September 6-13

We left Palma on September 6th at 6 am.  It was still dark, but we had
lights from the city and about 5 huge lite cruise ships in the harbour.  We
travelled to Playa del Trench.  There were a few very long and beautiful
beaches in that area.  We tucked in for the night, had dinner and went to
bed.  About 1:30 am we awoke to a thunder and lightning storm and then the
winds started to pick up.  The winds reached 45 knots as the front passed
us.  We held well, but a few boats didn't and another boat decided to
re-anchor in the middle of all this.  The next day we anchored at Porto
Colom which was a great anchorage with some mooring balls as well as a small
marina.  On Saturday the 8th, we got our dinghy ready to investigate the
town. We walked around and found many little shops and grocery stores and
then had lunch.  On Saturday the 9th, Gitana told us they were on the way.
We did some work on the boat and waited for them.  We were waiting for them
on the quay wall as they came in and helped with their lines.  After they
were settled we all went to dinner at the same place Rudy and I had lunch
the day before.  On Monday the 10th, Rudy and I and Kathy and Mike (Gitana)
rented a car and toured the east and north coast of the island. We went thru
the towns of Porto Cristo, Cala Millor and stopped to visit the Caves of
Arta.  The caves had higher ceilings than in Gibraltar.  Inside one of the
highest caverns was a stalagmite that was 22 meters high and the longest
stalactites was 30 meters long. (it takes 100 years for one cm!!) and then
we walked into Hell, Purgatory and up to Heaven.  It is called Hell because
it goes down to one meter above sea level.  Then we climbed to Heaven thru
Purgatory and heard bell like sounds from the four stalactites as she hit
them with her fist.

We went to Cala Ratjada for lunch. It was a very interesting town with many
shops and restaurants.  We also looked in the outside harbour and decided
that could be our next anchorage before we go to Menorca.  Our next
destination was to a castle on the border of Capdepera.  After climbing over
200 steps, we had to climb as many to get to the top of the castle.  After
looking around we found a small church.  We went to the top of the church
for a better view and Kathy and I rang the Church's two bells!!

We travelled to the towns of Arta, Can Picafort, and Alcudia.  Here we
looked around the harbour again.  Next we went to Port Pollenca and went
thru the center of the island going thru Manacor, Felanitx, and then back to
our boat.

The next day started out fantastic. We heard that Rod Steiger was on a
sailboat in the vicinity and it was a beautiful day. We decided to put our
bikes in the dinghy to shore while Kathy and Mike rented theirs.  We rode
all around the town, stopping for drinks and groceries.  As we were coming
back to our boat with the bikes, a man on a British boat waved us over.  He
said he was sorry to inform us about the devastation in NYC and the Pentagon
and went on to explain.  I thought he was telling us a sick joke and teasing
us because he was British and we were Americans. He said he was telling us
the truth and heard it on the BBC.  We still couldn't believe it.  Rudy
picked up Mike and Kathy from shore and they told him they saw it on a TV at
the bike rental place; they couldn't believe it either.  We turned on their
TV and were in shock for the next two days watching the horror!!!

Sept. 13th, we travelled to Menorca. It was about a 60 mile trip. It started
calm and ended with a nice breeze. We did motor sail the second half of the
trip. It was a good passage. The harbor is large and has several marinas,
moorings and anchorages. They do charge for anchoring though. In fact it
cost more to anchor then the moorings cost in Porto de Colom.