Category: Adventures

Not all our adventures are on the water, on Monday we motored from Formentor to Port Pollenca and found a berth at Club Nautico. After running a few errands, we jumped in a cab and went to the old town of Pollenca.

We won’t forget Pollenca, because of the enduring memory of climbing up and down, her 365 steps up to the Inglesia Calvari.  We have been doing a lot of walking, mainly on flat avenues and laneways but this was steep.  The views over the town were worth it and made the tapas we found on our descent, even more delicious.

Tuesday we sailed to Menorca, we started out with little wind, but once we were out of the bay of Pollenca, the wind freshened to about 15 to 20 knots and the boys decided it was time to get out the asymmetrical spinnaker.  Blue did a splendid job on the bow and Mercier clearly loved the run under sail.  What looked like a boring four hours under motor turned into an enjoyable sail.

 

Approaching the island, you immediately notice the difference in the coastline.  Mallorca was sheers cliffs driving straight out of the water.   Menorca is like a flat plain above it. We arrived in Ciutdella, a beautiful old Medieval city, with influences from the Moors, Spanish and English.

There is a beautiful bridge near the Port and wonderful streets for our endless strolls.

Time to get moving, so enjoy the pictures.

There are three types of wind in the Med, according to folklore and local knowledge: Too much wind, too little wind and wind coming directly from where you would like to go.

We have decided that this local knowledge is truth, pure and simple.  We had to wait for days to leave France to sail to Palma.  We have seen a couple of days where it wasn’t worthwhile putting up the sails, because there wasn’t any breeze. On Thursday we managed to get to Soller, but Friday had us leaving for Andratx and it was dead on the nose. At this point the question begins to be, do we want to slog away in this wind for four hours or will we just sail back to Andratx and enjoy Rossini’s tuna carpaccio? No prizes for guessing, we went around the Islla de Dragonera and into a cove near Andratx and made a lovely lunch.  After a short but chilly swim, we attempted sailing to Soller once again, but in the end, we went back to Andratx.  For those of you who remember, we didn’t see Christopher Skase here, he did have developments in Andratx but they never came to fruition.

Saturday morning, there was no wind, so we cruised under motor to Port Soller and upon arriving Rene and Gaila took the electric tram to old Soller town and wandered around lanes and plazas looking at the architecture and generally people watching. The four of us went to a Port Soller waterfront cafe and had a sumptuous dinner of paella and sangria.

 

Sunday morning, sunny skies beckoned us to the Torrent de Pareis, a beautiful bay with a sandy white beach.  Rene spotted two wild Mallorcan mountain goats, a shy doe and a rather amourous boc (male).  The doe was clever, backing into small cave like openings or jumping quickly with great agility, escaping his designs. All of this over a bay of clear aqua water and a white sandy beach, under tall cliffs.

The coastline of western Mallorca is rugged with spectacular cliffs rising straight from the ocean.  Following the Treleaven recipe of enjoying the Med, we stop for lunch in a beautiful bay and in the afternoon make our way to the next overnight anchorage. Sunday’s anchorage is Formentor and it is postcard perfect.

Here is a message from Rene and some photos, we miss you all and wonder why you aren’t here.

Hi everyone, well here we are in paradise beautiful Azure blue water and silky white sand, the boat and tender are performing beautifully, the west coast is certainly different from the east…. we are heading to Menorca tomorrow and maybe catch up with David !!

Hope all are well at home……enjoy the photos !! 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

 

 

 

Finally all the repairs and extras are organised and we are ready to go. Simon Crutchley, our dealer, who looked after Mercier so well, came to farewell us at the dock.  Hard to imagine not seeing Simon every day, as we have been in such close contact for the past few months.  We are sure that we will see him next summer if not before.  Simon might even make it to Sydney.

 

We left Palma Harbour and sailed south and then west, stopping for our first swim of the season and lunch at Isla Malgrats.  The highlight of this was showing Rene and Blue the stern of the boat turn into a swimming platform. It folds down to make getting into & out of  the water so easy.

