A day at sea

The sea puts you in your place. You step aboard, the harbour shrinks behind you, and suddenly the only things that matter are the light, the wind and the people you carry with you.

We left in the morning with no fixed plan. That is the right way to sail: with no obligation but to look. The coast opened up slowly, pale rock, pines hanging from the cliffs, that blue no photograph ever quite catches.

It was also sailing’s big week: the Copa del Rey MAPFRE filled the bay with masts and flags, and even the water seemed to know it mattered.

We spent the whole day on the water. A cove of rock and pine trees, a long anchorage, a swim that refused to end. No music, no stage, no choreography but the slow sway of the boat.

We ate on board, late and laughing. At sea the hours do not move forward: they float, like everything else.

On the way back, with the sun coming down, I understood why sailors speak so little: the sea says almost everything for you. I make my living from the beautiful noise of a tablao, and I treasure these silences more every year.

Thank you to the people of De Antonio Yachts Mallorca for looking after us the way you look after family, and for a boat that is pure elegance. We will be back for that cove.