Sunday 22nd October 2006
Fliss………
Hello all, sorry we haven’t sent an update for a while but we’ve been busy with Mum, Ash & Naomi.
We left Las Palmas last Saturday bound for Maspalomas and had a really pleasant sail down. Originally we were going to Puerto Rico as it appeared to be the closest marina to were they would be staying but after looking at the chart & the pilot book we opted for Pasisto Blanco which was only around 3 miles to the resort. Thank god we double checked as the original harbour would have been quite a taxi ride each day.
We arrived at Pasisto Blanco at 1pm and the marina office was closed but a really helpful chap asked us to moor alongside the fuelling station until they could allocate us a space. The mooring was snug close between two motor boats and as we approached we both looked in horror as they needed to part the two motor boats so we could get in also the fact that it was a bow-to mooring meant that it was going to be interesting! But Nadezhda behaved herself and there were two guys waiting to take our bow lines and a chap onboard who was going to arrange the stern lines. Now that’s what we call service!
It’s very cheap here only £10 per night and it’s a very quiet marina.
In the afternoon we took a taxi to find mums hotel and the first impression was that it was Butlins, but Butlins in the Eastern block before the wall came down!
Early night so that we could meet them at 10am Sunday morning.
We had a wonderful week with them; snorkelling, swimming and we also hired a car to see the interior, which was very similar to La Gomera but not as lush.
Fliss………
Hello all, sorry we haven’t sent an update for a while but we’ve been busy with Mum, Ash & Naomi.
We left Las Palmas last Saturday bound for Maspalomas and had a really pleasant sail down. Originally we were going to Puerto Rico as it appeared to be the closest marina to were they would be staying but after looking at the chart & the pilot book we opted for Pasisto Blanco which was only around 3 miles to the resort. Thank god we double checked as the original harbour would have been quite a taxi ride each day.
We arrived at Pasisto Blanco at 1pm and the marina office was closed but a really helpful chap asked us to moor alongside the fuelling station until they could allocate us a space. The mooring was snug close between two motor boats and as we approached we both looked in horror as they needed to part the two motor boats so we could get in also the fact that it was a bow-to mooring meant that it was going to be interesting! But Nadezhda behaved herself and there were two guys waiting to take our bow lines and a chap onboard who was going to arrange the stern lines. Now that’s what we call service!
It’s very cheap here only £10 per night and it’s a very quiet marina.
In the afternoon we took a taxi to find mums hotel and the first impression was that it was Butlins, but Butlins in the Eastern block before the wall came down!
Early night so that we could meet them at 10am Sunday morning.
We had a wonderful week with them; snorkelling, swimming and we also hired a car to see the interior, which was very similar to La Gomera but not as lush.
Naomi and Gran Canaria
Mums hotel turned out to be a great venue as we met some lovely people around the pool.
We met a sweet little girl who we thought must have been quite lonely so we adopted her and played secret agents around the pool, her code name was Dolphin Girl, Ash was Aqua Man and I was the Boss, she had a fantastic time as I would dish out top secret assignments of which Aqua Man & Dolphin Girl would have to complete. This little girl was besotted with Ashleigh and would come up to Ash clicking like a dolphin & rubbing her chin on his arm.
Naomi enjoying the pool
Naomi and friend
The downside to the hotel was that the food was terrible! So most of the time we would eat out but with chicken & chips being £2.75 it was no great hardship, buying food in the shops was a damn site more expensive.
Enjoying the food
And the beer...
One night Ash (Pete was struggling with a Margarita hangover) decided to go to Yumbo, being a reluctant participant (not that reluctant) I went along. Yumbo is a gay & transvestite persons paradise but we had heard that it was a good laugh in the evening and it was! These she/hemales stood a good six foot high in massive stilettos with bouffant wigs in peroxide blonde, the eye makeup was fantastic! arched eyebrows and eye shadow in every different colour. Why do they always have fantastic legs??
