The head winds did not ease off until the early morning and I lost a previous 15 minutes, which made me just miss the time window allowed for coming in early. Thus we had to wait until 08.00 hrs for the ferry Sorolla to enter the port and we could then follow. There is only one pilot on duty in Mahon and he had to get off the ferry first and then come over to us. That would have made it even later, but as he kept moving the “pilot boarding ground” further and further into the Fjord, I could come closer and closer and thus reduce the waiting time. By the time he stepped onboard, I was half way in. Not unusual, as with inclement weather this is the normal boarding area anyway. Arriving late is never pleasant but as I had inkling about this as mentioned yesterday, the ship was well prepared and the tours would not be affected. I found it myself a blessing in disguise, as sailing into Mahon is extremely scenic especially with a morning arrival so you sail in with the sun in the back laying a beautiful golden glow over all the white houses dotted along the cliffs of the fjord. Our normal arrival would have been in the dark and the guests would have missed this spectacle.
The inner part of the fjord like entrance to Mahon. The ferry passing through is less then half the size of the Prinsendam, so that will give you an idea about the space available to get in, swing around and later get out again. )Post card scan by unknown maker.)
The fjord entrance of Mahon has nice deep water but it is very narrow. About a ships length (200 meters) at the entrance and getting more and more narrow when coming towards the port itself which lies in a sheltered corner at the end of the fjord. That means you cannot have too much wind on the beam as there is no room to drift. The faster you go, the less drift you have, but you cannot do that either, otherwise the ships suction pulls all the moored yachts away from their anchorages. Further inside, on the North side there are a number of mussel farms, great wooden floating rafts, and their owners also do not enjoy it very much if a passing ship pulls everything away from the moorings. Thus the maximum speed is about 6 knots, dropping down to 4 and then you drift if there is a bit of wind on the beam. Luckily the wind had been dying down around 4 am and by the time we sailed in it was only a very gentle breeze that barely made the flags flutter, so I was in business.
I had ordered a tugboat as the dock is more exposed to the wind and also because of the shallowness of the turning basin. With barely 6 feet under the keel, the flow of water under the ship is very restricted and that means that swinging around goes very very slowly. So an additional 2000 horse power given by a tug with much less draft is very effective. With everything in place, it was a sheer joy to sail the ship in towering over the houses on either side of the fjord when approaching the dock. The pilot had the good grace to not interfere and limited himself to giving orders to the tugboat when the boat was needed. By 09.05 we were alongside and by 09.15 everybody was streaming ashore.
It turned out to be a very sunny and dry day but a bit on the chilly side as the strong northerly wind from the night before had brought a lot of cold air down into this area. It made for very good visibility though and that is what you want for sightseeing.
I extended our stay from 16.30 all onboard until 18.00 all onboard and thus the amount of time in port was not affected. The entrance to Mahon is one big military installation, dating back to the middle ages. For a military historian it must be the place to be, as every form of Fort, castle, fortress or battlement can be found here. I am not an expert but when sailing in I counted at least 7 to 8 different styles of constructions dating from Medieval to the 1950’s. They even had something that looked like a Martello tower and I always thought that those only occurred in Great Britain. (Built against the French all along the English coast)
Just before 18.00 everybody was back onboard and we sailed out of the port, slowly gliding past the mussel farms on the port side 90 feet away, and the mid channel island on the starboard side, also 90 feet way. It really helps here if you stay exactly in the middle of the channel.
Tomorrow we have a day at sea, so that our guests can relax before we get four Italian ports in a row. The good weather that started today, is supposed to last for a few days courtesy of a high pressure system laying over northern Italy. So we should have calm seas, clear skies and a nearly windless day tomorrow.
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