The water was brisk and the cliffs and rocks in the area were imperious. There was a little grotto in the rocks just behind us. Small blue fish swam up to the boat to collect any tiny bit of food that went over the side.  They were voracious as well as beautiful.

After lunch we sailed to Andratx and went for a wander along the waterfront.In Palma, one of our favourite restaurants was Rossini’s, with their amazing tuna carpaccio.  At the end of the waterfront, here was Rossini Mare’s, a sister restaurant, so we had a little glass of rose and tuna carpaccio on the waterfront.

A lovely day to begin the next stage of the journey. Happy Birthday to Linda, Bobby and soon it will be Allysia’s will be soon.

Here’s Rene, and more photos.

What a wonderful day to start our journey round the island of Mallorca, firstly Happy Birthday to my little bro Bobby turning 50….ahhh, well we are fully loaded with water, diesel and food, gentle breeze and blue sky….after a short motor stopped for a swim and lunch then off to Andratx, incredible blue water :)lots of super yachts dotting the bays…..overnight here then heading to Soller tomorrow 🙂

Still pinching myself !! would recommend an early booking with ‘Mercier’ for next year !!

Love to all, Rene and Blue 🙂 🙂

 

After a weekend of side trips to Soller on the electric train and the gorgeous little town of  Valdemossa, Monday was a day of anticipation.  That is because we were being joined by our very good friends, Rowena and Richard Chapman.

We laid in supplies of French champagne, brie, grapes and almonds.  James went to meet them at the airport and bring them back to Mercier. We went for a long walk around Palma and found a little Italian restaurant for dinner, after we had Mojitos at Mr Mojito.  Funnily enough, they asked Richard if he was a relative.

This morning, James made us a lovely brekkie of eggs with smoked salmon, capers and dill. He then stayed to work on the boat, while Richard, Rene and I marched along the waterfront into old Palma town, to the Cathedral and the three of us literally followed laneways and alleys for hours until we realised none of us had brought a map.

We stopped for coffee and a reconnoitre, Rene ran and found a map and we were able to follow the map to the classic Mallorcan  pastry shop, and back to the boat.  Along the way we went to Zara Men and kitted Richard up with some very new colourful shirts, darling.

Rene is now going to say a few words, this takes the place of the Sona log.

Hola, we are now in Palma and it’s beautiful, we have raised Blue’s remaining ball and sampling some fine champagne

 

 

 

Mallorca is sunny and warm and after our last few days in chilly Provence. W,e are making the most of it.  We moved from Puerto Portals to a marina in Palma. Still parked next to big beautiful yachts but this marina is not quite as large nor are the boats.

The first morning, the Guarda Civil were on the dock, busily chaining a 75 foot ketch to the dock, ostensibly because the owners haven’t paid their marina fees for a few years.  The bill is Euro 200,000.  We will make sure the marina fees are paid before we leave.

Packing away leggings and jackets, getting the boat ready for the rest of the season, this has been the past week’s activities.  Since yesterday was Sunday, we decided to take a drive up to Polença and stop in some lovely towns along the way.  This was virtually a drive down to Cap Blanc and then a drive up the east coast of Mallorca.  We left Palma and headed for Santanyi, a 700 year old town near the Natural Park of Mondrago.  We drove through the large town of Manacor which looked like a thriving centre of commerce.

We had a lovely lunch in Artà, a very old and lovely town that seems to have been preserved from the development rampant on much of the island.  The tiny street our restaurant was on seemed to be pedestrian traffic only, so you could sit outdoors under an  awning and relax with gazpacho and salad.

We left for Alcudia and the National Park of s’Albufera and on the way passed major developments of condos, resorts and villas.  Many of them going for a nice price as the area has overbuilt and the banks are worried. One set of resorts will be catering to the Germans and the next will be catering to our friends from the UK.  We stayed overnight in a nice resort in Polença for E62 per night.  Bargains abound.

We arrived at Alcúdia, ambled through the cobbled streets of the old quarter, with laneways and one or two story stone buildings through out.  Alcudia has kept it’s heritage and thankfully the condo developers haven’t managed egress here.  It is lovely to walk around and people watch.

