21 November 1993 Puerto del Castillo, Fuerteventura
After a few chores, we went to the swimming pool where the boys went swimming while we waited for our core temperature to rise – unfortunately clouds covered the sun! We hung around in the afternoon.
We had a commiseration drink with Jimmy and Marion whose insurance company have stopped insuring them because their new standing rigging (which cost them £1800) is only 8mm instead of 10mm – the original was 7mm! I rang John Day and he is looking forward to meeting us in Tenerife and then crossing the Atlantic. He has got everything apart from the computer which has been sent back to the manufacturers. Apparently, there was 2 inches of snow in England last night!
22 November 1993 Puerto del Castillo, Fuerteventura
The wind is from the west today, so we will wait! School work and windsurfing for me, upholstery for Glenys. We went for a drink with Rich, Jan, Christine (11) and Stephanie (8) on “Whisper” from Maine. Christine is doing Grade 6 Calvert and Stephanie is doing Grade 3 Calvert while Brett (6¾) is doing Grade 2, so we think that we’ve got it about right.
23 November 1993 Puerto del Castillo, Fuerteventura
Absolutely horrible weather – 35 knots and freezing rain. We just messed about. The weather depressed me so much that I couldn’t bring myself to do anything. Glenys did some more upholstery. Rich and Jan came for a drink and were persuaded to stay for dinner. Brett has really latched onto Stephanie and has had a good time.
24 November 1993 Puerto del Castillo to Las Palmas, Gran Canaria (Day 1)
We spent most of the day tidying the boat after ten days in port. We left the harbour at three o’clock in the afternoon, with a pleasant NW wind. The wind has been very variable all day with lulls at high headlands and strong winds in the acceleration zones either side. We made really good time up to midnight, but it was extremely uncomfortable below.
On Glenys’ first watch (10-12) she became nervous as the seas became lumpy and the depth reduced rapidly to 25 metres. She checked on the chart and discovered we were within ½ mile of an unmarked rock off the southern most tip of Fuerteventura. We had been pushed over to the right for some strange reason. Also, her nervousness was increased by the uncertainty of where the acceleration zones are and how bad they would be. Alfred Hitchcock once said that a thriller is being frightened by what happens, but suspense is knowing something awful is going to happen.
25 November 1993 Puerto del Castillo to Las Palmas, Gran Canaria (Day 2)
The motion remained very uncomfortable all night with a beam sea. We managed to sail about 70 degrees off the wind and we really covered some distance.
At three o’clock in the morning, we reduced our sail plan to slow down, so that we would arrive during daylight. We had quite a few showers and squalls and at times we would be doing 6 knots with just a furled genoa. The motion was horrible and it was difficult to sleep.
We arrived at nine o’clock and decided to anchor in the bay - it took us 3 attempts. The bottom appears to be mud and rock and I think we are holding. I hope that we can get the anchor up! I went to bed straight after breakfast.
We met Dave on “Peace and Plenty” (Aus); Ken and Marg on “ID” (Aus); and Richard, Brenda and Clint (12) on “Amatooana 2” (Aus).
26 November 1993 Las Palmas, Gran Canaria
I ran around doing shopping. Las Palmas is just another big town. The port is very oily and we have now got a nice black oily mark around the waterline. We made the mistake of landing the dinghy on the beach in the afternoon – oily and slimy. To cap it all, the anchorage is a little rolly. We’re not impressed.
27 November 1993 Las Palmas to Los Christianos, Tenerife (Day 1)
Rolly night. We motored around the north of the island. Spotted a couple of pilot whales. I chatted to Chintoo on the VHF. They have just left Puerto De Las Nieves and say that it is nice.
We went into Puerto De Las Nieves, but couldn’t figure out the best place to anchor. The pilot book doesn’t have any chartlets and the chart we have is not detailed enough. We ended up anchored in the bay between the old quay and a reef in 10 metres of water. It looks like a nice small fishing port and the cliffs in the surrounding area are very dramatic.
Unfortunately the wind swung through 180° and became gusty putting us about 20 metres from the reef. Our bottle went and we decided to sail to Tenerife overnight.
We left at four o’clock in the afternoon and sailed with a scrap of jib at 3-4 knots because we didn’t want to get to Los Christianos at night.
28 November 1993 Las Palmas to Los Christianos, Tenerife (Day 2)
What a beautiful night sail. 15 knots of wind on the starboard aft quarter, pleasant motion and clear sky with full moon. We continued to sail at 3-4 knots until about half past seven when I put the engine on about 4 miles from Los Christianos.
We arrived off Los Christianos at eight o’clock in the morning which was good timing. We decided to go to the marina at Puerto Colon, because Los Christianos anchorage looked crowded and we wanted to be in a secure berth prior to the crossing. We motored round to Puerto Colon but were told that there was no room. We went back to Los Christianos and anchored finally at about ten o’clock.
The bottom is rock and soft sand and I decided to dive down to check the set of the anchor. We went for a walk around town. It is very touristy and a bit of a struggle to get from the anchorage and onto the quay from the dinghy. I’ve never seen such a congregation of dinghies and such a rickety set of ladders.
We stopped at “Chintoo” for a chat and stayed 3½ hours. We met Steve and Marylyn (Joansy) from “Vintage Port” (Aus) and Jeff and Karen from “Timana” (Aus). The anchorage seems a bit rolly.
29 November 1993 Los Christianos, Tenerife
We did a bit of scouting around the town, while the boys played on the beach. Brett was inspired by seeing a “gypsy” making a beautiful sand sculpture of an alligator – so we had to make one! The sand is very fine and goes solid with just water.
We felt very unsettled during the day because we couldn’t decide whether to stay here or go to a marina. We finally decided to stay here with maybe a couple of nights in Gomera. “Chintoo”, “Vintage Port” and “Timana” came for a drink at half past five, Eddie and Fay stayed for dinner and went at eleven o’clock. Clint (12) came over from “Amatouana 2” to play with Brett and Craig.
30 November 1993 Los Christianos, Tenerife
The Port Captain came over at half past nine in the morning (while we were still in bed) and asked us to move. They have been moving yachts over the last two days because some have obviously been impeding the movements of the ferry. We thought that we were pretty safe being fairly close to the shore and well out of the way, but the port authorities have gone raving mad and are moving everyone to an area about 600 metres away from the quayside. We have no protection at all from the breakwater – I hope the good weather stays until John gets here!
I had a hangover and didn’t manage to get very much done. I caught 6 small bream, which we had for dinner. We went over to “Vintage Port” for farewell drinks and ended up staying for 3 hours.
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