Bahía de Palma

Mallorca is just 45 nautical miles northeast of Ibiza but from Puerto de Santa Eulalia we needed to sail just a little further, though 58 nautical miles was easily achievable in daylight with our 8am start. As seems to be the current trend, the passage was a mixture of good sailing but with a period of motoring through an inevitable calm. Mallorca is more mountainous than Ibiza and stood out on the horizon almost as soon as we had set off.

Las Illetas – first anchorage

We headed for the Bay of Palma and had picked out what looked to be a very sheltered anchorage in the middle of Las Illetas, which are a small collection of islands 3 miles west of Palma. However, it turned out to be too cosy for an overnight stop. We enjoyed sundowners there with great views of the islands and the unspoilt village on the shore but it also felt as though you could reach out and touch the islands [and rocks! Ed] in front of and behind BV. So, we moved around to the NE of the islands and anchored with several other yachts; there was much more space to swing around the anchor in that spot as well as it having a viable escape route if needed.

For dinner we got out our Cobb BBQ to cook dinner. It’s a clever design which doesn’t get hot on the outside so it can safely sit on the deck. All in all it was a very pleasant evening.

Las Illetas – second anchorage

Overnight, however, we found the anchorage to be a bit rolly and so the breakfast discussion was all about where we should move to next. We had sailed past a small inlet on the western side of Palma Bay the previous day and decided to take a closer look.

Cala Portals

Cala Portals turned out to be a magical spot. It is very sheltered (except from the east) and has beautiful beaches. Over the centuries the rocks had been eroded and were both interesting shapes and colours. Ashore there were caverns to explore and one even had a small chapel or shrine inside with an altar and water stoup which had been carved out of the rock face. We took a picnic ashore and once we had finished exploring the caves and the various arms of the cala, we sat in the sun watching the anchored yachts as we had our lunch.

We enjoyed Cala Portals so much that we stayed for 2 nights. That did cause a slight problem in that the baguettes we had on board went well past their best and would have been more effective as baseball bats than bread. We resolved the problem by baking our own bread. It’s getting quite warm out of the wind now and the cabin temperature by day is usually around 25 deg C in the afternoon, so the dough rose impressively. At one stage we wondered if it would outgrow the space in the oven!

In the picture postcard surroundings of Cala Portals we saw some impressively large motor and sailing yachts but, as it turned out, it was only a taster of what we would see when we got to Palma.