Two long passages and the Canaries in between

If you read my last post you will know that we left Gibraltar on 22^nd September for the 300 mile passage to La Graciosa – the small island lying just off the NW corner of Lanzarote. The first 40 or so miles were rather unpleasant with wind over tide, current against us and quite a bit of shipping which we needed to avoid. However, once we rounded Cap Spartel at the tip of Morocco things started to improve as we flew the genoa and picked up speed from an average of 4kn to 6.5kn per hour. There were, however, two things which lightened those first ten hours – namely a large pod of dolphins playing alongside us and the fact that we did not encounter Orcas.

A couple of posts ago I said I would say more about Orcas and pingers – so here goes. It is unlikely that [m]any of you will have heard about the Orca attacks on boats along the south and west coasts of Spain and Portugal, but in the last few years they have been happening and, unfortunately, increasing. Orcas follow Tuna. Bluefin Tuna migrate northwards from the Straits of Gibraltar/the Mediterranean, their spawning sites, to their feeding grounds in the eastern Atlantic – particularly Biscay to Norway. They generally leave the Med around July/August and return April/May. Obviously, most attacks on boats occur during these periods but other attacks have been known as late as October/November. The Orcas attack the rudder. There are several theories as to why they might do this but no-one has come up with a definitive answer. What we do know, from photographs taken of many damaged boats, is that they practically destroy the rudder. So far, no person has been injured but two boats have sunk following attacks as the damage has also led to water ingress.

Clearly, we wanted to avoid this! Just as there are theories to why it happens, there are suggested ways of preventing attacks and/or stopping attacks if they start. They range from playing loud music, urinating over the side, banging the water with sticks, stopping the engine and turning off all instruments and – what might be the most successful of all – reversing in circles. These are all ways of trying to stop them once started. We wanted to prevent it happening in the first place so bought our “pingers”. Pingers are not a new thing. They are used in the fishing industry to reduce the number of cetaceans [dolphins, whales, porpoises] which get caught up in fish nets. They operate on a certain frequency which deters them from approaching the nets. Dolphins and porpoises, it would seem, are deterred by one frequency and whales by another so we purchased the “keep away whales” ones and readied them for use if required.

Spain has banned their use by non-commercial boats! However, to be honest we didn’t care. Rather pay a fine than be attacked and, in the event, we didn’t sight any Orcas and therefore didn’t need to deploy them.

So, if any yachties are reading this blog and want some pingers – get in touch and we will see if we can organise shipment.

The whole of the passage, though very rolling, was – for the most part – uneventful. However, at 07.30 am on the last day, just as Mike had gone below and I had taken the watch, the engine, which we had been using overnight due to light winds, slowed – and died. We thought it must be a blocked fuel filter but couldn’t find any evidence of that when we investigated. Mike spent over an hour checking various things and then I asked him whether it could be an air lock. He bled the fuel and, lo and behold – air. We don’t know why we got an air lock but it seems that we did. The engine then started but, as the wind had picked up again, we were already sailing well and continued to do so until reaching the La Graciosa channel.

610 miles, 104 hours. Quite respectable. Our longest passage on Owl and Pussycat. That is, until the latest one – our passage from Valle Gran Rey, La Gomera, Canary Islands to Palmeira, Sal, Cape Verdes. This second long passage took us just short of 127 hours to cover 796 miles. Even more respectable – and it was a much better sail. Better wind, less roll – more comfortable altogether. But it was on Owl and Pussycat, so not without mishap!

On our fifth morning out, once again before Mike was going off watch, we decided to gybe, then put the whisker pole out on the foresail and drop the main as we would be totally downwind. So, Mike started to pull in the foresail to gybe – which we have to do as we have an inner forestay. Unfortunately, a wind gust caused me to lose hold of the sheet for a few seconds so the sail went forward and folded.  What we should have done is pulled it tighter again and got rid of the fold. However, Mike continued to pull the reef line which resulted in the sheet wrapping round the forestay underneath the fold of the sail. We thought we could clear it by pulling on the other sheet but that actually made it worse and we ended up with a sail that we couldn’t fully wrap up and couldn’t pull out. So, having gone forward in quite big waves, Mike found that he couldn’t pull it or untangle it by hand and thought that if we drove the boat round in circles the wind might do it for us. It didn’t! In the meantime, because of the pressure of the sail on the lazyjacks, the pulley on the port side of the mast flew off and so we had those strings on the deck and overboard. I was able to pull them all on board but, unwittingly, caught one bit over a stanchion. The boom swung – albeit slowly due to our boom brake – but with sufficient force at the end that our stanchion bent a little.

