Old Salt Yacht Charter Soller perfects with Gaia Natural Amenities

The new name for this company, ¨Old Salt Sailing¨ came from the wish to honour the great sailing legends that have sailed with this fleet, throughout their more than 70 years of active life.

An ¨Old Salt¨ is an experienced sailor, a seafaring man, one who has many stories to tell of his adventures on the high seas. The Old Salts that have sailed on these boats, have left behind many a story of their own; some of which you can find on their web page in the press section. www.oldsaltsailing.com

The spirit of traditional sailing is very much alive in the fleet, and this is reflected in their rebranding. The concept of sailing on a fleet of classic boats, all owned and managed by the same company, is something unique to Old Salt Sailing.The boats are available for charter all year round, for both corporate and private events, offering tailor made trips to suit your requirements, such as; a relaxing summer vacation, day sailing trips, location use for photo and film shooting, or regattas and special events.

They may be chartered individually, or as any combination of the fleet.

Aboard the boats we offer you the perfect get away, to a bygone era filled with fun and adventure, and a unique opportunity, to explore and enjoy the Balearic Islands and the Mediterranean Sea

The fleet is based in the Port of Soller, which is in the Tramuntana mountain range, a recently declared UNESCO world heritage site. The mountains provide a truly breathtaking backdrop, for some wonderful sailing along the NW coast, allowing you to discover hidden coves that are only accessible by boat.

www.oldsaltsailing.com

Destillation Day on the Gaia Finca

Today I made my third effort at destillation. This wonderful still was given to me by my husband last Christmas and I had spend Boxing Day collecting and then destilling Jasmin blossom. My first yield was not very big which probalbly explains why Jasmine Absolute is so expensive. I did however have a wonderful scented Jasmine Flower Water.

My second effort was with Rosemary and I did manage get a few milliliters of essential oil. Today with the help of my Whoofer Davina who collected a plant called Cistus, the common name for it is Rock Rose, from all over our mountainside. Its that plant which has slighly fury, sticky leaves and pink flowers that look like they are made from Crepe Paper. Its a scent that is reminiscent of church incense with a slighly rosy undernote. 

As you can see in the pictures we made bread dough to place over all the seams to stop steam from escaping and to build up more pressure inside the still. We made a first destillate, then replaced the plant matter and  used the first destillate on the second batch to push it as steam through the Cistus leafs. Second time round we could see a layer of essential oils forming on top of the Hydrolate. 

This now is our next step to figure out .... we needed to separate the Hydrolate from the Essential Oil. The essential oils separated into lighter then water oils and floated on top of the Hydrolate. When  placed in a narrow glass tube the essential oils could be taken of with a pippette while we drained of the flower water.
All very good fun ... but the effort involved makes you realise why essential oils are so expensive.
Ask us about perfume making work shops at the Gaia Finca which do involve learing all about the destillation process.

Gaia Finca becomes a Wwhoofer Finca

Wwhoofing the Gaia way

Planting out the Aloe Plants with help from Max

May saw the arrival of the Gaia Fincas first Wwhoofer Davina from San Sebastian in the Basque Country who is staying for two weeks and is learning how to harvest the Aloe Vera plants. She has extracted an impressive 40 liters of Aloe Vera Juice. She has also separated and re planted  as many plants with the help of Max. Earlier in the year we became a Wwhoofer Finca who welcomes volunteers, young people who want to gain experinence with our farming methods and our production methods and just generally want to spend some time in the country side. They stay for an average of 2 weeks and give us 5 hours of work a day in return for food and board.

http://www.wwoofinternational.org is the website if you are interested to find out more.

Davina processing and extracting the gel from the Aloe plants.

May in Gaia

Gaia Workshop and soaps just out of the
molds ready for cutting.

Amenity soaps drying in the sun at the Gaia Finca

 Using the spring sun to sun dry amenity soaps for the Hotel Avenida in Soller  http://www.avenida-hotel.com/
to load them up with extra goodness.

From  the mold to the box ready for delivery. Gaia soaps for Hotel Avenida in Soller drying in the sun at the Gaia Finca.

