The hoiliday is over

So our holiday on Majorca with the family was over. Time to press on. Whilst in Santa Ponsa a guy stopped to admire 'Curly' ( the boat, not Susan ). We chatted for a while and he asked where we were going next. We said Palma but that it was expensive. " I have a berth in Club de Mar, Palma, you can use it for a couple of nights if you wish". How very kind ! So the next day we set off for berth 5018, at the exclusive Club de Mar. The marina was huge and full of super yachts when we arrived. We found 5018 and as we reversed into the berth a marinero appeared on his Vespa scooter. " Not possible", "Move, move ". We ignored him until we'd finished tying up then I went across. " I have permission from the owner, Tony Orly. " " You move, not possible you stay here". It was not until I mentioned " I speak with Matteo ( the managers name )" that things looked up. Using the marineros phone I spoke to Matteo who was very nice but insistent that he needed authority. I rang Santa Ponsa, asked them to ring Tony and ask him to ring Matteo and give permission. By the time I got into Matteos air conditioned office it was sorted. "Welcome Mr Mills, a pleasure to meet you " The maintenance man then came to hook us up to shore power. Big Mistake. He disconnected our plug end and rewired and bigger one on, then left. It all worked ok. The problem comes later. The following morning our friend Shirley, who is a yacht broker in Palma came to see us. " you jammy beggars, getting a freebie in Club de Mar. Its 130 euros a night" Not bloody worth it says I. Still, it was great to have a chin wag with Shirley. As we left the boat Susan nearly fell in the harbour as she attempted an assisted leap from boat to quay, only to be saved by Shirley and me from slithering into the drink !! Shirley then kindly gave us a lift to a ferreteria ( hardware shop ) for another camping gaz bottle. So now we have three. Shirley then gave us a lift back and mentioned the possibility of me doing some work as there representative in Greece. No problem says I. I'm ready for a new part time job. We got some fuel additive delivered to us on the quay by a company called Bosuns locker who are three brit guys. Very good service and prices. We were leaving the following day so we asked to be disconnected from the shore power. Mr Grumpy to do it. Huffio Puffio !! Next day we moved on after being stung for 30euros for the connect and disconnect job. Wot a con. We had a lovely trip around to Porto Petro which was recommended to us by Terry and Emma. It certainly is beautiful. It was a hot still afternoon when we arrived and quite idyllic. There are mooring buoys here so we promptly hooked onto one. We we just settling down when the 'man in the red rib' came and told us the one we were on was already booked. We had to move. But he kindly let us go on another across the bay. That night was gorgeous, with a full moon overhead, you did not want to go to bed. Bliss. Next day was our 35th wedding anniversary! and here we were living 'our dream'. It was a beatuful calm sunny morning as we set off for an anchorage near Alcudia. However as the day progressed dark skies appeared and the swell increased. As we rounded the headland off Ratjada the swell increased even more. Anchoring was now out of the question. We had two choices, go back 3+hrs or press on. He kept going and were met by a flotilla of boats going the opposite way. Did they know something we suspected? Then the rain, monsoon started. My god, did it rain. Visiblility was no more than 150 metres. £pm and we had nav lights and radar on. We had retreated into the wheelhouse but I still managed a few ariel acrobatics whilst reefing the mainsail. We decided to run for cover into Alcudia marina, but they would not answer radio or phone. We still went in and the marineros spotted us. Apparently it was a fiesta day so all the office staff had gone home. Hence no answer. We moored next to some brits who were sunning themselves. "Whats it like out there?" they asked, " Bloody awful" we replied as we cracked off the layer of salt. " Yeh, someone else said that earlier " Happy Anniversary Dear !!! We had some good chat with some resident brits who recommended the internet site Meteo france who do an excellent weather bulletin daily. Vastly superior to anything the spanish do. Alcudia is a good marina, I can understand why people use it to overwinter. We walked to Old Alcudia which is a fascinating town inland. A labyrinth of alleyways and restored city walls ( yeh, a bit like Carlisle, but then again ...).
Leaving Majorca behind us we set off for Minorca and Cala Maccarella, where our dream of living on a boat first started. It wa 45 miles across and we had a lovely trip over. We arrived at Maccarella at 1700hrs and it was busy. We found a place to drop the hook and once the day boats had left the place seemed less frantic. That night we put on Enya-Paint the Sky with stars on the ipod, it was a special moment for us, something we had talked about for a long time. Next morning we went exploring in the dinghy around the coves and caves. I swam round Curly giving her waterline a scrub as I went. All very relaxing. After a couple of nights we moved on to a narrow cala called Biniparratx. This was a good one night stopover, we then moved on towards Mahon. We intended anchoring in San Esteve but when we got there realised it was just too busy and narrow. We went into Mahon and after a lap of the harbour dropped the anchor in Cala Teleura, behind the island. Our first attempt went badly wrong. We dropped in plenty depth but the wind changed and swung us into shallows. We grounded. Arghhh!!! Plenty revs and a blast of bowthruster got us off and saved our embarrasement. We re-anchored in much deeper water. Susan had been feeling a bit homesick and missing the little ones so I rang the kids and chatted with them on loudspeaker with Susan listening. They were all on fine form and Susan felt much better after it ( she did not want to talk incase she got upset ).