Going around in circles

Its been a while since I posted mainly because we have been hiding in the best anchorage we have found so far, exhausted.

We sailed upwind from Tazacorte,La Palma,  several weeks ago and Meriva was 'sweating' but has since calmed down.  It was a lively sail and true to form, Meriva performed like a witch on a broomstick.....both of us felt seasick and I had to resort to Scopoderm.....best thing I have tried yet but no halluciations!

It took several weeks for Meriva to take up properly after her improvements but its nice not to hear the constant sound of a bilge pump and we felt relieved  that all the hard work paid off.

We anchored off  Playa Francesa,  Isla Graciosa which  was  beautiful and everything everyone has told us. Tranquil, no tarmac roads, very few vehicles, deserted, flat with volcanic cones and pure bliss.

A stroll into town took about an hour over baking hot sand dunes and sandy trails. The town is a step back in town but scratch under the surface and it has everything you need.

The anchorage was a fantastic atmosphere with most of the cruisers  coming together for 'sundowners' on the beach most evenings! Its a good job the drinkable wine is only just over a euro a bottle, and we all have the ability to make up  palatable food out of nothing! We met some wonderful people and look forward to meeting up again on our travels.

Our stay at Graciosa was just what we needed but the challenges of calcified  pipes to the holding tank was not. Needless to say the freshwater didn't last as long as we had hoped due to all the cleaning up.

We sailed off  to Arrecife with a list of jobs to do and to meet Marie, Tristan's Mum, who joined us for a while. This gave us an excuse to do the tourist thing and we embraced the opportunity to cover the life and works of Cesar Manrique, an amazing man who's contribution to sustainable living on Lanzarote is remarkable.

Marie was keen to go sailing........so we waited until the  weather was right, which is frustrating to anyone except those who have experienced what happens when the weather is not right.

We had a wonderful sail, complete with dolphins and the latest crew member, 'supernewmarie'.

How come we never normally have such pleasant sails? I know the answer ......we need wind, but I protest we were still doing 7 knots even with very little wind. How much wind does a man need!

We returned to Arrecife with a few more repairs to carry out. The alternator bracket had sheered so we had a welding job to source.  Speaking to many cruisers, its part to sailing but it would be a pleasant trip not to have to carry out a repair at the end of it.

My friends Jo and Andy flew out to La Palma so we sailed back to Puerto Tazacorte. That was another blustering sail.....which I thoroughly enjoyed (after the first 12 hours). I am having trouble overcoming seasickness at the moment which is hard on Tristan as well. I seem to  recover after 12 hours of hell  but a two day sail means you only just get use to sailing again.

Andy saw us approach La Palma at 5 am .....apparently we looked like a 'Chistmas tree'  as all lights were on to drop the sails.

It was lovely to see Jo and Andy again and we have had a good time touring around La Palma. We had a fantastic extended lunch at their beautiful casa overlooking the sea,  and a swim in the coldest swimming pool since we left the UK!

 Yesterday was spent in La Cumbrecita which was breath taking, literally and it is really hard to take on board the size of the Caldera.