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Today everybody woke up quite early, so we could get ready and go and pick up the hire car, we wanted to get the hire car so we could go and see more of La Gomera.
But first of all I had to go to the bakery on my own to get some bread rolls for our dinner and when i got there i had to speak some Spanish and the lady behind the counter did understand me.we went to the bakery because we thought we could have a picnic whilst we were planning on being out for most of the day. When I got back to the boat Jo and I started to make the sandwiches which had various different combinations for all of us.
We then set off on our journey in the car going higher and higher up the hills until we were higher than the clouds and we got up to 900 meters, there were not much straight roads either they were all extremely bendy and it was as if we were in a computer game. But I thought there were some good views of mount Teide on Tenerife from in the car driving along the road.
I think that La Gomera is much nicer than Tenerife because it is much greener and has more plants, also when you look up the hill sides you can see lots of the terraces from where they used to farm and you could see that there had been a lot of work been put in so that the island could grow its own food.
We then reached Playa Santiago where we drove around and found the marina, we had a quick look around and then got back in the car to go and find the beach were we planned on staying for the rest of the day.
After driving around for a while going up and down the roads we got to the beach Playa del Medio and by the time we got there it was boiling hot, so we went and found a place with some shade underneath some of the cliffs and we settled in nicely.
We each took it in turn to go snorkelling as we didn’t take much kit with us, I went in first in the sea and I was shortly joined by Dad, then Dad got out and Sean got in, we both then got out and Jo went in.
We found that the water wasn’t very clear close to the beach and that you had to swim further out and when you did you could see the sea bed and it must have been at least fifteen meters deep, there was also a few different fish swimming about as well and Jo saw a Cuttle fish which has a skirt like fin which makes it look like a hover craft skimming along the bottom of the sea bed
After we all dried off we just lounged around on the beach for a while reading our books.
We then got back in to the car and headed back to the boat so we all could get showered and changed and on the way back there were more spectacular views of the sea and Tenerife.
Sean and I are going to make the tea tonight to give the usual chef (Dad) a break after he has been driving us around most of the day. We are planning on making spaghetti carbonara, but spaghetti and pesto for Jo.
Alex Penney
After having some breakfast Sean, Dad and I went out of the marina gates in the tender to go and do some snorkelling we found an ideal spot just near a headland so we jumped off over the side and went in the water, we saw quite a few colourful fish swimming around us and I even saw a bigger fish eating one of the littler fish. After about forty minutes we decided to get out of the water and go back to the boat and when we got back to Invincible, we looked through the fish book which we have and we found out that some of the fish which we saw were cuckoo wrasse.
Sean and I then went for a walk around the town to try and find the super market and we were successful after a bit of walking about through the streets, whilst we were there we had to pick up some beers for the carpenters as we had to go back again and kindly ask for another piece because the first piece of wood he gave us was too small.
We then came back and had some dinner we had some mushroom spaghetti which is one of my favourite foods and we even had dessert and that was pineapple rings with condensed milk which was the first time that me and Sean had tried it and it was a treat that Dad used to have when he was a boy and he thought that we should try it and we were very impressed by it and that was before we set off on our massive walk to get to the top of the steep hill behind the marina to go to Parador hotel so we could get some of the best views of mount Tiede on Tenerife, the Parador is set in some beautiful gardens right on top of the cliff which overlooked most of the town.
The reason why we climbed all the way up the hill to the Parador was because Dad had realised that is where the Anne Hammick cover shot from the Atlantic islands book was taken so he wanted to go up and retake it for himself, but our picture did turn out a little differently as the palm tree had grown and wasn’t in the picture.
We then stopped of in the bar for some drinks before we went back down the hill to the cave bar were we had one more drink and it was as if we were regulars because the barman remembered our drinks and served them us straight away.
We walked around for a while trying to find somewhere to eat but there were not many restaurants they were all more like cafes, but we did find somewhere after a while it was like a traditional Spanish restaurant it had a courtyard with a tree growing in the middle of it and it used palm leaves to cover the roof for some shade.
For starters me and Dad each had one of the Gomerian specialities of cheese and spicy peppers which is called almogrote and Sean and Jo had garlic bread, for main meals I had tuna with Canarian Potatoes, Sean had Chicken and Dad and Jo each had a pizza, we even managed dessert as we wanted to try another Gomerian speciality which was a milk pudding with honey called leche asada however they had run out so we couldn’t try it so instead we tried the flan but that still was not as good as the one Jo had made the previous night for us all.
When we headed back to the boat we had a game of cards, which gets very competitive between us all to see who can win which Dad did and after a while of playing cards we all decided to call it a night and go to bed.
Alex Penney
The morning started with a well deserved lie in for us all. Jo went to the marina office to check us all in while Kevin made some breakfast. Today we planned to explore the town, we set off and soon found the main street which is full of beautiful shops, restaurants and quite strangely their was a few car manufactures including Mercedes Benz which is strange for a small island.
Next we came across a church called our lady of assumption where Christopher Columbus was thought to of said his last mass before he left la Gomera for his Atlantic crossing where he discovered America. The next find was a small carpentry business where Kevin needed some ply wood to replace the seat on the tender as it had broken, we went in and Kevin explained what he needed and the man who was German cut and gave him the wood for nothing which was really nice of him. Their was a lovely view near the carpentry which over looked the valley.
On our way back we discovered a lovely park with a fort in the centre, we headed and learned that it was built in 1450 by the first count of Gomera, Herman peraza it once contained treasures brought back by the conquistadors but now is used for antique maps and local artefacts map with extra island.
We headed back to the boat for some dinner, first Kevin checked the to see if the seat fitted but it was 50mm too short so he decided to send Alex back tomorrow. Later I and Alex decided to walk to a beach close by called playade la cueve which has a lovely view over the sea of mount Tiede; we did an hour of snorkelling then headed back. We settled down for our dinner, Kevin had made some brushetta for starters which went down a treat, main was Canarian potatoes with ribs and Jo made a flan for desert which was the first time I had eaten it, it was delicious. After our dinner I and Alex got some bread each and fed the fish in the marina, there are hundreds of mullet fish and a few more other different breeds after that we relaxed. We was all sat out side on the boat chatting till late then decided to watch a DVD, apocalipto directed by Mel Gibson, which was a good choice as it was set at the same time as Christopher Columbus was around and showed him discovering America at the end, by the time the film had finished it was 12.30am so we all retired to bed.
