Ciudadella

Despite the forecast there was too little wind to sail from Cala Morell to Ciudadella so we motored the 10nm south. From the aerial photographs in the pilot book Cala d’es Frares looked very small and so we had planned to anchor in Cala Dogollador. However, seen in the flesh Cala d’es Frares is quite a lot larger and a lot prettier than in the pictures and with only one other yacht there we decided to stop there too. Cala d’es Frares is open to the south but well protected from the east through north to the west, which was good as the wind was forecast to blow hard from the north and north-east over the next few days. The other yacht (Aldebaran, the Belgian yacht we had been anchored alongside in Cala d’Or, Mallorca) was anchored heading south towards the cala’s entrance with her stern tied to the rocks behind her.

We elected to moor in the same way but, because we sail with the dinghy deflated on the deck, we had a 20min exercise in uncovering it, moving it to the foredeck, inflating it and launching it before we were in a position to begin our mooring manoeuvre. Happily, there weren’t hoards of other yachts jostling to take our chosen berth so the job was relatively easily done but at times like this having the dinghy hung on davits over the stern would make life much easier. Once the dinghy was launched and tied alongside, we deployed the bower anchor in the normal way and reversed towards the rockface at the top of the cala, digging the anchor in firmly when we were about a boatlength from the rocks. Then Nicky kept BV in position with a little power in reverse and I leapt into the dinghy and rowed to the shore with a long line, which I tied off to a convenient rusty ring. After a pause for lunch, we laid out a second shoreline, as a precaution against the forecast Force 7 winds. As it happened, however, the cala was extremely well sheltered from the northerly winds, so we may not have needed the second line at all.

Cala d’es Frares is situated right at the entrance of the cala housing Ciudadella’s port. We could have taken the dinghy ashore in our cala and then walked for 20mins to get to the town but it was a lot easier for shopping and sightseeing to put the outboard onto the dinghy and to motor up to the top end of the harbour. Ciudadella harbour is very picturesque and, since the ferries have recently moved to a new concrete harbour just south of the harbour entrance (we could see it quite clearly from where we were anchored), it is not too busy with shipping and must now be a lovely harbour to stay in. The outer reach of the cala has well wooded banks with some attractive, and no doubt very pricy, large villas. As you near the town centre the cala narrows and the bastions and bulwalks of the ancient city dominate. We tied the dinghy up near the fishermen’s huts at the top of the harbour and wandered into the historic centre.

Ciudadella was founded by the Carthaginians, occupied by the Muslims and almost destroyed by the Turkish invasion of 1558. It was rebuilt in the 17^th century and remained the capital of Menorca until the British took over and made Mahón, with the better natural harbour, the capital in 1713.

We thoroughly enjoyed wandering around Ciudadella’s old quarter, much of which is traffic-free. Many of the narrow roads are cobbled and the buildings come in a variety of attractive architectural styles, some ornate, some very simple. For once we didn’t visit the cathedral or any museums but we did see the obelisk which commemorates those who died trying to defend the town from the Turks in 1558.

The following day we ran out from BV into the town and then out to the southern head of the harbour entrance to take a close-up look at Castell de Sant Nicolau, which we could clearly see from BV’s anchorage and which is spectacularly floodlit by night. This castle is a 17^th century watchtower but unfortunately it is only open to the public during the height of summer so we had to be satisfied with photos of it from afar. We also continued our run around to Cala Dogollador, the next cala south of Ciudadella (and where we had originally planned to anchor), and agreed that Cala d’es Frares was by far the nicer of the 2 anchorages having prettier surroundings and much more turquoise sea .

Cala d’es Frares, Menorca, Spain