July 29th. 2013

Exotica on our marina berth in Palma

Finally, after three weeks waiting the white smoke went up, our bill of sale came through and we are now the proud owners of Exotica.  The deal has not been without its interesting problems and the laws of libel restrict me from expressing my true feelings regarding the yacht broking firm, the previous owner, the ANZ Bank and the Spanish postal service, all of whom have added to our grief in the last few weeks.

However, now the bill of sale has finally arrived (albeit with our names mis-spelt) we are legally owners of our Jeanneau 49 Deck Saloon, our very comfortable waterbourne apartment.

Hoisting the Red Ensign.

We had a ceremony in the middle of Palma Bay where we lowered the German flag and raised the Red Ensign.

We also hoisted the flag of the Nepean Hospital Cruising Association.

We have secured the marina berth in Palma de Mallorca until next May which will give us ample time to explore the Balearic Islands and totally familiarise ourselves with the boat.  It is in a wonderful spot, very private, 10 minutes walk to the centre of Palma, close to the toilets and showers and we have use of the Club’s swimming pool and gym.

Despite the delays in transfer of ownership we have actually been aboard the boat for two weeks and have had a number of sailing trips into the bay. Our first guest, Terry’s sister Margaret, was present for the handover ceremonies.

We spent our first night at anchor at Portals Vells, a pleasant bay about 15 nautical miles west of Palma. Having secured the mooring we looked around and discovered next to us a brand new Beneteau Oceanis 45′ yacht flying an Australian flag.  We swam over for a chat and found them to be owners from Perth who are related to great friends of ours in Sydney. This led to our first dinner party aboard.  The subsequent night was less than successful as there was a significant swell entering the bay, despite the wind being quite light, and we rolled uncomfortably until dawn when we upped the anchor and retreated to a smoother anchorage off Palma Nova beach.

The weather in Mallorca has been sensational, hot sunny days with predictable light winds and water temperatures of 28 degrees, so comfortable for jumping off the boat when too hot. We have been reminded of Australian summers over the last 2 days, there is a bush fire in Paguera and five aircraft have been continuously swooping over the marina filling up with water from Palma Bay in daylight hours.

We have an engine and generator service on Wednesday and then propose to explore further afield in Mallorca before picking up friends to sail to Ibiza.