We Love Palma

You know a place is special when friends and family meet you on the dock on arrival and have countless offers to lend a hand and loan their washing machine!

For the first week we hired a car for our grocery shopping and runs to and from our 2m2 storage block.

The last few months we have decided what we do and don’t need in the boat, and on a 45ft yacht you can’t take it all with you! A few sail changes were made onboard, more spare parts, and less toys.

Our Supermarket excursions can only be described as Megga! Emilie planned what we would need for the next six months and we bought a lot of items that are cheap in Spain but expensive in the Caribbean while I squirmed uncomfortably as I handed over the credit card for a €2000 grocery bill. And then there was more grocery shopping to do for other items we could not find at the super cheap place… for my sanity I decided to not go grocery shopping again.

One bit item to resolve in Palma was our new chest freezer (or lack of). After months of modifications the best we could get was -4*C which does not keep the food cold enough for long term freezing. Finally we bit the bullet and upgraded the compressor to a BD50F. Now we have a freezer keeping the food at a chilly -20*C and using less power than the smaller compressor. The freezer has been an ongoing 6 month learning experience and I think I could now gain my Tafe certificate In refrigeration engineering!

For much of our time in Palma we were anchored off Portxiol giving us good dinghy landing and car parking facilities. One night at anchor after an electrical storm our B&G instruments stopped working. This could have been a game changer for our voyage. No instrument’s = no autopilot= $$$= no go!

After two days of fault finding I narrowed it down to the wind wand and wind interface. Both turned out to be not working and have now been replaced. Whatever destroyed the new instruments did not affect the old analogue B&G gear from 1990’s. I guess it’s hard to rely on computer chips and modern technology!

Just prior to our arrival in Palma Max saw a video of his cousin Fred riding his bike through a big puddle. As soon as we arrived at the RCNP Marina, Auntie Amanda bought the kids bikes to the marina. Within a day Max was riding his bike by himself, and within a week he was practicing jumps and riding through big puddles! Even a big stack at the bottom of a hill did not wipe the smike from his face! Needless to say the bikes that were going to remain in storage are now coming with us as both Issy and Max are avid bike riders!

A big decision in Palma was to replace the oven as our recent bread and lasagna efforts have been unsuccessful. We finally took the plunge and ordered the Rolls Royce of four burner boat ovens, only to have it arrive slightly bent and twisted. Needless to say, after spending a substantial amount on the oven we returned it to where it came from and re installed the not so hot oven bit strait oven onboard.

Prior to departing Palma we gathered up a few great mates to celebrate Max’s 5th birthday. Max has now spent half his life in Europe, with 2 years in Palma and though we were partying a couple of weeks early it was special he could enjoy a party with his mates eating Pizza and playing on the beach. The day of the party coincided with our friend Phil completing his 3rd Marathon and it was amazing Phil was happy to walk to the party with his family from the finish.

With pockets almost empty we enjoyed a final sail and sea trial around Palma bay with friends and then departed for Ibiza. From now we will be heading west for the next two years, with perhaps a bit of north south in between.

Thanks to all our friends for an enjoyable stay in Palma and for helping us with our journey now and beyond.