David's Diary: Friday, May 14, 2004

Palma de Mallorca, Spain

When I first planned this trip, I thought that four weeks was generous for making a 1,500 NM passage (about 2,700 kilometres) from Turkey to Spain. Yet when I asked experienced Mediterranean cruisers what they thought about the timing, they all said that four weeks would be cutting it close. Bruce and Marian leave on Sunday, which just shows how challenging it is to make long passages in the Mediterranean, especially in the spring.

In the morning, I checked Dragonsinger into the marina and we were assigned a slip for the next week. While in the marina office, I was told that Ganymede had arrived. Ganymede is a Northwind 56 sailboat with our friends Tony, Maggie, and Charlie Watts. We have both been travelling across the Mediterranean from Turkey to Palma, but today is the first time that we were actually able to meet up. Charlie helped us tie up Dragonsinger at the dock and I had a chance to have a coffee with Tony and Maggie and catch up on the news.

Bruce spent the day exploring Palma on his own. In the afternoon, Marian and I walked into the old part of Palma. Our timing was off as everything was closed for the afternoon siesta. It was raining too, so it gave us a good excuse to stop at a cafe and have a leisurely lunch.

Charlie Watts from Ganymede helps us dock

Buildings of Palma

Pedestrians navigate the narrow streets

Local cafe where Marian and David stopped for lunch