Why Mallorca makes a great late-season destination beautiful balearics
Will Bruton risks an end of season charter in Mallorca
My first landfall in Mallorca, at M the end of a month’s delivery passage from Fort Lauderdale, consisted of a mostly uncultured bar tour lasting three nights.
Rather over-excited to be back on land, my fellow crew quickly wrote off any notion of exploration beyond the beer tap; choosing instead to embrace an unfortunate stereotype that’s dogged the island’s reputation since its tourism boom.
A few years on, older, wiser, and having spent most of 2015 living in the island’s capital, Palma, I perpetually consider moving back to Mallorca, having learned what a beacon of civilisation the island actually is.
Waxing lyrical to anyone who would listen, my partner Alice and I decided to share the first part of our Balearic charter with good friends who’d shown an interest in seeing the island, comprised of two couples keen to try a sailing holiday for the first time.
GETTING OUR PRIORITIES RIGHT
Our crew for the week assembled at Dream Yacht Charter’s home on the island, west of Palma in Cala Nova Marina, which is a bustling place on charter changeover day. Our boat for the week, a 2015 Dufour 512, Gijon, swallowed the six of us with two cabins to spare. Designed with Mediterranean sailing in mind, she sported a drop-down swim platform and beamy cockpit. The trip was planned around one criteria: highest average sea temperature.
In my infinite wisdom, I had ordered provisions to be delivered in advance, but failed to indicate the name of our boat. Had we done this, the charter team would have made our lives easier, putting the shopping on board before we arrived. By the time everything was stowed, it was getting dark, so we happily spent the evening in an almost deserted marina, enjoying the balmy temperatures.
Up early and going through the pilot book, it quickly became clear that the wind was not going in the direction I had hoped it would be. ‘No plan survives first contact’ is a good charter adage if ever there was one.
WINDS THWART CABRERA PASSAGE
Despite having sailed past it many times, I had never visited Cabrera, an island and national park about 20 miles to the south-east of Mallorca, and I was determined to get there. Each time I had tried on previous occasions the necessary permit hadn’t been available, a mooring buoy was not available (no overnight anchoring is allowed), or the weather had not been on our side. Having logged on to the national park website several times, I’d been unable to find an available mooring for our size of boat and looking now, it appeared the trip would mean a lot of tacking – not the most relaxing introduction for new crew. Beating to windward never being a good start, I parked the idea and settled into another plan. With 20-knot easterlies forecast and new crew, I decided to aim Gijon for one of the bays on the south coast while introducing our friends to their winch positions gently.
Heading out of the marina, the sun already warming the teak under bare feet, the stresses of our respective lives ashore seemed to lift. I had the anchorage of Santa Ponça in mind for our first stop. Sheltered from the building easterly winds, it would be a good place to get everyone used to how anchoring works with lots of space to get it wrong.
Once past the built-up bay of Magaluf, the south of Mallorca begins to reveal its mountainous beauty, with inlets and coves aplenty.
We spotted a small gap in the cliffs, above which the tops of masts protruded, highlighting one of the many hidden bays. Having looked it up in the pilot book and on the Navily app on my phone, I marked Portals Vells as a possible stop for later in the week. The app, which I’d not used before, proved a brilliant source of information on anchorages throughout our trip. Crowd-sourced contributions, similar to Tripadvisor, gave insights on protection from wind, anchor holding and the prevalence of ‘vulgar powerboats,’ as one commenter posted about another anchorage. Combined with the pilot book, it helped us make more informed decisions. I’m a convert.
After a sail in which we had our one and only ‘man down’ to seasickness of the week in some short chop, we rounded the corner into a sheltered and quiet Portals Vells anchorage. With the anchor set, we dived into 27° water before cracking open the beers (the Dufour 512 has a copious on-deck drinks fridge to avoid excessive strain to the crew) and settling into an afternoon of doing not very much and eating Padrón peppers liberally seasoned with sea salt from nearby Ibiza.
