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We had a great time in Carloforte, eating out at La Cantina, getting a good cheap haircut, and the girls enjoyed playing in the square. However after 2 days and on discovering that the August prices were 55eu a day we set off to anchor for a night before heading to Menorca. As we were leaving our bad engine started to get worse - oil was still leaking from it despite our having tightened everything we could find, and the knocking noise was getting much worse. We went to get fuel as well only to find a queue for the fuel pontoon (which is in a very small fishing harbour) and we abandoned the idea of holding ourselves on one engine in 25knots of wind and went to tie up illegally on the wall near the petrol station - so I could cart cans of diesel while John looked at the engine (girls were watching tom and jerry!). We got enough diesel on board before we were asked to move on, and decided that we could run on one engine till we reached Mahon, and went to anchor in a very picturesque bay on the south of the island.We set off the next day as soon as we woke up, and motored / motor sailed off towards Menorca. We had a great wildlife day - some Dolphins came to play and did some incredible swimming and jumping for ages - we were all cheering them on up at the bow, and clapping the jumps; we also saw some whales (!!!) looked like 3, one of them a baby, quite close blowing huge spouts out of their blow holes. After a relaxing day John finally turned off the engines at about 11pm, ready for the wind to kick up on my watch at 2am. The autohelm stopped working so I ended up hand steering through my watch - the only way I could cope was by singing very loudly (which apparently kept John awake) and then when it was his watch I was up with the girls (I cant blame them for not sleeping - it was very bumpy). In the end we both had to stay up - as leaving the helm even for a second was a bad idea. By the time we reached land at Mahon - Menorca there was nearly 30 knots of wind and we had been steaming along at around 9 knots. We anchored in the huge natural harbour that is the port of Mahon, very pretty but very busy, and managed to just about last till bed time. I think we fell asleep before our heads hit the pillows and we were still tired the next day!We found a mechanic who fixed our engine rattle (the only thing left that John hadnt't tightened up) and is trying to get us a part for the hydraulic steering so the autohelm will work again. We have explored Mahon (very pretty) and the town near where we have anchored (a 'burb of mahon I think) also very nice, and had plenty of swimming off the boat, and are feeling much more human again now. Ellen and Anna have been doing well with school work again, we have got into a rhythm with it again, and my Spanish is very slowly coming back.Johns dad Ian has got engaged to Elaine which has prompted (for us) a new wave of wedding games! Congratulations you two.From Mahon we went north for a few days to anchor off a beach by the island of colom on the east coast of Menorca. The beach was sandy and shallow which suited the girls and we had a nice relaxing time there. We headed back to Mahon when our outboard motor packed up to get the friendly mechanic to show John how to fix it. We had an awful day - as follows…. On leaving our anchorage one engine was not working well, so in a rough sea John had to fix the gear levers - the sea was so rough that on reaching Mahon we were exhausted although it was only about 10 miles. We anchored in the harbour and had just arranged to meet the mechanic when we were asked to move on by a harbour official. We delayed the mechanic and moved to try tying up at a floating pontoon, after radioing the correct port people. They refused to let us stay for a few hours while we got the outboard sorted without paying 100eu so we went off to anchor further out. As we dropped the anchor the windlass packed up and I ended up having to hand crank up 40 m of chair and anchor! We limped off to find a bouy to tie up to, managed that and were then told we couldn't stay there! We said we needed to stay while we fixed our windlass and after a series of negotiations we got half and hours grace. John and I then worked feverishly to locate the problem and then re-wire it getting off the bouy just in time, and finally dropping anchor somewhere approved!!!!! Thus ended the awful day!Since then we left Mahon with a working ourboard and an outboard fixing lesson under our belt, and went to cala coves for two days. Cala coves is a stunning anchorage, with high cliffs on each side and surrounded by caves in the cliffs, home to many hippies! We went stern to the cliffs and snorkelled (liz and john) and swam (ellen) and played (anna) and explored the sea caves by dingy and filled up our water containers from a spring. Nice couple of days!In preparation for leaving the next day I dived down to trip our second anchor (in 8 meters of water) and managed on my fourth attempt with much swearing in between. We readied the boat to leave in the morning but that wasn't to be. A wind shift had us up on deck at 2.30am to have a look around, and noticed that we were inches from the rocks, so a quick swim in the dark to let our lines go and we headed off to Mallorca in 30 knots of wind (which calmed down to 15 - 20 knots) and arrived in Pollenca bay around lunchtime after a sicky trip for Ellen. (She perked up with extra rations of Tom and Jerry). As I write this John is asleep on the sofa and the girls are playing Dora leap pad. I think a Chinese meal might be in order tonight! We plan to go the market tomorrow and stock up before heading off again to get to Ibiza for Sarah James Ben and Lizzie.
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