Sean Penney
Upon receiving the boat and setting off from La Rochelle, we have had a few snagging problems, nothing serious and with a new boat we expected a few snagging problems, what has amazed us is the response from our dealer (M.I. Cats) and the Fountaine Pajot support team, who have been fantastic.
The Furuno electronics have an intermittent fault, which seems to be well know and reported by other owners, we have already had a visit from the Furuno agent in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, and confirmed as we thought that the Furuno unit was at fault, he did a thorough check of the installation and was more than happy with it.
The cockpit shower head had a very minor leak, so minor it has taken until now to identify it. I had ritual of every other day of sponging out the starboard engine bay, which amounted to a cup full of fresh water, not causing any problems just very irritating. The leak has now been fixed with a replacement part being supplied by our dealer.
The coach roof rubbing strip started to have a groove, which only after a relative short time would obviously not last long. A new coach roof rubbing strip has been supplied by our dealer, which is now fitted and is amazing, this is a vast improvement over the standard item.
On furling the genoa the furling line was catching the coach house roof and if left unchecked would have started to make a groove into the roof, a genoa furling plate has been supplied, again by our dealer, which also fits perfectly and also looks the part, brilliant!
Our journey down to the Canaries demonstrated that we needed pan holders, we requested the help from our dealer who promptly ordered and delivered them to us. The pan holders fit and work a treat, we will be trying these out in earnest when we set off for the Cape Verdes in September, and it will be a big help whilst under passage.
After a number of mosquito bites, we have decided to fit the optional extra fly screens, again with the help of our dealer (M.I. Cats) The Fly screens also fit and work, we recommend these items to anyone who has the Goiot hatches/port holes a quality piece of kit.
The heads tap/shower unit has an intermittent minor leak, which would result in a small amount of fresh water in the starboard bilge, another one of those irritating hunts for the suspect, which turned out to be the main body of the tap/shower unit. The unit has two flexi hoses, which run into the mixing unit, and the leak is coming from that location, a replacement body has been sent out from Fountaine Pajot via our dealer.
We would both like to take this opportunity in thanking our dealer M.I. Cats who have supported us with our minor problems, a big thank you for everything you have done for us, we are absolutely delighted with the support we have received from the M.I. Cats team with particular reference to Karen and Fountaine Pajot support team of course. We have absolutely no regrets in our choice of manufacturer & dealer and would not hesitate to recommend both companies.
Getting rid of these small snags is extremely pleasing, we are very proud of the boat and want to keep the boat looking and performing at its best. The boat is attracting lots of attention were ever we go, with no end of people taking photographs.
The only problem now being an engineer, I quite like doing the boat jobs, which are now fast running out, I suppose I will just have to content myself with the sailing, diving and fishing!
This is my first blog update from the boat and I think it is exciting to be here.
We have had quite an early start compared to usual, we have got lots of things to do, first of all we have had to unpack our suit cases, and we had to pass on all of the parcels which we had to bring over which included lots and lots of bean feast due to Jo being a vegetarian.
Then we had breakfast and we enjoyed the bacon which was kindly provided for us by Lisa from the compressor people.
We then went for a walk around the marina after our breakfast and we were watching them as they are still laying down the concrete on the path and we then walked round to go and watch the submarine descend underneath the water.
I then had my first lesson in the tender going around the marina which I enjoyed especially when we went fast, and then Sean had his go. We both learned: how to start it, how to go forwards and backwards, how to use tiller steering and how to go fast.
We then made an espresso which Sean and Dad had but me and Jo decided to be different and I had a Mocha and Jo had Americano, which was all very nice.
Sean has been learning for about an hour now how to tie some of the different knots.
We are about to have a ride up to Los Cristianos as we still have the use of the car.
We have just got back from our day out to Los Cristianos it was very hot and no wind, there was lots of tourists, beaches, shops, restaurants and bars. We had our dinner whilst we were there and for a pint of beer it only cost 1 euro.
Alex Penney
Thursday promised to be a very full day with hire car arriving at 10am, dive compressor at 11am and Alex & Sean arriving at 7.30pm. We still had provisioning to do which we had left until having the luxury of a car to get to the bigger supermarkets and drive the supplies to the boat, wonderful!
Marina San Miguel does have Wifi but it extends only 100m from the marina office, which covers about 10% of the boats in the marina (the super yachts only), the rest of us have to walk round and sit on a bench or in the café. Therefore, whilst we waited for the car to arrive we downloaded our mails. Car arrived and signed for we drove round the marina to wait at the boat for the compressor and diving cylinders, the final part of our boat kit out and eagerly anticipated by Kevin and especially Alex who is a very keen diver.
Lisa arrived at the boat right on time, we were keen to meet Lisa and Claus (The Compressor People, Tenerife) who have been extremely helpful and friendly by email and phone when arranging the sale. Lisa had obviously been reading our blog because she arrived with English bacon for Kevin! They also had some friends over from Austria, so we provided the now well rehearsed guided tour of the boat. Kevin and Claus set straight to work in going over the compressor, they had kindly offered to deliver the compressor to the boat and to provide a demonstration and walkthrough of the servicing. The Bauer Junior II looked very impressive and shiny, but slightly concerning was now with a Subaru motor not Honda, which was slightly wider than the previous model, which might mean that it would not fit in the engine bay. Kevin and Claus filled one of the two 10 litre cylinders we had bought before they needed to move on to the next job. We were very impressed by Claude and Lisa and would certainly recommend their excellent service.
Kevin filled the second cylinder and we made some salad for lunch whilst it cooled. After a couple of measurements we decided to attempt lifting it onto the platform that Kevin had made for the engine bay and happily found that it fitted perfectly into place! We are now nicely balanced with the generator in the other engine bay.
Next job was provisioning and reccy to the airport, as we could see the runway from the boat not to mention the very frequent low flying aircraft, it couldn’t be far away. We successfully navigated the Tenerife road network, on and off the motorway to the airport and found the parking area. We headed back again towards San Miguel and first to the Mercadonna (Supermarket Lisa found the bacon) where we were amazed by the range and the cheaper prices. We bought enough for a couple of days but decided to bring Alex and Sean with us for the final stock up as it is always quite an experience going to a foreign supermarket.