Alcúdia is developed on Roman ruins and the fort like walls were built in the 1300’s, to protect landowners from pirates and rebelling peasants.

We left Alcúdia after climbing to the top of the walls and roaming around the cobblestoned streets and squares for Polença and it’s port.  We aren’t sure if we will be able to sail into Port Polença, as we may draw too much water but we would love to spend more time there.

Monday morning, back to wait for workmen to get Mercier into better shape. Hope you enjoy the photos.

 

We finally received our safety kit, loaded it on board and returned the rental car. All ready for an early start on Saturday. We awoke on Saturday morning, ready to go, breeze was forecast as 20 – 25 knots from the east, so it should be an easy reach to Palma, some 300 miles away. We fuel led up at Toulon Old Port and motored out of the Harbour. The way out of the harbour was   upwind so we motored for about an hour until we could unfurl the jib (but only 2/3 out) We then set course for Palma, only to find that the wind had increased to 30 knots and it was very uncomfortable. Given that this was our first sail and we were still not familiar with the boat, we decided to sail to Bandol which was downwind most of the way. wind was now gusting to 35, so we knew we had made the right choice. Arriving in Bandol just after mid day, we went alongside at the Capitanairre and had to wait until 2pm for them to return. Thankfully they found us a berth and we then set about mooring the boat, wind was gusting up to 45 knots at this stage, so mooring her was quite a challenge, however we got lots of help from the boats either side and we managed to get in without damage. The harbour master was a great hand and the bow moors to a chain which is in permanently in place. After a nice dinner ashore at a locals cafe, we retired for the evening only to be woken at 3am by a bang – the bow line had chafed through in the windy night. Managed to re-moor and go back to sleep. Looking at the weather forecast it appears we will probably be here for another night.

Bright and early this morning, James was up and applying the signwriting to Mercier, first the Squadron Emblem, then the name and finally Sydney.  There were a few expletives, although most were muttered, so as not to scare the neighbours.

Today was a public holiday, so no boat business, we decided to revisit Aix en Provence. Arriving at lunchtime, we strolled through the colorful market without buying to get to a lovely brasserie for a meal. This market has homewares, mainly linen as well as women’s clothing and shoes.

After lunch the markets were closed but we were able to walk  around the old town and see a few shops open and look inside, many others were closed, but the people watching was fairly amazing.  Three young men walking around in white lab coats with painted formulas and pictures, singing and hooting and generally having a good time. Crowds of tourists and holiday makers filled the streets, which are mainly pedestrian thoroughfares.

As we were walking down a busy street full of pedestrians, I noticed a young girl about 3 years old.  Very confident and curious, Mademoiselle 3 was having a grand time.  We thought it was odd that she didn’t follow her Mother into a shop, but thought she was near other family.   A few blocks later on, we realised she was still beside us and we began to realise she was lost. Even a confident 3 year old shouldn’t be walking around Aix on her own.  So I said Ou est Maman? I went blank on my French and told her to come with me with hand gestures.  We retraced our steps and about two blocks back we see a lady running and looking frantic.   Mademoiselle trois, who gave a shout to her very pregnant mother, who burst into tears as soon saw little Ms 3 year old.

A happy reunion and also happy for us, because we were worried even if Mme 3 wasn’t.

We finished up in the Park at La Seyne Sur Mer for the Salon Espirit du Vin, which was an exposition of wines from the region, France, Alsace and Corsica.  We tasted several and bought a few for the Mercier cellar. They also had  lots of truffles, condiments and foods from the same regions.

All in all, even though it wasn’t a boat day it was very enjoyable.

Remember reading A Year in Provence? The chapter when they are trying to renovate and the materials are always coming the next day or the next…  We are experiencing our own bit of laissez-faire here because the safety pack didn’t make it.

Tomorrow is a holiday, so we are stuck in limbo until Friday.  Maybe we will take a jaunt up to Chateau neuf de Pape? And Aix en Provence will be close by. The wind makes the boat strain and dance to  St Vitus’ tune.

Tonight we will dream of sailing to Hobart, but at least we won’t be on the weather rail.