All themagic of Minorca

DIONWESTON

Paul andSandyManderaboardMistralas itpullsoutof theharbouratMahon,thecapital ofMinorca

The gentle pleasuresof a sailingholiday around the Balearic Islands

TURI CONDON

Life on a yachtis nomadic– choosea bayandanchorforthe night

WHAT were the Phoeniciansthinking?Thebaylooksunprotec-ted,naked,withbarelyatreealongthe shore. Not at all a suitableharbour away from home for araceofseafaringtraders.

Ah, but the water is blue, thatonly-in-the-Medsort of blue.

Perhaps the Phoeniciansranked a quick getaway ahead of the comfort and the shelter of Minorca’s narrow inlets, or calas, boundedbysteepcliffs.

Minorca, the most northern of the Balearic Islands, which alsoinclude Majorca and Ibiza, hasseen hordes of invaders over thecenturies, and the remnants of theirbuildingsare scatteredalongtheruggednortherncoastline.

From 2000 years ago imagesdrifttomindof billowingsailsandmuscled rowers labouring acrosstheshallowbayinwoodengalleys.We, however, are sitting on Mis-tral, a sleek 47ft Beneteau yacht, withabird’s-eyeviewof theroundstone watchtower built in the1700sby alaterinvadingforce,theBritish. We also have a bird’s-eye view of a portly German touriststripped in the sun beside hiscampervan. The romantic mus-ings vanish. The port at Sa Nitja, justacrossfromCapdeCavalleria,the island’s northernmost point,had seen Phoenician and Romansettlements.

Our friends, Paul and SandyMander, bought Mistral — a toydiscardedaftertheglobalfinancialcrisis — in Spain earlier this year,decidingto cruiseintheEuropeansummers and eventually sail backtoSydney’sPittwater.WemeetonMajorca at its historic west-coasttown of Soller, where a 100-year-old train line, the Tren de Soller,takes us from the capital, Palma,

to start the two-week sailing trip.It’s peak summer and Port de

Soller harbour is chock-full of  boats jostling for a safe anchorageand trying desperately to avoidtangled anchor chains. TheFrench boat owners yell at theGermans, the Germans shout attheBritish,the Britishat theSpan-ish,andeveryoneis yellingat us.

The sail south along Majorca’scoast is brisk; we pass cliffs andgreen hills tumbling down to theseabesidethewhitewashedvillage

of Deia, where the poet RobertGraveslivedanddied.

Over two days we sail up theisland’s eastern coast, reachingMajorca’s northeast tip as the sunissetting.Butthewindchanges,soinstead of anchoring for the nightin one of the inviting bays scat-teredalongthenorth,wepresson.‘‘It’sonly aseven-hournightsailtoMinorca,’’say ourhosts.

Another day’s sailing and thereon Minorca’s north coast —throughwhatlooks likea breakinthe rocks — is Cala Morell. Thecrevice turns out to be a plum-shaped inlet, compact, with steepcliffs, some unstable lookingshale-like rock and dirt toppedprecariously with whitewashedhousesand villas.

Halfwayupthecliffisabuildingthatlookslikearestaurant;a smalldinghy means some of us have toswimforour lunch.

Life on a yacht is nomadic —choose a bay and anchor for the

night. Further along the northerncoast, Cala d’Algaiarens may bemoreshelteredthanSaNitja,butitsti l l smacks worryingly of aPhoenician love of openness.Nearby are favourite swimming beaches with choices for bothnudeand swimsuitedbathers.

Theswellis curvingaroundtheheads and the wind is gettingstronger. ‘‘Let’s put out a sternanchor,tobeonthesafeside,’’saysourcaptain.It’spitchblackandtherain pours down (where did thiscome from in a Mediterraneansummer?), and then there’s

another wind change. With the boat strung tight like a big, white,unyieldinghammock betweenthetwo anchors, the swell hits beamon (for non-sailors, that’s smackontheside).Bang.

We levitate off the generousqueen-size bed that takes up theaft (rear) cabin. It’s all hands ondeck. Let the rear anchor go, andhope the buoy we have tied to itmarksitsspot inthe morning.As Imake the tea, I thank heaven forourbottleof 18-year-oldwhisky.

This bay looks like the realthing. It’s long and deep and cuts

inlandlike a bulbousriver.On theshore is Fornells, at own almost atthecentreof thenortherncoast;itthrives on tourism; nearby bea-chesaregoodandthe island’sonlygolfcourseatSonParcisclose.

Minorca is only 695sq km, sothe main sights can be covered intwodaysinahirecar—theprehis-toric talayots or megaliths datingfrom1400BCandthevillageof EsMercadalwithitsgood bakeries.

Withtheyachtanchoredsafely(fingers crossed) in Fornell’sharbour, we explore Ciutadella,the island’s former capital on the westerntip.Attheotherendoftheisland is Mahon, the city that hasassumedthe mantle.Mahonisthecapital’s name in the Castilian orSpanish language; in Catalan, it’sMao. Everything here has twonames, making directions confus-ing. Mahon brought mayonnaiseto Western palates. The cheesesfromMahonarealsogood,butareknownasMaocheeses.

The medieval walls encirclingMahon have nearly all been torndown; a remnant of the original wall is the stone gate of Pont deSant Roc, which survived theTurks’sackingof thecityin 1535.

