The photo above and below are the PR versions of where we are at present.

And they are accurate before 1200 and after 2000 hours. The rest of the time, the people and boat watching, not to mention lessons in naval architecture are wonderful.

This is reality during the day. If you are into quiet beauty, perhaps a bit offputting. But out of season, without the crowds and with cooler weather this could be lovely.

There are so many mega power and sailboats it is hard to fathom.

Of course you can enjoy the environment on something a little smaller.

There are some very cool stinkpots. We particularly like the very clean look of this one.

If you are walking along the beach there is lots at which to gawk.

We’ll start with this. These guys are a long way off, so we are wildly guessing at size, but the little boat is probably 50 meters/165 feet, which makes the big guy? Note the cool color scheme, gray and black.

If you own a plain vanilla meg-yacht how do you feel when the black and gray dudes show up? Your ernest reporters would be really depressed and move.

Back to gray and black, this is our immediate neighbor astern.

Not too bad in profile.

And check out the matching dinghy. We are feeling very in these days between our color scheme and matching dinghy as well.

But here is something we cannot match. Note the finish on the aft deck vertical surfaces. Mirrors are the ultimate bling. Maybe the next boat.

Nice clean lines on the profile of this big cutter.

Now here is where we get a chance to get on the soap box. Stern overhangs like this are fast in light airs. But once you reach a speed length ratio around one, say seven knots for a 50 foot waterline, they are no advantage and faster than this they are draggier than a more immersed transom. In a racing yacht you usually have no choice. But cruisers normally power in light airs, and the quarter of a knot slower speed – death racing – means little on a passage.

Now the why. Note the water dripping off from a wave slap. In the right situation those compression slaps sound like a bomb going off. Very unpleasant. Which is one of the reasons we prefer no overhang aft.

Three guys to put on the mainsail cover + one to watch. How about a design which allows for an easily reached cover?

When you are designing your dreamboat an early decision is the height of eye when looking at the boat. We always work toward the view from the dinghy, which is much harder to look cool from than a high dock or helicopter. This is one of the iconic Wally yachts. In the magazine photos, all taken from height, they are very sleek (albeit not very practical for cruising in our opinion). But from the dinghy the look is rather ordinary. Of course the poster size photo on the wall at home is going to be from the air.

A totally different breed, clunky in comparison to the previous yacht, but very nice none-the-less. OK, the overhangs are slow, but we like to look at them.

In our previous report we had some photos of this ketch sailing. She is the former Round the World Racer, Fortuna. Note the interesting, and all encompassing awning system.

North Sea trawler model we’d guess. Slow, roll like mad, and a very good sea boat in spite of it.

How is this for a tug to yacht conversion? They still have their towing hook and fire fighting gun. Just think of the dinghies you could tow!

Party boat of the day (of the three anchored nearby).

Nice beat to the music although a bit on the electronic side for our taste.

Speaking of rock and roll, it is very bouncy here from the wakes, and even the big guys get caught up in the act. Fun on the upper deck.

These guys came by for a close look, twice. We hope the pilot in the left seat is paying attention. They are very low.

Tallest rig of the day, we’d guess its Salperton. If these guys make it under the Bridge of the Americas on the Panama Canal it will be at low tide.

Does it help to be young and beautiful? Of course.

But old timers without hard bodies can have fun too.

Back to the gray and black is beautiful theme.

Staysail schooners with in the mast furling don’t have much sex appeal for us. Now a gaff schooner, that is something else. The shear of the hull and boxy house are unusual, and on paper you might gag. But it comes off in real life.

Speaking of real life, being crew on one of these megas must be interesting. Wonder what they are discussing? Maybe its the dinner menu.

It is not all megayachts.Lots of little boats as well. This single hander, with a beautifully restored Aires wind vane, is having a slow, but enjoyable sail.

In the morning there are several of these traditional looking boats out fishing.

And the ultimate sailing buzz for minimum investment.

The local harbor does not want you here with your dinghy.

On the other hand somebody has sent this gent out to collect the anchored yachts’ garbage, free of charge.

We have been on a passage this afternoon, away from the crowds to the other side of the island. There are actually things to catch our eye besides boats.

These folks are out for a mini cruise as well.

We always like seeing old timers out sailing. Maybe an RORC design from the 1970s? Perhaps a SetSailor can shed some light. Now about that weather jib sheet over the side. Do you think that is a part of the British Yacht-master curriculum?

The other side of the sand spit near where we have been anchored the past two days. At the most, five percent of the boats on our side.

And tonights anchorage, which we are sharing with a dozen other yachts.

The water is clear and warm. Come on in for a swim, and perhaps a check of the props and zincs.

Have to put this photo in, taken with a 55mm lens, which tells you this gentle soul is quite close. Note the huge wake – he’s probably going 15 knots – which is going to roll through the anchorage. It is this sort of behavior, observed over the years, that has left a bad taste in our mouths on the subject of stinkpots. Come on guys, watch your wake and think about what it does to everyone else.

Sunset, our last evening on Formentara, and we are eating dinner on the flying bridge before our conference call (Skype) with Circa in New Zealand. We decide we are not in the least tempted to trade with any of the late adopters of our color scheme.

Tomorrow it’s Mallorca. Who knows what we will find there,