They put on a show which lasted an hour and a half and it wasn’t seedy just a lot of singing and elaborate customs. Towards the end of the show I and others were dragged up on the stage to be backing dancers. We performed dance routines to YMCA (mandatory song given the venue) and many other routines. It was a really fun night and we extricated ourselves at 1:30am to a lot of comments from the Drag Queens. During the course of the evening I made some male gay friends.
During the week I found a dentist. They took an x-ray and said that I had an ulcer brewing on one of my upper back teeth. The problem was that we have limited timescales so the only option available was to have the tooth taken out. They offered to do it there and then but as mum was over I opted for Saturday as Mum and Ash were due to leave early Saturday morning (4am).
He took the tooth out (which was not at all painful) showed me the ulcer on the tooth and said that within a matter of days I would have been in terrible pain. You can’t see the gap as the tooth was the very back one. He also repaired a crown, which was cracked and only charged me £50… In the UK I would have been looking at a lot of money.
Well, Mum, Ash & Naomi didn’t leave till Sunday morning as they got the date wrong so we all had a stay of execution!
Sad to see Mum, Ash & Naomi go as it’s been a wonderful time & thanks for a really great week.
Pete………………
My original plan was to work on Nadezhda in the mornings and meet-up with the gang in the afternoons. This was optimistic since we had a very full week and it was not fair to restrict everyone else to a meeting point half-way through the day so this current week has now been allocated for boat jobs.
The bungalows where Val, Ash and Naomi were staying was actually quite nice but the entertainment had us in stitches. The whole week’s entertainment was organised by one guy who must have been in his early twenties, and this went on from games during the day to evening entertainment. One night we had “Miss DunaFlor” night where three ladies were needed to complete the act. He stood on stage and expected some willing volunteers but none were forthcoming. So, he went around the pool pleading and cajoling with everyone and still had no takers. By this time, he was looking absolutely desperate and it looked like the entertainment was over. But eventually one brave lass agreed, and another, and eventually we set-up the girl on the table next to us by cheering and clapping when he went to her such that the peer-pressure forced her to make-up the threesome. The game was won by the girl we had set-up following a series of silly on-stage acts.
The car-hire was interesting. The mountains in the centre of the island were beautiful but Naomi did not like the twisty-turny roads and felt sick (she has already proved seasickness on Nadezhda a couple of years ago). We almost made it back to the bungalows when Naomi suddenly produced a jet of vomit across the back of the car. Fliss managed to catch a good deal in a plastic bag but the seat was saturated. Back at the boat, we removed the seat and scrubbed and hosed it and hoped it would dry before returning the car.
They put on a show which lasted an hour and a half and it wasn’t seedy just a lot of singing and elaborate customs. Towards the end of the show I and others were dragged up on the stage to be backing dancers. We performed dance routines to YMCA (mandatory song given the venue) and many other routines. It was a really fun night and we extricated ourselves at 1:30am to a lot of comments from the Drag Queens. During the course of the evening I made some male gay friends.
During the week I found a dentist. They took an x-ray and said that I had an ulcer brewing on one of my upper back teeth. The problem was that we have limited timescales so the only option available was to have the tooth taken out. They offered to do it there and then but as mum was over I opted for Saturday as Mum and Ash were due to leave early Saturday morning (4am).
He took the tooth out (which was not at all painful) showed me the ulcer on the tooth and said that within a matter of days I would have been in terrible pain. You can’t see the gap as the tooth was the very back one. He also repaired a crown, which was cracked and only charged me £50… In the UK I would have been looking at a lot of money.
Well, Mum, Ash & Naomi didn’t leave till Sunday morning as they got the date wrong so we all had a stay of execution!
Sad to see Mum, Ash & Naomi go as it’s been a wonderful time & thanks for a really great week.
