13th August 2016 Porto Colom to Palma
In almost calm and bright, sunny conditions we left Porto Colom and turned southwards on the last leg of our journey to Palma, where we were to meet my sister Janet. We motor -sailed along the coast, a very different sight to the mountainous north coast and much more built up. Turning westwards at the southern most tip of the island we left Cabrera Island on our port side. This small archipelago is a National Park which requires special permission to visit, but it is said to be a very peaceful stop.
The 48 miles from Porto Colom to Palma took us around six and a half hours to complete and, as we crossed Palma Bay, we were met with the magnificent sight of Palma Cathedral dominating the buildings close to the waterfront.
Palma is a massive harbour with a cruise ship terminal at the western end and, according to the pilot book, 8 marinas inside the breakwater. Jac had found another one. Searching online she had found the La Lonja Marina Charter which, at 72 Euros a night booked through Port Booker, turned out to be as economical as one can get in Palma. Most of the other marinas are considerably more expensive. La Lonja Marina is in the old fishing port, as far east in the harbour as you can go and right underneath the cathedral. It is actually the base for several yacht charter companies and the only disadvantage is that you cannot stay there during the high season on a Friday as the yachts are all being turned around as the crews changed.
We got ourselves settled in and waited for Jan to arrive. Her flight arrived on time, she took a bus into the city and, after a bit of a walk around town, found us at the port. We dropped her kit and went for an explore.
Palma is a lively place with plenty going on and, whilst it is definitely a tourist location, it still has the feel of a working city and there are plenty of places to go away from the main tourist attractions. We found a small side-street restaurant called La Naya not far from the city centre where we enjoyed a very reasonably-priced and delicious meal.
14th August 2016 Palma de Mallorca
A gentle day. It was a Sunday when traditionally most shops are closed leaving only the bars and restaurants working but Palma, being a holiday town, is slightly different. We had heard that the Corte Ingles, one of a large chain of stores was open so Jac and Jan went shopping. Unfortunately, they found the shop but it was closed and then got hopelessly lost and walking for miles before finding their way back to the boat. However, they did manage to find the supplies that we needed.
In the evening we went to Paseig Born a large and expensive street not far from the boat. In a restaurant called Born 8 (the address) we had the biggest Wiener Schnitzel that I have ever seen; so large in fact that I wrapped up half of it and took it back to Synergy for breakfast.
Sailing Synergy 