{"id":1979,"date":"2018-08-20T13:22:04","date_gmt":"2018-08-20T11:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.new.lifefourpointzero.com\/?p=1979"},"modified":"2018-11-18T20:52:26","modified_gmt":"2018-11-18T18:52:26","slug":"the-explorations-begin-mallorca-a-jewel-of-the-balearics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifefourpointzero.com\/?p=1979","title":{"rendered":"The Explorations Begin – Mallorca, A Jewel of the Balearics, Ep. 97"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Approach to the Unforgettable Cala Calobra on the north coast of Mallorca!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At 3 am on the final day of May, we set off from the Marina in Puerto de Blanes on the Spanish coast (north east of Barcelona by about 70 kilometers \u2013 yes, we have fully converted to metric!). Today would be the first \u2018crossing\u2019 in our new boat \u2026 the shake-down cruise continues. Our destination is the harbor of Soller on the north coast of Mallorca, the largest of the Spanish Islas Baleares (Balearic Islands) in the western Mediterranean. The total distance we need to cover is 115 nautical miles (nm). \u00a0I think we were both fighting back some nerves as we pulled out of the harbor in the moonlit early morning hours. As is becoming our modus operandi, I was at the helm to pull us away from the dock and all went well since we had very little wind and absolutely no other boat traffic. Though I\u2019ve had some close-quarters practice while we were berthed in Canet, France, I am still quite jittery as I attempt maneuvers at the dock since Tom handled nearly all of those tasks on Thalia, our previous boat.<\/p>\n

We knew there was the likelihood of fish traps that could get snagged by our prop as we motored off shore so we both kept a watch until we got into water over 50 meters deep, which only took about 10 minutes of motoring!\u00a0 We then began our watch schedule beginning with our morning person (Tom, of course) taking first watch. I snuggled back into bed and tried to get some sleep. The seas were quite choppy so a deep sleep was out of the question as the bow would frequently crash into an oncoming wave and make my body momentarily weightless in our forward berth. Our bed happens to be the worst place to sleep in these conditions and I could certainly move into one of our other sleeping quarters but I thought the seas would calm down! Three hours later, Tom would experience the same weightlessness! Oh well \u2013 life at sea.<\/p>\n

Midway through our crossing, we had a wonderful surprise \u2013 a pod of dolphins dashing toward our bow to play in our wake! This is one of the very most special times on a boat \u2013 you can literally observe the happiness of the dolphins as they jump, flip and play around your moving home. Watch this video which is a compilation of the time they spent with us.<\/p>\n