After Roy enjoyed an early morning exercise walk, while Elaine rested, we dinghied ashore for a coffee at Les Monges; not the best choice due to the noise and the crowds, but worth a try. We definitely prefer the little hideaway cafés on the backstreets.
Back onboard, we spent the afternoon sorting out an itinerary for the rest of our stay in Spain before we head to Gibraltar and, in lieu of an evening walk, we chatted to Keenan and the twins, who were very excited to tell us all about their holiday to San Diego, California, where they saw dolphins and whales.
The only excitement of the day for us, however, was the firefighting aeroplane that came in to do a water landing so close to Paw Paw that we had visions of how on earth we were going to explain an insurance claim; an aeroplane crashed into us. Thankfully that wasn’t necessary, but the pilot couldn’t have got any closer if he’d tried.
Today we were both woken up at around 0330 with the arrival of the high winds that were forecast, reaching 32 Kts and sending a few yachts dragging through the anchorage. Fortunately there was nothing untoward near us, but we, nonetheless, stayed up until everything settled again before returning to our beds at daybreak. We were pleased to know that our anchor had held, though, because the bottom is a mixture of sand and weed and hitting a sandy spot when we dropped the hook was more a matter of saying a Hail Mary than anything else.
In calmer and cooler conditions, we dinghied ashore after breakfast to do our provisioning, which resulted in us purchasing far more than we thought we needed; the downside of having a little bit of variety again, or indeed, finding items we haven’t been able to get for months. We definitely didn’t appreciate opening some packaging, though, to find a quarter of the contents missing; the joys of the so called “first world”, where consumers are constantly ripped off at every turn and, sadly, not the first time we’ve experienced this kind of deceit as we’ve travelled through the Mediterranean; a complete contrast to our experiences elsewhere during our circumnavigation. If this is a taste of things to come, settling back into the western culture is going to be very, very difficult indeed!
On our return to Paw Paw, Elaine received the unpleasant news that her Dad had been admitted to hospital and had been moved to the cardiac ward; he clearly wasn’t going home today.
With nothing else to do, but wait on a further update, Roy did two diesel runs in the dinghy to top up the tanks, while Elaine went back to bed, having woken up this morning feeling a little off. The news of her Dad hadn’t helped matters.
As evening approached, we opted for dinner with a view at Dakota Tex Mex, followed by another evening stroll, which took us along the Pine Walk, a very picturesque route, where we enjoyed a rest on one of the many benches to savour the seascape and view the interesting private homes on the northern end of the anchorage, stopping for a gelato on our return.
A chat to Elaine’s sister, Dianne, to get an update on her Dad, brought the day to a close.
With the exception of the coach roof and helmstation, where we only use freshwater due to all the sensitive equipment, it took a saltwater wash first to loosen the sand on the decks and in the cockpit, something we never do, but followed that with a freshwater wash-down. Even the cockpit cushions had to be washed. That meant the watermaker ran all day. By lunchtime, though, Paw Paw was sparkling clean again; on the outside, at least.
Afterwards we dinghied ashore for lunch, followed by coffee and a baked delight, enjoyed at Bella Vita Cafete. If nothing else we were eating our way through the Mediterranean.
Back onboard, but not before we visited the local Spar shop for a few immediate provisioning items, we both enjoyed an afternoon nap. Besides the exhaustion associated with our overnight passage from Sardinia and the fiasco in Minorca, the heat had got to us as well; we’d gone from freezing to scorching temperatures in a matter of days. Leaving Porto Taverna in Sardinia we were still wearing our jumpers and woolly hats because the wind was so cold and now everything we wear is soaked in perspiration in a matter of minutes. However, one of the advantages of being anchored off a favourite British holiday destination, with an expat community, is that we can get British products in the stores, including Heinz baked beans, back bacon and Lucazade.
Being a Sunday we also had all the speedboat revellers out for the day and churning up the water, but we were both too tired to be bothered.
After our nap and dinner onboard, we dinghied ashore again for a walk in the cooler evening air and enjoyed a gelato on the beachfront. Deciding to walk in the opposite direction to the day before, we were surprised to see the golden sandy beach stretched for miles, with numerous boutique hotels and fabulous private homes bordering it, as well as a lagoon nature reserve.
