Logbook

• Departure: Cala Sant Vicenç (39.9245, 3.0617), Wednesday, May 6, 2026 at 10:47 UTC
• Arrival: Port de Pollença (39.9039, 3.0905), Wednesday, May 6, 2026 at 18:59 UTC
• Duration: 8.2 h
• Distance: 20.8 nm
• Average speed: 2.5 kn
• Hours & Distance under Motor: 2.6 h / 5.3 nm
• Miles under Sail: 15.5 nm
• Crew: Tobi, Anna, Jo, Eli

Left Cala Sant Vicenç and made for Port de Pollença, a full day underway covering 21 nautical miles at an average of 2.5 knots. Wind 3–7 kn from the ESE, gusting to 17 kn. It veered from NE to SSE. Motoring around Cap Formentor against wind and current, the autopilot pulled its own plug mid-turn, as it does now and then, earning it the nickname “Señor Seppuku” among the crew and a few minutes of hand-steering to finish the rounding. About 1 mm of rain fell along the way, with a few lightning strikes near the coast. Port de Pollença again, familiar territory after spending so much time there the year before. Met the crew of S/V Greta from Potsdam, another Trans-Ocean e.V. boat, and ran into Melusina One, with Vicky and Laurent aboard, the only Luxembourg-flagged boat we’ve ever encountered. A few beach breaks, one soggy dinghy ride back to the boat in pouring rain, and a great time overall.

Logbook

• Departure: Port de Sóller (39.7961, 2.6887), Monday, May 4, 2026 at 07:20 UTC
• Arrival: Cala Sant Vicenç (39.9237, 3.0593), Monday, May 4, 2026 at 15:44 UTC
• Duration: 8.4 h
• Distance: 20.8 nm
• Average speed: 2.5 kn
• Hours & Distance under Motor: 0.7 h / 2.0 nm
• Miles under Sail: 18.8 nm
• Crew: Tobi, Anna, Jo, Eli

Departed Port de Sóller for Cala Sant Vicenç, a full day underway covering 21 nautical miles at 2.5 knots average. Wind 1–6 kn from the SW, gusting to 23 kn. About 3 mm of rain fell along the way, with scattered lightning along the north coast. Jofijaan left the boat in Port de Sóller before this leg. Cala Sant Vicenç had a very nice, clean beach, though it was otherwise firmly on the tourist trail.

Cala de Sa Calobra has a bottom made of loose gravel and a habit of funneling gusts straight down the gorge behind it at two in the morning, which is, incidentally, my shift. Warning a crew that their anchor is dragging is proper Klabautermann work. It is one of the oldest jobs in the trade, older than the pipe, nearly as old as the beard.

I did not get to do it. The boat’s glowing oracle box did it for me, chiming away belowdecks before I’d even finished climbing the chain to check. I am told this is called an anchor alarm. I am told it is very reliable. I would like it on the record that I was already awake.

The two smallest crew members, meanwhile, continue to outpace me on sheer capacity for mischief, which stings rather more than the alarm does. A proper ship’s spirit causes gentle chaos: a jammed halyard here, a misplaced marlinspike there, nothing a sailor can’t work around. A three-year-old and a one-year-old, once let loose on deck, achieve more disorder before breakfast than I have managed in several centuries of dedicated effort. I have taken notes.

We are back in Port de Sóller, so I had an ice cream. Pistachio, taken from an empty table while the crew were busy with the kids, and very good. I rode the little wooden train up to town afterward too, in the last carriage, with my boots up on the seat opposite the way you’re not supposed to, and nobody any the wiser. Being invisible is not the same as being absent, whatever the crew seems to think, and there is real pleasure in a good ride taken by someone nobody can see enjoying it.

The train stalled twice on the way, which will be my cousin’s doing. El Revisor runs with this line the way I run with Tinarasia, and he has never once let a locomotive through Sóller without stopping it somewhere scenic to remind the passengers who is actually in charge. Family is family. I didn’t say anything.

Logbook

• Departure: Cala de Sa Calobra (39.8558, 2.8020), Friday, May 1, 2026 at 08:57 UTC
• Arrival: Port de Sóller (39.7921, 2.6923), Friday, May 1, 2026 at 11:15 UTC
• Duration: 2.3 h
• Distance: 7.8 nm
• Average speed: 3.4 kn
• Hours & Distance under Motor: 0.6 h / 0.9 nm
• Miles under Sail: 7.0 nm
• Crew: Tobi, Anna, Jo, Eli, Jofijaan

Underway from Cala de Sa Calobra toward Port de Sóller, a short hop: 8 nautical miles at an average of 3.4 knots. Wind 7–8 kn from the ENE, gusting to 24 kn. Seas up to 0.7m. Unfavorable weather ahead sent us back into Port de Sóller instead of continuing east. The kids loved the ice cream shops and the little train that runs from here up to the town of Sóller. Jofijaan left the boat here and flew home.

Logbook

• Departure: Cala Tuent (39.8444, 2.7724), Thursday, April 30, 2026 at 10:55 UTC
• Arrival: Cala de Sa Calobra (39.8540, 2.8030), Thursday, April 30, 2026 at 11:44 UTC
• Duration: 0.8 h
• Distance: 2.1 nm
• Average speed: 2.6 kn
• Hours & Distance under Motor: 0.5 h / 1.2 nm
• Miles under Sail: 0.9 nm
• Crew: Tobi, Anna, Jo, Eli, Jofijaan

Cast off from Cala Tuent bound for Cala de Sa Calobra: a short hop, 2 nautical miles at an average of 2.6 knots. Wind 4 kn from the N, gusting to 13 kn. The beach here is narrow, no more than 40m or so, but behind it the Torrent de Pareis, a giant flood canyon, opens up to an absolutely breathtaking view. Anchored on a very gravelly bottom and nearly dragged overnight when the wind started funneling out of the torrent.