We sat and did some more thinking and came up with another solution. Mike went forward again and we released the starboard sheet which he pulled to the bow and was then able, with a struggle, to slowly unwrap. That was brought back to the cockpit and onto the winch and the process was repeated with the port sheet. Sorted. The whole episode took two hours. Physically and mentally tired, we couldn’t face putting out the whisker pole, especially as it was the first time we would have used it, and so I am sorry to say we decided to just motor-sail on a direct course, downwind, for the last 24 hours. We therefore attached one of our spare halyards to the lazyjacks so the we could hoist both sides to catch the main as we dropped it – an easy job compared to the last one.

Oh, I nearly forgot. Whilst we were doing our thinking, we were going to have a coffee. The gas ran out as we put the kettle on!!!! Ah well, the sailing life is not a dull one and, once everything else was sorted we changed the bottle. By that time, we felt more like drinking a whisky or something but, as we don’t drink alcohol on passages, coffee had to suffice.

So, having told you about the two passages it’s time to devote some words to the Canary islands – and this bit gets photos too!

Reaching the Canaries means that we have come full circle. Obviously, not a circumnavigation or in the way we would have liked to have done it – but we are now “going over old ground/sea”. We are taking a very positive view and looking forward to visiting places we have been before and noting the changes.

La Graciosa anchorage was just as we remembered it….

….. as was most of the island.

Still a nice walk into the village…..

… but way, way more visitors and café/bar/restaurant/accommodation infrastructure to support it.

There is even a paved road through the village instead of just sand.

Although it has definitely changed it is still a laid back, out of the way place and it was good to be there again.

Marina Rubicon, our next stop, has also grown. Well, the marina itself hasn’t but there is now a shopping mall and far more flats and apartments surrounding it.

The staff are still nice and helpful, the gardens and pool very pleasant…

…..we found a “pub” on site and had a lovely Indian meal at one of the marina restaurants.

Whilst at the marina we hired a car for a day of touring Lanzarote with a rather unusual first stop!

From there we went through low cloud….

….. and past cutivated terraces….

…..to two of César Manrique’s miradors…..

…. and then drove to Arrecife….

……to meet up and have a late lunch with our friend Malc and meet Caz, his partner who we haven’t met before….

….and also see Ellen II for the first time.

From Lanzarote we crossed to Las Palmas, Gran Canaria and, after one night at anchor, were able to get a berth in the marina. It was getting busy with ARC boats but not all had arrived as so there was space for the few days we wanted to be there.

Earlier in the year, whilst in Cartagena,  Steve and Gill had met Hugh and Claudia who sail “Mairmade”. They are doing the ARC and, whilst Claudia had gone to spend some time in the States, Hugh was on board and we were introduced to him and spent some very pleasant times together.

The old “Mercado de Puerto” still has a couple of fruit and veg stalls but, in the main the stalls are now thriving tapas bars. Great fun.

The area around the market and the promenade came as a bit of a surprise as, on our last visit, we didn’t discover them.

National Hispanic Day was 12^th October and these guys were bringing guns to the old castle- presumably to be fired as part of the celebrations.

The promenade is quite long and lined with bars….

… and the beach is great for sunbathing, surfing and building castles.

Whilst walking along it we saw a poster for a Van Gogh exhibition. It was the last day – or so we thought. When looking up the venue Steve announced that the exhibition had been extended and so rather than rushing that day, we were able to visit in a more leisurely manner the following day.

It was really stunning. Very cleverly done with the paintings coming alive through movement.

He wrote regular letters to his brother describing his feelings and paintings. He wrote that he was experimenting with colours and that his self-portraits reflected this. The dark colours give way little by little to blue and yellow tones. “These new colours help me to express everything that I am feeling”.

He said that he thought often about France and tried to capture those feelings when he painted these boats….

….and that boats and waves inspired him because of the force of the sea.

His sunflowers are famous and made a fitting epithet in the exhibition.

So glad we were able to see and participate in it….

…..and, walking back from the exhibition we got a marvellous view of the town.

Another thing we enjoyed was visiting Casa Colon in the old town.

Mike and I had found the old town last time but couldn’t really remember it and certainly didn’t visit the Casa which, although now called Colon, was probably the Governors house where he stayed.

In a smaller square outside is the church in which he was supposed to have worshiped….

….and the surrounding area is wonderful to walk round.

Las Palmas is also a great place for provisioning though, being some distance away from the marina, we didn’t actually buy anything from the fabulous market in the old town.

All in all, Las Palmas is a great place to visit. As far as we are concerned, just about the best place on Gran Canaria .

Whilst in Las Palmas we booked a couple of nights in Marina Amarilla [aka San Miguel] on Tenerife, to break our journey between Gran Canaria and La Gomera. Having had confirmation of the booking – following several confusing email exchanges- on our last night in Las Palmas we moved back into the anchorage as we wanted an early start and it is much easier from there, in the dark, than from a tight berth.

