Saturday 18 May 2019

With yesterday’s storm behind us, we knew that we would be evicted from the marina today, and we wanted to move on in any case. We were up (too) early to get some exercise in before we left, and top up the last-minute provisions of perishables.

We went through the lengthy process of removing all of the storm provisions that we had put in place yesterday so that we could depart. However, when we were moving towards the outer harbour we found our way blocked by an in-coming cruise ship, so we had to just hang around for a while to allow them to reverse into their mooring.  A number of boats also waited, but others forced their way past, albeit safely. We were especially glad to get out into the bay when we realised that a large commercial vessel had been waiting in its dock for the cruise ship, and it started moving as soon as the cruise ship docked.  Its sister ship was on the horizon heading in, presumably to take the newly vacated berth.

In the open water we got the sails set and were rewarded by a very enjoyable sail in good conditions. We have headed eastwards, with a specific bay in mind, based on the weather forecast.  The reality of the conditions subsequently meant that we changed our plan to go further, rounding another headland to be on the sheltered, eastern side of Mallorca, when the wind was coming from the west.  This meant that we added an addition 7 or 8 miles to our trip, but it reduces what we plan for tomorrow by the same amount.

Around lunchtime we found ourselves alongside a racing fleet. We were next to the smaller boats, but were roughly matching their pace. They were flying their spinnakers while we just had white sails up. While we ate, some of them pulled a little ahead of us, and this was enough to get the competitive juices flowing, so we rigged for our spinnaker and once this was set, we caught up quickly and pulled ahead of them.  We were staying well to one side of their course to ensure that we did not interfere with their race. It was great to see people out enjoying the weekend, doing the things that we love.

Distance covered today	36	nautical miles
Trip distance covered	508	nautical miles
Distance covered 2019	508	nautical miles
Tricia (and Steve)