A new country and new group of islands! And we got a guest from Norway!

It took us about 48 hours to sail from Sardinia to Menorca. At the end it was big waves and I was so glad when we arrive in the bay of Mahon. The anchorage Cala Teulera is very popular and use to be crowded if you arrive in the evening. We found a space for us and the first thing we saw was a Norwegian boat!

After we were sure the anchor held we took our dinghy over to Summerwind to check out who was onboard. The captain Ståle was very friendly and we were invited onboard. The day after he took us into town of Mahon. His dinghy was so much better than ours. For us in our dinghy it would be a long ride…

Mahon, Menorca

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The dinghydock.

Mahon is a nice town, but we didn`t see much of it.

The huge bay is very protected.

We walked around for a while. Ståle had been here before so he knew where to go.

We had a pizza before we took the dinghy back to our boats.

Ståle had some issues with network between navigation equipment, so Astor went over to help him with that. And he fixed it, of course, it was his job before we went on this journey. Ståle was so happy and talked about this for days!

In the evening we invited him over for an evening meal with homemade fresh bread.

Since Astor helped Ståle with his problems it was time for Ståle to help us. We have had some issues with our toilets for weeks (or months) and only one out of three was working. We knew what the problem was, it was the blackwater tank which was blocked. Ståle had a wet/dry vacuum cleaner we could use. To say it short – it was a dirty job! Astor had to clean both himself and the dinghy after he was finished.

After the job was done I made waffels and we also invited Sigurd from Mitjana, another Norwegian boat.

The next day we left Menorca. We should really have had more time around the island, but we were waiting for a guest coming to Mallorca within a few days. This bay in Mahon is huge and it is very protected from all wind directions.

Ståle left at the same time and we tried to sail a regatta, but his boat is a lot bigger than ours so he was in the front all the time.

He also took a photo of us.

Puerto Pollensa, Mallorca

We had a nice sail to Poerto Pollensa on the northern side of Mallorca. We used our gennaker for a while but at the end it was too much wind. Luckily Poerto Pollensa is a huge anchorage, and even if it was northerly wind it was almost no swell. Now it was our turn to help Ståle to take down the mainsail, because he needed to take it to reparation. It is a huge sail, pritty heavy, so it was good to be three people. Then we took the sail ashore.

Pollensa is a tourist town, but it looked very cosy and we found a market. That is always popular. We didn`t shop that much, it is just fine walking around and have a look.

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After the market we decided we had to sail further south, because of the wind (as always). We sailed to Porto Soller which is also a tourist town, but much smaller than Pollensa. I really fell in love with this place. Earlier this year we had contact with a Norwegian/Australian couple, they should sail from Norway to the Med and had many questions. We met them here in Soller, but only manage to say hey and hello before the sailed north.

Poerto Soller

A quiet bay and a good shelter. A little bit of swell if the wind is coming from NW/W, and some gusts if the wind is coming from south. We had gusts from south the day we were picking up our guest and we dragged together with many other boats. Luckily a Swedish boat found our phonenumber and called us right before we started to drive from Soller, and Astor could run back to the boat.

Many boats and it is also possible to stay in the marina. We met a Norwegian boat which stayed in the marina. But it is too expensive for us.

A nice beach. We had a swim some days later and found out the beach was cleanest closest to the marina.

We rented a car to pick up our guest from the airport. It is about one hour drive due to a lot of traffic. Ståle had now sailed further south to Santa Ponsa and he was waiting for friend coming with the same plane as our guest. So we choose to pick up both of them and drive Helge, Ståles friend to Santa Ponsa, where we had a delicious lunch together.

Our guest is Oddvar. He is married to my mothers cousin and lives in the neighborhood where I come from. He asked us when we were back in Norway in May if it was possible to visit us, because he always had this dream about sailing. He sailed with us for 10 days, from Mallorca to Alicante on the mainland.

From the left: Oddvar, Helge, Ståle and Astor

Some hungry doves at the neighbor table.

After saying goodbye to Ståle and Helge (they should now take the boat home to Norway), and some shopping we drove back to Soller. We had some amazing sunsets there.

We had the car for the next day so we wanted to have a sightseeing tour. We decided to go to Port de sa Calobra. It is up in the mountains and a lot of curvy roads from Porto Soller. Here is the town of Soller (you have the main town and then you have the port).

We met hundreds of cyclists on these roads, so we had to watch out. Here we had a stop at a viewpoint.

In Norway we are used to narow curvy roads, but this was something extra. Many buses and cars, so were driving in a long line.

