Wet, wet, wet

Well, this is depressing. We collected Guy & Beth from Palma airport last night and they seem to have brought UK weather with them. As we drove into Porto Cristo it started raining. When we got back to the boat about 1am Ben was asleep with all the hatches open & our beds were wet. There was quite strong wind overnight. About 5.30am it started raining again, and at noon it’s still raining hard, with no sign of let-up. I had to put on my Musto waterproof jacket to go to the loo! Oh yes, and the internet connection isn’t working (possibly because everyone else in the marina is trying to access it…)

Sam has headed off to return the hire car, bless him, and fortunately all three youngsters slept until after 11am. On a different morning I might have woken them but today bed seems like a really good place to be.

I didn’t sleep much. There were loud Germans until about 4am, rocking boat, squeaky fenders, gusting wind, Sam snoring etc. Also I’d had to stay awake until 1am at the airport, and my go-to-sleep mechanism seemed to be switched off. Once it started raining hard I dozed off – I guess it brings back happy memories of wet boat holidays in the Norfolk Broads and the Netherlands.

Yesterday we made the most of having the car to do a big supermarket shop in Manacor, the nearest big town (and apparently Mallorca’s second largest). Then we went down to take a look at Porto Colom which was the alternative to coming in here. It’s a lovely setting, a lagoon rather like Fornells, only smaller, but as far as we could see there were no berths or moorings available, and a man on a British boat here in Porto Cristo was saying he had a very uncomfortable night anchored in there on Monday.

This chap is on a yacht which we think is flying the Ocean Cruising Club burgee, they spent last summer in Ibiza and this summer in Mallorca, and he doesn’t seem to have a pilot book for the Balearic Islands – he borrowed ours! Granted they cost an extortionate £35 and are sometimes wrong or out of date, but I wouldn’t want to be without one. We have several hundred pounds’ worth of pilot books for places we’ve been, now residing under the aft cabin bunk.

Talking of the aft cabin, Ben is very cross at being turned out of “his” cabin to make way for Guy and Beth. He has to sleep in the main cabin which means much less privacy. It’s hard to say anything to him except “sorry, it has to be this way”. The boat feels very full with five large people on it.