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Sunday 18 August 2019

Ibiza to Mallorca

Tuesday 16th July 2019

Goodbye Ibiza. For now.


We raised anchor at 06:50 and headed out of Portinatx,  hoping for a good sail as the weather prediction for the day was 10 to 15 knots south easterly wind, with an easterly swell.  As we left Portinatx bay, we were treated to a beautiful sunrise over the mountain, which was a perfect ending to our time in Ibiza.


Punta des Moscarter
By 07:30 we had raised the jib and main sail but with the wind at 5 to 10 knots, we continued with a bit of help from the engine.  The sea state was calm, but with even a small northeast and southeast swell converging at the Punta des Moscarter, it was a very confused sea for a while.

By 09:00 we were only managing 2.5 to 3 knots under sail, so we kept the engine on to maintain speed.  Where was this 10 to 15 knots predicted?

By 10:00, with no sign of an increase in wind and still motor-sailing, Mark went down for an early siesta.  His back was still hurting and hauling up the anchor manually just aggravates it more.  Standing at the helm, on my own on a beautiful sunny calm day was quite humbling.  It's one of those days when you pinch yourself as you can't quite believe that you're so lucky to be here, doing this.

I was very excited to be going back to Mallorca as it holds lots of memories for me and there are places I wanted to show Mark.  We had also agreed that we would bring the grandchildren out to Mallorca for a weeks holiday.  

By 11:30 Mallorca was in sight, albeit hazy mountains under a cap of cloud. With 70% humidity it was all a bit murky but we knew we were on the right course as there were 14 other boats in eyeshot.  There was still no wind to speak of, but we were optimistic.

Mallorca in sight
By 13:30 the wind had dropped to nothing and the sea was glassy.  As we were crossing the deep water between the islands we hoped to sea some marine life, but nothing, even with a flat sea there was nothing.  Mark lowered the sails, but kept the mainsail raised for visibility as it's better when there's no wind.

Mountains of west Mallorca 
And on we ploughed, chugging away under engine. Even when the sea breeze kicked in, it only lasted for about 1/2 hour.  Although it was an uneventful passage, it was a hard one.  The sun and heat were relentless and with no wind to speak of, the cabin wasn't much cooler. The one thing that did lift our spirits and keep us going was the sight of the beautiful mountains of Mallorca looming up on the horizon. 

At around 17:30 we dropped anchor in the bay just past the entrance of Santa Ponsa marina and although there were a lot of boats, we found a good patch of sand and staked it as ours for the evening, glad that we had finally reached Mallorca.

Santa Ponça

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