Left at midnight as planned...beautiful balmy night with shooting stars, moonlight and dolphins. Acceleration zone was great, especially when it was only blowing 5 knots.
I went down below to check (just in case).......water was pouring through a plank seam in the hanging locker, on the water line. More washing!
Ready About.
We returned to La Gomera with our tail between our legs for more work on the boat.
Wooden boats. Who'd have 'em!
Safely tied up on the pontoon at San Sebastian Marina at 5.30 am. I suppose we had a lovely night sail, makes a change from a day sail!
It looks like we will be unable to make the Cape Verdes this year as its getting late for us to tour the Caribbean, but we will visit earlier in the season next time and spend some time visiting all the Islands.
Wednesday, 30 January 2013
Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Off to Las Calmas Sea
We have spent a month in La Gomera, the longest we have stayed anywhere so far on this trip.
Lovely marina, beautiful blue skies, warm, friendly people and in spite of repairs to the boat, its been fun.
Our friends Nico and Chris and their beautiful leather work, hand made on their beautiful Maurice Griffiths boat, Mew Gull.
We took a bus journey to Valle Gran Rey through the National Parc of Garajonay.
The palm trees looked a bit sorry for themselves but appeared to have coped with the fire better than the Laurel and pines.
Valle Gran Rey was very chilled out, has a 'secret beach' and feels and looks like a resort from the '70's, including many of the inhabitants, John Lennon look a likes. It's escaped the development of many areas and oozes relaxation.
We have provisioned for over a month and its surprising Meriva is still afloat.
We are finally self sufficient...reminds me of the film about Hawaii..'Live life like you were in a canoe'. It is just as well as there appears to be very little from here on for a while.
Later this evening we are off to El Hierro... a trial sail to make sure everything is OK...in the dark!
I've taken my stugeron ( I haven't sailed for over a month) and we are off to La Restinga, the site of the major eruption 12 months ago in search of restingolites washed ashore from Las Calmas Sea.
Lets hope the sea lives up to its name!
Lovely marina, beautiful blue skies, warm, friendly people and in spite of repairs to the boat, its been fun.
Our friends Nico and Chris and their beautiful leather work, hand made on their beautiful Maurice Griffiths boat, Mew Gull.
We took a bus journey to Valle Gran Rey through the National Parc of Garajonay.
A huge area of subtropical rainforest was destroyed during the summer by fires. I was quite shocked by the scale of devastation, and felt for the people whose homes were destroyed.
The palm trees looked a bit sorry for themselves but appeared to have coped with the fire better than the Laurel and pines.
Valle Gran Rey was very chilled out, has a 'secret beach' and feels and looks like a resort from the '70's, including many of the inhabitants, John Lennon look a likes. It's escaped the development of many areas and oozes relaxation.
We have provisioned for over a month and its surprising Meriva is still afloat.
We are finally self sufficient...reminds me of the film about Hawaii..'Live life like you were in a canoe'. It is just as well as there appears to be very little from here on for a while.
Later this evening we are off to El Hierro... a trial sail to make sure everything is OK...in the dark!
I've taken my stugeron ( I haven't sailed for over a month) and we are off to La Restinga, the site of the major eruption 12 months ago in search of restingolites washed ashore from Las Calmas Sea.
Lets hope the sea lives up to its name!
Wednesday, 16 January 2013
Out with the old and in with the new.
We left Las Galettas, Tenerife on the 30th December 2012, with the wind howling a near gale, but with relatively flat seas. However, it wasn't long before we were surfing down waves as we rounded Punta Rasca towards La Gomera.
We had our friends Euan and Nona on board for their first sail. It turned out to be a baptism of fire. Fortunately when we sailed into the lee of South Tenerife the sea turned to glass and the wind stopped dead, as if a switch had been flicked.
Bottlenose dolphins played in the bow wave for a while and we saw pilot whales in the distance travelling south east.
We were becalmed and drifted in the heat over lunch, then the wind completely changed direction and we were heading straight into it, which wasn't very comfortable.
We ended up motoring, as the genoa halyard had parted... rather annoying as this was replaced along with the rigging by Mylor before we left! We think they used unsuitably thick line rather than trouble themselves to get the right size. To add insult to injury we also discovered that the planks had opened up in the heat, during the previous weeks in Las Galletas. We were taking on quite a lot of water through the top sides as we rolled along. Tristan did his best to reassure our friends that they shouldn't worry.....not too sure how well he did!
