Our first two nights in the bay of Pollensa were spent anchored just outside Marina Bonaire or as called by the locals Cocodrilo, the sea was crystal clear and holding was good, and for a change the forecasters got it wrong, the predicted rain did not arrive. After two nights we moved across the bay to Pollensa which we loved, the town was great not too noisy, there were all the amenities we needed and it provided good shelter even in the strong winds we experienced over our first few days there.
We had been experiencing some problems with our Raymarine chart plotter again, and as it was still under Guarantee Kevin decide to try and get it sorted whilst we were in Pollensa as we would be there for a couple of weeks. It turned out that the chart plotter had to be sent back to the mainland for repair and would hopefully be back with us the following week, therefore any sailing we did we would need to use our Navionics App on the iPad. As it turned out they could not repair the plotter and we ended up with a brand new chart plotter much to Kevin’s delight and which seems to be working ok.
On our second day in Porto Pollensa I noticed something unusual in the water, it turned out it was an overturned sail dingy with somebody holding on to the back, so Kevin set off in our dingy to the rescue. When he reached the guy who was German, Kevin asked if he required help in up-righting the dingy, his offer was declined as the chap was adamant somebody would come out and take him back to shore. So Kevin assisted him into our dingy and waited for the rescue boat to come and collect him.
Whilst in Porto Pollensa we met up again with Helen and Marcel before they continued their journey over to Menorca, during the days we spent with them we visited the aquarium and although small it was very interesting. We also took a couple of walks, the first to Cala De San Vicente took us over some rocky terrain but the view when we got there was fantastic, whist there we sat and had an ice cream and watched as the huge waves came crashing into the bay.
The second walk was to Cala Vall de Boca, where we had a picnic overlooking the bay, Helen provided the food and I supplied the Vino, however I forgot the corkscrew. The dilemma that caused in trying to decide how best to open the bottle, Marcel and Kevin were for the breaking the neck of the bottle method, Helen felt this unwise in case we got glass in our drinks and felt we should leave it unopened until we got back to the boat. Marcel not to be outdone came up with the idea of pushing the cork into the bottle with a stick, this method was met with approval by all, and so we did manage to have vino with our sandwiches.
Also whilst at anchor in the bay of Pollensa we were kept entertained by the firefighting sea planes, we were anchored near the Naval base (it was very small) where the sea planes take off and land, and so we got front row seats as the practised there manoeuvres of landing on the water picking up water and taking off again. At times they came very close to the boat and the pilots would wave as they went past.
Once again we said our goodbyes to Helen and Marcel with the hope that we may meet up with them again in Sardinia,, we had a great last night together with a barbecue on our boat and one last game of “Brandy Dog”, which is a combined board and card game and unfortunately as Marcel keeps reminding us that Helen and I are trailing the men but I am sure next time we meet up Helen and I will get our revenge.
After we waved Helen and Marcel off the following day we commenced our preparations for the arrival of my daughter Claire, husband Steve and Grandson Isaac on the 8th June. They were staying in a villa in Pollensa old town and so we were undecided as to whether stay at anchor or go into a marina during their stay, as we would more than likely be going back to the villa each evening for a meal. In the end we stayed at anchor and got a taxi back each evening, this worked out to be a much cheaper option.
With all preparations completed we decided to take a walk into Old Pollensa town the long way round, I remembered most of the route from the last time I had done the walk many years ago, however there is now a ring road crossing the route which wasn’t there before and so we had to take a short detour. Old Pollensa town is charming with lots of ancient buildings, we sat at one of the cafés at the bottom of the 365 steps which take you up to which take you to the church at the top of the hill, I decided not to attempt the ascent this time as I had already visited the church last time I visited. Although we did meet a couple of young women who told us they had just drank 3 bottles of wine and were determined to get to the top, we wished them luck and headed off back to Porto Pollensa taking the shorter route back along the road. It was so hot by now and I just wanted to wait and catch the bus, but Kevin insisted we kept walking to the next bus stop. By the time the bus was due we were nearly back in Porto Pollensa and so we ended up walking the whole way back. I ended up with a blister on the sole of my foot and so Kevin never heard the last of it.
There was just one more day to go before Claire and Steve arrived and I just couldn’t wait to see them.
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