We went back to the boat, unpacked and had a shower and it was already time to get the airport to collect Alex and Sean. Kevin had been growing a special Spanish style beard to surprise Alex, so we have been keeping his photos off the blog. We got a coffee and waited for their slightly delayed plane. They arrived through the gates after the inevitable baggage delay and Alex seemed to have grown even taller than since we last saw her, they were both excited to have finally got here and were looking in need of a bit of sunshine. We went back to the boat and showed them both around, a first time aboard for Sean. They settled into their cabins then we headed out for a celebratory meal. We ended back at the same place as the night before with the same food, though this time three times roast chicken and a vegetable pizza! We were all full of plans for the week and spent a lovely evening catching up on news and planning for our three weeks together.
Wednesday passed fairly quietly with boat washing in preparation for our new visitors, we took the opportunity for a real spring clean. The cupboards, fridge and bunks all received a full clean inside and the outside received a full polish of all stainless work and a thorough clean of all decks and fittings. The boat was then far too clean to contemplate cooking in the galley so we headed up the hill and round the coast about 10 minutes to the restaurants of the nearby resort. We walked around for a while to decide what to go for whilst being hassled by the touts before deciding on a roast chicken for Kevin and a pizza for me.
Tuesday started very very early we slipped our ropes at 3.30 am and hoped to cause as little disturbance as possible. However as we pulled away Marco with a bottle in one hand starts to shout at full volume, “Kevin, Kevin! Come back”, not sure what he wanted but now off the dock we decided to carry on. Next we passed the marina office, the security guard came out to ask if we were going to come and see him, I said we’d paid the day before and he shrugged and went back inside. So much for a quiet exit, Marco continued to shout out something about Blue Marlin as we passed the breakwater.
I stowed the fenders and Kevin motored us off on course for Tenerife in winds so light they barely registered. It was a great sight seeing the lights behind us gradually heading out of view, though once we were out of the shadow of the headland the inevitable swell started from the NE, which unfortunately as we were heading NW was beam on. We’d been warned to head straight for Tenerife and get there as soon as possible so we just had to head into it and wait for the Wind Acceleration zone to pick the wind up. After our experience of the strengths off Gran Canaria’s east coast we weren’t keen to be on the main sail as we could soon be beyond the limits of the second reef and dropping it at night in a beam on swell did not seem clever. The wind came about 4-5 miles offshore gusting to 20 knots and building to an average of 25 knots with gusts to 29 knots. Considering that the background wind was slow low, it was amazing that even overnight these acceleration zones can be so strong. It was a pretty uncomfortable and wet ride but fast with a speed over ground of 7.5 knots all the way.
I’d not slept well that night and after a drenching I caught an hours sleep whilst Kevin in oillies for the first time since Portugal took the helm. I came too, but was feeling off, not least because of the motion and we’d not eaten yet. After 20 minutes of keeping watch with Kevin as we head through the Tenerife traffic separation scheme then donning my oillies down below, I succumbed to seasickness for the first time in about 5 years, though immediately felt better afterwards and took the helm.
We could already see the peak of Teide on Tenerife as soon as daylight had come and by 10am were well within sight of landmarks on shore. We’d been expecting two distinct wind acceleration zone one off the coat of Gran Canaria (the strongest), then a bit more settled follow by another off Tenerife. However, what we got was a fairly consistent 25 knots with perhaps 20 minutes in the middle of 16-18 knots, not sure then really what was background wind strength was and what was acceleration, we experienced a little trepidation that the background wind strength had increased after we passed the first acceleration zone and we had worse yet to come as we neared Tenerife. We made an escape plan of heading south if the wind increased to the end of the acceleration and heading back north in the land shadow of the south, but luckily never had to use it as the wind stayed around 25 knots all the way dropping to about 18 – 20 knots as we neared San Miguel.
We had sketchy details about Marina San Miguel as it was only just being rebuilt (after previous less substantial breakwaters had been damaged in storms). We managed to locate the breakwater and contact them on VHF channel 9. We were showed to an alongside berth between two others with a 20 knot wind blowing us on, however Kevin took it in his stride and brought us in under full control as we thankfully secured the lines about 11 am. By the time we’d eaten and checked in at the office the wind was howling and gusting 25 knots at the marina. It must have been nearly double that in the Gran Canaria acceleration zone and we were pleased we’d taken Antonio’s advice and got straight across early.
We had a couple of hours sleep then washed the boat and head out from some food in the small resort 10 minutes walk away. We could tell we were in Tenerife, everyone was British and the food was a lot cheaper. We were happy to tuck in to a large roast chicken dinner and vegetarian pizza with drinks for 17 Euros. We head back to the boat, thankfully now with only a gentle wind. We are however, very close to the airport, and they are still building the marina so it is not the most peaceful, but is the only one I could book us into in Tenerife.
We head to the marina office in the morning to get a forecast for a departure over night and settle up, as the Wifi had stopped working to get a forecast ourselves. Marie-Therese told us it was a rough sea state and Force 5-6 that afternoon as even a late evening departure would probably still be quite a swell, she didn’t have the next day’s forecast until 8am tomorrow, but a very early departure seemed most likely and the wind invariably slows overnight.
We passed Marco having a coffee, one of the dayboat skippers/salesmen who has a stall just behind where our boat is moored. Kevin and he had been exchanging banter for a few days – “Hey Capitan, for you everyday is holiday, no?” etc. Marco speaks 10 languages to a level that he can sell trips and we were constantly amused by his selling skills and tenacity. We joined him for a coffee and he told Kevin about the Tuna and Blue Marlin to be had in Cape Verde, not to mention the ladies in Tahiti. He lives in Las Palmas but stays on his boat in the week. He’d holidayed for a month or more in each one and told us about his travels and the variety of tourists now visiting the Canaries – Polish, Czech, Slovakian, German, Austrian, Russian, British, French etc. that he had to learn to converse with on the boat. He spoke a mixture of Spanish and English to us.
We head back to the boat, I risked another Pilates session despite yelping every time I sat up for the last two days, though it did seem to do the trick. Kevin did all of our departure checks before our set off. Bill and Jean arrived at 3pm as originally planned to wave us off but we told them we’d been delayed by the weather and agree a couple of drinks at 7pm instead.
