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A Stormy Passage, Palma to Menorca

Family visiting and a cousin on holiday in Menorca gave us the perfect excuse to stretch our legs with a 240NM trip around the islands. The weather forecast was good for early October, and in any event, our stay at Marina Palma de Mallorca had run its course.


Palma to Mahon

At mid-morning, we departed for Isla de Cabera, some 24NM South West, intending to anchor overnight in sheltered waters. 2 engines, 60% load 8.5KN. Easy trip with calm seas protected from the prevailing northerly. We then discovered the mooring buoys at the Island have to be pre-booked, so we motored onward up the coast in search of an alternative anchorage. There are few to be had along this rugged coastline, and it was only in Es Castell that we found one suitable for our size. Mooring buoy again, but we had help hooking up, which was handy given that it was dark by our arrival.  


Cruising Menorca
Rounding Isla Del Aire, fair weather with winds rising to Force 6.

This also shortened our hop to Menorca to a convenient five hours before entering the harbor at Mahon. Passing inside of the lighthouse at Isla Del Aire, the bottoms shallow significantly with a deep water swell running through. It created conditions that allowed us to surf just a few KN, but testing the Furuno 711 autopilot on a fast-response setting was fun. Mahon is quite the harbor, with significant Spanish and British fortifications. 18th Century Barbary pirates would not enjoy its embrace. It's also deep, you find proximity to cruise ships and large ferries as they ply their trade. Our mooring was in town, directly opposite bars and shops, so we happily spent the next few days doing approximately nothing.


Mahon to Palma

Cruising Menorca

Our guests must return to Palma on the 10th of October. On the 8th, the weather map could have been better, to be frank. Winds from the SW increased force 5 to 7, continuing for the next few days. Our weather windows were few, and shelter was hard to find. Still, Vanguard is built with the weather in mind, so off we set, the only yacht on the radar for most of the trip. 2 engines, 70% load, 7.5-8KN. Wind 25-30KN on the bow or thereabouts waves 2.5-3m also on the bow. In reality, we pushed into a Force 6 most of the way with a more gentle start after the first night at anchor and the odd squall. This was the best test yet of her seakeeping, and in summary, she did well, rolling little and staying fairly dry except for the steepest seas. When the bow did bury itself, the water drained quickly and without incident. We shipped a big one only once, soaking those on the flybridge before departing over the stern. Most was a wind-blown spray, with anything more solid being stopped at the main helm. Still, after two days, we were thankful to arrive at a sheltered anchorage in Magaluf, pending our return to Palma the next day.  




What went well

  • Seakeeping, DMS stabilizers, and systems functioned as intended.  

  • We charged batteries underway from the hybrid drive and ran on battery for a day without charging.  

  • At anchor, we topped them up at an impressive 46kW or 30 minutes to full charge.

  • Our Chinese FLIR was very useful when underway at night in mooring fields, and the gyro stabilization worked as intended, even at higher magnification.

  • Improved securing to the galley drawers and cupboards; nothing spilled this time, so the duct tape remained unused.


What went less well

  • We still have overheating issues in one of our control cabinets and must add forced ventilation to overcome this.  

  • Hatch drains were problematic when we pitched significantly, causing the overboard discharge to pressurize the drain line. We need to add small non-return valves to eliminate this effect.



The harbor at Mahon was always active, this cruise ship coming in, looked pretty but something not quite in proportion so we guess a more modern facsimile.


Cruising Menorca

My sister, Allyson, looked a bit distraught at one point when we shipped a big wave. She had been sleeping on the flybridge.


I suggested most good adventures are not much fun at the moment but in hindsight ........ Her answer was rude.


Chris Leigh-Jones

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