Nimrod Oceanlord

We left Porto Colom this morning after refuelling as there isn’t another refuelling stop between here and Menorca. We motored 4 miles south to Porto Petro which is a delightful small harbour. We aren’t able to anchor here so picked up a mooring buoy for €20 for the night. It has a lovely feel to it as it is much more upmarket than Porto Colom (and that was pretty nice). We also managed to get free wifi from a local hotel so we were both very happy as it meant we could update the blog properly as well as sync our emails etc.

After lunch we explored the harbour and decided to treat ourselves tonight by going out to dinner. Tomorrow we will sail to Menorca and then onto Sardinia so we may be incommunicado for a few days.

Photos of Porto Petro and Nimrod

We decided to stay a few days in Porto Colom as the winds were still forecast to be high and we knew that Maria could catch a bus directly to Palma for her flight on Sat. The harbour is lovely with room for 50 plus boats and many bars and restaurants along the quayside. It is relatively unspoilt and doesn’t have the same touristy feel that other harbours on Mallorca have had. Maria kindly treated us to a meal at one of the poshest, Sa Llotja, on Thursday evening where we had a great three course meal with wine and coffee for €35 each.

We decided to explore Porto Colom on Friday but beforehand we met up with an old friend of Liz’s, Nicole. As the wind died in the evening we had a BBQ on the boat watching the sunset and the toings and goings of the harbour.

Saturday morning we waved goodbye to Maria and then shopped for food and thought we would just sort out a few repairs before making our way to Porto Pedro. However, the wind picked up to 20 knots inside the harbour and the repairs took hours rather than minutes so we decided to stay another night.

Tomorrow we will go to Porto Pedro as it is just down the coast before heading off to Menorca on Monday.

Pictures of Porto Colom and Nicole with Gordy and Harry the dog.

We successfully completed changeover day with Sam and Mags leaving and Maria arriving on Tuesday. We then motored round to Alcudia from Pollença to meet up with Anne and Clare who are cycling around Mallorca on holiday as well as sailing club member, John Walker.

There was a strong wind warning for the next few days so we thought we would tuck ourselves into a little harbour at Porto Cristo on the Weds night. We arrived quite late after going ashore in the morning to explore the port of Alcudia and get some provisions. We anchored just below the harbour at Porto Cristo well out of the way of the forecasted winds. However, the storm came from a different direction and created quite a surge that meant we felt like we were in a washing machine all night. I don’t think any of us got more than 3 hours sleep. It was a shame as the town looked nice and it would have been good to have spent some time in it but we decided to move on. So, after breakfast we motored 12 miles south to a charming bay called Cala Mitjana for lunch and a swim but the weather remained overcast. In the late afternoon we went round to Porto Colom and picked up a mooring buoy as more high winds are forecast over night so we felt we could justify the expense of €23 per night.

Pictures of Nimrod in Alcudia, Cala Mitjana, Maria at Cala Mitjana and Porto Colom.

After spending the night in Deià, we sailed north to have lunch at Cala Tuent before moving on to Calobra. Cala Calobra is set in a gorge where the Torrent de Parais is one of the main attractions of Mallorca. We anchored in 10m and had a stunning view of the gorge this morning before all the tourists arrived. Calobra was the setting for the film, Atlas, with Leonardo di Caprio and Hailey Berry.

We then had a cracking sail to the very north of Mallorca to Pollença where we will sadly drop off Sam and Mags tomorrow but will be welcoming Maria Bagust.

Pictures of swimming at Deià and Cala Calobra.

Spent a very lazy Saturday exploring the main town of Soller and the hilltop resort of Deià. We were anchored in the harbour of Soller but the main town is two miles inland. There is a sweet wooden tram that takes you there and Saturday was market day so it was very busy and full of bustle. It gained its wealth from oranges and there is evidence of olive, lemon and orange groves as you come into town.

