A short pleasant 7,9 nautical mile hop to our next destination,  Puerto de Addaya,  which is one of the most secluded and stunning marinas we have visited so far.  It was  a complicated entry through the “cala” entrance,  where it is essential that the port and starboard buoys are followed with great accuracy as there are some very shallow patches in the approach.  This is a great place,  a small marina with extremely friendly staff.  We booked for two nights so that we could relax on Saturday and enjoy the surroundings.

On Saturday we took the dinghy out exploring,  it was fantastic weather,  just short of 30 degrees with very light winds.  We went up towards the end of the cove and even stopped ashore for a drink! It is extremely tranquil here.  We came back in time for lunch at the port restaurant which was delicious.  The local rosado wine can also be recommended!

We spent two days in fabulous Fornells, a very quiet fishing village/holiday town where day one was weather enforced due to stormy weather (the aftermath of the storm that hit Majorca) and the second day was by choice, a great choice as it turned out.   We said goodbye to our new found friends on Yacht Ione on day 2 when Tony and Sarah headed for a cala on their way back to Ciutadella – we had been alongside each other for a few days so it seemed a strange goodbye,  something that we need to get used to in the world of yachts that pass by each other.  Hopefully we will meet again in the future, we had very much enjoyed their company and their hints and tips on Menorcan life.

We had the calm after the storm and we made the most of it, enjoying a sunrise walk to the Torre de Fornells and snorkelling under the castle ruins.

I am going to post the inevitable snorkelling pictures,  poor quality and fishy, but I am going to say – OCTOBER 11th …. and that’s all ….

 

I love this next one so it deserves to be larger

You can almost see him smiling,  we had such a great couple of hours !

In the afternoon I went on a stroll to the next door (I would like to say village but I can’t) urbanisation Ses Salines, the walk was beautiful,  farm land stretches right to the water, it is a place where they produce cheese although I saw rabbits and horses rather than sheep !!

Today we enjoyed following our neighbours on Yacht Ione back through the beautiful entrance to the medieval city of Ciutadella,  we felt there was a break in the weather and clam conditions for us to sail roughly 20 nautical miles round to Fornells on the north coast of the island.

We set out in fantastic conditions,  although we were minus wind so we were motoring along.  We had anticipated the weather getting worse in the afternoon but as we came round the coast we saw storm clouds in the distance.

We got out the wet-weather gear in anticipation and continued on enjoying the fabulous coastline and commenting on how rural it all looks,  no massive high rises here, not even any luxury villas.  As we headed towards the storm we watched Ione (a bigger boat than us) disappearing into the distance.  We tried sailing but found we still needed the motor as the swell was picking up but it was exhilarating on the helm, driving through the squall, although Tines was much less keen!  I got completely soaked before we managed to put on our waterproofs but it is still really warm here so it was no problem.

We ploughed on through increasingly difficult conditions to Fornells and came into the natural harbour with a 22 knot wind.  Luckily Tony and Sarah plus the marineros were there to help us into a very tight space between a tourist boat and a Menorquin Yacht along the harbour wall.  Once we were safely moored up after 23,8 nautical miles, we looked around to find ourselves in a stunning location, rest day tomorrow I think….

 

Well,  rest was not the order of the day for the first few hours on Sunday,  Tines was walked, the shopping was done and the boat was cleaned inside and out…. all before we hopped ashore for a bike ride round the historic city. This is a really beautiful place, with lots of little squares and narrow streets between the old churches and buildings. It was very windy today ….

There is a lovely street with arched walkways where there is a mix of tourist shops, delicatessens and cafes,  we would really like to come back here.  We enjoyed a fabulous tapas lunch with a glass of red wine,  patatas bravas the local pan amb oli but this time with serrano ham and an amazing burger with guacamole.  We wandered along back to the boat for a siesta and to watch the world go by and the storm clouds move in.  It was a good decision not to sail today but it now looks like we may be here for a few more days as the weather is very unsettled – still,  there is a lot more exploring to do here……

Monday saw us head off to the market and then for a bike ride along the coast line to the lighthouse,  there are some stunning properties here and a wonderful cala where we hope to come back and swim if the weather improves.

We watched a group of people learning to scuba dive,  what an idyllic location (but then I am biased since the only other time I have visited the island was on my first scuba diving holiday)  The wind and clouds continue and now we are weather watching since there is a yellow weather warning for storms over the island of Menorca for the next couple of days.  More dodging the weather and bike riding are probably in order for us.

 

I took an amazing sunrise walk along the breakwater with Tines before we set sail again,  in extremely calm conditions heading to Menorca.

The crossing was flat calm with no wind,  which actually made it almost boring,  although the fact that we could see Menorca all the way made it more interesting.  We took turns on the helm and Tines slept all the way !!  When we arrived at Port de Ciutadella we navigated our way along a narrow channel into the town port which is absolutely stunning.

Once we found the entrance to the channel we came up really slowly and the city just unfolded in front of us, it was really exciting and a great way to arrive.

We were told to moor on the first pontoon, which we did (once again, no marineros to help us!) – although on further looking around we realised this may not be the first pontoon it may be the second.  Sure enough the marineros came along to tell us we were in the wrong place,  we should have been on the first pontoon which was somewhat obscured by fishing boats – so,  we had to move,  which skipper Nigel did really well and once again we settled onto a new mooring.  We heard a securite announcment on the radio (which is a general warning) for Gales in the area so tomorrow looks like a rest day again!!  You can see from the photos that the clouds are looking quite ominous and this photo was taken once we had moved to our new mooring, just half an hour after we arrived….

