Muddling through in Mallorca

We're having a heat wave in Mallorca, so I'm going to take the lazy route and just copy notes from our ship's log:

July 4-8: Sparrow arrived safely from her trans-Atlantic journey via the good ship Snoekgracht. We boarded her on the ship (note: that's Sparrow, strapped in, below)...

...and were hoisted up, then lowered down over the side into the bay of Palma at 2:00a.m.(note: the photo below was taken aboard Sparrow as she was held aloft by a crane above other sailboats on Snoekgracht).

We motored to the Real Club Nautico, a lovely sailing club/marina, where we spent the next four nights. Nora likes our next-door neighbors--young Kiwi men here for the King's Cup Race. Rosie likes the pool and the gym and the air-conditioned reading room. The city of Palma is absolutely gorgeous.

JULY 8: PALMA TO LAS ILLETAS Sparrow's first glorious sail in foreign waters. We fly along at about seven knots in a moderate breeze. Las Illetas is a tiny cluster of islands off the mainland, just a few miles SW of Palma. Pretty, but very crowded. We catch our first glimpse of nude yachties.

JULY 9: LAS ILLETAS TO ANDRAITX Another gorgeous sail, southwest to Punta de Cala Figueroa then NW to Porto De Andraitx--about 3.5 hours, averaging 7 knots. In the last hour, we set the spinnaker for the first time, with great success. We anchor in the harbour, surrounded by hills and the Sierra deTramontana in the distance. At night, the hills are a -twinkle and a full moon rises over us.

JULY 13: DAY TRIP TO ISLA DRAGONERA AND CALA EGOS Bert completes the installation of our water maker and--hallelujah!--it works. We had out for a picnic at Isla Dragonera, motoring north in 20+ knots of wind, and making water like crazy. Dragonera's tiny calas (coves) prove untenable, so we head back south to Cala Egos, just north of Andraitx. An easy downwind sail with just the mainsail up. Lunch: local baguettes, local salami, Serrano ham, Cambozola cheeze, tomatoes and olives. Yum. A swim amidst jellyfish, a kayak 'round the cala, a bit uf sunning, then it's back to Andraitx we go.

EDITOR'S NOTE: the following entries were written by Bert:

JULY 16: ANDRAITX Happily at anchor in Andraitx. Befriend Canadian couple with Spanish Waterdog puppy (Chris & Linda, aboard Mon Arch). Two U.S. flagged vessels asrrive (Jack & Patricia on Whoosh; John on Sarah). Jack helps us get Airmail up and running. Fiesta de St. Carmen over weekend: Blessing of fleet and fireworks (note: photo shows the fleet roaring out the harbour at sunset).

JULY 17: ANDRAITX TO PLAYA TRENCH (25 miles) Light downwind sail wing & wing. Stopped at Cala Pi to take a look--very tight with sheer walls dropping to water, boats tied to rings ashore. Very beautiful but not my idea of a safe anchorage. Move on to Playa la Trench off first large beach I've seen--but very protected from prevailing wind. (Below: Nora at the helm

JULY 18: ISLA DE CABRERA Beautiful harbour in national park. 14th century castle protects entrance. Nice breeze allows for good sail over. Hike up to castle, swim in clear water, snorkel in Blue Cave. Simply beautiful.

JULY 20: PORTO COLOM Wake to find alternator bracket bolt broken. Decide to push a little further to Port Colom to find mechanic. Leave in 15-20 knots, single reef. Upwind boat moves very nicely. Wind slowly dies with left-over sea--not comfortable. Solar panels keep us from losing too much charge. Find mechanic at once and he agrees to meet us at mole at 10 am tomorrow.

BACK TO AMY...
Well, that's the last entry. The good news is that the mechanic fixed us up in no time flat, and now we're back in business. Last night the harbour master told us we had to move our boat because we were too close to the spot where the town was going to be launching a fireworks display. We anchored about 20 meters further away from shore, then headed into town for a paella dinner. Returned to the boat then lounged till midnight. And then the fuegos artificiales began! Fireworks from as close a vantage point as we've ever seen. Spectacular! Scary! The next morning (today) we awoke to find our decks covered in flecks of ash. Caramba, that was close!

P.S. If you want to follow Sparrow's progress, go to winlink.org, find the "locate someone" link, click on it and punch in my callsign (kb1nly). A Google Earth image will pop up and show you a photo of our exact location!
This is Sparrow, standing by.