Month: September 2016

10th July 2016

At 1000 we raised  the anchor which came up easily and made our way along the coast on the 20 mile run to Mahon. The wind was so light as to be useless for sailing, so we motored all the way until we entered Mahon harbour. We had intended to anchor behind the Isla de Lazereto in Cala Taulera, but the electric windlass for the anchor decided to break down at that point, so we motored further up the harbour to Marina Mahon to find a berth.

The arrival in the Marina Mahon berth was one of the most tragic that I have yet accomplished. Foolishly, I decided to leave the tender hanging on the back of the boat as we reversed into out slot and this proved to be more of an obstacle that I had anticipated. Before we could hook the lazy line and secure the bow, the side wind caught Synergy and we were blown considerably sideways and I was too slow too catch it. Another embarrassing lesson learned.

A quick call to Pete Smith at the East Anglian Sea School identified the electric windlass circuit breaker switch, which I had never noticed before.. With the circuit breaker reset reset the windlass was working perfectly again and we could have anchored after all. An expensive experience as berthing in Balearic Island marinas requires taking out a mortgage.

9th July 2016

At 1015, which seemed to be becoming our habitual departure time, we left our berth in Ciutadella and moved to the refuelling berth a little way down the Cala. The tanks took 113 Litres of diesel after our marathon run from Calpe and there wasn’t a lot left.

Dusk Ciutadella

Ciutadella at Night

We then made our way down the Cala to encounter a force 4 to 5 breeze blowing in the open water (Calas are small bays or inlets that can be either wide beaches or narrow coves).  Unfortunately, Claire started to feel unwell as it seemed that she is very prone to motion sickness, which did not bode well for the next few days. The wind held and we were able to sail at over 7kts for most of the way to our chosen anchorage, Cala Trebeújer.

This turned out to be a medium sized bay bordered by rocky cliffs, but with a beach at its head and a stream running into the northwest corner. All very pretty. There were quite a few boats there already so we had to anchor a little further out than we would have preferred but we were still in a safe and secure spot.

As Claire was still feeling rough we inflated the tender, plonked the outboard motor on the back and I ferried Sarah and Claire to the beach where they spent the afternoon. Returning to the boat Jac and I went for a swim in the clear, warm water and spent the afternoon lazing in the sun. It’s a tough life at sea. Later Jac swam to the beach and back again to make sure Sarah and Claire were ok and I then ferried them some more drinks in the tender to stock up their supplies. Jac reported that the beach was full of nudists, a fact I could confirm, as the chap on the French boat anchored closer in had been walking around all day with no clothes on. In just a pair of shorts I was feeling overdressed.

Although the wind was quite light as the afternoon wore on the swell increased making Synergy move around quite a lot. Collecting the girls from the beach, Claire’s Mal de Mer returned and she was later violently ill. Sarah magnificently did a clean up job. What a great pal!

It wasn’t the most comfortable of nights and I was concerned that a late arriving American boat might drag her anchor and hit us, so I spent part of the night on deck. However, the day dawned with all the anchored boats pretty much where they had been the previous evening, despite the wind having moved almost right around the clock.