Mahón (Part 1)

Anchorage west of Isolo Colom   

With the rig check completed on the morning of Thursday 3 August, we took the opportunity to fill our water tanks at the marina and then left Cala Addadya at 1235. The humidity had been 92% overnight and it still felt hot and sticky so we decided that we’d break up our passage east by stopping at the anchorage just west of Isolo Colom for a swim. The anchorage was very busy with everything from small RiBs right up to 75 metre motor yachts crammed into the bay. There was, however, still space for us and so we anchored and then immediately threw ourselves over the side. The sea is 29 degrees Celcius so it was refreshing cool bath. Charlotte worked on trying to swim under the keel whilst Nicky and I gave BV’s bottom a scrub. It was nice to be swimming in clear water again.

The forts at the entrance to Mahón   

Main channel into Mahón harbour   

The afternoon was very pleasant but we did need to get around to Mahón and see if we could find a space in the anchorage there, so at 1615 we left Isolo Colom and continued sailing east around Menorca. Sadly, the wind dropped and with a swell from the east we made slow progress, so we switched to motoring for the last hour.

Entering the harbour was a treat. Up to our right were military forts dating back to the Napoleonic wars but with the addition of large WWII-era guns. A little further around we passed the main entrance into Cala Taulera, where we hoped to anchor for the night, but we continued on, joining the stream of traffic motoring up the main channel into Mahón harbour.

To our right was Isola del Lazareto and then the smaller Isola Cuarentena followed by the northern side of the harbour covered in large villas.

To our left were villas and hotels leading our eyes to the main town and, just short of it, Cala Figuera. Here we joined a small group of circling boats waiting their turn to refuel. For us, with just 6 yachts refuelling, the whole process was quite efficient and we were all done in around 20 minutes. It’s potentially a very busy place though and the refuelling team told Nicky that at peak times they refuel 400 yachts in a day. That seemed very high but we were just grateful we’d not turned up on a busy day!

Canal de San Jordi   

By now it was nearly 7pm and so we worked our way back along the other side of Isola Cuarentena to the entrance of the small canal between Isola del Lazareto and the northern side of the harbour. The Canal de San Jordi is 3 metres deep, enough for BV to slip through and into the back entrance to Cala Taulera [Ed: but not comfortably so!].

Cala Taulera   

Cala Taulera is a perfect natural anchorage but in recent years anchored yachts have been moved on when trying to stay there. The feeling is that the marina owners have attempted to prevent anchoring in the cala in a hope to boost their profits. From the yachtsman’s perspective, if they lowered their prices from the ridiculous levels that they are at the moment they would probably get more trade.

Pleasingly though, it seems that a bit of common sense has now prevailed and you are now allowed to anchor in Cala Taulera for 3 days [Ed: though the rules the harbour staff brought round still say that you may only anchor in the cala if there is no space elsewhere or you have some kind of problem. To that end for the nights we were there, there were at least 20 yachts with ‘mechanical issues’in the anchorage!].

We worked our way into the busy anchorage and found a space to drop our anchor, just off the old boathouse. By fluke, Ross and Lisa on Arcarius had also just arrived and were already snorkelling to check their anchor. So not only did we get a welcome to the anchorage but, within moments of our arriving, they had also checked that our anchor was well dug in; what a service!

Cala Taulera, Mahón, Menorca, Spain