Cala Mitjana, Porto Perto and Porto Colom

Our last morning in Cabrera dawned peaceful and calm. We decided to make an earlyish start in order to miss the northeast wind that was forecast for later so we could head for the east coast rather than back towards Palma. We sailed off the mooring under jib so as not to disturb the quiet of the bay and pottered at an incredibly slow half a knot out to the entrance where we decided to put the engine on. There was nil wind, which suited our slightly morning after the night before feelings from which we were both suffering. We motored past the little islets, which make up the Cabrera archipelago and headed northeast for the indented coastline of east Mallorca.

While Chris snoozed below I briefly contemplated unfurling the jib as a very light East wind picked up but soon thought better of it and just happily watched the rugged cliffs drift by, rocked not so gently by the wash of the swarms of motor yachts which frequently screamed by. We had chosen Porto Petro as our anchorage for the night as it would provide good protection from the wind and swell. We went into a small, pretty bay surrounded by woodland and villas, which had only one other yacht at anchor but soon found out why! One of the two beaches seemed to house a Club 18-30 bar and organised loud music for the punters to do "aquaerobics" in the sea! Then, just to make it more peaceful the lunchtime motor yachts (mainly German and straight from the marina only half a mile away) came in to anchor. It was very busy so rather than both go ashore in the dinghy Chris went alone to do the shopping while I kept watch over our home! It wasn't so bad until a tourist trip "Glass Bottom Boat" decided to join the melee and chose La Premiere as its centre point for circling the bay. I was not amused and was greatly relieved when Chris returned and the motor yachts went back to the marina! We had a fairly peaceful night and half contemplated staying another but decided instead to do a short hop (3 miles!!) up to Cala Mitjana, supposedly the most picturesque in the whole island.

As we arrived we saw a British yacht anchored near the entrance to the cala, in a not very sheltered spot so we went on by to find the bay very busy with day boats, out for a Sunday afternoon. We edged in cautiously and had to perform a tricky three-point turn, avoiding a long bow sprit and surrounded by shallow water to get out again, by which time a motor yacht had left and we decided to anchor in his place. Chris had dropped the anchor and we were reversing back when the British yacht we had first observed on our way in nearly reversed into us, muttering that he had been waiting for this spot! Chris had to fend him off the pulpit and was none too happy, explaining his feelings, in French I think. We put out a stern anchor to limit swinging and settled in by having a quick swim around the boat. It was a beautiful spot and we were glad that we had come round. Most of the boats left, and only four yachts were staying the night. And what a night it turned out to be. Somehow or other a ghastly swell was rolling round the corner and into the cala, which would not have been too bad except the cala was so narrow the swell reflected off all the cliff faces and bounced us around continuously, with whooshing noises as the water sucked in and out of the rocks. Needless to say, we hardly slept a wink and could not believe it in the morning when it calmed down again! We went ashore for a little explore, much of the land was private however and we were only allowed on the beach and along a little footpath. From there we observed the arrival of a charter yacht and we became anxious, as it seemed to be fending off La Premiere as it attempted to anchor. We hurriedly returned to the dinghy and paddled back to the boat and decided for all its beauty we'd had enough of Cala Mitjana and we would move on to Porto Colom.

Another long trip of less than 3 miles and we found ourselves in one of the most sheltered natural harbours on Mallorca. Like many places in the Med., Porto Colom claims to be the birthplace of the explorer Christopher Columbus, but who knows! It is a very picturesque setting, quayside fishing huts, colourful shuttered windows on the merchant style houses, cafes, bars and a golden stone built church on the north of the bay in La Colonia. There is a yacht club and marina but we chose to anchor close by to some fish farms, in a sandy muddy area with excellent holding. (So good in fact that when the time came to pull it up we had to use a fair bit of reverse engine to shift it!) Many yachts were moored on buoys and we were content to settle down for a few days while the wind got up. We watched yachts, through the binoculars, passing the entrance, being tossed about in some huge seas and wondered why on earth they didn't come in to shelter from it. We stayed for three nights, popping ashore for supplies and devouring books greedily as we didn't fancy swimming in the murky water. The wind calmed down on our third night and we planned to move on, though with an east wind forecast the next good shelter was about 45 miles away in Pollensa.