Exploring the Balearic Islands, 14-19 October

 The Balearic Islands are worth their reputation. In October, we have been enjoying very nice and warm weather, with water around 24°C. These conditions explain why there are still so many sailors around here, from all over Europe: Dutch, German, Norwegian, Swedes, French and from the UK mainly. We have experienced full marinas and anchorage where we could not sneak in.

Adventurous night anchored at a cliff along the north coast of Mallorca (see below...)

In this post, I will share some of the reflexions and adventures experienced on the way... The Marina Ibiza

This is the main marina in Ibiza city. Fearing it may be full, I filled an online form to request a booking for 5 nights as I was swapping my crew friends in Ibiza. No reply, I assumed that they were full. While on the way to Ibiza, I call the other central marina in Ibiza, Marina Botafoch, which was full. Then, we decide to head for Santa Eulalia, further North, where we could be accommodated. Just to realise that a positive reply had just arrived by mail for Marina Ibiza. The lesson I was told by experienced sailors in these seas is that if you ask for a berth in a marina, if the marina is already fully booked, they will tell you straight away. If there is room, they are not sure in advance where they would want to park you, and they will either tell you last minute, or at the time you show-up in the marina. Good to know.  

The marina shops in Marina Ibiza

No joke that the Marina Ibiza shops are not ship-chandlers, but luxury outlets for Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior or Bulgari, to cite a few. When you see the size and luxury of the yachts in the marina, you start understanding where you are. My 14 metre boat looks like a dinghy boat in the marina! Yet we paid only around 40€ per night out of the peak season, which is very decent and one of the lowest fare we paid in Spain to date!

Colourful architecture...

Anchored in Cala de Portinaxt, a very nice and safe spot, still very busy mid-October

Mallorca, anchoring at S'Aigo des Ratjoli

In order to find anchorage spots, we rely on Navionics and the comments of the community of sailors on place suitable for anchoring, Windy, looking a gust winds for the night, and on Navily, for getting additional information and advice on the anchorages. The first anchorage we were considering on Mallorca, Cala Passet, was mentioned with caution by two Navily contributors: "After one night ... everything seemed calm but at midnight 30 big gust in 25 knots... the anchor held thanks to a lot of chain and the involuntary help of a rock where our chain was rolled up. Air mass out of nowhere, same experience as Izgoud (another contributor reporting same issue). Be prepared."

On the basis of this advice, given the very good weather forecast for the night, we decided to go further north to the S'Aigo des Ratjoli anchoring about which only person having contributed mentioned:"A spectacular anchorage between cliffs with a small cave at the end."

Given the limited space and as recommenced on Navily, we anchored in the centre of the spot, and dropped a line ashore to ensure that the boat would not rotate freely in all directions. Then came the wind, from the opposite direction, 25 knots, suddenly, at half past midnight, as announced in the above comment. After 20 minutes and heavy guts, the backline (a Swedish ankarolina) broke with the sound of a guitar string breaking-up. 

Belisama at S'Aigo des Ratjoli anchorage

We decided with Noé to quit the spot in fear that we could be brought on the ground in case the anchor would not hold. But we could not lift the anchor as it got stuck at the bottom of the creek, 15 metres below water. The only thing was to wait for the morning and dive to manually extract the anchor...

Trace of Belisama at anchor in the creek for the night

Which Noé did, requiring 2 dives by 15 metres to disentangle the anchor chain that rolled around a nice flat rock. We were lucky to have a diving cylinder for conducting the operation. However, we had only 10 minute air remaining in the cylinder .. The two attempts were successful, with no air left in the cylinder. I had already retrieved my Ryobi grinder, ready to cut the chain to escape the trap in case of failure!

The lessons learnt here are as follows:

• Most weather forecast are covering a relatively large area and cannot take into account strong "local wind artefacts" that may occur, in particularly at night, because to the fall of temperature, and in areas with cliffs. So be ready for it, and for moving out at any time rapidly during the night. Look at "Mountain breeze and valley breeze" where you can find the explanation behind these night blows!
• If you practice anchoring a lot, a diving cylinder and the corresponding equipment (regulator, mask, fins, dive weight and consider a wetsuit even for warm areas as the water at 15 metres deep will be much colder than at surface). Basic training is recommended before using a diving cylinder. When a chain is rolled around and between rocks, no other alternative will remain for saving your anchor.
• A diving cylinder and equipment cost a fraction of an anchor and chain, so it is a wise investment. Besides, it can be used recreationally!
• Always refill your gas cylinder after you use it, even just partly, as you don't know how much air you might need for the next intervention.
• An anchor buoy (orin in French) would not have been useful as the problem was not the anchor caught under a rock, but the chain leading to it, when the boat started rotating on the seabed.