Bisou de partout: 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.