After shopping at the market, we went back to the boat for lunch and then looked for a taxi to take us to Deià, the resort town set in the hillside above the bay we tried to get into the night before. After a phonecall and 30 mins of waiting there was still no sign of a taxi unless you wanted to go to Palma. I suspect it had something to do with a cruise ship tour that needed to get back to their ship! So we decided to sail round and see if there was space and luckily we were the only ones. Shortly after we arrived, a British boat came haring into the anchorage, did a handbrake turn, dropped the anchor in the swimming area nearly t-boning a small yacht in the process. And we wonder why the UK has a reputation for arrogance.

Having safely anchored amongst the rock and sand, we went ashore to walk up the ravine to the resort itself. Deià was stunning with a real Tuscan feel to it. Stone houses with red tiled roofs set into the hillside. It became famous when Robert Graves, author of I, Claudius set up home there. His house is now a museum but it was shut by the time we got there. The town itself is full of interesting shops, bars and award winning restaurants. If we hadn’t had to walk back down unlit paths and roads we would have eaten there for sure. Instead, we ambled back just before dusk to have a lovely meal on board courtesy of Mags and Sam but I think we will all be going back there at some point in the future!

Pictures of the tram to Soller and of the town, the cala at Deià and Deià itself.

After refuelling at Santa Ponça marina on Thursday we motored around the corner to Sant Elmo in the lee of an offshore island called Dragonera. There are a lot of mooring buoys there to protect the sea grass but we opted to anchor in sand so that Sam and Mags could swim in turquoise waters. The sea was crystal clear and we had a wonderful afternoon chilling – apart from Liz who decided to clean Nimrod’s waterline floating on a lilo with a scrubbing brush!. Then a BBQ on the back of the boat with homemade burgers and grilled Halloumi. It was a very peaceful evening gently bobbing at anchor.

Friday brought some wind so we managed to sail for most of the day until it died around 1600. We popped into Cala Deja, made famous by Robert Graves, but it was very small and looked full by just one large motor yacht so we continued to Soller (pronounced Soya) where there is a marina and a harbour to anchor in. We anchored again, being as poor as church mice, and Mags went to check the anchor but it was too murky so don’t think any of us are swimming in the harbour! We are planning to spend a couple of days here exploring Soller and Deja before continuing north.

Pictures of Sant Elmo, Liz scrubbing the waterline and Sam and Mags with Soller in the background.

Our friends, Sam and Mags, arrived Tuesday afternoon so we spent a leisurely time on the boat watching the world go by in Santa Ponça.

The wind on Weds was forecast to be negligible so we decided to catch the bus in Palma about 30 minutes away. The old part of the city is a maze of streets and alleyways with lots of shops and restaurants. Liz was in her element looking at all the shoe shops – she seems to have forgotten we are on a budget! The cathedral was worked on by Gaudí and does have a feel of a smaller version of the one in Barcelona.

We had lunch in a restaurant called Forn de Sant Joan that was recommended by Trip Advisor. Lovely food but a little over-priced we thought. The highlight of our day was our visit to the home and studios of Joan Miró on the outskirts of Palma. We took a local bus and disembarked in the middle of a housing estate but the studios were an oasis of peace and tranquility. I suspect that there was nothing around it when it was built in the 1950s.

There is a festival all this week celebrating the retaking of Mallorca from the Moors by King Jaime II. Consequently, there are events on each evening that seem mainly to consist of an eclectic mix of music including The Blues Brothers and Coldplay!

Pictures of the cathedral and of the Joan Miró studios.

Well, I am not sure what has happened to the weather but the temperature has dipped below 20 degrees C and we have had yet another storm today. There is a consistent wind of Force 4/5 (11-21knots) due for the next few days from the N/NE which means that we need to be safely tucked away on the SW of the island. So, after doing a few chores on the boat this morning, we left our mooring buoy (you can only stay two nights in a row on them) in Palma bay and headed around the corner to a bay called Santa Ponsa. We sailed most of the 20 miles although only needed the genoa out as the wind was coming from behind for most of the time. However, the heavens opened and it absolutely threw it down so I was drenched with not so warm rain whilst Liz stayed below and cooked dinner. The storm passed just as we entered the bay. Santa Ponsa has a marina as well as an anchorage but we decided to anchor rather than pay high season prices (€100 +). We plan to stay here a couple of days as there are shops etc. to re-provision the boat.