Mallorca by Angry Panda

Have been in Port de Mallorca Marina for the past week and will be here for another few days primarily to await a couple of spare parts which are being couriered in.  Apart from the shockwaves being felt from the dreadful World Cup opener for Spain things are normal.

Skipper in training

We sailed into Palma harbour on Monday and berthed stern too - as usual here.  Luckily there was absolutely no wind and so things went smoothly.  The City of Palma lies at the northern end of a very large bay on the southern side of Mallorca.  The harbour area stretches around the bay for close to two miles and the entire length is taken up with yacht moorings and marinas on one side and a broad walk and bike path on the land side.  The city comes right down to the waterfront so almost all the berths are essentially downtown.   There are all types of boats here from small dinghies moored directly to the quayside lining the harbour to the mega yachts floating along the marina pontoons and owned by the rich and famous.  Then there is a lot of boats in-between and quite a few similar to us.  Palma’s location, climate and development have made this the premier yachting centre in the Med.

Palma itself is a really nice place.  Nic and Scott were here almost three years ago when they were looking at a couple of potential boats prior to buying Dulcinea but that was a lightening quick trip with no real time for sightseeing.  This time they have time and have looked around a bit more.  The city is dominated by a huge gothic cathedral at one end and a charming old town spreads out from there.  There are beautiful old pedestrian shopping streets, plenty of cafes and restaurants and enough old buildings and history to make it interesting when strolling around. 

We had two main reasons for coming to Palma - one to meet with Sue Grant, the lady from Berthon, the yacht brokers, who are selling Dulcines and two to install a new set of house batteries.  Needless to say as soon as you look at coming into a marina there are other jobs which can be done also and so the To Do list just expands.  Luckily in Palma it seems that components and bits and pieces are readily available.  

The big job for us was the batteries.  Scott had ordered the batteries in St Maarten in March and they were ready upon our arrival in Palma.  It was while talking with the dealer to organise delivery that it suddenly became apparent how heavy these batteries were.  There are 12 of them and they each weight 80kg so a total of nearly one ton of batteries - or the weight of a small car as Dave would say.   Handling onboard was not such an issue as they can be lifted using the winches but they had to be manhandled across a gap of about five feet between the quayside and the stern of the vessel.  Also there were 12 old batteries to come off - so another ton to move.  In addition the batteries are located under the saloon sole (floor) so that had to be completely pulled apart first.

This is what one ton of batteries looks like

In the end Scott managed to persuade (with the help of some beer) one of the marina guys to help lift the batteries across the passerelle onto the boat.  Then what should have been the easy part turned out to be more difficult as our powered winches were reduced to manual because their power comes from the batteries we were changing out.  In the end it was a real family affair with Sam doing all the grunt work on the winch, Nic guiding the batteries on deck, Scott installing and removing the batteries below and Calley being the gofer.  It was a very long and very exhausting day but eventually we got it finished, the power back on and the boat looking good for the visit of the broker.

Scott and Sam replacing batteries

Apart from the boat we have managed some time to look around Palma and Mallorca and, as with Ibiza, there are some surprises in store.  The cathedral in Palma is just awesome.  Its very difficult to describe the impact of the building.  We have seen a few of these now in the last month but each time you see one it just leaves you speechless.  Then you go inside and its equally awesome.  We hope the kids are getting some small amount of appreciation of the history and architecture.

Street Performer in Palma

We hired a car for a few days and today drove around the Serra de Tramuntana, the mountainous western side of the island.  The car we ended up with was a Fiat Panda which Nic had to constantly over rev to get it up the hills and so the kids christened it the Angry Panda.  

The Angry Panda

The Tramuntana region is stunning with high mountains between 3000ft and 4000ft high plunging towards the coast.  The mountain roads weave around the wooded slopes and provide a new breathtaking view around every bend.   Every so often along the route a town of terra cotta coloured houses with clay roof tiles materialise in a valley or clinging to the mountainside.  Splashes of colour from the local flowering bushes like bouganvillia stand out among the buildings.  At other places the road cuts down to the coast to a picturesque port or beach.  The road is a motorcyclists dream and provides fantastic cycling for those who are fit enough.  The air is clear and fresh and smells of flowers and pine trees.  We had a fantastic day out enjoying the views, the local food and the cooling Mediterannean in the heat of the day.

Valldemossa in the Tramuntana

Nic and Kids Enjoying the Views

We hope to do some more looking around in the next few days before we leave.