This and That Around the Island of Mallorca

After a week of anchoring on the southeast coast of the island, we've decided to move on. Our time at Es Trenc or Rapita (as we usually call it) was filled with several long swims a day, lovely sunsets and star filled nights.
And for entertainment we had men shooting out of the water propelled by jet ski's...

Look how high he is compared to the boat behind him...

This has been all the rage for a couple of years here in the Med...

So we began our journey around the island by grabbing a mooring ball in Andratx to go to shore and see one of our favorite friends, Julia. She owns a lovely boutique called Snif and the Captain love to adorn the first mate with Julia's beautiful clothes. What's not to love about Andratx???

Continuing west we spent a couple of days in Sant Elmo. We've wanted to experience the paddle boards that everyone here has, so we rented a couple at the beach and tried them out.
The Captain is definitely much more skilled than the first mate as he actually stood on it and didn't fall off...

I was happy to stay on by just staying on my knees...

Continuing north along the west coast was a visionary delight with the wild and rugged cliffs---spectacular....

Sunset in a north coast anchorage. The pinkish colored mountains reminded us of our Tucson home where the mountains turn this color every evening at sunset....

And then our first encounter with the huge jelly fish that sometimes invade the island. Luckily we saw it before it saw us...

Look at the size of this jelly!!!!

We also began seeing a few of the little jellies with the long tentacles as we swam. Richard's been stung several times by these and has been fine after a little discomfort. We have no idea of the sting of these big suckers and don't plan to find out.

It's been a number of years since we have circumvented the entire island of Mallorca, and so this has been a sweet remembrance of sorts. The island is 62 miles long and 47 miles wide with many wonderful coves to explore. But unfortunately the eastern winds made it difficult to anchor along the east coast. So we journeyed on down to the southern coast once again to where we started in Es Trenc. After a couple of warm days anchored here, this anchorage once again spit us out with a big storm in middle of the night. We waited it out till daylight and hi-tailed it out of there as several boats ended up on the beach with the high winds.

So yes, here we are again in Palma, safe in port. But at least we had several weeks out and about the island of Mallorca.

Another fun happening was seeing the many big super yachts around the island. When we see them we go on the computer and look them up to get the stats, etc.
Here is a picture of Kismet in an anchorage on the south coast. It charters out for 1.2 million Euros a week...

This is Rising Sun--the boat that President Obama and Michelle vacationed on in Tahiti in early spring. Oprah, Tom Hanks, and Bruce Springsteen were also aboard. Now it is here on Mallorca...

And coming back into Palma we saw this boat---the oddest sailboat ever. It was built and owned by a Russian billionaire. It's value is 400 million...

And walking around Palma we saw this odd occurrence---a man cleaning the stop lights. Tell me, has anyone ever seen anyone cleaning the stop lights in America before---has anyone ever seen anyone cleaning stop lights anywhere???????

Okay, enough of this and that. We're happy sailors whenever and wherever we may roam (sail)...

Palma...never leaving

We had a special friend named Ray (and we still do in spirit). We met him in the Med 6 or 7 years ago and saw him again in the Caribbean. And Ray and his lovely wife, Fran, even came and stayed with us a few days in Tucson. Ray has influenced us greatly with his loving and generous spirit and we remember his words often. Ray had a saying when he found a beautiful cove or favorite port and that was: he would state the name of the place and say "_______....never leaving"!

Well we channel Ray lately as we say, "Palma.... never leaving"!
Now we love Palma and it's a good thing that we do, as it seems we can't seem to stay away from it.
Every time we leave to go anchor out for unlimited days of summer fun, Ecstasea says "uh-uh, I don't think so"... She wants more loving attention and so we go back into Palma for more work and repairs.
So we come in to fix something and then head out to anchor and explore quiet, beautiful coves and beaches. And sure enough, Esea misses Palma and back in we go again. So really, it's our wonderful boat home that loves Palma and says "Palma....never leaving"!!!

And with all that said, it has given us the opportunity to connect more with all of our friends here in Palma. We've been out to dinner with some of them and went to a rooftop dinner party a few weeks ago.

And if it's not Esea taking us back into port it's the crazy, funky weather this year. All of Europe and Spain has had a massive heat wave. It was 103 degrees in Mallorca, which is unheard of. We've even slept several nights out in the cockpit or on the foredeck just to catch a breeze. And there have been more big mistral winds and thunderstorms too.

Now when we do make it out of port we usually go to one of our favorite anchorages called Rapita on the south east coast of Mallorca. We were here for the last full moon which was a partial eclipse that we were able to see. And of course, pictures just can't do Her (Mother Moon) justice...

We have wanted to re-explore the east and north coasts of Mallorca as it has been about 7 years since we were there. But it just isn't happening yet as the wind and waves keep us on the south coast. But the south coast is great for swimming and snorkeling so what's not to love?
Soooo, we've actually been anchored out now for over a week and Esea is getting loving attention from us but not needing it in the way of repairs. YEA!!!

