The next day we left Las Palmas and made a swelly passage to Pasito Blanco, arriving around 5pm to drop the anchor in about 1.8m of water under the keel (my shallowest anchorage yet), make some food and get a few hours sleep before re-setting off for Los Christianos on Tenerife.
Just before arriving at Pasito Blanco we spoke to Aliisa on the VHF who was also heading for La Gomera, mid conversation we experienced a 180 degree wind shift and gusts to 35kn! The winds around the Canaries are crazy.
After eating pasta and watching the crazy local water skier we slept until 2am and then left under motor towards Tenerife, 65nm away. After motoring all night (Lindsey slept while I helmed) the wind finally made an appearance around 8am where I could finally set up the boat to steer herself.
We arrived at Los Christianos after being escorted by a pod of dolphins and discovered that the anchorage as described in the Imray pilot book has completely changed. Anchoring in about 8m of water under the keel I had to let out the warp again as 30m of chain just isn’t enough. More chain is at the top of the shopping list when I get to the Caribbean!
Rather than head off immediately, we decided it might be nice to actually see Los Christianos as Lindsey has never been to Tenerife before. I, on the other hand spent a few months here living on a nudist beach years ago and this is the place where I first discovered that people are sailing boats around the world and probably the birthplace of the crazy idea that now led me back with my own boat.
The next day was spent generally looking around the town with Lindsey buying perfume gifts for her family. We finally headed back to the boat in the afternoon and had a ‘wash’ / swim before heading back for an evening Chinese meal. The next day we left the anchorage with about 5knots of wind and ghosted our way towards La Gomera, with Lindsey sunbathing and me a slave to the wheel.
We saw several whales of which I presume were of the pilot variety. Mid way across we had to use the engine as the wind had died and the swell increased considerably. The last 5 or so miles saw the winds increase to 25kn as we entered the acceleration zone and with 2 reefs in the main and ¾ jib made good progress towards the San Sebastian marina.
Quatermoon and Aliisa were already moored up inside and luckily Sym managed to sweet talk the staff into letting us moor in the haul out pen as the marina was completely full with boats moored up four boats deep.
After a close encounter with a large cat moored in the entrance of the haul out pen we made fast and headed over to the join the BBQ on the pontoon quayside. Needless to say the wine flowed and out came the guitars, with several memorable songs being composed the best being ‘Donde Esta El Doris’ sung by Sym in his best Spanish! Another highlight was ‘We’re German – and I hope you like Germans too’ by a crew of randoms who happened to join in as they passed by. We finally had to abort when the other boats started to complain about the noise…
The next morning I felt like death, I managed to muster a cup of tea before getting back into bed. The second attempt to wake up was even worse. We managed to make it into town and ordering a cooked breakfast in the hope that this would kill or cure. Just the sight of the cold almost raw fried eggs and fatty bacon made my stomach do back flips. Lindsey managed considerably better than me as I sat there shaking, freezing cold with sweat running down my back with watering eyes assessing what bin to throw up into should the need arise.
After walking around a while I started to feel a little better and met up with the rest of the crew who had also been rough all morning. We got the boat sorted for a departure the following day, filling the water and fuel tanks (my first Diesel since Portugal) and went to the supermarket and got some supplies for another BBQ. That evening saw a more subdued version of the previous night, all very civilised with not a single guitar in sight.
Anina having recovered from alcohol poisoning...
Rather than head off immediately, we decided it might be nice to actually see Los Christianos as Lindsey has never been to Tenerife before. I, on the other hand spent a few months here living on a nudist beach years ago and this is the place where I first discovered that people are sailing boats around the world and probably the birthplace of the crazy idea that now led me back with my own boat.
The next day was spent generally looking around the town with Lindsey buying perfume gifts for her family. We finally headed back to the boat in the afternoon and had a ‘wash’ / swim before heading back for an evening Chinese meal. The next day we left the anchorage with about 5knots of wind and ghosted our way towards La Gomera, with Lindsey sunbathing and me a slave to the wheel.
We saw several whales of which I presume were of the pilot variety. Mid way across we had to use the engine as the wind had died and the swell increased considerably. The last 5 or so miles saw the winds increase to 25kn as we entered the acceleration zone and with 2 reefs in the main and ¾ jib made good progress towards the San Sebastian marina.
Quatermoon and Aliisa were already moored up inside and luckily Sym managed to sweet talk the staff into letting us moor in the haul out pen as the marina was completely full with boats moored up four boats deep.
After a close encounter with a large cat moored in the entrance of the haul out pen we made fast and headed over to the join the BBQ on the pontoon quayside. Needless to say the wine flowed and out came the guitars, with several memorable songs being composed the best being ‘Donde Esta El Doris’ sung by Sym in his best Spanish! Another highlight was ‘We’re German – and I hope you like Germans too’ by a crew of randoms who happened to join in as they passed by. We finally had to abort when the other boats started to complain about the noise…
The next morning I felt like death, I managed to muster a cup of tea before getting back into bed. The second attempt to wake up was even worse. We managed to make it into town and ordering a cooked breakfast in the hope that this would kill or cure. Just the sight of the cold almost raw fried eggs and fatty bacon made my stomach do back flips. Lindsey managed considerably better than me as I sat there shaking, freezing cold with sweat running down my back with watering eyes assessing what bin to throw up into should the need arise.
After walking around a while I started to feel a little better and met up with the rest of the crew who had also been rough all morning. We got the boat sorted for a departure the following day, filling the water and fuel tanks (my first Diesel since Portugal) and went to the supermarket and got some supplies for another BBQ. That evening saw a more subdued version of the previous night, all very civilised with not a single guitar in sight.
Anina having recovered from alcohol poisoning...
The next morning we checked out of the marina and just before leaving we bumped in Matti of Carma who had just arrived. After a quick chat I decided that I would like to stay another day, especially as we were only being charged 10eu per night in the haul out pen!
Sym & Amy of Quatermoon also decided to stay another day. We went into town and looked around in a more relaxed state than previously without having to look for bins to throw up into! After some lunch in a local restaurant we had showers (cold) and met up with Matti for some food on Doris before finding a bar in town.
We decided to get a pizza, which looked really nice when bought to the table. (Un)fortunately, Lindsey managed to find a small cockroach on the underside of the pizza we were sharing quashing any appetite instantly! We asked for the bill and was horrified to discover that Matti had been charged for his pizza despite him returning it due to feeling ill!
Its now 11am and after writing this will prepare to head for Valle Gran Rey (possibly via Santiago) where we will hopefully finally do our PADI Open Water courses.
Daniel of Luna, if you are already there and read this in time, wait for us before heading for the Cape Verdes.