Next Marco turned up to show Kevin his boat and the fishing gear they use followed by a tour of our boat. He spoke to Antonio for us a Spanish tuna fisherman of several decades who works the waters to Tenerife to get some advice for our crossing. He suggested 3am, because of winds building after 7am. We went to the marina office to pay (as they needed the latest electric and water readings then joined Bill and Jean for 2 drinks then got an early night.
The Fiesta del Carmen day had arrived, we weren’t sure what to expect but Bill and Jean had managed to find out from the rep at their hotel that it should kick off around 3pm. We’d arranged for them to meet up at 2pm and said we’d cook lunch. So we head off to the Spar for some essentials as soon as we were up.
Kevin then prepared the paella, a meal that he has definitely perfected now whilst I cleaned the boat. There were extremely loud banger fireworks going off regularly now as they awaited the Virgin Mary. As I was on the front deck gingerly wiping off footmarks despite my pulled stomach muscles (pilates!), boats started to arrive dressed in bunting and invariably with music on at full blast. One managed to find a gap where there wasn’t one between Mike and Nylor and the broken boat. Meanwhile the usual Salmon Line Day Ferry service boats arrived full loaded, not with tourists it seemed but locals and moored within the harbour on the wall opposite, they were all dancing on deck.
Boats continued to arrive all with completing music systems much good will and lots of dancing on the bows and side decks for the benefit of the onlookers. Next there were people diving in the water for a swim, much to the stress and aggravation of the two poor marina attendants in their skiff trying to convince them to get back onboard due to the volume of little power boats, yachts, jet skis etc arriving.
Kevin came to join me on deck at the fishing boats started to arrive from Arguineguin who were the centre of the attention, the first of which was carrying the Virgin Mary from their church, which would be joining the Mogan Virgin Mary (ready in the fish docks for a tour of the town). The fishing boats were highly decorated and with at least two amplifiers a piece lashed to the wheelhouse roof they created quite an entrance as they all started to raft up alongside each other on the fish docks. They seemed to lead the main arrival of boats from Arguineguin and they kept on arriving for about another 30mins. It seemed from our perspective as though you could walk from one end of the fish docks to the other on the decks of the boats rafted together. Some of the boats arriving with amps had set up a microphone and were on the bow either singing or generally getting the crowd going with more chanting, including one small powerboat with two amps as big again as the wheelhouse coming in steadily with a low waterline. The noise was amazing by this point as they all had various Spanish party tracks going on in competition not to mentioned the fog horn etc.
Almost without anyone noticing with all the hubbub, the Virgin Mary was unloaded from the lead Arguiniun fishing boat and led ashore. The Mogan Virgin Mary followed held aloft on a wooden platform carried in the sweltering heat by 6 men a piece. The icons were at quite a height and I felt for the responsibility of those men and the consequences of a trip or slip as they started the procession. They were lead by a priest and followed by a smaller group of elder locals and a brass band, whilst everyone else carried on the party in the fish docks.
Bill and Jean arrived as the boats continued to arrive and by now there were people in the water all over swimming round as we stood on deck amazed by the atmosphere and the volume. It was really exciting to see it all from our bird’s eye view right in the middle of the marina and only one boat along from the fish docks.
After about another 40 minutes where the party continued unabated, with people even arriving on the jet ski where you are towed behind, I’m not sure from how far away they come as Arguineguin is a few miles along the coast. There were rescue boats with a crew all dressed in matching wetsuits ready and various other official boats. The Virgin Mary’s returned and we watched the Arguineguin one be returned to the lead fishing boat. There was then quite an impressive bit of boat manoeuvring as they managed to slip from a raft of about 10 boats and lead the procession back out. It took probably another 30 minutes for all the boats to leave whilst we sat down in the shade to enjoy Kevin’s excellent Paella.
Bill and Jean left about 6.30 pm and we were in the now eerily quiet marina. I am not sure if the party continued elsewhere, I am fairly sure Arguineguin was swinging that night. Though after a couple of beers at lunch in the sun, all we were fit for was a DVD and bed!
Arguinegiun Virgin Mary departs
Saturday morning started with my first Pilates session from my free Podcasts I had finally managed to down load on iTunes now we had Wifi. It’s tricky to find a level spot on the boat big enough, I settled for foredeck over the anchor locker, although it is slightly sloped so you have to choose which side to lie on with care, plus get up early enough to do your exercises before anyone is around.
Next was more Skyping of the people we didn’t manage to get through to the night before, my sister Donna and Kevin’s brother Phil. Without the video running it was good quality line for a catch up, which is much better without a meter running of international mobile calls.
Other than that Saturday was quite leisurely after our late night, the night before and in anticipation of the fiesta the next day. I caught up with some more Spanish lessons and Kevin did a little more internet jobs and reading. We cleaned the boat a bit and had a shower ready for a meal out. The facilities in Puerto Mogan are pretty basic and not especially clean, although this is offset by it’s location.
We started the evening with a beer at the El Faro (The lighthouse) bar on the far end of the breakwater overlooking the coast and all the late afternoon dayboats moored just off the beach. It is a lovely spot and we enjoyed watching the comings and going of the marina in the usual continual heat and light winds that characterise the far south of Gran Canaria. However, when we got the drinks bill we realised there was a premium for the view at 4 Euros a pint so we decided to head back into the town.
Surprisingly for a Saturday night there seemed to be a lot of bars and restaurants closed, which we concluded must be something to do with changeover day on flights and we’d seen signs of people leaving earlier. We settled on a Chinese meal and headed to one on the corner of the beach. We found an excellent Chinese and were very well served by our waiter Liu.
We met Bill & Jean at the English bar at 10pm for a few beers and again before we knew it, it was the early hours and time to head off. We bumped into a couple of other Brits as we were leaving, one of whom had a boat on the marina. Kevin was chatting to the boat owner which left me with his slightly drunken mate, after several years of bar work as a student I soon put him in his place (Kevin knew I didn’t need any back up for that!), anyway Bill found it amusing.
Friday morning was an early wake up call for us as the market was being erected along the breakwater walkway behind the boat. There was also a few men on the broken boat next door to us from 6am who are apparently trying to get it repaired to deliver it up the coast to somewhere near the airport. We’d been warned by Nylor & Mike from Sunshine marine on the boat to the other side of them that the repair crew didn’t look to clever and to keep and eye on them. Kevin went up on deck to take a look as they started the engine under a pile of black smoke and a pool of oil all over the water, so it looks like they someway to go. Kevin and Mike were watching nervously over them as they kept taking the boat out on trial runs and back over the next couple of hours, generally leaving it very loosely tied to the dock and drifting all over and near to us when they left it (needless to say there is not a single fender on it).