There's another saying that we quote often and it goes like this:
"If you want to make the Goddess laugh, make a plan".
So we have made the Goddess laugh hilariously all summer and now we are laughing right along with her. All of our plans have been futile and hopefully we are learning patience and flexibility in our life.
Ecstasea has gently and not so gently rocked and rolled us this summer and given us the opportunity to "Roll in the deep" as Adele sings. Rolling deep within--exploring and finding ever more deeply our true nature independent of circumstances. Taking that ever expanding journey within is so much more important to us than all of the outer journeys we could possibly take. So having this time and opportunity was not what we had planned, but has turned out to be perfect.

So here we are without a plan, easefully resting in the perfection of it,  and maybe going no where at all...

"______________ (wherever)... never leaving!!!

New and Strange Occurrences

One of our favorite coves on Mallorca is Cala Egos. We've  written before about our egos's getting reality checks and being put in their place in this Cala. Well....

We had just finished a long swim and were sitting in the cockpit when a young (late 20's) man swam up to the boat and asked to come aboard. Okay then? We offered him a beer and proceeded to get acquainted. He's from Germany and here on holiday with 8 of his buddies (who were all on the boat next to ours). And finally after much small talk, he got around to his main purpose for visiting us. He asked about our President and all we could say was "It's not our fault, we didn't vote for him and have no idea how this nightmare has happened!". He was relieved but really wanted us to know that the whole world, every country, was laughing at us!!! Yeah, with humility we acknowledged that we did know that and we understood why.

We are one of very, very few American boats in the Mediterranean--we only see a few every summer. And in the past years, Europeans would swim up to us and want to talk about the U.S. in it's greatness (even with the George Bush era), and boats going by would yell out "YEA, U.S.A.". Not now. And once again we acknowledge a good dose of humility in good old Cala Ego's...

So another odd occurrence happened a few days later as we were anchored in Porto Portals. We woke up to find that an alien space "ship" had dropped in beside us overnight! Literally...
Look at these pictures:

So this spaceship (trimaran) is named Adasta. So we looked it up on the internet and it was built in China for 15 million dollars and is owned by a Chinese billionaire. Go figure...it's definitely a new sighting here in the Med.

Another new occurance this summer is the amount of Americans now here. As we mentioned, we used to see very few all summer. But now they are everywhere. In every anchorage and harbor there are 2-3 American flags flying.
Are they all leaving the good ole U.S.A. because of you know who????????????????????????????

Margaritas as well as Sangria

So after provisioning Ecstasea with all of the essential Sangria ingredients (remember that we are addicted now to sangria), we set sail for the islands. It feels good to be finally moving in harmony with Yemaya aboard Ecstasea and actually going somewhere. We had an overnight sail and landed on the north side of Ibiza in our favorite cove, Cala Churracca. It has always been a refuge for us and always refreshes our soul. So once again refreshed, we sailed on to Mallorca and on into port in Palma. Perhaps Palma feels like home because we first began our time in the Med here 10 years ago. WOW...have we really been doing this 10 seasons and still loving it???


We never tire of the sight of the Cathedral in Palma---stunning...

Our attempt at a selfie in front of the Cathedral...

And then we had to celebrate at our favorite (actually the only one) Mexican restaurant called Aquanauta by drinking too many margaritas. What happened to Sangria you might ask...

After connecting with so many of our friends in Palma and getting a little more work done on Ecstasea (yeah, can you believe it?), we were ready for many anchor out days with nothing to do.

The sea is perfectly warm now and crystal clear and so inviting. We swim several times a day and are finally feeling somewhat in shape.
We spent our second full moon here this summer by sailing to the little island of Cabrera off the southeast corner of Mallorca.

On the foredeck awaiting Mother Moon's arrival...

And yes, it really is the hazy, lazy days of summer and we are enjoying it now. Nothing to do but what we want, when we want, and how we want--and making it up as we go along.

And what we decided we wanted a few days ago was to go see our friends Ann and Franco in Denia on the mainland of Spain. So we sailed to Ibiza and then on to Denia. They live in Madrid but always spend some of their summertime in the lovely coastal town of Denia. So catching up with them and then a little sightseeing in Denia.
There is a castle in Denia that we failed to visit last year when we were here so we all walked up the hill to see it. The views from there were spectacular of the sea and the town.

Old castle walls leading upward...

Old ruins on top with big trees...

Selfie in front of view of sea and town...

The mountain which forms the backdrop of the beautiful little town of Denia...

Ann and Franco took us to their favorite restaurant for the local specialty of rice cooked in a rich fish broth (different from paella) and along with Sangria it was a feast. And after a little time on Ecstasea, we had a lovely evening at their place contemplating and fixing the challenges of the world---within and without!
But truly the best part of Denia was the heart connection with Ann and Franco---the deep love space of communion with loving, expansive souls...Deep gratitude for our time together!!!

And then an easy journey back to Mallorca where once again we settled into port in Palma for a little more projects on Ecstasea.
We've found an easeful space in which to hold all of this "work" on Esea  (short for Ecstasea), as we remind ourselves that we are not on "holiday", but we "live" here. And in the "living", there is always maintenance and "things" to "do"!!! We live in Tucson half of the year and we live in the Mediterranean the other half. So here we are, "living" with all that is required to do so.