Satisfied the anchor was well set, we launched the dinghy and went ashore to find a beach bar, only to discover that a local festival was in full swing. Going on well into the evening we were treated to possibly the best view of an impressive firework display back on the boat, possibly due to the fact Gijon was close to the barge they were being set off from.
Once past the built-up bay of Magaluf, the south of Mallorca reveals its mountainous beauty, with inlets and coves aplenty
Waking up with a plunge off the swim platform and espresso on deck, we started the following morning the right way, purging any semblance of a hangover almost instantly. Despite being only a couple of bays along the coast, we decided Port Andratx would be a good spot to eat ashore and run our temporary crew to their taxi the following morning for their journey home. From this point, it would just be me and Alice.
THE WINDOW FINALLY OPENS
Port Andratx is at the very centrum of over-inflated Mallorcan real estate prices, and with that, comes expensive marinas. We opted for a mooring buoy within easy reach of the town dinghy dock but far enough away to feel secluded, at a cost of €55, including rubbish collection. Helpfully, you can pay this by credit card to the dockmaster on his RIB. It proved a good decision when the dinghy’s outboard ran out of fuel, resulting in a paddle back to the boat to refuel from the spare tank.
The bay is in a deep valley, and its high flanks are festooned with modern villas. The Serra de Tramuntana mountain range can be seen in the distance, while Port Andratx itself is a contrast between smart restaurants and an active fishing fleet, making it a great place to stock up on fresh produce.
Having bid goodbye to our guests the next morning, the weather picture was looking confused, and with one mooring buoy on Cabrera available on
the national park website, we were faced with a decision: stay on the south coast of the island or go against the conditions under a squally sky. The fact Cabrera had been on my list for so long swung it, and we found ourselves on a beat. Slightly frustrated, and looking again at the weather on my phone hoping for a miraculous change, a photo popped up from a friend accompanied by the caption ‘Leaving Cabrera. Running under genoa back to Palma, 9kts SOG!’
ELUSIVE ANCHORAGE
After six hours and a lot of spray over the boat, Cabrera came into view: a rocky outcrop with the entrance initially hidden from view. Rounding the corner into the shelter, it felt good to have arrived.
Picking up our allocated mooring buoy, which we’d paid for online, we settled in for the evening looking up at the castle positioned high above. Cabrera was made a national park in 1991 and it’s only possible to stay overnight on a yacht. Ashore is a simple bar serving home-made traditional food. Having paddled the dinghy ashore we hiked the short distance up to the castle and looked down on Gijon below before casting off for the sail back to Mallorca. Despite being described as one of the most popular anchorages in the pilot book, Portals Vells looked too good to be true in pictures. In a never-ending search for the perfect cala, we motored in to find a busy spot, but one where those that had dropped anchor for the day were starting to leave. We dropped the pick into the clear water, believing we had found a seemingly calm spot for the night. We soon found it was exposed to the bay entrance. A powerboat wake would roll in from some distance offshore, hit Gijon on the beam and roll her from side to side. Ever optimistic, we hoped a lull would materialise. A bad night’s sleep followed, although we were rewarded by an early start in a stunning spot. We packed the dinghy with snorkelling gear and books, heading ashore to explore the caves and three beaches. After lunch of fresh fish in the rustic beach restaurant we rowed back to weigh anchor and head for Las Isletas.
Anchoring here at daytime is best done with a bit of patience. Having made a thorough recce of the anchorage we settled on a sheltered spot surrounded by boats that looked likely to be only staying until sundown. This plan worked a dream and we were quickly left in our own patch of quiet water, free to let out plenty of chain for the night. Treated to an epic sunset, we relished dining on deck for the last time.
So what did we learn? Some advance research into where to go and keeping the plan flexible is crucial when chartering at the end of the season. However, I’m glad we stayed in the south. Another yacht attempting to circumnavigate the island that week had been beaten back by rough seas in the exposed north, so I didn’t regret my decision to stay put, although it’s certainly my next goal when sailing here.
Brilliant sailing is in abundance in the south of the island