Today’s cleaning task was the inside of Paw Paw, getting the laundry done and taking a few more photographs of Paw Paw for the sales brochure, considering she was all clean again. That again took us all morning, so we dinghied ashore again for lunch; this time enjoyed at Voss Urban Café and Bistro, in the coolness of their air-conditioned seating area rather than outside on the patio in the baking heat.
During our wonderings around the backstreets, though, we found a decent sized supermarket too, but too tired to add grocery shopping to our tasks for the day, we purchased a few items and returned to Paw Paw for a nap. Well, Elaine napped anyway, while Roy enjoyed some “me time”.
After dinner, we returned to shore to join the throngs of holidaymakers enjoying an evening stroll along the beachfront, grateful for the cool breeze that was blowing and threw in a gelato just for good measure.
Fortunately the winds also backed from easterly to northeasterly during the night, giving us a much better angle of sail and allowing us to increase our SOG (Speed Over Ground). This came with a rather large swell, but it was a following sea, so we weren’t complaining. At last we weren’t beating to weather!
However, by 0900, when Elaine was in a lovely deep sleep after her early morning watch, Roy had to wake her for a sail change; it had become rather stormy all of a sudden, with overcast skies after a lovely clear night, the winds had veered to the east and had increased in strength, but allowed us to sail rather than motor-sail. Not even a half an hour later, though, it returned backed to northeasterly and stayed that way for the rest of the passage. However, by then, Elaine was wide awake and didn’t go back to bed. This turned out to be a mistake, but we weren’t to know what awaited us.
By 1015 we had 15NM to go, but still couldn’t see land. Soon thereafter, as we sailed over the ridge going from 2,286 metres / 7500 ft to less than 152 metres / 500 ft and causing us to surf in, similar to the BVI (British Virgin Islands) when approaching from St Martin, we spotted land ahoy and we changed country flags for the third time on this adventure. Then hearing the all ships VHF call for gale warnings along the Corsica and Sardinia coasts, we were delighted to be on our final approach into Spain. Sadly that delight didn’t last long!
After arriving in Mahon and motoring through the entire natural harbour, we discovered that all the anchorages noted on Navionics and Navily were no longer designated anchorage areas, except for one small area with poor holding and crammed with yachts, all anchored on top of each other. We attempted to anchor there, but kept dragging through the soft mud bottom. Giving up after an hour, we headed back out and further down the east coast, then along the south coast. By 1600 we hadn’t found anywhere to anchor that was at least tenable or that could fit Paw Paw. Everywhere was tiny cutouts and coves with one or two yachts in each or full of local boats, all of which reminded us of Egypt.
Eventually, both exhausted, we opted to anchor off Playa Son Bou at around 1700. As Roy said, it wasn’t ideal with the slight swell rolling in, but it was protected, had enough space and had good holding; it would do for the night.
After getting anchored, with three other yachts for company in the large bay, with a sandy beach running the length of the bay, packed with holidaymakers, Roy hopped in the water for a swim, while Elaine had a wee nap; she’d hit the wall by this stage.
Since we couldn’t get ashore, again, due to the cordoned off beach area and nowhere to land the dinghy, a shower, a light dinner and bed followed in quick succession.
Unfortunately, while the coastline was very picturesque and quite stunning in areas, with the cliffs and coves all along it, and the fabulous old British fort as we entered Mahon, providing a wonderful photo opportunity, we were just too tired to enjoy it, not to mention the fact that we’d completed another overnight sail and found there was nowhere to anchor, following policy changes coming into effect this year. It was stacking up to be another destination that really didn’t want transient cruisers, other than local yachts that filled the marinas.
After a reasonable night’s sleep, considering how rolly the anchorage was, we were both awake just before 0700, perused the weather and weighed anchor. The weather forecast, however, was essentially useless, given that each model showed something different. Deciding to randomly pick sunshine versus overcast skies and northeasterly winds, which were blowing at the time, we set off to find another anchorage further along the south coast of Minorca.
However, every “anchorage” was either a tiny cove or crammed with a handful of yachts bouncing around in the swell and, in our opinion, completely untenable with the strong southeasterly swell running straight into them, which got stronger the further west we motored, so much so that waves were breaking all along the cliffs. When we reached the lighthouse on Cap d’Artrutx, marking the southwestern tip of the island, we headed north and up the west coast.
