Monday May 26th.  –  Buckinghamshire, England

We have had an excellent week sailing around the south coast of Mallorca with Terry’s sister Margaret and two of her friends, Judi and Mike.  It had been our intention to leave Palma and head north but plans were changed due to the tragic death of a dear friend in York, so we have returned to UK for a week to attend the funeral.

Abaco

It is somewhat of a tradition to take guests on their first night in Palma to Abaco, an astonishing palace in the middle of the town converted into a cocktail bar.  The decor is lush with fresh flowers and fruit everywhere.  It is very gracious and the cocktails, which is all they serve, are outrageously expensive. Cocktails called First Kiss and Argentina scored!

The first barbecue

We sailed first to the island of Cabrera for a night, where much against Terry’s wishes, we broke out the barbecue and placed it on the pushpit, on the stern of the boat.  Two large fish had been filleted and stuffed with garlic and lemon, the barbecue lit and ready.  Mike was just placing the second fish on the grill when a seagull swooped down and literally snatched it from his hand.  Seagull and heavy fish crashed into the sea and another gull came in to attack the thief.  In the ensuing struggle they both lost hold and the fish was lost to the deep.

The team fending off the birds. Note Judi wielding the boathook menacingly.

Dinner was a little fish and chicken.

The bird man of Palma.

Talking of seagulls, they were a huge problem in the marina in Palma last year and we were forever cleaning up after their mess.  Not so nowadays, they have employed a falconer who walks the jetties every morning and now there is never an unwelcome gull to be seen.

From Cabrera we had a brisk 15nm sail to La Rapita in the south east of mainland of Mallorca in a norwesterly which reached 22 knots at times with a 2-3 metre swell.  With just the headsail we raced across the open water at 8 knots.  It was exhilarating sailing.  From there to Port Andratx, a 35nm close reach from the east to west south coast. Back to Palma on Saturday with a lunch stop at our favourite Santa Ponsa.

Every day we were able to sail and did very little motoring, unlike much of the time last year in high summer.  However, it is still Spring and although the sun shines most days the winds are still cool.

Dining at Forn Restaurant, Palma

The 2014 Blog starts here.  We welcome your comments, please let us know that it is not disappearing into the ether.

We left Australia on April 9th. and stayed with my sister in Princes Risborough for four days to recover from the jet lag (and also to catch a nasty cold).  We then embarked on an extraordinary opera tour with nine other Australians and some occasional English enthusiasts.  For the non-opera lovers I will summarise briefly:

Dresden - 3 nights    Ariadne auf Naxos (Strauss) King Arthur(Purcell)   
Leipzig - 2 nights    St Matthew Passion (Bach),   Parsifal (Wagner)   
Berlin  - 3 nights    Two Piano recital: 
                         Daniel Barenboim and Martha Argerich
                      Tannhauser (Wagner),  Parsifal  (Wagner)
Amsterdam -1 night    Arabella (Strauss)
Paris    - 2 nights   Tristan und Isolde  (Wagner)
Vienna   - 3 nights   Mozart Requiem, Der Rosenkavalier (Strauss) 
                      Lohengrin (Wagner)

The Opera House in Amsterdam

There was the potential for a degree of operatic indigestion but we enjoyed every minute.  The undisputed highlights were the masterful playing of two of the world’s greatest pianists in Barenboim and Argerich, the wonderful old fashioned Rosenkavalier in it’s home town of Vienna and Klaus Florian Voigt as Lohengrin. We were with a great party of old and new friends who were immensely knowledgeable and enthusiastic.

We returned to Palma, Mallorca on Monday May 5th to find Exotica exactly where we had left her.  Although we had had one email in German from Frank, the engineer who has cared for the boat since she was new, stating that all was in order, we were still a touch apprehensive as regards her survival in the winter.

We need not have worried.  The boat was immaculate and all the jobs have been done. Frank, who is now our very best friend, has lovingly cared for her and even replaced the toilet seats because he felt they were too worn for our guests.

Exotica in the Marina at Real Club Nautico

We are spending a few days alongside in Palma to engage a sailmaker to measure for a new light airs sail, purchase some bedding and a Nespresso machine before setting off for a few days around the island. Our rough plan is to meet up with friends in early June at the north of Mallorca, then sail to Sardinia, Corsica, the west coast of Italy and end either in Sardinia or Malta.  But that is always at the whim of the weather!