Our aim was to get to Turkey via Tunesia. However the three months hold-up in Morocco due to COVID meant we now had to deal with the July and August winds in the Southern Med and they are predominantly from the East, the so called “Levante”. After observing the weather pattern for two weeks when in Melilla we learned that no long enough weather window would open up to take us East so we changed plans.
We decided to go to the Balearics and to sail in a wide arc along the North of the Levante where the wind was less strong and easier to beat into. From Menorca the “Tramontana” or “Mistral” wind would take us to the South of Sardinia and from there to Sicily. We knew that the winds would turn in our favour once we reached the Eastern half of the Med.
The dotted line on the second photo is our actual COG. We had hoped to gain more ground to the East but as it turns out the leeway (sideways drift) of the boat is quite high. With 6 kts speed through the water the leeway was 1 knot meaning we lost 15 degrees against the steered course. This is a disadvantage of a cruising catamaran. Although we could sail @ 35 degrees to the wind the actual course was only 50 degrees making windward progress slow.
Trying to leave Melilla early morning Jul 17, the shorepower plug didn’t want to part with its female counterpart. After a lot of prying and pulling the complete socket came off, shorting the dockside wires. The marina took it well, realising the sockets were heavily corroded. At 09.30 we left.
We managed to salvage our plug!
Anthony was a bit concerned that we were heading out with the Levante blowing. The good man had consulted the Spanish weather forecast and insisted on briefing us before we cast off. So much compassion!!
But off we went, 15+ knots and beating into it. The boat performed well. We were surprised how high she could point into the wind but disappointed in the amount of leeway.
We were continuously sailing at the limit for the first reef. (18-20 kts apparent). Therefore at nightfall we decided to put in that first reef, just to be on the safe side, and performed the reefing procedure first thing after nightfall.
When looking up the sail the next morning it looked as if the top sail batten had broken.
Upon arrival at our first anchorage in Mazarron, Spain we could not lower the sail. Frits had to go up the mast and discovered that the extra line between the top two sail cars (to aid with lowering the sail) was caught behind the mast step in the top of the mast. This had ripped the top batten receptacle off the sail when putting in the first reef.
Lessons learned:
1) Make sail adjustments before nightfall. You cannot see what is happening up the mast in the dark. The few extra miles do not compensate for possible damage.
2) The “single line reef system”, designed so you should not have to leave the cockpit when reefing, is anything but “automatic”, as also experienced in subsequent occasions. We still have to go back and forth between the mast, the rear end of the boom and the cockpit to check if the sail folds well, no lines get caught in blocks, no chafing points are created or the luff of the sail isn’t caught somewhere.
3) Electric winches are incredibly strong. When reefing we adjust the lines to pre-marked positions corresponding with the respective reef. It is difficult to hear the resistance increasing on an E-winch with wind hauling and waves crashing, until it’s too late. With a manual winch you can feel the resistance.
We arrived in Mazarron Azohia anchorage on Jul 19 early morning after 46 hours at sea. From Melilla to Mazarron is 160 miles as the crow flies. We sailed 225 miles through the water, 40% more. We knew we had the worst behind us.
The next morning we were visited by the Guardia Civil. The very friendly officer stepped on board and took details of passports and ships papers. “Checking for illegal immigrants” was his justification.
We stayed a few days in this well protected bay at Azohia beach to recover from the 46 hours of continuous beating, to repair the sail and to relax. We fully provisioned the boat before leaving Melilla so we ate and drank well.
On July 23 early morning we left for the island of Formentera in the Baleares. The sailing was smooth and relaxed and we arrived at the Cala Saona anchorage early afternoon the next day. Since there was no moon, the night was pitch black with a beautiful starlit sky. We spend hours figuring out the different constellations with the ipad app; GoSkyWatch. Very educational and entertaining.
We stayed only for one night in Formentera since we were now clearly in “tourist territory”. Early morning the charter-boats rushed from the marina’s in Ibiza to the anchorages, complimented by jetski’s and macho powerboats. In the evening they rush back to the marina’s, to be repeated the next day, albeit rushing for a different anchorage. Nice to experience for a day or so, but not really our type of beer.
Next morning (Jul 25) we left at 11.00 am for Soller on the NW coast of Mallorca, the quietest coast of the island. It was surprisingly busy on the water despite the diminished tourism. We kept Ibiza island to port and arrived in Soller just before sun-rise at 04.30 am after a very pleasant night sail.
Soller is situated in a beautiful bay and is the only significant harbour and foul weather refuge on the NW coast of Mallorca. It is a fishing port but feels more like a resort town, with its long beach, the superyachts docked against the E-quay and the many restaurants.
Soller port came to prominence in the 13th century when it was the only stopover between the Balearic islands and Spanish mainland. After 1399 it became a trading post for agri products for Spain – South of France – Italy and North Africa. Soller town was build about 2 miles land inwards as a first defence against pirate raids. In 1913 a tramline was opened between the town and its port with the original carriages still in service today. We hopped on the tram to visit the attractive town. (click to enlarge).
Two B was very secure at anchor in the bay and we felt confident enough to leave our precious home for a long day to visit Palma, the capital of Mallorca. The trip on the Victorian train which connects Soller to Palma is a major tourist attraction, crossing the inhospitable Sierra de Tramontana (mountain range).
Since the advent of mass tourism in the 1950s, Palma has been transformed into a tourist destination and has attracted many workers from mainland Spain. The boom in tourism has caused Palma to grow significantly. In 1960, Mallorca received 500,000 visitors. In 2001 more than 19,200,000 people passed through Son Sant Joan airport near Palma, with an additional 1.5 million coming by sea.
Approx 80% of the population works in tourism, the main economic portal of Palma. The second economic portal of Palma is agriculture. Main exports of Palma’s agriculture are, almonds, oranges, lemons and olives.
The lockdowns must have a devastating effect on Mallorca’s economy. In Palma, many tourist attractions where closed or had restricted access. The streets and terraces were by far not as buzzy as what Frits can remember from his earlier Spanish holidays.
The Royal Palace was under “restricted access” but we arrived early enough to be allowed in.
The current palace, of Roman origin, is a modification of the Muslim alcazar (fortified Moorish castle) begun in 1281 after the reconquista (see History of Iberian Peninsula). Part of the fortifications is still used by the military command.
Two other major tourist attractions in the vicinity were closed due to COVID.
0800 am on July 30 we weighed anchor to move to our next destination “Punta de Calo” to the NE of Mallorca, only to find a bunch of concrete blocks wrapped around the anchor chain. The chain had thoroughly swept the harbour floor during the various windshifts in our 4 days in the bay. With a cordless multitool we cut the chain that held the blocks together and off we were.
We continued the next day to Calla Binisafulla on the SE of Menorca where we would wait for the Tramontana winds (Mistral) to take us to Sardinia, Italy. We arrived at dusk after a pleasant relaxed day sail. The coast is dotted with upmarket holiday homes. We were clearly still in holiday makers’ territory, albeit not as crowded as Mallorca.
We spend a few lovely days in this anchorage (See Map) preparing for our onwards journey, but that will be covered in the next post.
Thank you for reading our story.