We made San Sebastian, La Gomera just after sunset and tied up to a pontoon, much to the relief of everyone.
New Years Eve was spent mopping up! Not the usual trip and rather annoying that the boat had turned into a saltwater shower. Fortunately the towels were in the way of the leaks and most of the other stuff had been packed in good old plastic boxes.
Tristan made several trips up the mast to try and draw the halyard through the mast to no avail.
New Year was lively. We danced the night away to Meringue band which went on until 4 am, but then a nightclub took over, playing EuroPop music loudly across the marina until 10.30am , New Years Day. Not much sleep was had, but it was certainly a memorable start to 2013.
The repairs to the boat have taken longer than we had hoped and we had to order a replacement halyard from Tenerife.
Tristan has spent days caulking seams mainly around the shutter plank, but at least the sun is still shining.
I have applied several coats of varnish to the brightwork. It made a real change to have it dry in less than 24 hours!
We are enjoying being in San Sebastian...the marina is close to the town and there is a good market for fresh fruit and vegetables,
Photo says it all.....food, sanding, beers and vinyl gloves!
I have used the time to take stock of our provisions.
My tin store reads like a marine food web: 19 tuna, 6 salmon, 4 squid stuffed with themselves (don't ask), 8 sardines, 3 cod, 5 scallops, 1 cockles, 15 squid in ink, 2 mackerel, 4 razor shells, 1 crab meat, 1 baby squid, 8 octopus, 2 anchovies, 1 kippers and Tristan insisted on a tin of pigs trotters (for when he's on watch).
We are hoping to catch fish but haven't so far so I'm hedging my bets!
On 16th January, after several weeks working, we applied a coat of top coat to the repairs on the hull and headed off for the hills to Vallehermoso. This was a beautiful bus ride with spectacular views over the edge of a precipitous road into the barranco's.
The North of the island supports terraces of bananas, avocados, and cut flowers.
One speciality desert is very sweet sickly palm syrup with smoked goats cheese which explains the extensive number of palm trees grown on the island. We shared one but the sugar hit was too much.
La Gomera has spectacular volcanic plugs but there have been no eruptions for 2.8 million years.....really want to go to El Hierro!
This was Vallehermoso, but viewed from the bus the volcanic plug was in the centre of a huge volcanic crater that has weathered over the years.
The Romeria for San Sebastian is today, Saturday 19th January. Actually it started on Friday and the celebrations were still going on at 5 am....so tonight will be even later. We are going out for a dance later.
Families were all out together..... and not a grey hair was in sight.
We were becalmed and drifted in the heat over lunch, then the wind completely changed direction and we were heading straight into it, which wasn't very comfortable.
We ended up motoring, as the genoa halyard had parted... rather annoying as this was replaced along with the rigging by Mylor before we left! We think they used unsuitably thick line rather than trouble themselves to get the right size. To add insult to injury we also discovered that the planks had opened up in the heat, during the previous weeks in Las Galletas. We were taking on quite a lot of water through the top sides as we rolled along. Tristan did his best to reassure our friends that they shouldn't worry.....not too sure how well he did!
New Years Eve was spent mopping up! Not the usual trip and rather annoying that the boat had turned into a saltwater shower. Fortunately the towels were in the way of the leaks and most of the other stuff had been packed in good old plastic boxes.
Tristan made several trips up the mast to try and draw the halyard through the mast to no avail.
New Year was lively. We danced the night away to Meringue band which went on until 4 am, but then a nightclub took over, playing EuroPop music loudly across the marina until 10.30am , New Years Day. Not much sleep was had, but it was certainly a memorable start to 2013.
The repairs to the boat have taken longer than we had hoped and we had to order a replacement halyard from Tenerife.
I have applied several coats of varnish to the brightwork. It made a real change to have it dry in less than 24 hours!
We are enjoying being in San Sebastian...the marina is close to the town and there is a good market for fresh fruit and vegetables,
Photo says it all.....food, sanding, beers and vinyl gloves!
My tin store reads like a marine food web: 19 tuna, 6 salmon, 4 squid stuffed with themselves (don't ask), 8 sardines, 3 cod, 5 scallops, 1 cockles, 15 squid in ink, 2 mackerel, 4 razor shells, 1 crab meat, 1 baby squid, 8 octopus, 2 anchovies, 1 kippers and Tristan insisted on a tin of pigs trotters (for when he's on watch).
