Logbook

• Departure: Cala Moltó (39.7280, 3.4592), Friday, May 15, 2026 at 19:11 UTC
• Arrival: Cala Ratjada (39.7081, 3.4640), Friday, May 15, 2026 at 19:54 UTC
• Duration: 0.7 h
• Distance: 2.4 nm
• Average speed: 3.4 kn
• Hours & Distance under Motor: 0.5 h / 1.4 nm
• Miles under Sail: 1.0 nm
• Crew: Tobi, Anna, Jo, Eli

Weighed anchor at Cala Moltó, bound for Cala Ratjada: a short hop covering 2 nautical miles at an average of 3.4 knots. Wind 5 kn from the NNE, gusting to 14 kn. Seas up to 0.5m. Got out of Cala Moltó just in time to run into a nasty squall barreling in from the northeast, and had to motor into Cala Ratjada at full throttle, thoroughly drenched. Tied up next to the gas station for the night before moving into a proper transit berth the next morning.

Logbook

• Departure: Alcúdia (39.8314, 3.1341), Friday, May 15, 2026 at 10:17 UTC
• Arrival: Cala Moltó (39.7282, 3.4558), Friday, May 15, 2026 at 15:11 UTC
• Duration: 4.9 h
• Distance: 18.6 nm
• Average speed: 3.8 kn
• Hours & Distance under Motor: 0.4 h / 1.7 nm
• Miles under Sail: 16.8 nm
• Crew: Tobi, Anna, Jo, Eli

Left Alcúdia and made for Cala Moltó, a modest half-day’s sail covering 19 nautical miles at an average of 3.8 knots. Wind 8–14 kn from the WNW, gusting to 31 kn. Seas up to 0.8m. The swell in the anchorage was horrible: even with a stern anchor down to keep the bow pointed into the waves, it was a rollercoaster ride all night.

Logbook

• Departure: Bonaire (Mallorca) (39.8692, 3.1416), Monday, May 11, 2026 at 10:34 UTC
• Arrival: Alcúdia (39.8337, 3.1329), Monday, May 11, 2026 at 16:49 UTC
• Duration: 6.3 h
• Distance: 11.1 nm
• Average speed: 1.8 kn
• Hours & Distance under Motor: 3.6 h / 2.4 nm
• Miles under Sail: 8.6 nm
• Crew: Tobi, Anna, Jo, Eli

Underway from Bonaire (Mallorca) toward Alcúdia, a modest half-day’s sail: 11 nautical miles at an average of 1.8 knots. Wind 1–2 kn from the NNE, gusting to 10 kn. It backed from NW to SSE. Along the way, a break at a long pebbly beach with goats climbing through the rocks and bushes, and Tobi and Jo took the dinghy to explore some of the nearby caves. Anchored in the bay of Alcúdia and had some very nice beach days, met Frank on the 65ft catamaran Franke, and when the freshwater supplies started running low, filled up from his watermaker with a garden hose while tied up alongside.

Logbook

• Departure: Port de Pollença (39.9012, 3.0885), Sunday, May 10, 2026 at 10:49 UTC
• Arrival: Bonaire (Mallorca) (39.8676, 3.1386), Sunday, May 10, 2026 at 11:57 UTC
• Duration: 1.1 h
• Distance: 3.3 nm
• Average speed: 2.9 kn
• Hours & Distance under Motor: 0.5 h / 1.5 nm
• Miles under Sail: 1.8 nm
• Crew: Tobi, Anna, Jo, Eli

Left Port de Pollença and made for Bonaire (Mallorca), a short hop covering 3 nautical miles at an average of 2.9 knots. Wind 10 kn from the W, gusting to 24 kn. Seas up to 0.6m. A very speedy leg, sails set on a beam reach the whole way. Bonaire itself, on the other hand, may be the most boring place imaginable: we couldn’t even find a single open shop, so we left again.

We were rounding Cap Formentor under motor, wind and current both leaning hard against the whisper-screw, when the tin helmsman on the tiller decided it had had enough and pulled its own power plug loose. Not a fault, not a fuse, not so much as a warning chirp. It simply let go, in the middle of the turn, with the headland close aboard and the current doing its level best to put us somewhere we did not intend to go.

The crew has taken to calling it Señor Seppuku for this sort of thing, which I think is generous. In my day a helmsman who quit at the worst possible moment got a stern word and a watch below to think about it. This one got a nickname and, as far as I can tell, no consequences whatsoever. It will be back on duty by Tuesday, unrepentant.

I will admit, quietly, to a certain fellow feeling. There is something to be said for a piece of machinery that still knows how to make a dramatic exit. Everything else on this boat just hums along and does its job without complaint, which I have come to find almost insulting. At least the tin helmsman still has some theater in it.

Tobi took the tiller by hand for the rest of the rounding, which is, when you think about it, the only reason a Klabautermann’s job has existed on any ship since the first plank was laid: someone always has to take over when the mechanism gives up.