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| View of Santa Ponsa anchorage from our lunch spot |
Saving the east coast of Ibiza for later we trundled on over to Mallorca instead and our first stop was the popular anchorage of Santa Ponsa. Having spent more than enough time there a couple of summers ago trying to sort out our engine issues this visit was short and sweet. Enough time to bump into our neighbour from Aguadulce and enjoy a delicious lunch with a view. We were back on Mallorca hoping to catching up with some long lost friends.
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| At anchor in Punta Negra |
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| Millionaires row, Puerto Portals |
We continued on eastwards and stopped in a small bay in the lee of Punta Negra, a stones throw away from busy Palma Nova and the infamous resort of Magaluf. We just about had enough shelter from some strong south easterly winds so we stayed put for a few days. There was a very handy landing stage for our dinghy which led to a path along the seafront and amazingly on to a large Mercadona supermarket with a laundry next door. A cruisers delight! We contacted old friends John and Mags who have an apartment nearby. As luck would have it, it turned out that they also have a mooring in next door Puerto Portals which we were kindly offered the use of.
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| View of Portals anchorage |
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| Make Love Not War - Portals |
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| Flower Power - Portals |
Needless to say we scooted round to Portals the next day only to find some cheeky Spaniard had attached themselves to the mooring. We anchored instead in a small patch of sand and stayed put for a couple of weeks. We got the fright of our lives returning to our dinghy late one night only to find it was no longer on the beach where we had left it. Memories of a similar incident in Sicily came flooding back. The marina security didn't want to know so we were resigned to a night on the grass as there was no means of returning to the boat, apart from a long swim of course... A few hours later, long past midnight, we decided to have one last look on the beach and this time spied something in the far distance. No doubt some kids having a play but it taught us a lesson. A ladder in the marina dock between the motor boats proved a much safer spot. It was great to catch up with John and Mags again and we enjoyed their hospitality in their wonderful apartment overlooking the marina. We also got to know Portals rather well too. It is where the jet set like to moor their boats, good for beautiful people watching and the odd exotic fast car as well! The Little Bar became our regular for the World Cup ups and downs and the marina hosted a very colourful Flower Power rock and roll event.
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| Palma |
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| Palma waterfront and cathedral |
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| Early morning in Palma Nova |
Our anchor was so firmly dug in we decided to venture further on foot rather than by boat. We hopped on a bus for the half hour journey into Palma. We spent a lovely day being reminded what a great city Palma is and how much we enjoyed our winter there fourteen years ago. We have kept up with good friends Mandy and Gra from our time back then and it was fabulous to see them again too. They took us up to the nearby village of Portals Nous for a meal at a good old British pub. We met up for a second time in Palma for a "quiet" drink and bite and only just made the last bus home! With some strong winds forecast from the west we finally retrieved our long lost anchor and took shelter in Palma Nova bay. The storm passed through but thankfully not the tsunami that drenched Andraix a few bays up from us.
Reacquainted with a couple of our favourite Palma bars!
Everyone mentioned how lovely Es Trenc anchorage was and couldn't believe we'd never been. American friends we'd met in Tunisia a few years back were heading our way on their yacht, Horizons, so we decided to meet up there. We had a bouncy five hour passage eastwards to this delightful bay with crystal clear blue water. It has a wild and natural feel with an undeveloped green backdrop. Quite rare for Mallorca. We spent four lovely evenings catching up with Vince and Barbie. Time to give our livers a rest and we left them to explore more of Mallorca while we made our way south again and back to the heady delights of Ibiza.
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| Horizons at anchor in Es Trenc |