We are hoping to catch fish but haven't so far so I'm hedging my bets!
On 16th January, after several weeks working, we applied a coat of top coat to the repairs on the hull and headed off for the hills to Vallehermoso. This was a beautiful bus ride with spectacular views over the edge of a precipitous road into the barranco's.
One speciality desert is very sweet sickly palm syrup with smoked goats cheese which explains the extensive number of palm trees grown on the island. We shared one but the sugar hit was too much.
La Gomera has spectacular volcanic plugs but there have been no eruptions for 2.8 million years.....really want to go to El Hierro!
This was Vallehermoso, but viewed from the bus the volcanic plug was in the centre of a huge volcanic crater that has weathered over the years.
The Romeria for San Sebastian is today, Saturday 19th January. Actually it started on Friday and the celebrations were still going on at 5 am....so tonight will be even later. We are going out for a dance later.
Families were all out together..... and not a grey hair was in sight.
Wednesday, 26 December 2012
Back to the wobble board
I spent 10 days in the UK visiting my Mum, my girls, and my granddaughter, Lily and her new sister, Ruby. I now have another beautiful granddaughter. I flew back into Tenerife on Christmas day....beautiful sunshine, a real welcome after many days of rain in the UK.
I was relieved to see Tristan had waited; I saw Meriva tied up in the marina as we flew over it!
It was good to be back on board and we spent most of Christmas Day unpacking all the boat bits I carried out from the UK, and eating all the wonderful almond biscuits waiting on the table for me. I have no choice now but to sail long ocean passages.....need to remove the extra calories!
Euan and Nona joined us for a meal in the evening and I unpacked the 'hurricane' box to find
a christmas pudding. Its difficult to steam on a boat .... you don't want to fill the boat up with steam and it would use a lot of gas, so we decided to fry it in butter. Wow......never again will I steam christmas pudding. If you are having lots of butter in a brandy sauce, a bit more won't hurt
We are going to have a few day sails with our friends before heading south to our next destinations La Gomera & El Hierro. I have always wanted to go to El Hierro, especially since the volcanic eruptions last year. I know Tristan will say ' not more volcanos' decorated with colourful expletives, but volcanos are my 'thing'.
It was good to be back on board and we spent most of Christmas Day unpacking all the boat bits I carried out from the UK, and eating all the wonderful almond biscuits waiting on the table for me. I have no choice now but to sail long ocean passages.....need to remove the extra calories!
Euan and Nona joined us for a meal in the evening and I unpacked the 'hurricane' box to find
a christmas pudding. Its difficult to steam on a boat .... you don't want to fill the boat up with steam and it would use a lot of gas, so we decided to fry it in butter. Wow......never again will I steam christmas pudding. If you are having lots of butter in a brandy sauce, a bit more won't hurt
Wednesday, 12 December 2012
In search of the Guanches
We spent a week on Lanzarote and succumbed to a trip around Timanmfaya......I ignored the moans of 'not another volcano' from Tristan. The landscape was stunningly beautiful even though we disagree on the interpretation of 'beautiful'.
Fuelled up, victualed up, we set off for the south of Lanzarote......but decided to keep going.
Both of us were keen to sail around Isle de Lobos.......the site of earthquakes in November 2012, but the wind was non existent so it was unfortunately a motor.
We then carried on around Fuerteventura to the sand dunes as we were told about a good anchorage. The sunset was spectacular and along with shooting stars, dolphins and calm seas, life felt good.
Puerto del Rosario at sunset.....no wonder its
called rose! Sunrise was just as spectacular.
Arriving in the middle of the night meant we had to stand off and bob until daybreak.
Its weird watching the lights from the shore and even weirder when the village you had been watching moves......some of these cruise ships are monstrous with so many lights it is really difficult to see their navigation lights.
Both of us were disappointed at the 'sand dunes' as the volcanic peaks looked like mountains dusted with snow rather than sand dunes..... the whole area was developed. Our peaceful anchorage was not going to be as peaceful as we imagined.
We decided to carry on and saw Gran Canaria rising out of the evening mist,sailed by it overnight and saw it disappear at sunrise as we approached Tenerife.
This was a very emotional moment for me... I have always wanted to sail around Tenerife in my own boat. It still hasn't sunk in that we have sailed over 2,000 miles from Falmouth and this is just the start of our journey! We still have over 5,000 miles to go just to reach America (via Cape Verdes and the Carribean).
