful place after exploring the caves with the kayaks and swimming through several of them.

The next morning was a slow start – we had decided to have a ‘big breakfast’ as a treat.  This, for us, consists of hotcakes (thin, crepe-like pancakes which Tad makes from scratch from an old Swedish recipe), bacon, fresh orange segments and juice.  We even have maple syrup which I have been carefully rationing from our supply purchased in La Rochelle!  After breakfast we had planned to hike up one of the cliffs to the top and visit the spooky-looking stone structure at the top (looked a little like a step-pyramid), however, on reaching the shore we discovered our intended access was blocked by a swarm of hornets or wasps and no one was keen to try and climb through that.  So we headed back to Bisou and weighed anchor.

Motor-sailing along the northern coast line of Menorca, you are treated to some of the most rugged coastline of the Balearics.  Apparently the winds really batter this area in the winter and the ‘step pyramids’ along the coast (of which there are many – these are known as ‘barracas’) are really stone shelters for livestock, built by farmers in the 18^th and 19^th centuries.  These are intermingled with stone towers and other stone structures which are centuries older, in various parts of the island.  The towers were built as strategic defense watchtowers and planned so that each tower could always see at least two others along the coast.  They were able to signal to each other by way of smoke messages and thus provide excellent protection from invasion.

There are multiple Calas along the north coast which we might have stopped in, with sandy beaches and reasonable shelter, but we had another place in mind for our next stop – Fornells.

The large natural harbour of Fornells (pronounced Fornays) has a rich history of its own.  With a narrow, north-facing mouth, and a wider basin, it has been used since ancient times as a harbour.  Today it is home to a pretty town with white stuccoed buildings, a little harbour and marina and mooring buoys which one can use for a reasonable fee.  We chose the latter as the area was peaceful and well-protected from all winds.  In fact, we ended up spending 4 nights here as it was the perfect opportunity to rent a car and explore the island with Bisou safely moored on a buoy.

The town is tiny with several restaurants, a supermarket that has basic requirements but not much more, lots of shops, and a chandlery/hardware store/ car rental office all in one!  The latter was closed on Monday afternoon when we went to enquire about the possibility of renting a car, and by the time we got in on Tuesday they had no cars left, so we rented for Wednesday and Thursday.  Tuesday was therefore spent exploring our immediate area including the Torre de Fornells (tower of Fornells) and the town and surrounding beaches.

The two days we had the car were spent exploring the Mahon area and nearby beaches, and the Ciutadella area and nearby beaches.  We found Mahon to be a nicer, calmer city than Ciutadella although both have interesting Old Towns with churches and museums worth visiting.  We had lunch in the harbour of Ciutadella, and visited the evening markets at El Mercadol on the way back to Fornells.  We also explored the Naveta (stone burial mound) near Ciutadella which was eerily interesting. 

While in Mahon, we went to the Marina Menorca office to enquire about a berth or mooring for a couple of nights in order to get Karl to the airport for his flight home, and also for us to provision prior to our departure for Sardinia.  The staff were most helpful and offered us a place on one of their floating pontoons, complete with electricity and water for a very reasonable price (our scale of economy has changed drastically from when we left La Rochelle, through Portugal and Spain and the Balearics!) and so we made a booking for three nights.

It was hard to farewell such a pleasant and peaceful harbour as Fornells but move on we must!  The winds were changing direction and we wanted to move to a location closer to Mahon so we headed for Isla de Colom where there was another mooring field, but the option to anchor as well if we wished.  As it turned out, we were happy to pick up a buoy as the ‘marinero’ offered us a deal – first night full price (EUR 28) and the second night at ½ price!  With the wind picking up from the north we felt better about being secured to a buoy.

Once again, the water was warm, crystal clear and there were beaches within swimming distance.  There were sandy patches where one could anchor however with the wind direction there was not much shelter.  We enjoyed two peaceful nights here and explored the beaches and small town of Es Grau just south of the mooring field.

The day before Karl was due to leave, we motored down to Mahon and took our place on the floating pontoon – one pontoon was practically empty and ours had only two other boats on it!  The location was perfect, with a dinghy dock on shore practically right across from the pontoon.  We were away from the noise of the restaurants ashore, but close enough to visit the town easily.

