English Corner  Capt. Lawrence.  Today: Mallorca, land of fire and Water.

Escolta-ho mentre navegues

Mallorca, land of fire and Water.

What?! Summer´s over, when did that happen? Not on my watch, forget it. There´s still juice in that Orange yet. OK, so what if it is over?

I love September in Mallorca, the electrical storms, fresh evenings, dramatic sunsets. Don´t know about you, but I´ve had all I can take of this heat. On land, under a cement porch cold bear in hand, bring on the rain.

Fortunately for us, last week´s weather was perfect. Not a cloud in the sky. I hadn´t finished the question before my family agreed to come sailing. This would be our one year old´s first day out on the water. Technically that´s a fib, she´s been on multiple ferry trips but those don´t really count.

Quick tip. Don´t let the cool sea breeze fool you, the danger of getting sunburnt whilst boating is much grater than on land. This is due to the sun hitting you both directly and indirectly via the water´s reflection. I can´t stress enough the importance of adequate sun protection, especially when kids are involved. Hats, tea-shirst, creams, are a must, and lots of water!

Thanks to our friends at www.llauts.com in Port of Andratx, our trusty steed for the day was an eight meter fiberglass boat called Dragonera, named after the Dragonera island. She’s a standard llaüt, no bells and whistles. Equipped with a good engine, head, small galley, two berths and a bimini, what else do you need?

“Ladies, I´ll just be a minute with the paper work. Why don´t you go have a quick drink and come back.”

Thirty five minutes later…..

“Come on girls, boat’s ready, I said a quick drink, what on earth are you doing shopping?”

“Oh, you know, girls’ stuff.”

“Girls’ stuff my foot, get your butts over to the boat NOW!!!!”

I can be quite persuasive at times. Shopping? Did they get the Capi anything? Did they heck. Whatever, at least they were on board. Food stored, engine on, we headed out to sea. I decided, seeing as Dragonera island was so close we would head there. A common mistake – most novice boaters keep people aboard too long. Anything more than an hour’s journey without a brake is boring. Keep it simple. Take it from me, If you can do a thirty minute jaunt over to a nice cove for lunch and a swim, fantastic!

Isla Dragonera is breathtaking with her soaring cliffs and deep ink blue waters. Sailing here is an absolute privilege. To top it off we were given an areal display par excellence by one of Mallorca´s brown eagles.Things would have been very different had the moronic developers got their hands on this island. Take the port of Andrax for example, ruined by what can only be described as concrete vomit. Thanks to the hutspa of environmentally conscious Mallorquines literally chaining themselves around the island, Dragonera was spared this fate and is now a protected natural resurve.

The girls were having a fabulous time at the bow modeling their new bikinis. All the while our little mermaid slept lulled away by the putt putt of our small engine and the gentle role of the sea. Shopping was not such a bad idea after all.

Lunch? Nothing gets the tummy grumbling like a day on the water. Keep it simple. Prepping an elaborate meal in a sweltering galley is no fun. We usually opt for some cold cuts, bread and fruit. If your feeling extra chefy, fry up some chicken the night before and make a potato salad from scratch.

A quick sail back from Dragonera lies the crystal clear cove of St, Elm. No finer place to drop the hook, eat and watch Mallorca burn to sinders. BURN? I´m afraid so. As it happens while we ate lunch a massive forest fire raged on land. Helicopters and planes were flying all over the place fanatically trying to extinguish the blaze. The whole thing was surreal. There we were having a refreshing dip and no more than two miles away fire ravaged everything in it´s path. Thanks to Mallorca´s excellent firefighters, the fire was put out without casualties.

As you can see, there’s never a dull moment. So get out there, take the fam and friends, rent a small boat and explore our spectacular coast. If you don´t have a license don´t worry, you don´t need one. www.llauts.com have many different boating options for you. Tell them Captain Lawrence sent you!

Captain Lawrence

Llaüt El Gordito RCNP