We arrived in Menorca at around two in the morning. The forecasted Mistral was just kicking up, and we were able to anchor in a shallow, large bay that we had last visited in January. It was significantly warmer and flatter this time around, making our visit more pleasant. We stayed one night, not getting off the boat, before setting off for Mallorca. We had a quick downwind sail, with some decent surfs out in the channel, and arrived well before noon. We spent some time trying to find a good anchorage, as the swell was reaching into the small calas and making them quite uncomfortable. We settled on Cala Sau Nau, and were able to shore-tie in a relatively flat corner. In the morning we walked over to Cala Mitjana, where there was some climbing I wanted to try. I had been excited for a long time to come to Mallorca and do some deep water soloing since I was a kid, and now finally we were here with our boat. Deep water soloing is a small sub sport of rock climbing that takes place above the ocean, with no ropes. If you fall, you go into the water. That means that each ascent is ground up, with no way to practice difficult moves. The falls get longer as you get higher. It’s a lot of fun, aside from soggy shoes and chalk bags. I went into town and bought a big bucket of chalk, as you lose your supply every time you fall.

Climbing that first day was just a taste, as we had to make our way over to Palma to pick up Kate’s friend, Jamie. We had an entertaining upwind sail over to Palma bay, where we caught a couple tiny tuna, which we threw back. We spent a night in another little cala that we had last visited in January. It was packed with boats, and we spent the night with our anchor barely brushing the bottom. We spent four nights in the Palma marina, went to the dentist, and did some shopping. We met up with Greg and Maggie from Prevail, who we had met in Greece months before. They were getting the yacht ready to be shipped to the Caribbean, and would be in Palma for some time. We picked up Jamie and went out to some nice restaurants.

Leaving the marina, we sailed north around the corner into a quiet little bay. I went for a bike ride that was mostly mountain climbing while carrying a bike, while Kate and Jamie ran to town and picked up some bread. A few party boats carrying drunk revelers came and went from the anchorage. The next day we continued our circumnavigation of Mallorca, sailing. north in light wind and dropping anchor in Porto Sóller. It was around Porto Soller that I decided I could live in Mallorca. I went for a bike ride around on some trails and dirt roads and found the area to be amazing. Very appealing. Maybe one day we will find our way back on a more permanent basis, or maybe we will land somewhere else.

From Soller we went north along the coast to a deep and cliffed out anchorage that was one of my favorites in the Med. We tied up to the cliff and had our anchor out in the middle of the deep bay. There was some climbing, and I made a few attempts at the routes, falling a bunch and getting pretty hosed. Maybe this was going to be much harder than I thought it would be. Kate and Jamie rented a car and returned to Palma to get Jamie to the airport, and visit with Maggie and Greg from Prevail.

We continued our circumnavigation taking two nights to get back around to the south end and the Cala at Varques, somewhere I had been wanting to go for a long time, as it is one of the best places for deep water soloing. My first session I was nervous, as I had been getting spanked everywhere else. I was pleasantly surprised to make it up two of the routes I had been wanting to do on my first try. Then later that afternoon I got way further on something I thought was beyond my abilities. We had a great time in Cala Varques, and I succeeded on one project and got worked on the other one. It’s nice to have something to return to. A big storm blew through and Kate went back to the dentist.

By this time we were eyeing the weather for our run down to Gibraltar. Hoping for a nice northeaster to carry us all the way through, we were disappointed as the weather forecast kept getting worse and worse. I had a dentist appointment holding us in Mallorca, but as soon as we got that taken care of we hit the road. Getting a few liters of diesel we raised sails around 2pm and started sailing south west on a close reach. After three days of sailing in all kinds of weather we pulled into a wide sandy bay near Punta Gata, on mainland Spain. We were going to hide here for a few days while the westerlies blew through, and then try to make it the last few miles to Gibraltar. On passage we caught a fish, the first one on KODA that we have kept, and had some nice seared Mahi for dinner. We made ceviche with the rest. At Punta Gata we met a group of French people with a Neel trimaran heading to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to start a wing foil business. We had a great foil session and over drinks I bought a board from them, as mine had never made it to Mallorca.

Early in the morning we motored out of the bay and raised sail. We were close hauled, and stayed that way for two complete days before making it into Gibraltar at around 3am on the third day. We caught a small tuna and enjoyed more fish. Anchoring in La Línea we had another brief foiling session before heading to the Queensway Quay for four nights.

Gibraltar was an interesting place we will likely not visit again. Lots of rules. We met up with Sailing Daubers, a young family with an Outremer 51 who we had first met in Sardinia. Wayfinder also caught up to us there, and brought me a package that hadn’t made it to La Grande Motte in time. We got our new sail delivered, along with some other bits and pieces. We cleaned the boat and checked some stuff out, including a sneaky hike to the top of the rock where we avoided paying the $100 entry fee. With our five days drawing to a close we thought we saw a good weather window to make it down to the Canaries, and got provisioned. On the morning of departure we cruised over to the fuel dock and bought the cheapest tank of diesel we have yet encountered. Raising sail in the bay we immediately started freight training at ten knots out towards Tangier and the Atlantic Ocean. Time to leave the Mediterranean behind.