Dear Islander,
I have to start off by saying “well done guys” to the Public Works Planning Dept. in Palma (if they have one?) For deciding to dig up the Paseo Maritimo on the same week as the Palma Boat Show and the European Marina Conference. But luckily, neither the roadworks or the slightly dodgy weather managed to stop me and several thousand others from getting to the events, which we bring some news of in this issue.
Talking of fools, I hope that nobody got too excited about our “Tanker Footy” article on page 29 of last months issue, which was just a bit of April fun, and as far as I know the worlds largest oil tanker is still idling away her days as a floating oil storage ship somewhere in the Arabian Gulf.
And talking of the Middle East, it seems that the man made “Palm Project” which promises luxury living for the super rich in Dubai, will also have 20,000 moorings, which is about 40% more than the Balearics can offer. This was commented on as a possible threat by several speakers at the marina conference.
I have spent some time in the Emirates, and I admire how they spend their oil billions to create civilised living from a dessert wasteland.
But I still have to say that all the money in the world will not produce natural beauty, and stunning undulating sea fringed landscapes, such as that which Mother Nature has taken millions of years to bless the Balearic Islands with!
Some recent good news is that the 30 year concession for Port Adriano (El Toro) Marina has been settled with the present incumbents Ocibar S.L. Hopefuly leaving the way clear for them to continue the already approved extension of the port which will provide 82 new moorings for boats of between 20 and 60 metres in length.
Not such good news according to ADN (the Yachtsmans Association) is the fact that the concessionaires for the Formentor Bay mooring buoys in the north of the island have applied to have their concession renewed.
This after they had been denounced and fined for placing buoys right across the bay, instead of the area of water that was allocated to them.
Having been one of the “exploited” ones myself( several times last summer) I can only agree with ADN, that Hisambla S.L. no longer deserve the trust of the boating public.
Finally two apologies from me, firstly because this copy of The Islander may be a day or two late being distributed, due to some staff holidays. (Mine and the Dutch bird indoors!)
Secondly, that our modernised website which we hoped to launch in March, will now be online later this summer, but the existing one is still updated monthly, and we trust that the new version will be well worth the wait.
Saludos, Peter Franklin