I was looking forward to a wander around the market but had agreed to speak to the marina office and get Wifi sorted out for the day to keep Kevin amused whilst I was gone. I went and paid for the day and chat to them for advice about the next leg through the notorious Gran Canaria – Tenerife acceleration zone. Their suggestion is to leave overnight or very early morning so it looks as through we will be leaving late on Monday for an overnight passage.
I saw a bit of the market as I walked to the marina office, but as we were several days behind with the blog I thought I’d better get up to date before a shopping trip. Bill popped over to say hello whilst Jean was off shopping at the market and we invited them to join us to see the fiesta from the boat on Sunday. I got the blog posted with some pictures ready for all those with a quiet Friday afternoon at work, did a few banking and admin jobs, by now it was 2pm, well we better have lunch before we head off. We had a lovely tuna salad, as I was washing up I noticed signs of the market being packed away, in fact by the time the we got out of the door half the stalls were taken down! Not sure quite how we’d manage to miss it, still from what little I’d seen as we had enough leather belts and sunglasses between us we really didn’t miss much. We had a wander round the town shops instead looking for some more swimming shorts for Kevin, but it was the usual over priced tourist stuff in all the shops.
As we now had a decent Wifi signal it was time for Skyping, I managed to get through to my sister Nikki, Graham and nephew Adam, followed by my parents and niece Naomi and nephew Matthew who were visiting. It was Matthew’s birthday so it was good to say hello. The signal was not good enough to run the video as well as voice, but was sufficient for a quick wave at the beginning and end of the call.
After some time with a good book on the back of the boat it was soon time to eat again. I was just clearing the plates from our pasta when Nylor passed by. We got chatting and invited her on board, Mike was not far behind her and after the usual tour we all sat round having a glass of wine. Well by the time all the salty sailing stories and Mike & Nylor’s story of arriving to Puerto Morgan was told it was suddenly 1:30 am. Mike and Nylor then retired back to their boat to get their evening meal!
We were perhaps a bit slower to rouse the next day after the few more beers than we are used to the night before. However, being very proud of Invincible we don’t like to have visitors without being shipshape so we had an hour of hosing off the salt and hovering etc after our week at anchor where we cannot do so. We finished about 10am and Kevin decided we had time for a breakfast out before our guests arrived at 11am so he could have some proper bacon! A great plateful was provided at the Irish bar on the harbour front and I had some croissants.
We arrived back to the boat just in time, but were met by a very grumpy marina attendant who complained about us being on the berth, said it was not possible, we were too short to be on this berth. Passenger boats expected for the Sunday procession were apparently promised the berth, it was not possible he kept saying I was to report immediately to the office. We were as you can imagine fairly fed up of organisation at the marina. I went straight there and got to speak to the lady who had taken my booking. She apologised for the reception we’d received but agreed we’d have to move – which to be fair she had warned may be the case on booking. I agreed with her that as the berth was not needed until Sunday and we were expecting visitors imminently we’d wait until later.
Bill and Jean arrived for their tour and were most complementary about Invincible, better yet they even brought us some whisky, which apparently will help us to catch fish, so they are very welcome visitors on board! Before we knew it two hours had passed and we went our separate ways so we could explore the town, which as always starts with finding the chandlery – Sunshine Marine.
We wondered round the town and the marina, we really like the area, very well architected, lots of small villas with squares, local flowering plants everywhere and all shops small and unobtrusive. We were both already thinking that 5 nights seemed too short a time to enjoy Puerto Mogan. We eventually found Sunshine marine after going back to the Marina office and getting directions (obviously to 100yds beyond the point we’d turned back). We didn’t find the hob toaster attachment we wanted but had a long chat with Nylor and Mike originally from Yorkshire who own it and whose boat was two berths along from where we were being moved to. Nylor told us all about the town and it’s attractions and about their move here.
Finally we head back to the boat and informed the office we were ready to move. They sent someone over to the berth as with this peculiar shore line system there is nothing to keep you off the pontoon until you pass a line hand over hand the length of the boat to your bow and haul out the heavy line from the bottom (with attendant slime over the newly washed boat). We were assisted by another 2 attendants in leaving our current berth, which should have been an easy departure straight off, with a slight following wind, nothing to our port side. We needed only for the stern lines to be thrown aboard from the wall above to save the chaffe of pulling them through, except the guy passing the starboard stern line decided to pull on his line instead of thrown it to me as I was entreating him. I managed to get the port line from his friend, but he continued to pull on this line until we were so close the neighbouring boat I had to fend us off! Arrggh! He then helpfully dropped the line in the water, I ran back to the stern where he assured me it was all perfecto, my response that a line round the props was far from it was probably lost in translation but luckily managed to pull it in before it sank. Phew!
We pulled alongside the berth we’d been allocated, which sometime since we had walked round to check it and gone to the marina office to say we were moving to it, was now filled with another boat! Patience running now extremely thin we circled again whilst I gesticulated at the other attendant on the berth, it looked like a dayboat which was loading up. Luckily he departed within minutes, though why we weren’t just asked to wait 5 minutes was not explained. Kevin brought us in perfectly, we secured the stern lines then were passed the bow lines. The third helpful attendant of the day then helpfully managed to fowl the starboard bow line round the props/rudder! Meanwhile I was discovering that the port line passed to me was actually attached to the large ex-trawler dayboat beside us! The pantomime continued! Luckily the very helpful German owners of “Buzzard” beside us swapped lines and passed me a clear bow line and whilst Kevin helped me to secure this the attendant had managed to remove the other line from the prop. We secured the starboard bow and wash all the mess off the boat and sat down in relief!
Luckily the remainder of the day was much more peaceful and we had a relaxing evening on board in the warm night reading and eating outdoors in the cockpit watching everyone passing by.