Pete………………
My original plan was to work on Nadezhda in the mornings and meet-up with the gang in the afternoons. This was optimistic since we had a very full week and it was not fair to restrict everyone else to a meeting point half-way through the day so this current week has now been allocated for boat jobs.
The bungalows where Val, Ash and Naomi were staying was actually quite nice but the entertainment had us in stitches. The whole week’s entertainment was organised by one guy who must have been in his early twenties, and this went on from games during the day to evening entertainment. One night we had “Miss DunaFlor” night where three ladies were needed to complete the act. He stood on stage and expected some willing volunteers but none were forthcoming. So, he went around the pool pleading and cajoling with everyone and still had no takers. By this time, he was looking absolutely desperate and it looked like the entertainment was over. But eventually one brave lass agreed, and another, and eventually we set-up the girl on the table next to us by cheering and clapping when he went to her such that the peer-pressure forced her to make-up the threesome. The game was won by the girl we had set-up following a series of silly on-stage acts.
The car-hire was interesting. The mountains in the centre of the island were beautiful but Naomi did not like the twisty-turny roads and felt sick (she has already proved seasickness on Nadezhda a couple of years ago). We almost made it back to the bungalows when Naomi suddenly produced a jet of vomit across the back of the car. Fliss managed to catch a good deal in a plastic bag but the seat was saturated. Back at the boat, we removed the seat and scrubbed and hosed it and hoped it would dry before returning the car.
Gran Canaria Interior
The second car-hire day, we went to Puerto Mogan where there was a nice beach and the town was beautifully laid-out unlike many of the half-finished building sites that litter much of the Canaries. Ash and I went off to the cliffs where there was good snorkelling and numerous different types of fish to be seen. Fliss and Naomi met us there in a pedallo leaving Val to lounge on the beach reading. We all climbed aboard the pedallo and returned to the port where we took it up a canal/inlet much to the amusement of tourists who videoed two grown men pedalling a silly looking swan under the low bridges.
Fliss…..
The silly looking swan was really hard work to peddle and the “two grown men” as they like to be called only peddled for 5 minutes at a time before declaring that they were knackered… I had taken the silly looking swan off the beach and outside the harbour wall which must have been a good 15 minutes peddling furiously with Naomi saying “faster, faster Auntie Babby”. The three point turns in the narrow canal/inlet created huge amount of amusement for onlookers. Maybe it wouldn’t have been so hard if we hadn’t have left the boarding ladder dragging in the water.
Pete…..
On return to the car, we found we had a parking ticket. We had checked to make sure there was no problem parking but further up the road, there was a small sign declaring residents only. When we returned the car, Mr Hire-Man said that we had to go back to Puerto Mogan in order to pay it. I think that they will have to come to us for payment since there is no payment information on the ticket!!
The clan have now gone back to Blighty leaving the place very, very quiet. This is made even more noticeable by the fact that the marina is a quiet backwater anyway. Oh well, back to the jobs and then on to the Cape Verdes!
Fliss…..
The silly looking swan was really hard work to peddle and the “two grown men” as they like to be called only peddled for 5 minutes at a time before declaring that they were knackered… I had taken the silly looking swan off the beach and outside the harbour wall which must have been a good 15 minutes peddling furiously with Naomi saying “faster, faster Auntie Babby”. The three point turns in the narrow canal/inlet created huge amount of amusement for onlookers. Maybe it wouldn’t have been so hard if we hadn’t have left the boarding ladder dragging in the water.
Pete…..
On return to the car, we found we had a parking ticket. We had checked to make sure there was no problem parking but further up the road, there was a small sign declaring residents only. When we returned the car, Mr Hire-Man said that we had to go back to Puerto Mogan in order to pay it. I think that they will have to come to us for payment since there is no payment information on the ticket!!
The clan have now gone back to Blighty leaving the place very, very quiet. This is made even more noticeable by the fact that the marina is a quiet backwater anyway. Oh well, back to the jobs and then on to the Cape Verdes!
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