En route to Puerto Soller

July 2019

Following our stay in Puerto de Andraitx we headed out to start exploring the north coast, from Isla Sa Dragonera to Puerto de Soller.  I had visited Soller a few times as a young girl and wanted to show Mark the beauty of Soller, Valldemossa and Deià.

Leaving Puerto de Andraitx early afternoon we knew that we wouldn't get to Puerto de Soller until way after sunset, so we decided to take our time, enjoy the scenery and drop anchor along the way.

Isla Sa Dragonera

Hurray, the wind was with us and although the forecast was for variable winds, once outside the shelter of the harbour entrance, we had a light south westerly wind with a 0.5-1.0 metre swell, which made for comfortable sailing. So, with foresail and mainsail up I had a happy skipper! 


It took us about an hour to get to the entrance of the channel between Isla Sa Dragonera and the mainland.  With the wind as it was, we downwind gybe tacked to keep up a decent speed and reduce the risk of gybing in the 1 metre swell funneling in the channel.

Unfortunately the wind died before we reached the end of the channel,  so it was back to chugging along on the engine, but at least we'd had a couple of hours sailing. 

Coastline from Isla Sa Dragonera 

Once we had got through the passage between Dragonera and the mainland, we were greeted with spectacular scenery.  Talk about rolling hillsides, this was just mountain upon mountain upon mountain. 

I had an inkling of what the scenery would be like, having been over it by land, but nothing could have prepared us for just how jaw dropping beautiful it was.

We carried on motoring for another couple of hours.  The scenery was enough to keep us occupied and the time soon past, but as it was starting to get late, we needed to find somewhere to drop anchor. We saw a number of boats anchored in Cala de ses Ortigues, which is east of Punta de na Foradada, so went in for a look. 

Cala de ses Ortigues

Although the anchorage was quite crowded when we arrived (around 30+ boats),  we knew by experience that by 20:00 it would be practically empty because most of the boats are either charter boats or boats owned by locals who take their families out for the day or have groups of young people on them listening to music and just having fun. 

With this in mind, we dropped anchor in 14 metres of sand in this beautiful bay with a backdrop of woods and inland cliffs.  And yes, by dusk it had cleared out and with no one in close proximity to us, Mark dropped our stern anchor to stop Offbeat rolling with the waves in the night.

All that was left to do was settle down for supper and another beautiful sunset.

The next morning we woke to find that there was only 4 boats (including us) in the anchorage.  We felt very lucky to be waking in such a glorious place, with water that was so clear you could see the ripples of the sand.  

I should say that by now, the daily temperature was in the mid 30s and night time temperature didn't fall to much below 27 degrees.  Humidity in the boat was a constant battle, ranging from 70 to 85% most of the time.  So, with crystal clear blue water enticing you, there was nothing for it but to jump in and have a glorious swim before breakfast.

After our swim and breakfast, we headed out of the cala.  We had noticed the previous night that there was some sort of fishing installation in the northern corner of the cala, but didn't really take much notice of it.  However, on our way out Mark saw something  very similar to a dolphin fin swimming in the marked area.

He told me about it as we headed out, so I got the binoculars to have a look.  I couldn't see anything but Mark couldn't leave it, if it was a dolphin he wanted to do something to help release it.  

So we headed back in and saw quite a few people either on paddle boards or in dinghies around the fishing area.  One who spoke good English confirmed it was a dolphin and explained that divers were in the water opening the trap doors so that it could get out.  Reassured that rescue was at hand, we headed out of the cala and headed north.

Rolling mountains of
Sierra de Tramontana 

There was a bit of westerly wind, albeit very light, so Mark raised the Foresail, but then replaced it with the ghoster.  We sailed with the ghoster for a few hours, but after being at the helm for a couple of hours (whilst Mark had his siesta) and only doing 1 to 2 knots, we took the ghoster down and put the engine on.  Don't get me wrong, I too love the tranquility of the wind rustling the sails and the sea gently lapping past, but when you're doing it in 35 degrees with very little shade and the scenery isn't changing, it can get a bit tedious.

Having said that, some of the scenery was outstanding.  From the calas of Valdemossa and Deià, to the rock formation of Punta de sa Foradada and the rolling mountains of the Sierra de Tramontana, we were mesmerised. 

Cala Banyalbufar

Cala Deià

Cala Valdemossa 

Punta de Sa Foradada

Puig Major in the distance

With Puig Major watching over us, we finally arrived in Puerto de Soller late afternoon.  










The Anchorage was already very crowded and as we were setting our anchor, Mrs Bouquet from the boat next to us stood on deck with hands on hips informing us they had 30 meters of anchor chain out.

Puerto de Soller

Boats continued to pour in at a rate of about one every couple of minutes.  The poor woman next to us was having kittens and last we heard, they had 50 meters of anchor chain out.

Ho him, first world problems. 

Sunse

Now, where's that wine!