The Canary Islands are known for their exhilarating sailing and our trip from Las Palmas to Puerto Mogan certainly demonstrated that one to us! We left Las Palmas at 8am, planning to get through the wind acceleration zone which runs down the south east quadrant of the island during the lighter morning winds. The forecast was for 15 knots, fairly average, the cloud cover was thick over Las Palmas as we left and it looked gloomy. There was quite a bit of swell as we passed out of the harbour mouth when out of the shelter of the headland. The wind was at up to 18 knots as sailed down the north east quadrant and we decided to again err on the side of caution with two reefs, as we approach closer to the acceleration zone the gusts were already up to 24 knots. We decided that due to the swell we would drop to just a genoa keeping us at a suitable speed to keep just behind the swell and which would be far easy to reduce, as our second reef was suitable up to 35knots and the acceleration zone can double the background wind strength. This turned out to have been a good choice as over the next 1-2 hours the wind barely dropped below 25 knots at one point reached 38.5 knots! We passed an enormous wind farm which must surely be one of the most productive anywhere as I suspect there is rarely a day all year it doesn’t blow strongly down that coastline. It was despite this a comfortable ride down wind and with the changing of the tide and reducing of the swell it became almost eerily steady on board, in the saloon you could almost imagine we were at dock! We were averaging 7.5 knots over ground and hurtled through the acceleration zone, really enjoying the exhilarating sail which Invincible seemed to relish.
You read in the pilot books about the abrupt end to the acceleration zone and have experienced land shadow often enough especially in the high landscape of the Canaries. However the end of the acceleration zone beneath Punta de Gando really has to be seen to be believed. The wind was picking up for the last half an hour regular gusts to 30 knots and beyond. I was reading out the wind speed to Kevin, then within the space of about quarter of a mile or less the wind was 8 knots from the opposite direction! You could see from a distance the reduced sea state though there was still spray being blown of wave crests beside you and still some swell ahead. We were looking at each other in amusement and exclaiming on how it needed to be seen to be believed when we were woken up abruptly to a big splash from behind as the persisting swell now caught us up due to our reduced boat speed and we realised we better start the engines.
We then had to motor for about 30-40 minutes into a direct but light head wind, though still quite a remaining swell as might be expected. We approached the white beaches of Maspalomas and headed further inshore for some shelter as we turned west round the southern part of the island. Turning the corner, the wind backed and strengthened sufficiently for us to put up the main sail once more and sail for perhaps another 30 minutes before yet again we were down to less than 5 knots and with sails flogging Kevin reluctantly switched to engines again as we passed Arguineguin. The weather had been improving steadily as we approached the further south and it was now a completely cloudless blue sky and typically in true British fashion now we had the sun we had hoped for we thought it was too hot! We both huddled under the bimini (sunshade) in the near still conditions.
We finally had Puerto Mogan in sights and by 4pm passed into the harbour entrance, what in the pilot books is described as a reception dock actually had a ferry berthed along side. I called up on the VHF to ask for instructions, hoping to be allowed to proceed straight to the berth we had booked rather than have to moor against a rough wall. The receptionist told me someone would take our lines and we were to be on a berth on the left. Kevin carefully manoeuvred us round and round the busy harbour with no signs of anyone on shore. I called again on the VHF, there was an argument in Spanish apparently between the attendant and the receptionist until she came back to me and said that there was a problem with our berth and I had to go back out the marina and return after 6pm when the ferries finished to berth over night on the ferry berth. I tried to remonstrate that we had a berth booked but from my telephone conversation with her and the main receptionist who I knew to be on holiday previously I knew the lady I was speaking to seemed to have no knowledge of berth allocations when the other was out of the office.
We moved just outside the harbour and picked up one of the vacant day boat moorings
that we hoped was finished with for the day. After 30mins we felt a little more relaxed and Kevin decided on a swim to cool down whilst I kept watch. It was luck he did actually as he discovered we’d lost a shackle on the anchor bridle since the morning so was straight back on the boat to rectify that. We sat it out with a cool drink until we were roused by the day boat whose mooring we’d pinched to move on. We ended up circling for about 30mins round the bay before we started to head back, still waiting for the reception to call us. Still nothing we did another circle to allow a 43ft yacht to pass us and call in to the reception to see if a berth was available only to be sent straight in to one waiting. We called again as the last ferry left and were told we could go into the reception dock. We were helped with our lines and I went straight up to the office to see what was going on. I was told that our mooring was not available because the shore lines used for the stern-to mooring for our berth had been taken by the neighbouring boat leaving us nothing to secure to as we were needing two berths. We would have to stay on the reception berth until the morning, then presumably be there at 8am and move the boat before the ferries started!
I went back down to see Kevin who was not at all happy about our clearance of the dock steps with the falling tide due and sent me to ask if the vacant berth next to the reception dock could not be used. Again she said no with the same excuse of the use of lines. I told Kevin who then proceed to demonstrate to the attendant still standing by that there were clearly two lines available at that berth, why could we not stay there? Anyway, we were permitted to stay there for the night but would have to see the office in the morning. We gratefully secured the boat, grabbed a shower and went ashore for a beer or two and food. Predictably perhaps we ended up in the Pescadoria Cofradia (Fishermans’ Cooperative) again for a fantastic meal of fresh seafood, literally docked in front of the restaurant which is really comfortable and excellent service and atmosphere.
I asked the waiter what the loud bangs were that I heard every 10minutes which the rest of the harbour seemed to completely ignore and was told that it was in anticipation of Our Lady being brought ashore at the end of the dock for everyone to visit before the Procession on Sunday. He very nicely came back to alert me when she was passing by and I got a few photos (albeit on mobile as I’d left the camera behind) of the procession of the icon on a boat proceeded by a priest and a crowd of local followers.
After our meal we headed through the boat yard where a party of locals had now developed and they were all being served from a vat of paella, there was a band and dancing and lots of chatting and standing around. It was great to see some signs of an active local community and not just another holiday resort.
We wondered round the town where there were locals on all the benches passing the evening together in a really beautiful town square at the back of the marina. We wondered round and decided to have a last beer in what turned out to be the only British bar in town. We soon got talking to a lovely couple from Glasgow, Bill and Jean, Bill who is also a sailor was very interested in our trip and a very pleasant evening was spent hearing some of his salty sea stories of Scottish west coast sailing. Before we knew it, it was 1am the bar was closing and we invited them to join us onboard for a coffee the next day to see the boat. Phew what a busy day!
