We hoped to anchor just outside one of the main ports on the island, Cuidadela. However, our Pilot book warned that it would be busy in high season and this proved to be the case.
We arrived at 6.30pm to find there was 'no room at the Inn', so we motored to the north coast to try an alternative anchorage. Our first choice was an anchorage at Cadolar Torre, which had a spectacular cave. However, we felt it was too exposed for our liking. Finally at 9pm we finally settled on Cala de Algavere.
The approach to the bay was stunning as it was surrounded by pink rocky cliffs. Infact, all of the coastline we had seen thus far had been really rugged and very unspoilt.
 |
| Menorcan coast at dusk |
Cala de Algavere was a very busy anchorage and there were already about 40 other yachts at anchor there.
It is a large bay with a public beach that can only be accessed by a sandy path leading to a car park. There were no buildings whatsoever on the beach, but it was still incredibly popular with the locals.
 |
| Beach at Cala Algavere |
One morning we landed the dinghy on the shore and trekked through a wooded path that brought us to a viewpoint above the anchorage.
 |
| View overlooking anchorage at Cala Algavere |
After this we pottered around the rock formations in the tender, and did download a book on geology for the kindle when we returned to Scarlet.
 |
| Stunning rock formations |
Our next stop was the stunning Fornells. This really long bay (5km long by 2km wide) has been declared a site of Community Importance by the Balearic Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Territorial Affairs.
It is mostly laid out to buoys to protect the precious Neptune Grass (a type of weed), which is one of the Mediterranean's most important Ecosystems. We decided to take up a mooring buoy at 29 Euros a night.
 |
| Scarlet in the Fornells |
Steve was disappointed that we hadn't been able to see Cuidadela and we were both keen
to see some of the island's archaeological sites, so we went ashore and tracked down a chandlers who organised a hire a car for the following day.
For 60 Euros, we hired an Opel Corsa. It was a laid back handover compared to the one we had in the UK a few months ago. No checking for paint chips under a microscope or signing disclaimers for returning it with more than three dead flies on the windscreen... just here are the keys, have a nice day, please return it to any car park in the town, and leave the keys in it!
Menorca is a relatively small island at just 26 miles long by 11 miles wide, and the roads are easy to drive. The countryside inland is remarkably like the UK - very lush, with lots of fields, farmland and wooded areas. With some of the smaller roads being no more than narrow lanes, Steve felt we could have been in parts of Devon or Cornwall.
 |
| View towards Fornells from Mare de Deu del Toro |
We reached Cuidadela in less than an hour, parked up, and had a wander around this charming town. It has lots of narrow alleys and squares and a busy harbour. The narrow streets were deliberately designed to confuse invaders, and did a good job of getting us lost too.
 |
| Cuidadela harbour |
 |
| Narrow streets in Cuidadela |
On leaving Cuidadela we visited the Naveta d'es Tudons, which lays claim to being the oldest roofed building in Europe, dating back to 1300 BC.
The Naveta resembles an upturned ship and is built of large stone blocks and has two storeys. It measures 14 metres by 6.5 metres and was used over several centuries as a communal tomb. Archaeologists found personal belongings with the people who were buried, such as necklaces, bracelets, bronze pendants, weapons, small pots and ceramic cups.
The door of the Naveta faces west, towards the setting sun. The entrance leads to a small corridor from which there is access to the upper chamber and to a second door that leads to the lower chamber. To help preserve the monument, it is no longer possible to go inside the Naveta but it is still an impressive structure from the outside.
 |
| Steve outside the Naveta |
There are many caves around the island and before the Navetas were built, the dead were laid to rest in these caves.
Our next stop was Torretrencada, where there was a well preserved Taula. The Taula is a shrine with two large blocks of stone which form a 'T' shape, a sort of poor mans Stonehenge. It is thought that these monuments were used for community religious rituals.
 |
| A nice walk in the countryside |
 |
| Taula at Torretrencada |
Our last historical stop was at the medieval village of Torralba d'en Salord. The most significant building in Torralba is the Talayot. It gives it's name to the whole culture which covers a period starting in the 13th century BC, until the Roman conquest in 123 BC. Talayots were constructed on pieces of high ground, and were used to keep watch over the surrounding territory.
 |
| Remains of a Talayot |
On this site there is also the remains of a sandstone construction, possibly dating back to the 17th century that was probably a rural church.
 |
| Remains of a church |
We also saw Talayotic Hypogeums (artificial caves) which were used as communal tombs, and funeral rites were carried out in them.
 |
| I am not playing hide and seek anymore Steve! |
Finally, we saw the Hypostle Room which is made up of three sections - the barrow, the access corridor, and the chamber. Archaeologists believe it was used to store foodstuffs.
 |
| Hypostle room |
There are Talayots and Taulas all over the island but we just visited a small selection before heading to the city of Mahon. Mahon boasts one of the best natural harbours in the Mediterranean. It measures 5.5km in length and 250-1,000 metres in width.
 |
Part of Mahon harbour, it is vast |
Once again, Mahon is a very attractive city with many historical buildings and an interesting claim to culinary fame. One of the stories goes that in the 1700's the French chef of the Duc de Richelieu at that time, based in Mahon, made a sauce based on the popular Aoli. However the Duke, or was it his wife (or maybe mistress?), was not so fond of the garlic in Aoli, so the chef made a version without garlic and substituted cream with olive oil. Henceforth it was know as Mahonnaise.
Whilst in Mahon, Steve spotted a music shop and purchased a guitar, an essential item for liveaboard cruisers! Well, maybe, but it will keep him amused over winter.
After a long and exhausting day, we drove back to the Fornells and had a swim before having dinner and an early night. The following day, we took the dinghy around some of the islands in the Fornells.
On leaving the Fornells, we decided to head to anchorage just inside the entrance to Mahon harbour. This would be a good location to start the passage to Sardinia. There was enough wind to have a great sail, and en-route we passed our friends Jim, Tim, Lana and Susie on Moonstream.
Cala Taulera anchorage was really pretty, and was surrounded by the fort of Isobel II.
 |
| Cala Taulera anchorage |
We had a welcome swim and decided to do the guided tour around the fort the following day, however, things didn't quite go to plan... We were visited early (about 9am which is early for us) the next morning by a harbour official in a rib to say we had to move from the anchorage straight away. Boats are no longer allowed to anchor there unless they are caught out in bad weather, which rather scuppered our plans to visit the fort.
We decided instead to pop round the corner and motor up into Mahon itself. Even though we had visited in the car, the port is equally impressive from the water. It has many moorings for all sizes of yachts, if you have very deep pockets. We checked our chart and back tracked towards the Fornells and made for Cala Tamarells, an anchorage behind Isla Colom. Although very popular, there was plenty of room to anchor.
We checked the forecast again for the following day as we needed a good 48 hour window for our 182 mile passage to Sardinia. It looked like we would have 20 knot winds for the first 24 hours, and then calmer conditions for our arrival. Once again we passage planned for 5 knots speed over ground, knowing that if we went quicker we would not have any issues as we would arrive in the morning and not afternoon. As it turned out we had a rather 'exciting' crossing with much more wind than forecast, but more of that on the next update.
Steve and Lynne xx
