Playa Trench and Isla Gabina

Saturday was Tessa's last day with us so we had to get to dry land by around 1600 in time to shower and get a taxi to the airport. So, we decided to anchor off one of Mallorca's best beaches, Playa del Trench, for lunch and a swim before heading into a small, mainly fishing, marina in the village of S'Estanyol. The water off the beach was a glorious turquoise, the sun lighting the rippled sand 3 or 4 metres down. It wasn't as smooth as swimming in the cala and the odd wave would splosh you in the face. We motored the couple of miles into the marina and were surprised that it was more expensive than the Real Club Nautico in Palma! It was a real "Locals" place though and as we sat with Tessa on the veranda of the club bar, hearing only Spanish being spoken as opposed to German or English we were happy to be booked in for a couple of nights. The staff helpfully ordered a taxi and we waved Tessa off, hoping she'd had a good break from her working life in Britain.

We discovered that there was only a very small shop in the village but it had just about enough supplies for us to stock up for our intended stay at Isla Cabrera, a Nature reserve, south of Mallorca. The club office organised our permit to enter the restricted area and we were allotted four nights starting Tuesday. So Monday night we sailed back to Playa del Trench and anchored just south of it near Isla Gabina. That evening Mi-Lou anchored nearby, a motor sailing yacht that we had met back in Ceuta. Steve and Marion spent the evening on La Premiere and we caught up with gossip, including their encounter with a school of whales on their voyage from Ibiza to Mallorca. One actually bumped them but no damage fortunately!

Somehow midnight had crept up on us and passed, and it was around one o'clock by the time we went to bed. Catching up with friends is excellent and we're lucky enough not to have to surface at an early hour each morning!