In Port de sa Calobra we parked the car and walked to the beach. We walked through a long tunnel to come there. And there was a whole in the wall so we could see the boats.

We came out of the tunnel.

To the beach. You can bearly see it is a beach there.

But it is!

And the background is amazing!

On the way back we had needed a break to enjoy this amazing view!

Many mountains to climb on! But now it is too hot to hike, and Mallorca is a place it is easy to come back to.

We drove back to the airport to deliver the car (also here on Mallorca it is so much cheaper to rent a car on the airport) and then we took the bus to Palma. Oddvar wanted to see the cathedral. It is beautiful. Unfortunately it was closed at the point we arrived so we couldn`t go inside.

Catedral-Basílica de Santa María de Mallorca

The area around the cathedral was really nice.

the cathedral

We walked around in Palma. It was no time for shopping as I was walking together with to men….

Many nice buildings.

Palma is the main town on Mallorca, it is a typically big town with lot of people and lot of noise. It is not my favourite, but it was nice to have been there.

We took the bus back to Porto Soller. It is possible to take an old train to Soller and then another tram to Porto Soller, and I really wanted to do that, but we were two against one..

The Norwegian boat which was in Porto Soller when we arrived came back to the bay and we had a nice evening together. They have two kids and it seems like they enjoyed staying with us 🙂

The next day the wind was in the wrong direction for sailing south so we were just relaxing in the boat. But the day after it was nice wind and we could start sailing further south. We didn`t had any plan, it depended on the wind, but when we came to the southwesterly tip on the island it was good enough wind to sail south to Ibiza.

Ibiza

We arrived late in the evening and anchored in a small bay on the northeast side before we sailed to Portinatx and anchored there. It was too many boats there so we sailed to the next bay to anchor for the night.

After that we sailed south to Sant Antoni where we got some rain, together with sand from Sahara.

So we (Astor) had to clean the boat!

It was really dirty!

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After the rain was gone and the sun was shining again we took the dinghy into the beach and then the bus to town.

Sant Antony is a small town (but big enough for Lidl) but it was nice to have a walk around.

Some touristic shops.

We had a lunch/dinner together before we went to Lidl to do some shopping and then took the bus back to the bay.

At the table next to us there was a guy who took a photo of us without asking. He told us that it is better to take photos if you don`t know, he was a photographer he said.

Back to the bay. Beautiful beach full of people.

We had a beautiful sunset in the boat and early next morning we set sail to the mainland.

Calpe

We started the sail at 6.am and arrived in Calpe at 6.pm. In Calpe you can anchor just outside the breakwater and there is now swell, only from some boats, but that stops at sunset.

To anchor in Calpe, right under the rock, is amazing. It was easy to take the dinghy into the marina to go ashore.

We took the bus to old town. I have never seen a escalator outside!!

This has to be a teacher or a priest!

Many nice walls!

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This is also outside. This could not be possible in Norway!

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The Spanish Flag steps!

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We walked from old town down to the beach.

The rock, Ifac, is special. I would really like to hike up there, but we didn`t had time to do that.

We tried to see the trail, but that was not easy!

Felizia in front of Calpe

In the afternoon Astor and I wanted to have a walk to Lidl and also around a lake with flamingos. First we walked along the beach.

Most hotels on this side of town.

This is on the other side of the peninsula from where we are anchoring.

From the beach we walked up to the lake where you can find this walkway.

It was a nice area to have a walk.

And there are beautiful views.

The rock, hotels and trail around the lake.

A lot of trees and flowers.

And many flamingos, wow!!

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Here is a video with the flamingos:

The next day it was time to leave Calpe.

Breakfast on the way and the gennaker is ready to take us to Alicante.

So many places I have heard about, so also this is an area we should have used more time. But again, like Mallorca, it is easy to come back here later.

Alicante

In Alicante we anchored right outside the breakwater, in front of the beach. It was some swell so we used a stern anchor as well.

We wanted to see Alicante before Oddvar was leaving the next day. The thing we didn`t know was that the Spanish people were celebrating midsummer!! So even if it was Sunday it was so crowded in town. And loud music everywhere.

In Alicante, you can find the Muschroom street! a funny thing!

Did they talk about what to wear that evening??

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What a huge tree!!

After having dinner at a mexican restaurant we took the bus back to the boat. Many people were gathered at the beach, barbequing and playing music. The last person was still on the beach when we woke up next morning.

Early next morning it was time to say goodbye to Oddvar and Astor took him into the beach and followed him to the bus-stop. It was really nice to have him as a guest. Thanks for visiting us!

Now it was time to sail further south and out of the Med, thats sad…