Fall 2020 – Spanish Balearic Islands

September 12 – 22, 2020

On September 11, 2020 we embarked on our first overnight sail. It was a 22-hour sail from Palamos to Fornells, Menorca. We sailed most of the way with good winds and arrived 2 hours before ETA at 08:30 with dolphins greeting as we approached Menorca. With a small current Chinook clocked 11.2 knots SOG at one point during the passage. It was a touch early upon arrival to crack open the traditional post docking beer but we don’t like to break tradition.

Fornells is a very nice town in a beautiful bay. It is a wonderful anchorage, well protected from almost all winds and swell. It was a great spot to get some R&R after our overnight passage. We were on a mooring ball for 2 nights. We enjoyed the local tapas and each day ended with a dip off the stern in the clear blue sea to cool off.

On September 14 we had a good sail to Ciutadella, a historic port city on the west coast of Menorca. Our new code D sail (aka Pink Panther) performed well along the trip. We docked at Club Nautic in a picturesque and charming port.

We enjoyed walking around the old quarter and medieval streets. The main square, Plaça des Born, is home to an impressive Gothic-style City Hall. Restaurants were busy requiring reservations. We stopped here again on our way to Mahon. We enjoyed a rare dinner out at a very nice restaurant where the owner ironically did some of her schooling overseas in Grand Rapids, Kathie’s hometown in Michigan.

On September 15 we travelled south to Mallorca. On the morning of departure, we were remined that rushing things can sometimes lead to mistakes. When departing, we decided to wait until the French boat on our port side completely cleared the dock as they seemed to be in a rush to get away. We saw them cast off their stern lines and, although we did not watch them closely, we had assumed that they had already cast off both bow lines attached to the anchored laid lines out in the fairway. The skipper throttled the boat forward with some authority but shortly thereafter the bow was yanked abruptly to starboard and the stern pivoted out to port. Fortunately this all happened well clear of Chinook and there was no boat on their port side. In their haste, they had forgotten to cast off their starboard bow line. No damage done other than to their sailing pride.

It was another hot day. No wind which meant we had ample time to do some chores along the way – polishing, cleaning the upper deck (including the Inox) and linseed oil for the woodwork.

We anchored in Cala Magraner surrounded by high cliffs which is a popular spot for climbing. The Cala also turned out to be a popular spot for boaters with 5 boats already anchored. The wind had picked up and so did the seas. We chose a spot close the mouth of the Cala taking care to avoid the sea grass. We did an anchor check in the clear blue water and all was well.

During the early evening a few more boats joined the Cala. The winds increased and changed frequently causing swell in the Cala making our night somewhat unpleasant. In the morning we ended up pointing 180 degrees opposite of what we were when we went to bed. We left the next morning for Isle de Cabrera at the southern tip of Mallorca. We had good winds for most of the trip.

Cabrera Island was not to be missed. A National Park since 1991 has kept Cabrera and surrounding islands an untouched paradise. You need a permit and reservation to moor in the natural port of Porto de Cabrera located at the NE of the island. Beautiful hot weather and clear blue water made for a wonderful 2 night stay.

We climbed up to the 14^th century fortress (at the port entrance) which originally served as defence against pirate attacks. The view was spectacular.

During the Peninsular Wars this island was a prison for 1,900 French soldiers many of which died from starvation and disease. Walking trails around the island led you to a monument and cemetery for the soldiers. There was also a museum with displays of the history and ecology of the island. The relatively untouched coastline has a wealth of species native to the Balearic Islands including small black lizards seen along the trails.

There was only one commercial enterprise on the island and that was a small Cantina on the beach offering snacks and cold beer. A welcome treat after our hike! Another small world story. The owner of the Cantina grew up in Mexico and for some of the summers in her youth, she was sent to a camp on a lake just outside Peterborough, home of a good friend of Charlie’s and not very far from where Charlie spent his summers at his family’s cottage.

To get to Tunisia, the best route was to sail to Sardegna and then onto Tunisia. We sailed up to Mahon, Menorca (our hopping off spot to Carloforte, Sardegna). Our sail on September 20 started off well as we raised Pink Panther (our new Code D sail) to gain more speed in the 10-13 knot winds. Not long after, the halyard shackle released and our new sail dropped instantly into the sea. We could not believe our eyes. We both scrambled to pull this huge sail up and over the starboard lifelines. We were lucky there was no damage and fortunate to have a spare halyard that we used to raise the sail from the deckand furl it. Lesson learned: be sure the halyard snap shackle “snaps” closed.

We arrived in Mahon at the floating docks in Puerto de Mahon. In non-Covid times we heard these docks were lively and social but this time there was only 1 other boat distanced on the dock. The marina had a designated dinghy dock onshore to allow us to get to the town. Our outboard gave us a good workout each time we used it as it was very difficult to start and would often stall when slowing it down to go into forward gear. The dock was too far to row in the wind. Each time we went into town, we had to go through the “starting” theatre of numerous pulls on the starter cord, sputtering, swearing and short running bursts with intermittent stops. It was not Charlie’s favourite time.

Mahon (Mao) was a larger town/city and more industrial than Ciutadella. It is the capital of Menorca. It has a very large protected harbour with the Spanish Naval Academy occupying part of it close to where we moored. The town was straight up from the harbour. Made for good exercise. Numerous narrow and interesting streets and many old British style mansions lining the streets. A legacy of the many years it was ruled by the British, particularly the British navy.

We did not realize it at the time but the rest of our trip was now going to be even more different. Up to now, the experience of visiting the ports and anchorages was relatively normal although many sites, markets and attractions were closed and we chose not to visit large cities and avoided large gatherings of people. We were missing some of the atmosphere of the ports and restaurants but it was still enjoyable. But hereafter, because Covid cases in Europe were accelerating, the compliance with the ever changing rules and restrictions of each country became a dominant focus of our days. The new norm was uncertainty and anxiety regarding the ability to enter countries and the mobility restrictions being imposed by each country, including quarantine requirements. Accompanying this was the requirement to complete dozens of forms every time we moved the boat and Covid tests.

Because Spain was on the EU’s Covid naughty list, to enter Sardegna from Spain we needed to fill out numerous forms and either go into quarantine while waiting for a Covid test to be done when we arrived in Sardegna or get a Covid test before we left Mahon and arrive in Sardegna within 72 hours of the test. The marina in Carloforte, Sardegna, our destination, told us that a Covid test in Carloforte could take up to 8 days. Fortunately, the marina in Mahon gave us the contact of a private clinic in Mahon where we could obtain the test on short notice and have the results emailed to us.

We started reviewing our departure opportunities on PredictWind for the best day to embark on our 36 hour sail to Sardegna. This was our first 2 night sail. Before we could head out we needed to complete one task which was to retrieve the halyard left at the top of the mast after our sail splashed into the water yesterday. Kathie volunteered to go to the top in the bosun chair. She also had a back-up climbing harness on. She was connected to the mainsail halyard and also connected to the other spinnaker halyard as a back-up. Charlie safely maneuvered the halyards and winches below. The mission was successful. Another first for this trip.