By 1030 we’d found a somewhat protected wide open bay with plenty of room and good holding just south of Cala Blanca. However, by 1100, it too had become untenable as the north easterly winds became northwesterly and the southeasterly swell we’d seen along the south coast became northwesterly. It seemed the entire island was in the centre of one large swirl spinning around it. It didn’t help that we couldn’t get ashore either to get provisions, since the anchorage was surrounded by cliff face and we were running out of supplies, considering the last time we were able to access a supermarket was in Napoli on the Italian mainland, besides picking up a few odds and ends at a minimart on Ponza Island and in Porto Taverna in Sardinia. Additionally, all the local weekend revellers had come out of their marina berths and mayhem unfolded. That was our cue to weigh anchor and head to Mallorca. We weren’t prepared to try and put anymore lipstick on this pig and, for our troubles, all we got was a yacht covered in sticky red desert sand from the winds that were forecast to settle last night, but howled instead.
Our request was simply; somewhere safe and secure to anchor Paw Paw and a means of getting ashore to stock up on our provisions as well as have a walk to stretch our legs, but, sadly, Minorca Island did not have that to offer. What a disappointment, for Roy in particular, given that Elaine had vacationed on the island with Keenan years ago and it was one of her favourite destinations in Europe and he didn’t have the opportunity to explore it.
In very lumpy seas, with a rather large swell running in different directions, as well as the northwesterly wind on the nose, we motored the 35 NM to Mallorca Island in the hopes of getting our basic cruising needs and amenities satisfied, as well as get a much needed rest.
At around 1500 we could see land ahoy. Mallorca Island was certainly more mountainous than Minorca Island.
By 1730 we were anchored in Porto Pollença and by 1800 we were dressed, had dinghied ashore, had tied the dinghy to the dinghy dock and had picked a restaurant from the numerous restaurants lining the waterfront and beach areas to enjoy a well earned locally produced cold beverage and dinner, a seafood paella at the Marina Posters Restaurant. Heaven!
It was another motor to weather, but we were hopeful that this was the last, since northerly and easterly winds were forecast for our overnight to the Balearic Islands.
Besides a few yachts under sail, we also had the usual speedboats, fishing boats and fishing pods to avoid, all of which caused a “traffic jam” ahead of us at one point. The corker, however, was a “gin palace”, flying along at 15 Kts and hurtling straight towards us. After Elaine altered course to starboard to pass port to port, this motoryacht didn’t budge. It wasn’t until she hailed them on the VHF radio to ask them what there intentions were, did they jump into action, stuttering and spluttering on the radio as they did so; they clearly weren’t paying attention and hadn’t seen us, although both yachts showed up on the AIS (Automatic Identification System).
After Elaine’s morning nap, around 1100 it was Roy’s turn and we could see the headland in the distance.
By 1630 we were anchored in a beautiful anchorage off Piana Island. It was the first European anchorage that reminded us of the South Pacific, with crystal clear turquoise water and the lovely white sandy beaches of “Spiaggia La Pelosa” and “Spiaggia La Pelosetta” running along the headland, with the ancient medieval tower of “Torre della Pelosa”, built in the 1570s to defend Sardinia from invasion, standing guard on the edge of the Asinara Strait that runs between Capo Falcone and Isola Piana.
After admiring the scenery, we however, had various tasks to complete for our imminent departure to Spain, including activities on our pre-sail checklist, checking the oil on both engines and saildrives, unzipping the stackpack of the mainsail, lifting the sunscreens on the saloon windows and giving all the windows of the saloon and helmstation a good wash; between dust and seawater they were so dirty we couldn’t see out of them anymore.
Sadly, we’d saved the best for last in Italy, but time was marching on and we had to press on. Staying another day was not an option, unfortunately, especially since strong easterlies were expected, exposing the anchorage and these were winds we wanted to take advantage of.
Although the forecast had indicated winds out of the north, veering to the northeast and then the east during the course of our passage to Minorca, the northern most Balearic Island in Spain, there was barely a breath of wind. That, of course, meant we were motoring again. In the hopes that we may be sitting in a wind shadow, we kept the mainsail hoisted, but, by 0830, we reluctantly dropped it and Roy went for a nap.
