Sunday August 24, Ciutadella to Cala Santa Galdana, Menorca
As Menorca is a relatively small island it did not take long to travel from Ciutadella to our next location, Cala Santa Galdana. We looked at a few other calas along the way, which were all pretty, but full of other boats belonging to people who had anchored for a day at the beach. We were also aware that the breeze was from the south and was expected to strengthen that night and turn to the south - east. So we chose Cala Santa Galdana to anchor even though it is an area with a couple of hotels and several houses etc, because it would give us the best protection at night.
We had a lovely day there, swimming, relaxing, and enjoying lunch and dinner. It was a beautiful peaceful setting and was one of our more relaxing pre-dinner times, with blinis topped with cream fraiche, smoked salmon and salmon caviar to accompany our drinks. For dinner I cooked two shoulders of lamb that were so small I could roast them in about 20 minutes in a pan on top of the stove. They were delicious, served with a salad of tomatoes and onions in Chardonnay vinegar and a salad of finely sliced red and green cabbages and radishes, mint, spring onions and grated Reggio Parmigiana.
Despite what the guidebook said about noise from the beach and the hotels there was absolutely nothing to disturb us. We settled into bed quite comfortably, sure we would have a good sleep, but the wind kept changing direction as well as building in speed and then abating again, and by about 3.30 AM the boat was rocking and rolling terribly because the direction of the wind by then had us facing side -on to the swell rolling in to the Cala. Ghastly. We were very pleased to up anchor at daybreak and move on to Maó.
There are many beautiful calas along the southern shore of Menorca, and the beaches are described as some of the best in Europe, but with any sort of southerly wind they are not suitable to stay in, particularly overnight. As the wind was expected to continue blowing from the south for several days we decided that we need to stay in the sheltered harbour at Maó.