The swell was much reduced on Monday and the water was lovely and clear. There were two sandpipers dodging the waves to forage for food as each wave passed. Next we returned to the pier café for water and expresso for me and bacon and eggs for Kevin. We watched all the busy Monday morning activity on the pier, the diving boats and fishing charters departing and the local fishing boats loading up.
After breakfast we decided to head to the internet café and we spent a couple of hours catching up with the world and looking ahead to future destinations. I have been trying to look into potential events which we might be able to attend in the places we will visit. The Rugby World Cup in New Zealand is definitely on the list, but we’d also like to see some club games in Tonga or Somoa. There is also a Scallop Festival in New Zealand in August each year which combines excellent local white wines with fresh seafood, perfect.
Next we went to the Beach Club bar, situated on the beach itself beside the surf club with the webcam above. The Beach Club is very cool in the sun and has wood floors, white canopies and whicker chairs. The food also looked excellent and there were quite a few diners. We decided though that we would head back to the boat for lunch. However, on route we found that the massage area at the poolside of the hotel behind the Beach Club was open. Kevin had an achy back for a few days, so we decided to treat him to a 30 minute massage which he enjoyed in the shaded massage tent whilst I flicked through an old copy of Hello magazine.
Finally, we returned to the boat and jumped straight in the water to cool down. We were drying off in the cockpit in the shade discussing our various findings on the internet when a yacht slowly appeared in the distance. As it approached closer we realised it was Sabina, a German lady skipper that we had met on our last day in Las Palmas when picking up a weather forecast in the internet café. We struck up a conversation as she was heading in the same direction, but she was heading via El Hierro.
When they had anchored just behind us we headed across to say hello. It seems we had just missed each other in Palmeira but she had come down to Santa Maria with her new crew Till from Stuttgart before crossing to Recife in Brazil in a couple of days. Zidane had also joined them for the day’s sail from Palmeira so it was a welcome catch up with all. We compared notes on weather for our previous passages etc and the boats we had seen on the way. Inevitably, beers were opened and we ended up staying for dinner with them, Sabina preparing a lovely pork and lemon rice for everyone. We invited them over to us the following night for dinner.
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