Monday 13 May 2019

 This was a brilliant day.

It was a 55 mile crossing to Mallorca from Cala Llonga, the same as crossing the English Channel, from Lymington to Cherbourg, which we have done many times. With this one, there would be no busy shipping lanes to cross.

We slipped anchor at 6.45, shortly after sunrise, into light airs. During the morning, we launched the kite twice, but there wasn’t enough wind to fly it comfortably and give us reasonable speed. We had it in mind to average 6 knots so we could make the journey in a reasonable time. However we got quite behind on our schedule, up until lunchtime by trying to sail.

In the early afternoon the wind went round to the north, from the southwesterly we had had during the morning. We were able to achieve our 6 knots, sailing. The wind the gradually filled in and by mid afternoon, we had a nice F4 breeze. Equinox was in her prime. For about three hours, we averaged over 8 knots through the water. We were flying. We hit a top speed of 10.5knots, which I think equals our top speed over the last two years.

We were going so fast that the apparent wind increased such that we were getting overpowered, so we put reefs in the main and jib, to shorten the sail area. We were still doing over 8 knots. Fantastic fun. During this we also had the lovely sight of Mallorca ahead of us. The hills are higher but it is not a green as Ibiza. The coastline on this west side of the island had many sandstone cliffs, with lots of low rise development, quite in keeping with the landscape.

Santa Ponsa bay, where we would anchor for the night is very shallow, but we easily found a sandy patch to settle ourselves. The head of the wide bay has a long beach, which we are seeing for a far. There are hotels on the north side of the bay and rather posh looking flats and houses on the south side, a little reminiscent of Sandbanks in Dorset. We are on the south side, close to the entrance to the bay, with lots of other anchored boats. All is peaceful and calm, during the evening, as the sun sets.

Distance covered today	55	nautical miles
Trip distance covered	437	nautical miles
Distance covered 2019	437	nautical miles
Tricia (and Steve)