We had great fun saying goodbye to Sigrid and KarlEdward on S/Y Chabils,  they left just before us and went to fuel up, meaning that they were following us out of the harbour. We all enjoyed waving and taking photos before they headed to Colonia de Sant Jordi and we headed north for the short(ish) trip to Cala Ratjada.

The conditions were much improved on yesterday and it meant that we could at least motor sail all the way with the sun eventually coming out mid afternoon.  There is more stunning coastline to be seen here and we had an enjoyable day on the sea before we came into Cala Ratjada.

This is a very small harbour and we were the first to moor up on the Ports authority mooring spaces,  shortly followed by two more yachts.  We were berthed right next to the cafe bar (very handy!) and we had a relaxing evening aboard watching all the activities of the port.

So,  we arrived here on Sunday,  anticipating a couple of days enforced rest due to two weather fronts moving in on our location and also on Menorca, where we are headed.  It’s a lovely place here so we were happy to take a few days rest.  We are berthed on the town quay opposite the Starfish Glass Bottomed Catamaran and the fishing boats so plenty to keep skipper Nigel occupied watching all the activities.

And on Monday this was the view from the window !  Our first rain since we made the crossing to Ibiza

On Tuesday it was market day here so we went off for a browse along the one street of market stalls, we came back with a bunch of grapes and bulbs of garlic !  We didn’t exactly push the boat out!!  I also took an hour out to head off to the launderette to do all our washing,  very easy although nowadays it is all self-service,  there was no “Dot Cotton” to help me !!  The weather is now sunny and cloudy but also windy, very windy,  you know it’s not a  sailing day when you see windsurfers in the harbour

On Wednesday,  we were hoping to be able to set sail but the conditions were still really windy so no sailing for us today.  We took a bike ride out to the beach and saw the breaking waves over the shoreline,  definitely a good decision to rest today, although Nigel would argue that the bike ride was quite enough exercise.  We came back to port and enjoyed our 2^nd Italian meal of our stay here, since the local Italian restaurant has a truly superb value for money lunch offering,  we have enjoyed calzone, spaghetti bolognaise, pizza and lasagne – all absolutely delicious, especially with a lovely glass of red wine.

Today looked good for us so we checked and double checked the forecast,  I spoke to the marineros in the port to get advice and sure enough the conditions were calming so we set off ….. as we rounded the headland past the lighthouse we quickly realised that the sea state was not as predicted.  It was much worse,  Skipper Nigel suggested turning back,  we tried to continue on but it very quickly became clear that this was the only way and skipper was right !!  So for the first time on a sailing trip we turned back and headed back to port.  It was not that it was not possible to sail – if we had been heading back to Sant Jordi we would have a had an amazing sail,  it was simply that the conditions were against us trying to head in a northerly direction and we could not make any speed at all.  In addition it was fairly high seas and quite uncomfortable sailing so the return was sensible.  We shouted over to our new Norwegian friends from the yacht Chablis who helped us back onto our berth,  headed back to the office and arranged one more night here, we had been less than 3 miles there and back!  Hopefully we can try again tomorrow and the sea will have calmed enough for us to continue….. watch this space …..

 

 

 

Head to very minimal wind today (again!) for the 20 nautical mile trip up the coast, the coastline is spectacular and we motor sailed close to the shoreline.  We were joined by a flotilla of aircraft (probably the wrong word!) giving us a fly-past which was spectacular.  We saw some amazing properties on the cliffs and hotels along the coastline.  We arrived in Porto Colom around 3pm and berthed on the town quay alone (no friendly marineros or nearby sailors to help us this time!), we then helped another boat berth alongside us before we relaxed with a refreshing beer.  Porto Colom seems like a great place,  we’ll find out more tomorrow when we have another enforced rest day since there is stormy weather on the horizon.  Finally there are a couple of photos of me !  One adjusting the flag and the other on the helm, Tines had a great day too !

Well what else to do with a day off sailing !  So we went on a bit of an explore round this small seaside town, and we found an aquarium!!  In our excitement we headed straight in,  it was a very small version of the Deep in Hull,  but with different tanks showing the different marine environments in the national park – fascinating.  We are still not too sure if we like aquariums but the accompanying descriptions were really interesting all about the underwater world here and on Isla Cabrera.  When we finished the aquarium we went to the top of the building where there were amazing views across the sea to the islands.  Apparently this part of the world has been used as a trading post since 4BC when the Phoenicians came to trade around the islands off this part of Mallorca! (you learn something new everyday).

So – what to do when you realise you’ve missed breakfast because you were in an aquarium and you are too early for Spanish lunchtime – go for a chinese of course !!  We headed to the chinese restaurant right on the edge of the marina with fantastic views and enjoyed a set meal, trying to remember the last time we had a chinese, which was possibly in Cottingham when nephew Oliver was a baby … 4 years ago !!!!

We spent the evening watching the tourist boats come and go from the jetty just opposite the boat which is always fascinating.

 

Light winds greeted us today as we went from Portals across Palma bay,  we had great views of all the cruise ships and the cathedral in the distance.  We also saw some amazing super yachts as we crossed the bay.  The shoreline was beautiful once we reached the other side and we enjoyed a couple of hours motor sailing to Colonia de Sant Jordi – neat the island of Cabrera.  This place is stunning,  we are again berthed on the town quay in what must be one of the most shallow harbours we will ever encounter.  We are looking out on yachts anchored off the beach and watching the tourist boats come and go to the island, which is part of the national park that we are now in.  This is stunning, I think we’ll stay a couple of days….

We saw a great yacht as we sailed today – it’s one of a series of charter boats named after drinks !  So far we have moored opposite “Merengue” , sailed past “Grappa” and now “Gin Tonic” – I wonder which one we’ll meet next ?

Tines enjoyed her day out too ….