So now Ecstasea has all new batteries and is fully charged, as are we...
and now off we go to who knows where?????????

Sangria by the Sea

Wow, we have been in Spain for 5 weeks now, and yet, we are still not sailing the deep blue waters of Yemaya. What we are doing is enjoying Sangria in it's many splendored ways... by the sea, just not on the sea...here, there, and everywhere. It is not the watered down version we thought it was. At least here in the southern part of Spain it is a serious drink comprised of wine, whiskey, brandy, cointreau, and various other liquors mixed in. And it is seriously great tasting and great for us as we "be with what is". And "what is"... is that Ecstasea has been having some major work done. We had commissioned to have her Raymarine (radar, charts, etc.) upgraded when we arrived, but were not anticipating the bow thruster breaking. Soooo, as i said, we are indulging on sangria in it's many various forms.

Ecstasea had loving attention and care in the small port of Aquadulce (sweet water) for the winter. We picked her up there and sailed just 3 hours down the coast to the port of Almerimar for the work to be done. We have great guys to attend to her needs and still we are reminded that "boat" is a four letter word! Why is it that we forget that repairs almost always are more challenging and take more time than ever expected??? And we know that we have been here with the Brits too long as Richard is calling everyone "mate" and saying things like "tickety boo" -- and i am cussing even more like a sailor and saying "bloody hell"  to everything!

The second day that we were in port awaiting her work to begin,  we witnessed one of the all time biggest drug busts here in Almerimar. The pictures below attest to the quantity that was taken from a sailing vessel along with the two disheartened men aboard it. It was quite the excitement for a while!!!

This is the boat behind the official Aduanas boat...

You can see the drugs being unloaded with a crane...

There's tons of drugs of some kind, neatly packaged....

Okay, enough of that...

So Ecstasea had to be hauled out of the water again for the bow thruster repair. And there is nothing quite so wrong as living on a boat out of the water. So we took ourselves on  a road trip to do a little sightseeing. What we didn't anticipate was a nasty cold-flu crud that we picked up somewhere along the way. But we made the most of it by doing just a little touristy sightseeing each day with lots of sleep and rest otherwise.
We first went to Seville as we had heard how beautiful it was. It has the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world. It was first a mosque in 1184 and then consecrated as a Cathedral in 1248. It was truly impressive and houses the tomb of Christopher Columbus.

Altar of gold...

Tomb of Christopher Columbus...

What we enjoyed even more was the Real Alcazar of Seville. It is similar to the Alhambra in Granada  in that it was built during the times that the Moors, Christians and Jews all lived in harmony in this area. The royal palace was built by Moorish Muslim kings. It is the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe. The current royal family still uses the upper levels today when they come to Seville. It was built during the 11th-16th centuries.
It's right in the heart of the city and is stunning in it's architecture and gardens.

Seville is truly a beautiful city and worthy of much exploration. Unfortunately we did not do her justice but enjoyed what we did see. We began our love affair with sangria and tapas here and did do that great justice!!! Look at the size of those sangrias -- an no, i did not drink both of them -- one was for the Captain...

Moving on we arrived in the little mountain town of Ronda. It's claim to fame is the oldest bull ring in the world. The first bull fight took place in 1785. It was impressive and we could learn all about it's history with the tour and museum without having to witness a bull fight.

Richard and the bull...

Inside the bull ring...

And this is where the bullfighter could get away from the bull if need be. Chicken....

The bridge and gorge of the town of Ronda is stunning and is the symbol of the city. The bridge was completed in 1793 and it is 360 feet down to the bottom of the ravine.

Yeah, that's a lot of pictures of the bridge, but it was mighty impressive, it took us back in time with it's wonder.


And this is the beautiful valley down below...

Ernest Hemingway went to Ronda every year during his life and his ashes are buried here.

Growing weary of hotels and travel, we decided to come back to Almerimar and check on Ecstasea and her progress. All was going well, just going slowly as the parts took time to arrive, etc. So we rented a little apartment close to the boatyard and continued to wait. Aaaahhhh, patience!!!
And while we waited we continued to explore the world of sangria at every little restaurant in the area. Now the good news is this: tapas are free with drinks and since we were well into mucho sangria, we ate a lot for free.
And finally Ecstasea was dunked back in the water just a few days ago and we are home once again. We are home in our own bed that rocks us gently to sleep every night.

We don't expect anyone to feel sorry for us as we can't even begin to feel sorry for ourselves. Life is a grand mystery and adventure no matter where we are. Once again, life aboard a moving vessel is one of our greatest teachers and we are thankful. This "down time" has offered us the opportunity to dig a little deeper and find the peace and joy regardless of the circumstances. We have had time to explore the conversation in our minds that says "it shouldn't be this way". And of course, we know it should be this way, because "it is"...
And of course, as long as the Captain and first Mate are together, all is as it should be, all is well, all is perfect.

Now the only question is where do we sail off to--where is that perfect cove to anchor in and just "be"? And actually, there is another important question--can we make really good sangria to sustain our savage lust for it??????????? Another new exploration..........