Mahon harbour is apparently one of the world’s largest natural harbours – it’s truly beautiful and although there are  number of houses along the northern shore (the city is on the southern shore) it doesn’t have the feeling of being overbuilt or crowded. Even when the cruise ships docked at the terminal and the passengers spilled into town, we never felt overwhelmed with people.  One of the nicest things about being on the floating pontoon, however, was the opportunity to meet other cruisers.  We had interacted with some in the mooring fields and anchorages, but it’s not the same thing.  At our pontoon we met a lovely German/Swiss couple, who ironically had been moored beside us at Isla de Colom; we also met a couple with two young children who have a beautiful Antares 44 and who plan to circumnavigate the globe.

After farewelling Karl on the Monday, we settled down to getting Bisou ready for the trip to Sardinia. The weather window looked like being at least several days away so it was a good opportunity to explore Mahon a bit further as well as do some shopping, cleaning and relaxing in between.  Our only disappointment with Mahon harbour was the cleanliness of the water – there were several mussel farms alongside the northern shoreline near our pontoon and I am not sure how they can be healthy to eat.  The water visibility was next to nil and when I went into the water to take a look at Bisou’s hull and props to see if they needed cleaning, I could scarcely see 30cm in front of me!  In addition, there were cruise ships and ferries coming and going daily, and harbour tour boats every hour!  Mussels are filter-feeders and would have been feeding on all the ‘muck’ in the harbour!  I swam almost every day but always felt the need for a soap-and-water shower afterwards.

Tad made a foray up the mast to check that everything was in order and discovered that it and the lines were filthy!  This led to us giving Bisou a good soaping scrub (including the mast, the stays and the lines) inside and out!  Our fellow pontoon companions all had the same idea at the same time – the women were doing laundry and hanging it out to dry as soon as the outside of the boats were shiny.  It was a busy cleaning day at the pontoon!

Overnight we had a few splatters of rain, but more importantly, the red dust had arrived!  We had been warned by locals of this insidious dust that comes from the Sahara (although Tad is convinced it’s local dust from Menorca!) and coats everything – you need to scrub it off quickly as it can stain the white gel coat.  We woke the next morning to find a thin layer of dust over everything and so back to the spray hose we went!  Wiping down the solar panels, windows, etc. to prevent them streaking.

Believe it or not, the same thing happened overnight again the next night and we had another hosing session the next day!  Tad said that he had never washed a boat as many times in such short succession EVER!

Finally, a week to the day that we arrived in Mahon, the winds were predicted to be favourable for our departure to Sardinia.  An early morning (6:30am) motor out of the harbour was quiet and uneventful as we set course for the southwest coast of Sardinia.

                                              In a swim-through cave at Cala Amarrado

                   The port at Fornells with typical Menorcan fishing boats now used for pleasure

 The steps at Mahon leading from the harbour front to the Old Town (Karl and Tad Foley)

                           Typical Menorcan sandals seen everywhere (they are called Abarcas)

The amazing 'talayots' of Menorca

Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain

We had a smooth crossing from Ibiza to Mallorca and were even able to see the two islands simultaneously from a midway point.  The swell was a bit washy and the winds light so we motor-sailed the whole way.  The benefit, once again, for those of you who are newcomers to this blog (and cruising in general), is that you can make water and do laundry at the same time!  Our solar power system is super-efficient, but can usually only handle one of these tasks at a time without draining the battery.

Since we had had an early start (pre-dawn) we arrived just off the southwest coast of Mallorca about 1pm.  We had chosen to make our course to the Isla Dragonera so that we could ‘scout out’ the area in anticipation of my Mum’s visit later in the week.  We wanted to find two or three places that we could safely (and calmly) anchor or moor that would be clean, quiet and have a nice beach nearby.  We also wanted to be relatively close to Palma so that we could collect her and drop her off at the airport.

As it turned out, we found such a perfect anchorage in Santa Ponsa, that we decided to just stay there for the time-being and fetch my Mum at the airport from there.  Let me explain….

