Last fall, after we had decided to spend our winter in Barcelona, we had a solid month of cruising left before our November marina reservation. About 130 miles off the coast of Spain lie some of the Med's best cruising grounds, the Balearics. Still part of Spain, the Balearics have an interesting and varied history, as does most of the Med. Ancient Phoenicians, Carthaginians and Romans all played a part in brewing the personality of the Balearics which, like Barcelona, are part of Catalunya. We would head for Mallorca, the largest of the islands, and see where the winds blew us from there.

These days Mallorca is vacation destination for all of Europe. On the mainland, you can see billboards for cheap flights to the island for 20 euros. In Palma, the capitol, the airports and ferry terminals bring in a steady stream of tourists bearing a steady supply of the Euros that keep the vacation businesses in the pink. We decided to aim for a little cala (bay) on the east side of the island and ease into the island away from the mega-hotels. We have friends that we met in the Caribbean who live and work in Mallorca, so we took advantage of our inside connection. Our friends George and Nathalie sail Legaris (a Catana 472) and have a young daughter Anthonia who fits just between our two girls - perfect.

When we cast off from Barcelona, we left at 2 in the afternoon, planning to arrive in Mallorca the next morning, and giving us all day to find the right spot to anchor. Short night sails are a favorite on Zia since the kids can sleep - and we grownups can easily handle a single night of interrupted sleep. The weather was just barely sailable with 10 knots from the stern quarter, but we put out the genniker and made the best of it. Early the next morning we were greeted with the sight of land. Landfall always gives me a special thrill, even after only 18 hours of sailing. Maybe it's because it validates our navigation skills (is this island really out here?) or perhaps it's the excitement of new shores to explore.

Landfall Mallorca.

Following our friends' instructions, we pulled into Cala Mondrago and dropped the hook in 25 feet of crystal water onto a large sandy patch surrounded by rock. It was a small anchorage exposed to the east, but the weather was settled and the island beckoned with palm trees and a small beach bar. As is the custom in the Med, we hung out all of our fenders before heading to shore, just in case.

Cala Mondrago, Mallorca

We met up with the Legaris crew and jumped into island life by joining them for a BBQ and swimming party. Although the official language in the Balearics is Catalan, we heard German, Italian, Castellano and thankfully, plenty of English. The land seemed semi-arid but it made a fine view, with the blue Mediterranean visible from almost everywhere.

We moved on to Palma for a few days to get some shopping and touring in. A full day of beating into 25 knots made us really appreciate arriving in the huge main harbor. The marinas were filled to the brim with glistening superyachts, but they managed to find a space for our little catamaran. Every kind of boat service and chandlery was available to us here, as well as big city supermarkets and malls.

After a few days of big city life, we moved about 5 miles away to a fantastic anchorage right off the beach. The Isleta Islands anchorage is protected on three sides by islets; the bottom is 15 feet, and nice and sandy. This is more like it! The jellyfish were floating all about as I took the opportunity to change the prop zincs. I expected ten seconds of looking for bogies and 30 seconds to work on the zincs. It took about a half an hour but I didn't get stung once - although I had a few near misses. The Med has been plagued recently by swarms of these nasty little buggers. Global warming or just plain old bad luck - either way, they are as unwelcome as mosquitoes.

Cassie, Juliana and Anthonia make for the beach in the Isletas.

We had originally planned on some more land touring, including a highly touted narrow gauge railway trip to Soller, but we received word that my sister would be vacationing in Nice, France which was only 350 miles to the north. If we made sail within the next day or two, we could hang out with family as well as tour ze south of France. The boat was ready, and we were itching to get moving again. That made it an easy decision, and we started planning our departure for the next day.

Moonrise at anchor in Mallorca.