Home is where the anchor drops

We can't believe it, we are already living 6 months on the boat. It really feels like home and is a great way to travel. No airports, no hotels, no unpacking - we are loving it.

On a day when the wind is perfect, the sail just needs to open,

and the world is full of beauty. By Rumi

We sailed from Ibiza to Mallorca and then to Menorca. More beautiful beaches and turquoise waters, gorgeous countryside, tasty Mediterranean cuisine and sunny climate. We made the most exploring various bays and anchored according to waves and wind direction.

We try to earn our meals / drinks by getting a good walk in first. You would think that we are skinny with all the long hikes we do but reality is we love food, drinks and sweets, so this seems to balance it out.

A few pictures from some of our walks and meals.

We anchored in a lovely beach in Menorca

Bought some fresh fruit on the beach and started our walk.

We came across some beautiful bays (please note that colour of water was not adjusted and no filter was used) - this is just original as taken with our iphone.

Below was our goal for the day - a lovely restaurant in the bay between cliffs with good food then a good walk back.

From our new anchor spot we explored some caves with the dinghy

Check out the purple colour above the waterline.

Another anchor spot in Punta Esquitxador (you can only just see our mast in the bay) and another walk along the coast to the next village restaurant...

Other sailors told us that we could not walk from this bay but Sven found a way up the cliffs... We swam with our dry bag to shore (avoiding some jellyfish - yuk), got changed on the rocks and started our hike.

It was a hot day between 32-35 degrees but we got some light breeze from the water.

At our goal for the day we ordered black seafood rice. It was a black rice coloured by octopus ink and you could not see what you were eating. No colours - all black ! The result of which could still be seen the following days......

Another day, another hike... this time from Cala Fonanellas and taking our Dinghy to shore.

We decided to walk along the cliffs to a beautiful restaurant in the next village. In the middle picture is the elephant rock.

We reached our goal, a restaurant called "Yvette" , where we chose Tuna with sesame and soysauce.

Due to a 38 kn wind forecast for Menorca and 3 m waves following that (the mistral is a strong wind blowing from southern France) we took some refuge in Badia de Fornells for 5 nights. It has a cute village with lots of life (shops, restaurants, bars, people) and is surrounded by beautiful hike paths along coast and the bush.

The large bay we waited for strong winds to pass:

There was only one eventful night. We were told to look out during the night in case somebodies anchor comes loose/drags and boat floats toward us (it is pretty muddy and some grass in this bay). We had 2 sailing boats next to us which were trying to reset anchor/moved around but other than that we all were okay. We felt for them, not nice having to do this in the dark with deck light and torches.

On one side we had some big luxury yachts next to us which had skippers and crew on deck around the clock - this is always a bonus. There was a photoshoot/film being made on the large boat during the day so there was always something going on. In another bay we also saw them filming "below deck" a reality show we did not even know existed!

The lovely village in the bay in Badia de Fornells and its many good seafood restaurants.

A local speciality - yum...

In many of these lovely bays we had no internet connection and did not really feel like watching a film. Often we just lay on the back of the boat watching the stars. We have been lucky to see several shooting stars.

Often we just enjoy people watching. The builders crack (Bauarbeiter Dekolleté) was spotted next to us during breakfast, The tattoo lady was standing next to Sven at the bar, the naked males grooming each other on the boat roof were anchored next to us and the sexi bums was a boat in front of us! And one of the pictures was nearly too rude to post but these are just normal PLANT SEEDS being sold in many shops (whatever sells I say...) - it is more the seeds names which was a bit much 😂

In Menorca we also went to La Mola, fortress of Isabel II (next to Mahon, capital of Mellorca). It is one of the biggest European fortresses built in the 19th century with a magnificent layout and excellent conservation and is located at the entrance of the port.

It took us 2 hours to walk the entire area and we enjoyed the defensive fronts, underground areas for stores, powder magazines and refuge shelters for troops, rainwater collection and storage points. However the The “jewel in the Crown” is a loopholed Gallery of 390 m length. It was the defensive front for fusiliers and offers an interesting optical effect. We have tried to capture it below:

Below is the military prison. It was formerly and administrative building which, in post Spanish Civil War, was converted into a military prison. It has obviously seen better times

Battery Vickers unique artillery pieces of huge calibre and is in its original state. The Canon is so powerful and could reach target object 34km away. Sven is standing in front of it

We are back in Mallorca where we hired a motorbike in Badia de Pollenca. We just went through a tunnel (you can see it at the back) and went up some really windy roads.

and the lockout in every direction was just stunning.

We are leaving the Balearian Islands tomorrow at 4 am and are heading to Barcelona (we need to do some warranty items there). This will be the first time in a marina after 7 weeks on anchor.

❤️ Sending our love to you our families and friends ❤️

❤️ Thanks for being part of our adventure ❤️