We duly set off at 04.15 on 15^th October– I did say it was an early start. The first hour was into wind followed by an hour of rolling along the north coast but once we could turn for the south east corner of Tenerife, we got great sailing conditions. We arrived at Marina Amarilla around 5pm. What a shambles. We had been told by email to go to our berth and then check in. Steve and Gill hadn’t been given a berth so radioed for assistance and got very short shrift in reply. They were told to go on the fuel dock. It was full with large parked catamarans. They therefore motored out as there was little room for manoeuvre. We said we would try to get to our berth and then go to the office and find out where they should go. We could see the pontoon we were supposed to go to but no space big enough for us and, again turning was really tight. There were a couple of other boats also trying to find spaces and getting similar brusque responses when they tried the radio. It was chaos.There were no marineros either in boats or on the docks to guide people and in the end we just left. We tried a nearby anchorage but that didn’t feel secure in the easterly wind so had to retrace our route back to the SE corner where we got a surprisingly good anchorage underneath Montaña Roja.

The following morning, having contacted Marina La Gomera to see if we could come in a day early, we motored along the south coast of Tenerife…

…. and then had a light wind crossing to San Sebastian.

So great to be back on La Gomera. Such a fabulous place. San Sebastian is a nice traditional town …..

…. with the proverbial Colon link ….

…other historical buildings….

…..good shops and plenty of restaurants to choose from.

We were also there for a small culture festival. There were clowns and circus acts for the kids, comedians who, had we tried to see them we wouldn’t have understood and, best of all, a couple of evening bands.

We really enjoyed them.

We did an engine service and when we turned the engine on and I was checking to see we had no oil or fuel leaks I noticed a couple of what looked like small pieces of wood in the raw water filter. Mike said they probably weren’t a problem but would clean the filter anyway. He had considerable difficulty closing the seacock and even more of a problem when he tried to open it again. It completely stuck. Luck was on our side – in the shape of Darrin, a British guy who has been living and working on the island for about 14 years. He had a ball valve the size we needed so we arranged a haul out for the following day.

Not exactly how I would have chosen to spend my 65^th birthday …but hey ho! We hung in the cradle, the valve was changed and we were back in our berth by 3pm.

La Gomera is a very beautiful island and, as previously, we hired a car for a couple of days to see it.

The views are amazing ….

…..but as a result the roads are very winding with precipitous drops….

….which aren’t Mikes favourite so after the first morning when we had reached Puerto de Santiago…

…Mike opted to get the ferry back whilst Steve, Gill and I carried on through the National Park, stopping regularly to take photos of “Wow” views….

….. and of the special flora found on the island.

We stopped in Aguro for a late lunch…

….. and then carried on round the north east of the island and back to San Sebastian.

It was fabulous.

The following day Mike stayed on O&P to do a couple of jobs but also wandered around the town and came across this installation.

Meanwhile a tour of the west end of the island was enjoyed by three of us. We headed straight for Valle Gran Rey – a superb place.

We had passed a sign for “Laguna Grande” on our way to the west but, as there were lots of coaches parked with cruise ship visitors, we decided we would stop on the way back instead.

The Laguna was quite a surprise!

Apparently, there is water there when it rains heavily but it seeps away quickly. So really its just an occasional boggy field.

Given the children’s play area and other statues etc around it is probably very occasional!

We had also thought we might stop of at the “Christ Mirador” above San Sebastian but unfortunately it was closed.

I did however manage to get a decent shot of it from the town.

Speaking of the marina. It is quite small but has good pontoons, great washing machines, a book swap and very pleasant staff. We enjoyed it last time and were glad to be back.

It’s a shame we couldn’t stay longer but several yachts were having to leave at the end of October to make way for the “Taliksker Atlantic Challenge” boats –rowing boats. Although the race isn’t run until December, from early November onwards up to 30 teams and their crews start arriving from around the world. The fastest row to date was a four-man team who crossed in just under 30 days. The fastest 24 hours was “Team Fortitude IV” who covered 107.45 miles in that time. On some days that’s about what we manage on O&P – but without burning over 5,000 calories each.

Although we had to leave San Sebastian we didn’t want to leave La Gomera, particularly as the weather wasn’t really in our favour for crossing to the Cape Verdes. So, we spent one rolling night at Playa de La Chinguarne anchorage just east of Santiago and then 4 much more pleasant nights at Valle Gran Rey.

Our final evening in Europe [for now] was spent quietly on board, enjoying the wonderful sunset….

…. before starting our crossing.

So, as you can see, retracing our steps isn’t going to be an issue at all – it is already giving us new sights and pleasures with more to look forward to.