Tim and I love Menorca. The Mahon marina was excellent with easy access to workers, the old town with nice shops and excellent restaurants. We decided to spend two nights at a beautiful hotel while our cushions and bedding were being repaired. The hotel had a vineyard and was converted from a farm. There were 27 rooms and it was incredibly peaceful and beautiful.We departed yesterday morning, picked up our cushions, Tim met with someone finishing the work on the rig, and I provisioned. I have never been so sore from provisioning. It was a steep walk to and from the grocery store and Tim estimates I carried anywhere at least 100 lbs each trip. I’m also in atrocious condition. My shoulders are horrible, butt sore, and my fingers are killing me. Good lord.
I was a little sad and hesitant about leaving our somewhat pampered stay in Mahon, but we took off shortly after noon for the north part of the island. We didn’t care for the first few anchorages we checked out, but it was getting late so decided to check out a place we hadn’t planned on. It has turned out to be remarkable. We are the only boat in the anchorage with hiking trails, sand beaches and even decent snorkeling with fish! Sand beaches and fish are unusual for the Med – it’s mainly rocks and garbage. Plenty of naked people paddle boarding and fishing so doesn’t feel too out of the ordinary.
Today we went for a 3 hour hike along the coast, got a great snorkel in, and took the paddleboards to the beach for a late afternoon read and cocktail hour. I prepared an excellent pork loin piccata for dinner, we’ll go to bed early and perhaps have some early morning wind. We’ll need to leave the anchorage before the afternoon due to north winds.
Today was what we envisioned when we decided to go sailing. Lovely.