Cala Santa Ponsa is a wide bay with a beautiful sandy beach at one end – a marina towards the mouth of the bay and a lovely little town with all the amenities one needs (shops, restaurants, etc.).  It is about a 25-30 minute drive by taxi (or rental car) to the airport at Palma, and about the same to Palma city itself.  There is also a frequent bus service (102 is a direct service to Plaza Espagna – there is also 104 which stops in more places along the way and so consequently takes a bit longer), rental car offices (AVIS and Budget as well as ‘no name’ rental places but these generally have a minimum 3-day rental period), and taxis.  The bay has a shallow ‘ridge’ down the centre of it consisting of rock and weed, but other than that it has a sandy bottom.

After initially anchoring near the marina on our first afternoon, we discovered that in fact we could manoeuvre our way into the bay almost to the swimming buoys and anchor just off the rocks in about 2.5m of water.  We found the perfect spot about 50m from the swimming buoys and 50m from the rocks, in front of a row of three restaurants and Tad was able to ‘Bahamian moor’ us with the anchor and also tying the anchor bridle to a substantial mooring at the bottom that was no longer being used.  This reduced our swing so that we were not only safe from any nearby ‘anchor wankers’ that chose to come in alongside (which they inevitably did) but also in a sense, ‘double anchored’ should the wind pick up (which it did).

While the town of Santa Ponsa is touristy and busy, it doesn’t have the crazy feel of some of the places in Ibiza.  It is lined with the usual restaurants and ‘souvenir’ shops (which sell everything from swimwear and t-shirts to groceries and alcohol and postcards!), but it is clean and tidy and the people are generally well-behaved (no loud music or middle-of-the-night yelling and partying).  Only one night were we subjected to some karaoke in the distance, but it didn’t last.

I took the bus to Palma and then another (EMT # 1) to the airport on the day of my Mum’s arrival from Switzerland.  It was very easy and I reached the airport in plenty of time to meet her off her flight.  We then took a taxi back to Santa Ponsa and were on the boat and in the water for a swim in no time.  Like me, my Mum is a heliophile (sun-lover) – my parents generally spend the summer and part of the winter at their home in Switzerland and this year is no exception.  However, the difference this year is that the weather has not co-operated; non-stop cloudy, cold (daytime temperatures no higher than mid-teens Celcius and night-time temperatures in the single digits) days, rain and wind can wear on anyone and for a heliophile it’s a recipe for disaster!  We had been trying to persuade my parents to come for a visit all along, but they were dissuaded by the fact that we could not commit to staying anywhere for any length of time.  Once we made the decision to slow down and enjoy the Balearics, and that we would winter in Tunisia, we were able to commit to staying in the Palma area for at least a week and so Mum jumped on EasyJet and within 90 minutes had traded the rain for sun. Dad stayed behind to hold the fort this time.

We spent a further two nights in Santa Ponsa so that Mum could enjoy having a look around and then made our way around the southwest coast to Isla Dragonera – in fact a little town called Sant Elm (also known as San Telmo) which had a lovely anchorage as well as moorings that could be booked (bargain at EUR 29 for our boat).  We decided on a mooring for security as well as the fact that when we arrived many of the anchorage spots were occupied by day-trippers.  The town is tiny and dominated by a large hotel on one corner, but has a delightful selection of small sandy beaches and the water is truly spectacularly clear and clean.  Lots of rocks to snorkel and paddle the kayaks around, but we never did get out to Isla Dragonera itself.  Mum treated us to a delicious paella dinner on our last night in Sant Elm and of course we accompanied this with sangria.

We then headed back towards Santa Ponsa but stopped in another lovely little town with a port: Puerto Andratx (pronounced “Andratch”).  This charming harbour has mooring buoys that can be rented by the day/night through the local marina, and although a little more expensive, are worth it.  There is anchorage as well, however it is a little more exposed as it is closer to the mouth of the harbour and subject to swell.  Although there is not much in the way of beaches here, there were a couple of little sandy spots that Mum was able to swim to and sit on which was nice.  Once again, the water was beautiful!  The town was amazingly well-equipped in terms of supermarkets and shops and even a small chandlery!  We didn’t buy camping gaz here but were told that the hardware shop sold it.  Mum treated us to another delicious dinner out here and we enjoyed some tasty fish.  We ended up spending two nights here as it was so pleasant.