Before the Ottoman Empire,Minoans from Crete were amongthe earliest peoples to occupyMinorca.Bythefifthcenturythere was a large Jewish population.Minorca was also sacked by theVandals, but experienced somestability under Roman rule. Dur-ingthe18thcenturytheislandwasconquered by the British, theFrench, the British again, theSpanishandagaintheBrits,beforereturningto Spanishrulein 1802.

Wandering through the Mus-eum of Minorca, the silence isstriking. The beautifully restored

stone building is perched highabove Mahon’s harbour and wasonceaFranciscanmonastery.Thequietisnotreverencefortheredis-covered treasures — a small  bronze bull from the third orfourth century BC, or the firstPandorabracelet.Oursmallparty—ourhosts,us,theirdaughterandher fiance, plus a Spanish familyand a British couple — has allthesetreasurestoitself.Iwonderif  wehavearrivedonareligiousholi-day. ‘‘No,’’ says the helpful attend-ant,‘‘everyoneisat thebeach.’’

Duringour lastfewdaysof sail-ing,wefindthebestof thecalas.Atthe southern tip of Colom Island,thewaterissoclearthattheknottyimprints of anchor chains on thesandybottomseem onlyafew feetaway. There is a forest of seagrasson one side of the bay, an arch of  beachandshallowsstretchingto afartherwhitesandbay.

I have just finished singing thepraises of the Med: no sharks, nosealiceandnostingers.Then,pad-dling through turquoise water, it bites me. The small pink jellyfish,like many things on Minorca, is beautiful.Andprobablyone ofthefewaggressorsleft ontheisland.

Checklist

Yachthire in the Mediterranean  varies accordingto portsandseasons.FromMajorca,a BeneteauOceanis 43 (three cabins)is about$3200a weekin Augustor $1500aweekin October.Sailingqualifications may be required; itpays tocheck.● pinkuin.com● cosmosyachting.com● chartermallorca.net● menorca-tourism.net

8 DESTINATION AFLOAT THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN, OCTOBER 15-16, 2011 www.theaustralian.com.au

A peaceful crossing,rich in symbolism

THE INCIDENTAL TOURIST

Restored ferryserviceisa sign ofnormality

MATTHEW CROMPTON

I watch as aman with a camcorderpans overhis trayof chicken curry

‘‘THIRTYyears,’’ exclaimsMrRavi,aTamilclothmerchantfromMadurai,whomayalready bealittledrunk.

Theseawindisinhisfaceandasthedeckrollsunderhim,he isreelingabit.‘‘Thirtyyearssince wecouldtaketheferrytoSriLanka!Butnow,no war!Ha!Nomorewar!’’

Heclapsahandonmyback;Idecidehe isalmostcertainlyalittle drunk.

ButaboardtheScotiaPrince,steamingthroughthedarknessoftheIndianOcean,brightstarslikediamondsoverhead,I canunderstandhisenthusiasm.

Thealmost three-decades-

longSriLankaninsurgencyof theLTTE,betterknownas theTamilTigers,resultedinthedeathsofalmost100,000peopleanddisplacedmillionsmorein apoliticallyfraughtconflictthatalsoembroiledIndia,whichatonepointhadabout100,000troopsinthecountry.

Itis necessarytounderstandtheseeventsinordertoseewhythismodest twice-weeklypassengerservice betweentheSriLankancapitalofColomboandthedustySouthIndianportcityof Tuticorin—whichresumedinJunefollowing26yearsofcivilwar—feelssomuchlikeatriumph.

‘‘Tonightwehaveonly203passengers,’’says RajenPoulose,anobliging SouthIndiancrewman,aswe standonthe breezyforwarddeck.

‘‘Butsometimes400[or]450people,evenmore.Theboatis verynice,yes?Andmorecheap

thanflying,so peoplethink,‘Whynot?’ ’’

Indeed,thathadbeenmy verythoughtwhenIlearnedof theScotiaPrince;nowensconcedinmy cushydeluxeprivatecabinafterahotshower, watchingthedarkoceanslidebyoutsidethewindow,itseemsanexcellentchoice.

Theferry,obviouslyveryrecentlyacquired,isalsoanexerciseinunintentionalcomedy:therearepostersadvertisingthe scenicbeautyof NovaScotiaalongsidelateronestoutingtheculturalwondersof Mexico,andprintedsignsamongthecountlessnon-operationalslot machinesliningthecorridorspolitelywarninSpanishthatyoumustbeatleast18yearsoldtogamble.

Whenthedinnerannouncementcomes overthePAsystemat8pm,soundingforalltheworldlikethesquawkofasufferingbird,Ishuffleupstairstotheabsurdlyformaldininghall,withitsstainedpinklinensandsquadrons ofbewildered-lookingwaiters.

Thereisaprosperousmixof SriLankanandSouthIndianpassengers,someonbusiness, butmost,itseems,hereto enjoythesights.

Iwatchwithsomeamusementasamanwithadigitalcamcorderpansseriouslyandatlengthoverhistrayof chickencurry,documentingthetrip’sfirstmealinexquisite detail.

Still,it’sthesemomentsof theridiculousandtheunimportantthatmakemehappytobehere.

Ipassthelongqueueofmenoutsidethesoon-to-openduty-freeshop(‘‘Verycheapliquor,sir’’)andthenventureintothe warm,salt-tingedairondeck.

Istandatthe rail,inhalingthebrinyodourofthesea,knowingthatbeingaboardthisordinaryshipmovingacrossthe untroubledwavesisexactlywhatpeaceshouldfeellike.More:srilanka.travel-culture.com/scotia-prince/

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