We had intended to go to one marina which had been created by diverting the coastline . I spent a summer recording all the species of marine algae to find out that it had all gone the following year!
With hindsight, I am glad we found an alternative. We are in Las Galletas which is a real place and understated. The marina is brilliant and we are perfectly situated for the town, buses and fantastic walks.
The coastline around Tenerife has been massively over developed with apartments and hotels but some areas have been designated 'Reserva Natural Especial' or 'Monumento Natural'. This at least affords some protection from further development and even though heavily used by walkers, paths appear to be designated and followed.
We walked along the coastal area of Monumento Natural, Montana Amarillo which had spectacular lava flows and layers of solidified ash.
At low water we scrambled over the base of the cliffs (mainly to avoid walking up the mountain), and I was rewarded by the best marine algae & mollusc diversity I have seen on the island for many years.
The walk covered the narrow strip of coast with its distinct vegetation... a halophilic belt.
The following day we walked in the other direction, equally beautiful over the Reserve Natural Especial , Malpais de Rasca. The vegetation was stunning. It smelt like we were in a sauna but without the steam.
We opted out of climbing the Montana de Guaza ( bit of a trend developing here), and caught a bus into Los Cristianos.....water supplies were running low and we had eaten all the nuts. Tristan had a 'feed me' look, time to take evasive action!
I fly back to the UK tomorrow for the birth of my second granddaughter and to see my girls.
Fuelled up, victualed up, we set off for the south of Lanzarote......but decided to keep going.
Both of us were keen to sail around Isle de Lobos.......the site of earthquakes in November 2012, but the wind was non existent so it was unfortunately a motor.
We then carried on around Fuerteventura to the sand dunes as we were told about a good anchorage. The sunset was spectacular and along with shooting stars, dolphins and calm seas, life felt good.
Puerto del Rosario at sunset.....no wonder its
Arriving in the middle of the night meant we had to stand off and bob until daybreak.
Its weird watching the lights from the shore and even weirder when the village you had been watching moves......some of these cruise ships are monstrous with so many lights it is really difficult to see their navigation lights.
Both of us were disappointed at the 'sand dunes' as the volcanic peaks looked like mountains dusted with snow rather than sand dunes..... the whole area was developed. Our peaceful anchorage was not going to be as peaceful as we imagined.
We decided to carry on and saw Gran Canaria rising out of the evening mist,sailed by it overnight and saw it disappear at sunrise as we approached Tenerife.
This was a very emotional moment for me... I have always wanted to sail around Tenerife in my own boat. It still hasn't sunk in that we have sailed over 2,000 miles from Falmouth and this is just the start of our journey! We still have over 5,000 miles to go just to reach America (via Cape Verdes and the Carribean).
We had intended to go to one marina which had been created by diverting the coastline . I spent a summer recording all the species of marine algae to find out that it had all gone the following year!
With hindsight, I am glad we found an alternative. We are in Las Galletas which is a real place and understated. The marina is brilliant and we are perfectly situated for the town, buses and fantastic walks.
The coastline around Tenerife has been massively over developed with apartments and hotels but some areas have been designated 'Reserva Natural Especial' or 'Monumento Natural'. This at least affords some protection from further development and even though heavily used by walkers, paths appear to be designated and followed.
We walked along the coastal area of Monumento Natural, Montana Amarillo which had spectacular lava flows and layers of solidified ash.
At low water we scrambled over the base of the cliffs (mainly to avoid walking up the mountain), and I was rewarded by the best marine algae & mollusc diversity I have seen on the island for many years.
The walk covered the narrow strip of coast with its distinct vegetation... a halophilic belt.
The following day we walked in the other direction, equally beautiful over the Reserve Natural Especial , Malpais de Rasca. The vegetation was stunning. It smelt like we were in a sauna but without the steam.
We opted out of climbing the Montana de Guaza ( bit of a trend developing here), and caught a bus into Los Cristianos.....water supplies were running low and we had eaten all the nuts. Tristan had a 'feed me' look, time to take evasive action!
I fly back to the UK tomorrow for the birth of my second granddaughter and to see my girls.
Monday, 26 November 2012
Body slammer
It's been a long time since we have had to set an alarm clock. We cast off and immediately the Police were blowing whistles at us from the marina quay. We thought it was because we had reversed too close to the King of Morocco's pontoon berths, but no, they were warning us of a strong current in the river! Meriva is very responsive in strong currents and winds but has a will of her own in light winds and still waters, so it was easier to just go and tie up in the river than to try and get back into a pontoon berth.