On Mum’s second last day with us, we made the longer trip to Palma – in fact we went a little further, to S’Arenal where we had booked a mooring as we had also booked Bisou for an engine service with the local Volvo Penta agent at Puerto San Antonio de la Playa at Can Pastillo.  It was a beautiful day with enough wind for a sail, and we were able to detour into a couple of little coves for a look and to get some idea of alternate places to anchor.  We loved the look of Les Illotes, but it is small and full of day-trippers so you would need to get there either early or late in the day.

By the time we reached the mooring field at Cala Blava, the wind had picked up considerably and the mooring we wanted was occupied.  The mooring attendant (these mooring fields all have a ‘dinghy man’ as we call them) suggested that we drop an anchor as the boat that was on the mooring we wanted would be leaving in the next couple of hours.  The water was a bit choppy so Tad suggested that I take Mum in the dinghy and we motor over to a little beach about 200m away.  We had a nice swim in the rather swelly little bay but when we went to try and drag the dinghy back into the water, Mum ‘popped’ her back!  Talk about bad luck.  My Mum is not tall and has given birth to 7 children, but has never had a back problem in her life!  Here she was, on the last evening of her visit with us and unable to stand up!  Luckily, having experienced this a few times myself, I knew exactly what to do and got her to lie down on her tummy right away.  The locals on the beach were very kind and offered to call an ambulance/a doctor, fetch ice, or help in whatever way they could.  All we really wanted to do was to get Mum back to Bisou and put ice on her lower back and feed her ibuprofen!

With a few extra pairs of hands, we got the dinghy back into the water, boarded Mum, and off I set back to the boat.  Once there, we carefully manoeuvred Mum onto her tummy on one of the benches and I got ice onto her lower back and gave her some anti-inflammatories.  By dinner-time she was feeling well enough to have a glass of wine and sit up and eat, but it was an early night for all of us.

The next morning we motored into the marina at San Antonio de la Playa (east of Palma) to meet our engine service man.  It’s a small marina with a narrow entrance and not a great deal of room to move around.  We looked for the service wharf which I had been led to believe was within the marina but could not find it.  In the end, we berthed ourselves into a space in the marina and I went ashore in search of the marina office.  As I set foot on the wharf, Andreas, our Volvo Penta mechanic, drove up and I asked him where his service wharf was. He looked puzzled and said that he didn’t have one!  A language mixup as I had specifically told him that we did not want to pay to stay in a marina while he was servicing our engines!  In any event, I went to the marina office, was told in no uncertain terms that we would have to pay for the stay whether we remained for two hours or twenty-four and that we would have to move in any case as where we had ‘parked’ Bisou was not suitable.

Although it was only 9am, it was hot, humid and we were frustrated!  Poor Andreas was waiting to get started on the engines and we did not want to be in a marina!  There was nothing for it, however, so we moved, tied up, and I went to the marina office to register and pay.  Meanwhile, Mum was much better and already up and dressed!  I was happy to see her feeling better, but knew it would not last so gave her breakfast and asked her to lie down and rest her back.  All too soon it was time to call a taxi and accompany her to the airport where I requested assistance for her to get to the aircraft.  I was really pleasantly surprised at how accommodating the ground staff at EasyJet were at Palma airport.  They checked Mum’s carry-on bag at no charge and ordered a wheelchair to take her through customs and security.  She was mortified but I knew she would be unable to make the long walk and with having to sit for 90 minutes on the aircraft for the flight, she would need to rest as much as possible.  I had also telephoned Dad and asked him to drive to the airport in Geneva to meet Mum as I didn’t feel she would be able to make the train journey on her own.  It’s a 2 hour drive and I was reluctant to ask Dad to make the round trip but I felt it was for the best.  Mum emailed me on her arrival home to let me know that her flight had been great and that Dad was there to meet her! 

I took the bus back to Can Pastillo (the location of the marina) and then Tad I and I went into town to have a look around.  We had a bite to eat and decided to treat ourselves to a fish spa – this is one of those things that you see in many south eastern Asian tourist areas, but it’s also a Spanish attraction apparently – well, at least in the Balearics.  Perhaps the tourist factor is the common ground.  We were lucky as there was no one else in the shop and the fish were hungry within minutes the minnows had attached themselves to our feet and were nibbling away.  It was quite ticklish but fun.  I cannot say whether my feet were in a better state afterwards, but it was interesting.

