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IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT! We had arrived at Port D’Andratx , Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain, the day before and were anchored outside the harbor breakwater. We had found a patch of sand among the weeds and had set our anchor by backing down on the anchor several times until we were comfortable that it had dug in. During the night the wind picked up to over 25 knots and swells began to turn into 4-5 foot waves as they entered the outer harbor. I got up at about 1 am and stood anchor watch to make certain we weren’t dragging , had safe water depth and that the other boats around us weren’t dragging into us. At about 3:30 the weather abated somewhat and everything appeared to be ok. About 30 minutes after getting into bed there was a loud bang! We raced on deck and saw that a boat had dragged down on us and was caught on our anchor chain. They had arrived after I went below and caught our chain while trying to anchor. While Marie and the woman on the other boat held us apart using fenders, the two men were finally able to separate the anchor and chain and set Zelda free of them. Seconds before the two boats separated there was a sickening crash and 20 feet of Zelda’s teak toe rail (with 7-10 coats of varnish) was ripped up by a stanchion of the other boat. Thankfully no one was injured. Now Marie and I were both concerned that the load of two boats connected together on our anchor might have dislodged our 75 pound CQR – it held. We stayed on deck for the rest of the night and things got more alarming. Almost immediately after we got Zelda free we noticed a boat we had been traveling with was drifting. We tried on the radio but their radio was turned off. We were finally got their attention using a high power flashlight and yelling. They got up in time, lifted their anchor and motored into the inner harbor. Within about 30 minutes the boat directly in front of us started drifting towards the rocks! Shouting and horn blowing brought two sleepy figures on deck – not a good way to greet the predawn darkness. They were also able to lift anchor and scoot into the safety of the harbor. A big French catamaran left at first light because they had been hit by a charter boat named !!@#$$#. !!@#$$# now proceeded to snag another catamaran and push him into the jetty. We watched with disbelief as both boats hung up on the rocks and slowly sank in shallow water until they rested on the sand. There was a human chain pulling on a rope to get !!@#$$# into safe water. We went over with bolt cutters to see if we could cut the boats free but the captains were too demoralized by this time. I use !!@#$$# because poor boat handling led to the mess (Score: 2 boats sunk, one family with children completely terrorized so far in 1 night).. In the meantime (because there was not enough excitement) a French boat nearby but not involved in the activities decided to clear the area. As they lifted their anchor they didn’t have enough power, snagged an unoccupied fishing boat and proceeded to take both of them to meet the sinking catamarans. One of our friends was able to pull the French boat free and they sailed off. By this time Marie and I decided that even though Zelda was holding well, we had had enough fun for one day. Both of us were pretty shaken by the amount of damage that had occurred in such a short amount of time. We lifted anchor and motored into the inner harbor and anchored in the calm inner harbor.
Looking over the harbor wall the next morning we saw another sunken boat further out in the harbor. The next day we moved to the public dock and proceeded to have 8 wonderful days on the Island of Mallorca. We rented a car with friends and toured much of the island. We don’t think that we have EVER been anywhere quite as beautiful. We will be back in the spring! We left Mallorca at 5:00pm and headed for Barcelona, our home for the winter, and arrived at about 9:00 am the next day. As I type this, we are snuggled into our slip, meeting new friends and getting the layout of the city.
Before the dark and stormy night we had been working our way up the coast of Spain from Miramar, mentioned in our last update, to Ensenada de Albufera where we were leaving the coast to go to the Balearics. We traveled about 40-50 mile each day and anchored in the evenings. It was on September 11 at 6:00 that we got a call from TEKA III letting us know about the WTC, Washington and Pittsburgh. We were glued to the SSB radio, listening to BBC. At that time we had a cell phone, and tried the US to check on family, but no calls were going to the US. We are still sorting through our feelings and what we should do. Suddenly the Med presents fewer options. Just today we attended a meeting of fellow cruisers at which we were informed that our Embassy here had recommended that none of us fly our American flags or do anything to call attention to us. We have had expressions of sympathy and support from almost all of our boating comrades from around the world. Our best wishes and condolences go out to all who have suffered from this outrageous act of violence. |
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