All jobs now complete or as far as we think we can get to on this trip we are planning to head off a day earlier than planned to the south of the island. We are both keen to get out of the cloudy weather (still 28 degrees – can’t believe how spoiled we are already) and get to some clean water to go for a swim. We are heading to Puerto Mogan marina, which is supposed to be excellent, in fact Kevin has already visited by land a few years ago with Alex on holiday. We are booked in from tomorrow until Monday 21st when we will be heading to Tenerife to get ready to meet Alex & Sean who will be joining us on 24th July.
We have timed it really well for our visit to Puerto Mogan as on Sunday there will be the annual procession of The Virgin Mary the patron saint of fisherman from Arguineguin to Puerto Calero where it is taken out to sea on boats. I gather the celebrations last for the week and up to 5000 people attend the procession. It will be a great experience to be present for one of the local festivities, although I am sure it is not quite as it once was when the livelihoods were more dependent on fishing, I am still looking forward to the experience.
Today followed our fairly usually regime of a leisurely start (9.35am for me!) followed by a good breakfast and a cup of ground coffee. We did a bit of boat cleaning and maintenance which we like to keep on top off. I am enjoying a re-read of a Jane Austen whilst Kevin took his turn for a half hour of the trampolines when the sun came out.
After 2pm, we head to the marina to have a shower and pay our dues for the additional three days at anchor. We returned the key for shower for our 2 Euro deposit, rather annoyingly they would not return the deposit without the receipt provided at the time of issue. We had left this on the boat and despite the fact they had the other half of the receipt with our boat name on it they would not return the deposit, perhaps they were carefully guarding against us paying another boat’s bill? Anyway, we left them the key anyway as we want to get an early start tomorrow for our journey south.
Monday was spent completing the last few jobs that are on our list for Las Palmas. We had a leisurely start to the day then headed on land to order the spare rope from the Sailmakers and pick up a few more bits from the supermarket. A quick trip on the tender into the marina, which we have now got down to a fine art, including use of the ever useful Kag-In-A-Bag to prevent that salt sprayed look as you walk around the town.
We’d seen a large hardware shop that we’d hoped to get some plywood to replace the seat for our tender which is of pretty flimsy construction and has already cracked. However, we discovered that the term Ferreteria is used quite loosely and this seemed to only sell curtains, so I guess that job will linger a little longer on the boat jobs list. Hopefully, when we get to Tenerife and hire a car we will have more luck, the centre of a city by foot is not the easiest to get supplies. Ironically we found the same at the supermarket, they have been refitting the shop the entire time we have been here and the shelf layout is changed everytime we go, with only partial stock available on each visit, even now we have come away without all we set out for, items which were on sale when we first went.
A beer and some people watching this time at the Tropical bar (Heinken bar seems to shut on a Monday), then back to the boat. Kevin was reaching the end of “The Ionian Mission”, number 8 of the Patrick O’Brien series so a quiet night of reading last night.
Today was forecast to be quite string winds and this morning it did pick up a bit on our very sheltered anchorage. We decided to spend the day on the boat and have mostly been on the internet, reading and a bit of sunbathing on the trampoline.
It’s been an absolute hive of activity in the anchorage I counted 26 boats anchored earlier and there has been peddlelows, kayaks, dinghies, windsurfers, local power boats, local yachts and new cruisers arriving throughout the day. It’s been better than watching the television with all this going on around us all day, we seem to be a bit of a rarity in a catamaran here (and especially a Mahe), so everyone seems to come to have a look.
The cloud cover has lifted for once and it’s been great to catch a bit of sun, read a book and do a bit of free internet surfing. Colin & Carol who we met in Gran Tarajal turned up this morning after presumably an overnight trip, so we may pop over to see them later. Otherwise, it’s fish curry and a few games of gin rummy tonight.
Saturday we decided was time for a bit more culture and exploring, this time to the south of the city to the old town area with the Casa Colon museum about Christopher Colombus. Christopher Colombus set off for the New World from Gran Canaria and therefore he is celebrated here. The museum is actually the Governor’s House of the period which they believe he would have to had visited in order to get funds, so the link is a little tenuous.
We walked south along the sea front and saw a hive of activity on the southern side of the marina where there is a big water sports centre of some sort. There were lots of people around and it looked like there was to be a race, there is a lot of bank and other sponsorship and everywhere we go in the Canaries there is so much water sport going on everywhere. There were probably 60 dinghies out in the bay racing some larger day boats round the corner racing, everyday off the beach there are windsurfers, sailors, people fishing and lots of local boats just cruising the area, but they really do seem to make the most of their leisure time here.
Active Watersports in the Canaries
We found the old town and visited a thriving 150 year old indoor market with fish, butchers and vegetable stalls busy with locals. We then wandered through the streets of the old town. It is not an extensive area, but the main streets are well preserved and it was really quiet and peaceful there without all the traffic. We soon found Casa Colon and had a look round. It was an attractive building with internal 2 storey courtyard spreading light throughout, ornate wooded sculptured ceilings, large stone archways etc. It appeared as you read those few signs in English that many of the features were reclaimed from various other old building now no longer standing. There were prompt cards in each room with English notes, but it was not the most informative museum, there were quite a few maps about Spain’s influence at the time but little about Colombus and his journey.
Exploring the old town area of Las Palmas
We walked back through the town, which turned out to be miles (literally of shops), we were 2-3 miles south of the city centre, but it seems the shops just extend all the way from the old town to the new. I don’t think there is any danger of the Spanish retail market being affected by the internet, shopping is obviously a big thing here. It was now about 3pm and the shops were closing for the day as we walked and within the space of about 30mins the streets were deserted. We decided to go to the supermarket and stock up ourselves for a quiet night in with a lovely homemade paella with fresh prawns, followed by a DVD.
There are sculptures and parks all around Las Palmas
Friday started fairly steadily as we were both exhausted after our hiking the day before. We have managed breakfast and a bit of reading by the time our broker, Karen called to say she has arranged for someone from Furuno to come out to the boat to look at our misbehaving depth sounder and wind indicator. I gave Sergio a call directly and he was able to come that afternoon, I explained we are at anchor outside the marina and he will need to come out in our tender to the boat. No problem he says, we will meet at Pedro’s Texaco garage at 3pm.
