Punta Negra, Mallorca

WEDNESDAY 30 JULY - MONDAY 4 AUGUST

Punta Negra

Wednesday morning was spent sorting out the sink drainage and fixing yet another toilet leak on the pump handle! We then motored to a small anchorage about a mile away at Punta Negra, which is a lovely small anchorage. There aren’t too many jet skies and motor boats and there is a small pontoon and beach for the dinghy. After a drink with Ian on Caprice we went to the town and went to the hairdressers and Roger went to the Doctors as his ear is painful. He had wax in it and an infection. There is a very handy Mercadona and Lidle within easy walking distance and some excellent ferretarias in the area. We had to make use of these when we discovered one of the toilet pipes now had a split in it – another afternoon spent finding a replacement pipe and fixing it! Palma is half an hour away on a good bus service.


Punta Negra, although very quite and peaceful, is just below the extremely expensive hotel of St. Regis. Ian saw the King of Spain, Juan Carlos, having a swim early on Wednesday morning (after the area had been checked out by a warship and his minders!), we saw a wedding take place on the pontoon one evening, and there was a model fashion shoot on the cliffs. We decided to stay here until Tuesday as my daughter, Jessica, sister in law Gill and her friend Jenny are coming to stay with us on Monday, and this is quite a good pick up spot.

It has been very hot and a Grade 1 heat warning was given. As we are spending a lot of time anchoring in one place, the batteries are struggling to keep up with the fridge. The solar panels and wind generator (if there is any wind) keep the batteries topped up during the day but at night they run down and we have to turn the fridge off in the morning for a couple of hours until the batteries are topped up again. We may have to buy a small generator.

Santa Ponsa to Las Illetas, Mallorca - 14 Miles

Santa Ponsa

SUNDAY 27 - TUESDAY 29 JULY 2008

Santa Ponsa is a lovely anchorage with enough space for everyone and good holding. On Sunday Roger did some boat maintenance – serviced a very sticky winch and sorted out the bilge pump which had just decided to stop working. We then found time for snorkling and canoeing ashore to the Marina where we had a drink. We met Ian whose boat Caprice is the deck version of the Colvic Countess. Monday we sailed (very slowly) the 14 miles to Las Illetas and anchored.

Our troubles began on Tuesday morning with a very blocked heads! Roger started work on it before breakfast and worked (and swore) all day. Some of the the pipes were almost impossible to reach. The job was made worse because the motor boaters and jet skiers caused a lot of swell and the wind got up so the boat was rolling quite badly. He managed to clear some of the pipes which were extremely furred up and the main problem was one of the valves. Having put it all back together again about 7 p.m., we discovered the sink drainage had been dislodged! I persuaded him to leave that job until the next day.

Puerto de San Miguel, Ibiza to Santa Ponsa, Mallorca - 55 Miles

We had to change course for this one!

SATURDAY 26 JULY 2008

The down side of a long trip is you have to get up early. The up side is you get to see Ibiza at dawn! We had an excellent crossing to Mallorca, the only incident was that we had to alter course for a ferry as he obviously wasn’t going to change course, although we were sailing! 

Roger caught another tuna which we marinated, and large dolphins came and met us as we approached Mallorca. It was the hottest day yet – our thermometer was recording 40 degrees – and we were at sea! The teak decks were too hot to walk on.

We anchored in Santa Ponsa about 5 p.m. and cooked the tuna on the BBQ.

Cala Basa to Puerto de San Miguel, Ibiza

Some of Ibiza's beautiful coastline

FRIDAY 25 JULY 2008

After canoeing into a small sea cave, we pulled up the anchor and warp – not a quick job! As we sailed across the bay a sea plane flew over head many times practicing picking up and dropping water, presumably to practice for fire fighting. 

This coastline of Ibiza is beautiful and we passed stunning cliffs and small islands. We managed to anchor in Puerto de San Miguel, although it was quite busy. After lunch and Roger’s siesta, we swam ashore to a small beach bar for an ice cream. The water is lovely and clear and we could check that the anchor was dug in well. After a shower using our garden spray on the back of the boat, we canoed to the beach to the supermarket.


This is an excellent anchorage with good holding, a few bars and restaurants a supermarket, only a few motor boats AND NO JET SKIS!

Moraira, Spain to San Antonio Bay, Ibiza - 60 Miles (Just over 3000 Miles in total)

Susannah at anchor in Ibiza

THURSDAY 24 JULY 2008

We left Moraira just as the sun was rising at 6.45 a.m. and motorsailed in a flat sea for 3 hours, and then managed to sail on a beam reach most of the way arriving about 5 p.m. Then the difficult bit – trying to find somewhere to anchor. We tried San Antonio Bay, but the part that was vacant was full of weed and the anchor didn’t hold. We tried another couple of bays but they were quite small and boats were already there. In the end we managed to anchor about 8.15 p.m. near Cala Basa in 16 meters and had to put out our 50 meters of chain and about 20 meters of warp.



We have now sailed just over 3,000 miles and have just crossed the meridian line, and our position will be East from now on.

Torrevieja to Moraira

Benidorm

TUESDAY 22 - WEDNESDAY 23 JULY 2008

On Tuesday we sailed the 28 miles to Puerto de San Juan, just passed Alicante, where we anchored for the night.

The next day we motor-sailed in a flat sea, passing the wonderful architecture of Benidorm. We sailed the last couple of hours in a Force 4, passing the beautiful headland of Calpe. We had intended anchoring in Moraira, but it was rather choppy, so when we got diesel we enquired about a berth in the Marina. We were quoted 40 euros, but actually paid 27 euros as we were berthed by the diesel pontoon.

As we were manouevering the boat in a Force 4 in the Marina using forward and reverse revs, the engine died again! We had to quickly turn everything off and back on before we hit something expensive! We hope it’s not the remains of engine trouble, but it could be dirty fuel.

We rafted next to a British boat, Nikash, and the owners, Corinne and Nick, came on board for a drink to calm our nerves after getting caught up with their dinghy, and we later went out for a meal with them. An Irishman who owned a 15 meter power boat said it was very expensive using marinas in the Balearics and he had been charged 175 euros in one Marina and 250 in another! We will definitely be anchoring!

Diesel – 1.34 euros per litre – 84 euros
Marina – 27 euros

Mar Menor to Torrevieja - 14 Miles

Another submarine - Torrevieja

MONDAY 21 JULY 2008

We left for the opening of the 10.00 a.m. lock but were about 10 minutes early, so Roger used forward and reverse to keep us in the narrow canal. This was quite difficult with the windage on our boat as there was a Force 4 blowing, just as Roger decided to do a complete circle, he lost steerage and the engine stopped! We turned everything off, but luckily it restarted again. We decided to sail to Torrevieja, which was not very far away, in order to get a replacement water filler cap which had fallen to pieces. We anchored in the very sheltered harbour where we saw a ship being loaded with salt. We got a taxi to a car spares shop and bought a radiator cap – hope it fits! It made Roger’s day to see another sub in Torrevieja.