We wandered back to the boat and changed into our swimmers to spend the rest of the afternoon at a nearby beach.  It’s interesting to note the difference of being in a marina after having anchored for over a month.  By their very nature, marinas are protected from the prevailing winds and swell, and can therefore be rather hot and breathless; in our case, we were berthed with our stern open to the wind, but with a high seawall behind us, absolutely nothing was coming through.  This particular marina was also 99% full of members’ boats with a few charter boats (the only reason we were able to find a place was because a few charter boats were out) so it did not really have a ‘cruisey’ feel to it.  We were therefore quite happy to leave the next day and head back to Santa Ponsa.

Once again, we used the time to get there productively – we made water, did laundry and I cleaned the inside of the boat.  We were thrilled to find our ‘place’ vacant at Santa Ponsa and immediately set to securing our position here for the next few days, as we waited for the arrival of our next guest: Tad’s eldest son, Karl who was joining us from Seattle, Washington.

The days fly by as we find ourselves things to do – whether it’s cleaning, reading, swimming, kayaking, or whatever… Before we knew it, Karl’s arrival day was here.  We had decided to rent a car for the day as we wanted to do a few errands, including visiting a chandlery in Palma, and collecting some anti-fouling paint to take with us to Tunisia.  We also had planned to do some grocery shopping at a very large Carrefour near the airport while we had access to a car.

It was a successful day, with a good deal of money being spent, and Karl arrived on time for his two-week visit with just a carry-on bag!  We had asked him to bring some Isagenix shakes for us as our supplies were getting low, and he managed to squeeze 6 canisters in for us! Hurray!

We re-traced the steps we had taken with my Mum, staying a couple of nights in Santa Ponsa followed by a night in Sant Elm.  We farewelled our new-found American friends, Robin and Rick on “Endangered Species”, and were delighted when our South African friends (whom we had met in Mar Menor) turned up in Sant Elm at sunset on their catamaran “Chez Patrick”.  We were going in opposite directions the next day so had to do our catching up quickly over a glass of wine that evening with promises to stay in touch.

Our next anchorage was Cala Deia on the northwestern coast of Mallorca – the trip along the coast was magical (no wind so motored the whole way) with breathtaking scenery of rocks, cliffs and azure water.  We reached Cala Deia in the early afternoon, and were thrilled to find that there was only one other boat in the rather small Cala.  We were able to anchor in clear water over sand and after a swim and a paddle in the kayak, we went ashore to one of the two tiny beach bars for a sunset drink (sangria, of course!).  The small beach is all rocks, but they have been smoothed by the weather and the water so they are rounded boulders – the people on the beach didn’t seem to mind and this beach is just as popular as the sand beaches we have seen.

Continuing north the next day, we passed by several potential anchorages for future use: Puerto Soller, a lovely little port with good protection and sand anchorage on the southeastern side.  It would be very crowded in the summer, but at this time of the year it’s fine; Cala de la Calobra – a spectacular Cala with a narrow sand beach at one end – beautiful water and scenery and almost empty!  We had planned to spend the night at Cala Figuera on the north eastern tip of Mallorca before making our crossing to Menorca the next day, however when we arrived, it was very crowded – in addition, the wind was blowing fairly strongly from the north (predicted to  change to the south in the night) so we decided not to linger but to find something better on the southern side of the peninsula.

We ended up in Cala de Engossaubas, a gorgeous, tiny Cala that was initially fairly busy with day trippers, but by sunset all had left except two or three small sail boats.  We needed to set two anchors as there was little swinging room and it was just as well that we did, as the wind did shift 180 degrees overnight and there was an accompanying swell.  The location of our primary anchor would have had us too close to the rocks at the northern end of the cala had we not had the second anchor to hold us.  I woke at 1am noting the change in wind direction and Tad kept watch (between naps) for the rest of the night to make sure we were safe.

The next morning, bright and early, we set out for Menorca, about 40 nautical miles away.  We had a wonderful brisk (20 knots) wind on the beam, a bit of swell and managed to sail the whole way!  Tad was able to have a good sleep while Karl and I kept watch at the helm.

Sunset at Cala Ponsa

                                                   Our mooring at Sant Elm (San Telmo)

Me, Tad and Mum with Isla Dragonera in the background

A little 'cala' at Port Andratx

The spectacular cliffs of Cala de la Calobra