A week in July around Mallorca – report by Becky Goddard

Bob Buchanan skippered this charter on a Bavaria 40 – which meant that each of the four on board had their own cabin, a relief in the 40°C temperature they had all week. They had three days in a hotel in Palma before boarding, when they made the trip on the vintage electric train to Soller, then the tram to Port Soller. Despite completing the handover on Friday, they weren’t allowed to leave until 1 pm on Saturday, heading SW to anchor for the night.

There was no wind next morning as they motored to Valdemossa for lunch, then to Port Soller for the night. This was the World Cup final, extremely boring for Becky, followed by fireworks after Spain’s win. Next daythey were in Pollenca for the night, paying 50 euros to lean against a stone quay with minimal facilities. Dave Fogden decided to chat up two ladies from Birmingham for a drink, but they failed to turn up for coffee next day as arranged. They were unable to replenish water as they had left the hose behind at the marina in Palma, thinking it was a pontoon fixture, and were unable to find one to use. Later that morning they had a good sail, but it was still very hot – too hot to cook on board.

On Wednesday they had another good sail to Cala d’Or. They had arranged with the charter firm to book a mooring at the nature reserve island of Cabrera, but on arrival found they were booked for the wrong date and had to leave, back to Mallorca. They returned to Palma on the Friday, and had to wait an hour to refuel.

Becky drew a veil over their return to Bristol, saying just that they got home at 9.00 am a day late via Gatwick.