Watches Recovered from Wreck: A Small Piece of Normalcy Returns

Watches Recovered from Wreck: A Small Piece of Normalcy Returns

Personal belongings from the 24-metre Wally discovered last summer and returned

On Monday morning a man sat in the Guardia Civil station on Carrer de Manuel Azaña and opened, for the first time since his yacht sank, a small cardboard box containing familiar watch faces. Three wristwatches and a gold ring – items that are mere jewellery for many, but for him mementos of days at sea. They were found last summer during a training dive by the specialised GEAS unit in the Bay of Palma.

The divers were not searching for personal items but were training on a prominent wreck. Near the location where the Wally sailing yacht Tilakkhanahat sank in September 2023, they came across the remains of another vessel. Looking inside, they discovered a backpack that was brought to the surface during recovery. Inside: the items now returned.

The Wally, built in 2004, measures around 24 metres and lies at an estimated depth of 40 to 47 metres. In late summer 2023 a short circuit broke out on board; a fire followed. Emergency crews tried to control the blaze and to tow the vessel toward the harbour. Despite recovery efforts and the accompaniment of the rescue boat Salvamar Libertas, the fire flared up again, the mast broke, and the hull sank.

All three crew members were secured alive on board at the time and were brought ashore. The ship, which sailed under the British flag and regularly took part in events such as regattas, was at the time valued at roughly 1.5 million euros.

After the backpack was found, the Guardia Civil opened an investigation to correctly attribute the items, and similar investigations have followed city watch crimes such as Arrest in Barcelona after Watch Robbery — What Does It Mean for Palma's Old Town?. Eventually a crew member could be identified as the rightful recipient. The formal handing over of the watches and the ring at the station was, for some, a quiet moment: no spectacle, just a private return of personal belongings.

Anyone who regularly walks past Palma harbour knows the scene: fishermen on the pier in the morning, the smell of fuel and coffee, crows and seagulls squabbling over the buoys. These little everyday scenes highlight how entwined the sea is with life in Palma. The find is a reminder that stories lie beneath the surface, sometimes only closing a small chapter months later.

The story also has a pragmatic side. For seafarers it is a reminder to store valuables securely – best in waterproof containers or in locked compartments on board, as incidents like Night Robbery in Puerto Portals: Luxury Watch Theft Raises Security Questions and Robbery in Can Pastilla: Luxury watch worth €6,000 — escape by e-scooter reveals vulnerabilities illustrate. Technical checks, especially of the vessel’s electrical system, remain important; many accidents begin with a small defect that leads to larger problems.

For the island, the work of GEAS is also nothing extraordinary but part of routine: specialised divers who train, recover and thus help make the sea safer. That personal items turned up during an exercise and could be returned is one of those small, positive moments noticed in everyday life here.

An outlook? Not in the form of an official statement, but as a suggestion: next time you stroll along the Passeig Marítim with your dog or have an espresso at the Club Náutico, take a moment to think about how much lies beneath the water’s surface. And maybe glance at the battery indicators now and then – sometimes it’s the inconspicuous things that make the difference.

The return of the watches gave the man back a piece of normality. No big media spectacle, no fuss – just the quiet gesture of an official handing a man his belongings. In times when much on Mallorca is loud, such a moment feels almost like a gentle sigh of relief.