We were boarded by sniffer dogs, customs and the Police, all very stress free, but the Police officer was concerned about my swollen eye from a 'mossie' attack during the night. 'Did he do that?', he asked, indicating my handsome Captain. 'No he's a pacifist.' was my reply, the words just slipped out!
The pilot led us out of the Wadi Bou Regreg in convoy, following closely, but 'not too closely', through the swell and surrounding surf. That was at high tide!
There is a shrine to Sidi Ben Achir in the seamen's cemetery. He was credited in the 16th Century with the power to calm the waves so as to allow vessels to enter the harbour safely. Nowadays they use pilots, who are brilliant and weather forecasting......not quite so romantic but perhaps more efficacious.
In order to leave Sale you need calm conditions, no swell which usually means no wind. The options were to bob and slop around or motor or go to Maderia if the winds are building from the right direction, I was keen to get to the Canaries mainly because the islands have played a major part in my life, but also because its easy to get a flight home for the imminent arrival of another granddaughter.
We motored for 24 hours, the most on this trip so far before the wind started to build a little. I was pulling in the fishing line, as Tristan deployed the towing generator when the boom preventer broke. The mainsheet slammed me over to the side of the cockpit and trapped me. Took the wind out of my sails and I whimpered in the cockpit struggling to breathe. I cut my head and had a duck egg but mainly bruised my ribs, Having broken ribs before, I am pretty sure I have two cracked ribs from the points of impact but there is nothing to be done and they will heal. The skipper switched onto skipper mode and after I had recovered enough, got me inside, checked me out, gave me a cup of sweet tea and got us sailing again. We were both shocked and the options were to pull into Safi (reputation for baksheesh), sail to Agadir or carry onto Lanzarote. I didn't want to pull in to a Moroccan hospital to pay out lots of money to be told I had cracked ribs and needed to rest, especially to stay in a harbour where we may have to keep doling out banknotes to a dodgy harbour master (according to one of the sailing blogs).
I didn't really consider the impact of this decision on Tristan, he was worried for me and had to sail single-handed, with someone else's safety to consider too. I was wedged between bolsters and pillows, off watch for 24 hours which was hard for Tristan. Doped up with anti-inflammatories and painkillers I was able to stand watches on the Friday so Tristan could sleep, but we were bobbing again and very little boat movement.
This trip I had my sea legs and was feeling fine. I actually enjoyed the night watch, and had to wake Tristan up to feel the warm breeze from the Sahara and so that he could get the sail up.
As soon as the wind got up Saturday night/Sunday morning to a Force 6 gusting 7.....I was horizontal in the bunk jammed between pillows again.
The strong southern winds off Lanzarote are known as the 'Majoreros' and bring wind and harried seas according to the marina guide! We used our Atlantic Islands Pilot for the first time....thank you Julia and Paul, and Euan and Nona for the charts!
We arrived at Peurto Calero on Sunday morning after a blast of a sail, strong winds but flat seas.
Harbour staff helped Tristan with the lines as throwing a rope was not an option for me. The marina is very smart, excellent showers, expensive clothes shops and a wealth of restaurants.
We will be here for a while so we can both rest. From my point of view its a perfect location, very close and lots of accessible hikes to volcanic craters.
I can't wait but I will need the persuasive power of a siren to get Tristan trampling over volcanic lava again !
I am really looking forward to sailing around the Canaries. It was 1997 when I first came on my own to discover the natural history. I have many happy memories of the Atlantic Whale Foundation on Tenerife, with my daughters Lucy, Julia and Amy accompanying me for many summers of whale watching.
We were boarded by sniffer dogs, customs and the Police, all very stress free, but the Police officer was concerned about my swollen eye from a 'mossie' attack during the night. 'Did he do that?', he asked, indicating my handsome Captain. 'No he's a pacifist.' was my reply, the words just slipped out!
In order to leave Sale you need calm conditions, no swell which usually means no wind. The options were to bob and slop around or motor or go to Maderia if the winds are building from the right direction, I was keen to get to the Canaries mainly because the islands have played a major part in my life, but also because its easy to get a flight home for the imminent arrival of another granddaughter.
