Palma de Mallorca

We had really enjoyed our time in Cala Portals but we also wanted to take a look at Palma de Mallorca as well. In some ways our timing was not great. When we called up the Réal Club Náutico de Palma for a berth they told us that they were hosting a regatta and so were fully booked. That explained why Palma Bay was full of enormous racing yachts like the one pictured on the right. We subsequently realised that Palma Yacht Show was also happening, filling up further berthing space.

Now if you are a sensitive chap and worried about the size of your mast then Palma is not the place to visit. Marina Port de Mallorca managed to ‘squeeze’ us into one of their superyacht berths and our 20 metre mast (pictured left this side of the red ship’s funnel) was a very small stick next to our neighbours’. We weren’t even long enough to reach the thick laid mooring warps and still get ashore, so we secured BV to the pick-up line to hold her off the quay.

Similarly, if you are feeling boat-proud then Palma is highly likely to give you a polishing complex. All around us professional crews were preparing their yachts for the season. Everything glistened, shined and looked immaculate.

A further indication that we were a little smaller than the average yacht here was the water and shorepower charges. Minimum charge was for 20 kW hours (enough to keep BV going for a month) and 5 cubic metres of water (10 times BV’s water capacity). We didn’t need either so were able to avoid inefficiently tapping into their supply.

However, one unexpected bonus was that we were invited for drinks and a pig roast which the marina had laid on to celebrate the start of the good weather. It was a fun do and we met some really nice people. Amongst them we talked at length to Phil and Mark who both captain rather large and luxurious motor yachts. Phil kindly showed us around his charge the following morning; very impressive and a very rare opportunity. They also gave us an insight into how staggeringly expensive these beasts are to run. Aside from the amusement value that BV’s engine and generator going at maxi-rate use less fuel each hour than the generator on Phil’s yacht, both Phil and Mark talked about some of the yacht’s they had worked on with fuel consumptions ranging from 750 to 5000 litres per hour. That put BV’s 4 litres per hour consumption and 400 litre fuel capacity into perspective!

But the reason for our visit stood out beyond the superyachts; we wanted to see the old quarter of the city and the Gothic cathedral which was renovated in Modernista style by Antoni Gaudí at the beginning of the 20^th century.

The old quarter is enchanting. Aside from the cathedral and royal palace with tree lined streets, it is filled with old nobles’ houses and mansions. As we walked through the narrow streets we could see in, through barred gates, a small part of the elegant stone staircases and courtyards.

The city is also very chic and the majority of the shops and boutiques were stocked with all of the well-known designer labels and expensive watch manufacturers’ products. It didn’t take many paces though to get into areas slightly off the beaten track, which were equally delightful and often with fantastic looking restaurants tucked away in quiet corners.

Of course no visit to the old quarter would be complete without a photo of the windmills. And, we had to try the local speciality ensaimada, which is a flat spiral of flaky pastry (not as sweet as I was expecting and so I was left slightly disappointed, but a treat all the same).

Having explored the old quarter and recce’d a good supermarket to get fresh provisions in the morning we hatched a plan to shop and then visit the cathedral in the morning before departing at lunchtime on Wednesday 30 April.