Summer is here at last and we can anounce a new Yoga scedule with a new time table to suit your convenience

Our new Yoga teacher Gemma has had a couple of evenings of free Yoga for you to try, one of them to life harp music. If you want to give her Yoga a try please come and have a free trail class any time you wish. Just call the shop 971714983 before you come to make sure there is a space for you.

This month has also seen a lot of nice products going out for the Old Salt Sailing Classic Yacht Charter Company in Soller. www.oldsaltsailing.com

We made Soaps, Shampoo, ShowerGel and a Cooling Body Lotion to go into the cabins. All was scented with the all time classic scent of Lavender, Lemon, Rosemary and just a hint of wood.

www.oldsaltsailing.com

Old Salt Wash Kit made by Gaia Gaia Natural Products
www.oldsaltsailing.com

We also had the oportunity to celebrate Rosa and Blanca´s Birthday this month! 

Happy Birthday Gaia Girls!

Gaia Natural Anti Lice Range PIOJOSAN

After much research Gaia has come up with a natural solution for the Lice Plague that affects most families with school age children every year.

 Our product, PIOJOSAN, uses Neem Oil as its active ingredient.  Neem oil has an extensive history of human use in India and surrounding regions for a variety of therapeutic purposes.  Neem oil is not known to be harmful to mammals but leaves louse eggs unfertilised after treatment and live lice infertile.

We have suspended a large amount of Neem Oil in Sesame Seed Oil which enhances the effect of the Neem and protects and nourishes the hair. Further we have added T Tree, Lavender and Star Anis. The treatment should be applied liberaly all over the head and combed through and left for at least 1 hour  under a showercap.

 The same essential oils are used in the acompanying PIOJOSAN Shampoo which will wash out the Lice treatment with ease and also in the PIOJOSAN Spray which you should use daily to prevent re investation and use to spray cloth and pillows.

Piojosan can be bought at GAIAbathtime, c-Corderia 28
Palma de Mallorca or on line from our website

Available also from

ESTEFAN PELUQUERIA

Address: Carrer Pou, 33, 07013 Palma de Mallorca

Phone:971 22 18 95

Hours:

Tuesday hours 10:00 am–8:00 pm 

http://www.estefan-palma.com/en/vita.htm

Out tests on live lice have shown that the louse dies on contact with PIOJOSAN treatment and that after treatment no more live lice hatch from the eggs.The Neem Oil not only destoys the protecive shell of the louse but also affects the shell of the egg. Remaining eggs need to be removed with a comb. To be on the very safe side we recommend that the treatment be repeated after 6 to 9 days!.

 Wikipedia informs:

Mother hunting for headlice, detail of a
 painting by Jan Siberechts

The treatment of human head lice is a process that has been debated and studied for centuries. However, the number of cases of human louse infestations (or pediculosis) has increased worldwide since the mid-1960s, reaching hundreds of millions annually

Because eggs hatch 6–9 days after oviposition, treatment with a pediculicide is recommended to be repeated at least once after 10 days, when all lice have hatched. Between the two treatments (Days 2–9) the person will still be infested with lice that hatch from eggs not killed by the anti-louse product. Between the treatments, it is advised to wet the hair and comb daily with a louse-comb to remove the hatching lice.

Hold a towel over the face to prevent contact of the product with the eyes of the infested person; and, if the product does come in contact with the eyes, rinse well with water. While the hair is still wet, use a louse comb 3–4 minutes, to remove lice and eggs.

One to three days after the last treatment (Days 11-13), hair should be checked with a louse comb. If no living lice are found, the treatment was successful, even if nits/eggs are visible on the hair. If living lice are still present, repeat the treatment using an anti-louse product with a different active ingredient. Prophylactic treatment with pediculicides is not recommended.

Itching may persist for up to a week after head lice eradication.

However, head lice are known to be resistant to commercial products.

It is recommended to wear hair in a gathered ponytail, bun, or braid. Sharing of coats, jackets, hoodies, sweat shirts or towels should not be done. Hairbrushes, combs, hair ties, headbands, etc. should not be shared. Using a t Tree or Lavender  spray as a deterrent is also preferable. Applying it in the morning and again in afternoon.