We motored for 24 hours, the most on this trip so far before the wind started to build a little. I was pulling in the fishing line, as Tristan deployed the towing generator when the boom preventer broke. The mainsheet slammed me over to the side of the cockpit and trapped me. Took the wind out of my sails and I whimpered in the cockpit struggling to breathe. I cut my head and had a duck egg but mainly bruised my ribs, Having broken ribs before, I am pretty sure I have two cracked ribs from the points of impact but there is nothing to be done and they will heal. The skipper switched onto skipper mode and after I had recovered enough, got me inside, checked me out, gave me a cup of sweet tea and got us sailing again. We were both shocked and the options were to pull into Safi (reputation for baksheesh), sail to Agadir or carry onto Lanzarote. I didn't want to pull in to a Moroccan hospital to pay out lots of money to be told I had cracked ribs and needed to rest, especially to stay in a harbour where we may have to keep doling out banknotes to a dodgy harbour master (according to one of the sailing blogs).
 |
| Skipper looking 'skipperish' |
 |
| Sunrise over Africa |
This trip I had my sea legs and was feeling fine. I actually enjoyed the night watch, and had to wake Tristan up to feel the warm breeze from the Sahara and so that he could get the sail up.
As soon as the wind got up Saturday night/Sunday morning to a Force 6 gusting 7.....I was horizontal in the bunk jammed between pillows again.
The strong southern winds off Lanzarote are known as the 'Majoreros' and bring wind and harried seas according to the marina guide! We used our Atlantic Islands Pilot for the first time....thank you Julia and Paul, and Euan and Nona for the charts!
 |
| Landfall.......Lanzarote at last! |
We arrived at Peurto Calero on Sunday morning after a blast of a sail, strong winds but flat seas.
Harbour staff helped Tristan with the lines as throwing a rope was not an option for me. The marina is very smart, excellent showers, expensive clothes shops and a wealth of restaurants.
We will be here for a while so we can both rest. From my point of view its a perfect location, very close and lots of accessible hikes to volcanic craters.
I can't wait but I will need the persuasive power of a siren to get Tristan trampling over volcanic lava again !
I am really looking forward to sailing around the Canaries. It was 1997 when I first came on my own to discover the natural history. I have many happy memories of the Atlantic Whale Foundation on Tenerife, with my daughters Lucy, Julia and Amy accompanying me for many summers of whale watching.
Tuesday, 20 November 2012
The night before the morning after.
Today has been the day for getting the boat ready. Fuelled up, watered up and two beef Ras-al-halout's prepared for en route. Its great to buy really good spices but I 'chickened out' and bought sealed ones, didn't fancy the open ones after seeing a hedgehog pelt covering one tub.
We found a large supermarket yesterday on the outskirts of Sale.
We passed huge shanty towns, of immigrants from the countryside. The shacks were built of wattle and daub with reed roofs, desperately poor areas but they all had satellite dishes.
I am surprised how finding a supermarket for provisioning becomes so important and I never thought I would become an expert on plastic boxes! I could never manage without 'lock lock'!
Tristan has been mending the main sail. I've been cleaning. We treated ourselves to wonderful almond paste petite-fours for en route. Its back on the wobble board tomorrow!
I'd recommend this marina to anyone...the pilots have been excellent, marina staff friendly, clearing procedure by the police and customs was stress free and the marina very secure. Tristan gave feedback to the marina today and when pressed to recommend any possible improvements, commented on the showers.....turns out he'd been using the public ones! To think I've spent a week showering on the boat!
We leave early tomorrow and after clearance by the police and customs we are off to Lanzarote. I'm looking forward to the Canaries...... I've spent so much time whale watching on other peoples boats it will be great to be on our own.
We found a large supermarket yesterday on the outskirts of Sale.
 |
| Sugar loaf |
I am surprised how finding a supermarket for provisioning becomes so important and I never thought I would become an expert on plastic boxes! I could never manage without 'lock lock'!
Tristan has been mending the main sail. I've been cleaning. We treated ourselves to wonderful almond paste petite-fours for en route. Its back on the wobble board tomorrow!
I'd recommend this marina to anyone...the pilots have been excellent, marina staff friendly, clearing procedure by the police and customs was stress free and the marina very secure. Tristan gave feedback to the marina today and when pressed to recommend any possible improvements, commented on the showers.....turns out he'd been using the public ones! To think I've spent a week showering on the boat!
We leave early tomorrow and after clearance by the police and customs we are off to Lanzarote. I'm looking forward to the Canaries...... I've spent so much time whale watching on other peoples boats it will be great to be on our own.
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