Back to Gran Canaria

Saturday 7th September 2006

Fliss………….

Strange day yesterday as it was really quiet on the boat. Pete & I decided that we would go to the Fiesta in the evening. These shin-digs start at 10 and finish at 4am.

So after supper (chicken curry & rice) we headed off to the town it was about 9pm so en-route to the town we decided to say hello to an English couple moored in the marina. Really nice couple & we spent an hour with them before heading off into town.

The music was a dammed sight better than anything we have experienced in Portugal and it was very reminiscent of Bon Jovi, lot’s of fists in the air, arched back’s and falling to the floor praying it was a very dramatic performance from the ageing lead singer, mustn’t forgot the very tight jeans, chains and denim waist coat! Fantastic entertainment! Pete entertained the crowds with his Michael Flacherty on acid dance routine.

Back to the Chez Nadezhda at 12ish for a night cap and bed.

This morning conditions had eased and after checking the weather forecast we decided to leave at 12:30pm.

We stuck our head out of the harbour walls & bang straight into the acceleration zone.
In the time it had taken us to prepare the boat and leave the marina the wind had picked up.




















The wind was brisk and short choppy waves meant an interesting departure from La Gomera. Two reefs in the main, reefed gib and stay sail we were screaming along at well over 8.5knots. Waves were slapping the side of the boat and Pete got wet.

It’s really strange as 10 miles out of La Gomera the wind died and we were becalmed and are now motoring.

Lovely hot day again.

Pete……………

We are very glad we stayed in La Gomera on Thursday and Friday since, even today, the acceleration zone blew a good Force 7. Luckily, the waves were not too big and the broad-reach was relatively comfortable.

After a short while of motoring, we again saw the Pilot whales. This time, they were not basking but were heading purposely in the same direction as us. We modified course and intercepted them and followed for 20 minutes before turning back on-track.





















Pilot Whales off Tenerife and La Gomera










Fliss…….

I think that our plan to run straight back to Las Palmas was little over ambitious as after we went past the headland the wind picked up in the acceleration zone & we had a good force 5 bang on the nose and steep choppy white seas. Nadezhda nose-dived for all it was worth.

Around 6pm we had to make a decision to either keep going or go into San Miguel marina, bearing in mind that the wind was screaming in the rigging and the marina had experienced serious storm damage in the past, we were concerned that it would be a difficult trying to moor alongside the pontoon.

With the thought of god knows how long beating Nadezhda & ourselves up we decided to check the marina out. Being a positive person I said to Pete “you never know it might be a sheltered marina” he laughed and said “Fat chance”.

Guess what! It was perfect inside the harbour walls, no wind at all, and two guys to take our lines. We settled down for the night as we were going to make another attempt on Las Palmas at 07:30am the next morning.

Strange place as the marina was half finished and there was a plush golf course but not a lot else. They are planning on adding another 340 pontoons but were not sure that they’ll get their money back but without doubt it’s a brilliant bolt-hole when the going gets tough.

We met a Scottish couple who keep their boat there and he laughed and said “Did you have fun out there as we been watching you bouncing up & down” he was amazed that we weren’t soaking wet but Pete & I have mastered the art of emergency ducking into the cockpit.

Pete……………..

We had spoken to a couple from the river Hamble earlier in the day. They had been in San Miguel for over a month (it had taken them 3 years to get as far as the Canaries). The guy told me to keep the red buoys to port (as one should do) when entering the marina. I was glad of the advice because the buoys were no larger than a small anchor buoy and did not look like navigation buoys. We were close to low tide and could see the jagged rocks to the left-side of the entrance.

The marina was aligned directly into the prevailing wind and so berthing was straight into wind and no problem

Sunday 8th October 2006

We left at 07:45 and kept the two reefs in the main. There was no wind to start with so we motored with the view of trying to get as far North as possible before the wind set-in. This hope was dashed as we were slowed by currents off a headland to the North and we headed East for deeper water.

The wind soon kicked-in and with it came the steep, short chop. We were hard pressed with half the jib out and 2 reefs in the mainsail. Loads of leeway and heading South of East! We tacked out for about 5 miles and then tried to get some North again. We motor sailed in order to push through the waves that were pushing the nose of the boat off and stalling us. I was all for giving up the idea by about noon since there was an anchorage that we would pass (10 miles up the coast from our starting point), however, we managed to get a heading directly North and battled-on.

I was definitely ready for a rest. The nose of the boat was piling into the waves and bringing surges of water over the decks, the waves were impeding our progress and we were not doing Nadezhda any favours. Fliss was being her usual optimistic self and we did have a couple of marinas ahead.

Approaching Santa Cruz, we saw yachts heading our direction gliding gently with spinnakers up and we were suddenly out of the acceleration zone.

We decided to anchor for the night and try for Las Palmas the next day. The pilot book told us that there was a nice anchorage at Baia de Antequera right at the northern tip of Tenerife so we stopped there for the night.

Baia de Antequera

9th October 2006

Fliss….

Anyone who is thinking of leaving Gran Canaria for Tenerife and then going back to Gran Canaria take our advice DON’T…. it’s a real hard battle & very soul destroying! The journey back is only 95 miles but it has taken us 3 days and were not there yet, but we are determined to make it to make it to Las Palmas today.

Las Palmas will be a wonderful sight as from this point onwards its down wind sailing again.

This whole trip has been very reminiscent of our trip back from Ramsgate! Not to be repeated in a hurry.

Tuesday 10th October 2006

Fliss…….

Hurrah! we finally made it back to Las Palmas at 07:30pm last night it was a sight to behold and I had a strange feeling of being home????

As we pulled into the anchorage we spotted Colin & Maureen & a Dutch boat called Rajac, we met Rajac into Porto Santo & Funchal.

Waving from Rajac was Gerrard (he was the Dutch guy who had the luxury boat in La Gomera) We couldn’t believe it as he had left a day after us and arrived the day before. He had been tipped off by a German guy who said head south of Gran Canaria and he did! Later on today I’m going to ask him how the trip was as ours was bloody awful.

Whilst in La Gomera Gerrard did mention that he was meeting some Dutch friends who were doing the same thing as us & I asked if the hull of the boat was black he couldn’t remember but I suspected that he was meeting Rajac and he was…. Small world.

We did ponder heading south of the island but discounted it as the acceleration zones are the worst in the Canaries. As someone said last night “no guts no glory” I prefer “less pain more gain”.

Pete’s gone to pick up the new guard rails & later we’ll take the mountain of washing to the launderette & get some provisions in as Nadezhda is old mother hubbard at the moment as we never expected the trip back to take so long.

Pete…………

The sail back from Tenerife went well to start with, close hauled on a flat sea. As we got further off land, the wind headed us until we could no longer make the top of Gran Canaria. The trouble with sailing here is that the islands bend the winds in unpredictable manners and without local knowledge, you are unsure of which tack will benefit you. Eventually, the wind died and we motor-sailed the final half of the trip.