Tuesday 28 May 2019

Although we were a little anxious last night, about the anchor, the wind had changed direction and dropped as forecast, before Steve retired to bed,so we were safe. We knew the anchor had bitten, but it’s always a little worrying when you have significant wind blowing you towards the rocks and the beach. Our anchor buries itself and holds well in sand.

It was a beautiful calm sunny morning and so I went in for a swim, off the back of the boat. It was a little less cold than in the cove a few days ago, so I swam round the boat and then used my mask and snorkel to check all was well under the boat, and have a look at the anchor, which was almost completely buried; the chain lying as it should on the sea bed.

We set off soon after breakfast and a lovely breeze kicked in as we rounded the headland at the far north east corner of Mallorca, so we were cracking along. By mid afternoon, the wind was dropping and we had to motor the last five miles to Soller.

The scenery on this north wets coast of Mallorca is magnificent, and not what we unexpected

The port of Soller is about half way a long the west coast of Mallorca. The centre of the port lies at the northeast corner of a large beautiful bay, in the midst of spectacular mountainous scenery. Th entrance is completely hidden coming from the north, and you have to trust the charts that there is actually an entrance to a bay, until the very last minute. It was easy to see the lighthouse on one side of the entrance, but the rocks to the nearer side just seemed to blend with the rock ways on the further side.  The closer light was concealed by a corner.

The centre of Soller town is two miles inland. A Victoria tram still runs linking Soller town to the port. A Victoria train also runs from Soller to Palma.

Several prehistoric artefacts have been found in the town, indicating its ancient past. In the 13th century, under Moorish Arab power, it was know as Puerto de Santa Catalina. Some years later King James I, conquered the island and renamed it Puerto de Soller. The port was of crucial importance since the 13th century, when it was the only stop over on this coast between the islands and the Spanish mainland. After 1399, it became a trading port, principally for the sale of local agricultural produce and raw materials, destined for Spain, France Italy and North Africa. The towers along the coast are testament to the defence against bandits and pirates. The port was rebuilt in the 18th century and Franco used it as a military base, during the Spanish civil war. After the civil war, the shipping trade declined, but tourism created new opportunities.

Distance covered today	39	nautical miles
Trip distance covered	703	nautical miles
Distance covered 2019	703	nautical miles
Tricia (and Steve)