On Elaine’s watch, a slight breeze picked up from the northeast at around 0900; Elaine’s cue to unfurl the headsail. Once Roy surfaced from his nap, we unfurled the 150% genoa completely, placed it on the barberhauler and increased our SOG (Speed Over Ground) by 0.5 Kts. We we taking everything we could get.
During Elaine’s nap, a favourable current set in too, increasing our SOG to 6.8 Kts. We realised we’d probably be paying the piper later, but we were just pleased to enjoy the ride.
Apart from one or two yachts heading south, down the west coast of Sardinia, and one or two fishing boats, the only other company we had were cargo ships in the distance. We’d assumed there would be a convoy of yachts heading west today, given the number of yachts that were in the anchorage last night, but we’ve come to realise that we’re the only idiots heading west through the Mediterranean; everyone else is heading east into the world’s largest cul de sac, but enjoying great downwind sailing as they go.
On each of our watches we saw a lone dolphin; quite sad really, but not surprising, given that we’ve seen very little sea life other than turtles in Türkiye since arriving in the Mediterranean last March. Neither of us has seen a single fish at anchor and usually there are teams of them under Paw Paw. Even in the crystal clear waters of our anchorage last night, part of the “International Nature Park” established in 2010, not a single fish.
By 1800 the winds out of the northeast started to strengthen slightly, which kept our SOG high without the advantage of the stronger current we’d had earlier in the day. For this and the sparkles on the flat seas we were very grateful.
With the waning gibbous only rising after midnight, it was a very dark night initially, but it was lovely to see the stars as well as bioluminescence disturbed by Paw Paw’s propellers again.
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We’d already made the decision we would go as far as the weather would permit, but hoped to reach the anchorage just south of the most northern point of Sardinia near Porto Pollo and, thankfully, we did, after a rather rough start, especially as we passed Cape Figari. Strangely enough, though, getting through the strait was the easier and more enjoyable part of the trip, although it was a bit of a maze weaving between Sardinia and all the outer islands that comprise the nature reserve and where yachts are prohibited to go, as well as avoiding all the yachts under sail coming in the opposite direction, all the speedboats and all the ferries. It didn’t help matters either that we were both feeling somewhat sleep deprived after the fiasco we had to deal with in the anchorage last night, coupled with an early rise. However, it was a scenic trip, but quite desolate; we could have been back in Türkiye. We were surprised to see how populated the northern coast was, though, compared to the other areas we’d passed, including some of the outer islands, the latter definitely not expected, given that the area is a nature reserve with many restrictions.
Initially we also had to stop for four large ferries coming over from mainland Italy and all arrived more or less at once to the large commercial port we passed along the way.
The Strait of Bonifacio lies between the French island of Corsica and the Italian island of Sardinia and is home to 40% of all the Mediterranean’s species. The richness of the underwater fauna and variety of rare birds earned it the designation of “International Marine Park” in 2010, the result of a combined initiative of the French and Italian ministries of ecology, making it mainland France’s largest nature reserve. Additionally all French and Italian flagged ships are prohibited from transiting the strait and other internationally flagged ships carrying hazardous cargo have to follow a strict procedure, all in an effort to ensure there isn’t a shipping catastrophe that would pollute and potentially devastate the area, like the grounding of an oil tanker, for instance.
The diversity of the strait comprises 1,745 different species, including 977 species of fauna of which 18 are mammals, 165 birds, 7 reptiles, 2 amphibians, 187 fish, 11 protochordates, 13 echinoderms, 262 insects, 11 arachnids, 6 bryozoans, 103 crustaceans, 143 molluscs, seven annelids, 23 cnidarians and 19 spongarians and we’ll be very impressed if you know what all those are without googling them.
For us, though, we were simply delighted to have safely transited another strait and to be on the move again, heading west and soon southwest. From hereon in our VMG (Velocity Made Good) will increase dramatically, since we’re on the downhill run now, thank goodness!
After dodging all the windsurfers and getting safely anchored, a nice chat to Elaine’s sister, Dianne, followed by dinner, a shower and bed sealed the day.
