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Jump to Mallorca or
Menorca
Well we are finally here. The crossing from Burriana (near Valencia) to San Antonio took 15 hours. San Antonio is a fantastic anchorage except for the Discos which go on to 0700 in the morning!!!! During our stay the wind reached over 35 knots but the anchor held very well. The small marina is very friendly and will let you have showers or take on water or relax in their club house.
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A visit to Ibiza town was a must, however I wish we had stayed in Paradise. We anchored near the entrance and during the night, someone swam out to the boat and stole our dinghy which was tied on the stern.......after hours in the local police station there seemed little chance of recovering the dinghy . The Marinas in Ibiza are both very expensive and usually full, so there was no alternative except to buy a new one. Our Insurance company Pantaenius were terrific and settled our claim without any fuss! Mallorca more pictures soon! Andraitx was the first port of call, very magnificent, but again no room at the Marina!!! After a very uncomfortable night on anchor we left for El Arenal the other end of the bay of Palma . Arenal was where we honeymooned some 26 years earlier! The marina has a swimming pool which was refreshing as the temperatures were approaching 40 degrees Celsius.The local buses are cheap and air conditioned so we made the trip to other end of the bay, past myriads of hotels, visiting the lovely old City of Palma in 41 degrees Celsius. We spent 3 nights on "R&R" (rest and recuperation) before leaving for Colonia San Jordi where we stayed for 3 nights. We anchored in Porto Colom due to very unsettled weather and it proved to have good holding and shops. Porta Petra is a lovely small cala but gets quite crowded in the evenings. The best plan is to sink your hook early and scare off the late-comers. Porto Cristo is another very sheltered cala. We went into the marina to fill up with water, swim in the pool and visit the caves of Drach. Marina stops for R&R and water were averaging about every 10-14 days the rest of the time anchoring. When the weather was hot, anchoring was the coolest option.
Our last stop in Mallorca was near Cala Ratjada. We arrived in the evening at Cala Guya, a perfect white sand beach, crystal clear water, perfect if you didn't look left and see the multi-storey hotels but the tourists had taken their towels from the beaches and gone to the discos.
We weighed anchor and left early, as the daily invasion of tourists, banana boats and jet ski's arrived to disturbed the tranquility. The 50 miles sail to Menorca from Cala Guya, was very smooth. Ciutadella our first port on Menorca was fascinating, a narrow natural harbour which had been used by generations of invaders and traders, but so crowded and expensive (for us yachties).Mooring on the visitors quay is British style, side on with fender boards and springs. Those arriving later have to anchor and tie their sterns to any rock on the shore...........
The weather had improved so it was safe to visit numerous small callas on the rugged North Coast.
More on the Southern coast to follow.....
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