We are not sure how many people to expect or how much kit they will bring for their diagnostic tests, so I am sent over in the tender myself. This is the first time I have driven our tender anywhere myself and am slightly nervous to say the least about performing this task with an audience of marine engineer types, but hey what the heck. So I meet Sergio, who is on his own at the garage after only one approach to an unknown guy on the bench outside the Texaco and load up into the tender. I manage to start the tender and motor out of the marina fine, all is well. Sergio has pretty good English and he is telling me how this makes a good change for tankers and fishing trawlers, which is the main market for Furuno marine electronics.
Unfortunately round the breakwater, we have to motor the tender into a headwind an either going slowly or on the plane I can’t seem to prevent Sergio getting pretty wet through in his chinos, waistcoat jacket and trainers not really suited to a drenching. I apologise all the way, he seems fine about it and even says I am a good pilot. Now I approach the boat, an action I failed to do correctly when I realised I had left my shoes on departure and Kevin had to through them into the tender from a distance. So I approach the boat, panicking about not hitting the it, Kevin has come to meet us, I then notice the painter has gone over the side though it’s cut short enough to not reach the props, slow down but then misjudge the wind, go to add a little bit of throttle, oops too much. Panic, reach to go to neutral, round the other side of the outboard engine, but now have passed the sugar scoop and am half way down the side of the boat, oops. Sergio seems to take it quite well, I apologise and bring us back round in a circle and we manage to land the boat. Sergio then gets up to reveal he is drenched all down one side of his trousers, he is very chilled (probably literally) about it though and gets straight to work.
After pulling off a few panels and testing connections, he concludes as Kevin already had, that the display units are faulty. The depth sounder sometimes sticks on a certain depth and when switched off and on will register correctly again, for example it was reading 4.5m when we were off the coast of Portugal in over 1000m instead of the --- to denote over maximum depth. The wind indicator occasionally when switched on spins continuously (instead of the once or twice expected) after an engineering tap on the display is administered it stops, (switch on and off doesn’t work). We are in touch with a few people with Furuno kit on FP boats and these seem to be common problems.
We agree Kevin should drive us back and we lend Sergio a jacket for the journey although as it is downwind it is pretty dry. We say goodbye to him and head round the marina for the rope shop to put in our order there, but they’ve decided to open at 17:30 according to the sign on the door. Oh dear, Sailor bar it is then. After one beer we return, still not open, as I said it’s pretty laid back here.
We head off to have a kebab / falafel again at 3 Euros each it’s like getting a sandwich back in the UK. It’s ok though because I have read the signs and these are special slimming kebabs…
Kebabs - the more you eat the slimmer you get...
We decided today to find the remaining chandlers listed in the pilot guides in order to hunt down some spare sheets (ropes) in case of emergencies in the same colour as we currently have (solid red / blue as this is quite a distinctive feature of the Mahe with all that white fibreglass up top). We’d found a rope merchant with the red and the blue in 8mm but not enough and no 12mm blue, order time 1 month min.
I had looked up Delmar Nautica address on the web, which had a promising description in the pilot book being in the industrial area of town on the edge of the port, therefore I thought it sounded big and well stocked. It was located on a long road starting at the very far end of the port in the La Isleta area (peninsular north of Las Palmas), the building number 75. We were hoping it was going to be at the Las Palmas end of the road.
We set off walking through the centre of Las Palmas stopped briefly at the El Corte Ingles supermarket / department store in the ever continuing search for English cut bacon, which is not more streak than bacon. El Corte Ingles turned out to be a big department store covering a huge area and taking both sides of the road. The supermarket was amazing, the biggest selection of fresh food I have ever seen, racks and racks of Palma ham legs, guineafowl, goose, pate, cheeses, hundreds of types of sausage, but despite the promising name (Ingles = English), no English bacon.
We carried on past the naval dock and through the edge of Plaza del Castillo de Luz , a large pubic park containing the ancient fort which is one of the oldest building in the area we have now learned. That was not obvious at the time as it is surrounded by half collapsed metal fencing covered in tattered mesh and the surrounding area is open earth with trenches everywhere. There is a half built cheap concrete panel building half pored with the metal supports sticking out the top. Not really being paraded in the way you might expect.
We stopped for lunch at the park having now walked for about 90mins, then we set off again, now only about 10mins from the start of the road. We turned in to the exit from the roundabout and had huge oil / diesel tanks on the port side and some sort of barracks to the other so we walked for another 20mins before we even found a house number. By now we are surrounded by car dealerships at number 316, arrghh, either the road numbering ran the other way or the buildings on the right below the road by the fuel tanks were it. “Let’s walk to the top of the hill then stop”. Still no sign, a petrol station, another hill, heat of the day, 2 hours of walking, can’t turn back after coming this far. “Just to the top of that hill then that’s definitely it”. Then, we see the sea again on our left (i.e. we can see the other coast of Gran Canaria, how far have we come?!). Another turn and another hill and the building numbers were less than 100, nearly there, may as well carry on, except it’s now after siesta closing time would normally start….arrgghh. We finally get to number 75 and it is a huge warehouse building, with a small door in the front which is open, success! We step through the door into a massive building with a few speed boats to the back and one desk, one glass display cabinet, two shelves and a small display of about 5 very old looking coils of rope (obviously not in the colour / size we want) in the middle of an effective empty warehouse. We stop about 2 minutes before realising this was a completely waited trip!
Off we go again, we are rewarded by some great views of the city from the tops of the hill (sorry too tired by now to take photo’s - the 11inch difference in height between Kevin and I translates to a rather faster pace of walking than I’m used to!). We arrive back to the Sailor bar, an oasis of cold beer we have been dreaming of during the last 4 hours of walking and down a couple of beers very quickly! We calculate we have walked about 10 mile round trip (we managed to get a map on route)!
By now we really don’t care about completing anymore jobs today, in fact the first beers have gone down extremely well! We decide to head over to our usual Tropical bar over looking the marina. However it all turned out to be closed, there is some big celebration going on related to a motorbike sponsorship deal between Alice an internet brand and Ducatti from what I can gather on the web.
Alice... funny name for a motorbike
There are red carpets everywhere and the Johnnie Walker bar on the ground floor closed off and the Tropical bar as the VIP suite. So we are sent to the Heineken bar, where we make a fatal discovery… there are self service pumps on every table…..!!
Life tough when you have to serve yourself..Kevin in 7th heaven as the Ventura cruise ship leaves dock in the background
