Christmas in Tenerife

Never go to sea without taking your seasickness tablets. At least that is what I learnt on our Las Palmas to Santa Cruz crossing. 

The journey to Santa Cruz, Tenerife was to be a short 4-5 hour day sail. We were ready, all necessary boat prep done and we left about midday, but what we had not been prepared for was everyone getting seasick, well, everyone except me, that is. Pretty much from the moment we got out of the harbour in Las Palmas John, Lucy, Ruth and even poor little Adam started to be sick. It was horrible and a bit scary.

The weather was not particularly bad, the wind was blowing between 10 and 15 knots, which is not a lot, and the seas were not stormy. It seemed almost impossible that anyone could be seasick. But seasick they were. Thankfully we had enough buckets. Looking back, we think their tummies revolted because there was a short chop that we believe was created by the quickly shelving volcanic bottoms around the islands. Though to be honest we are not entirely sure. The one thing I am sure of though is that we will not be leaving a harbour without taking our seasickness tablets again.

So here we are in Santa Cruz, Tenerife. No longer were we surrounded by hundreds of other cruising boats and many chandleries and other boating facilities. This was a much smaller marina and a much smaller city and to be honest, more to our taste. It is a bit more industrial with oil rigs being refitted to our south and a large cruise ship and ferry terminal to our north. That being said, Santa Cruz is a lovely hilly city. The city has managed to keep many of its old building and there is a lovely large park and playground in the center of the downtown area as well as a great pedestrian shopping area where I imagine we will be doing our Christmas shopping.

A typical morning.

Up with the sun and Adam. Tiptoe out of the boat and hope not to wake up Ruth, she is an early bird but with us going to sleep so much later to keep up with the Spanish night culture she really needs her sleep. Adam and I are off to the bakery to purchase today’s bread. So, across the deserted car park, wait for the hundred or so passing cruisers heading out for their various tours for the day, and then up and onto the main cycle path. All in all, this round trip takes about 15 minutes. We get back to the boat with our bread and sometimes, if we’ve been really good, a pastry or, the girls’ favourite, chocolate donuts. Then it is tea, breakfast and school. Adam has a nap and John gets on with some boat work. The afternoon’s are spent exploring the city, or island.

While in Tenerife, we were treated royally by our friends Celia and Alberto. Alberto grew up on the island and is passionate about everything it has to offer. We were taken out one evening to a wonderful meal where to girls impressed us by staying awake and being extraordinarily well behaved until 10pm! They are rarely up that late.

The next day we were next taken for a wonderful day-out up to the Teide National Park where we saw the unlikely snows of Mount Tiede, which is still an active volcano and the highest peak in Spain.

To the left is a family picture, minus a sleeping Adam, with Mount Teide in the background.

Ruth showing off her balancing abilities on an survey marker after a short walk up a little hill.

Adam and John on their way up the path. As you can see it is a bit chilly. 

After Celia and Alberto left for the UK we took their suggestion and drove south to find the sun and the warm water. It was a really nice day at the beach, even though it was very touristy. We had fun burrying the kids in the sand and Adam tried to impress us with how much sand he could eat. 

Tourists as far as the eye can see!

Adam eating more sand.

Christmas week was a lovely quiet time. While we missed being around the hustle and bustle of friends and family we were made to feel very welcome in the marina by the other cruisers. A few days before Christmas Eve we were invited on-board John and Jane's boat for mince pies and wine. Then on Christmas day we were invited to share a bit of brunch on the pontoon with Irene and hubby and the rest of the marina guests. The girls and Adam loved talking with other people,. even though they were grown-ups and John and I enjoyed just sharing Christmas with others. 

On Christmas Eve we decided to take the teleferico up to nearly the summit of Mount Teide. We were up and out of the boat verty early as it takes an hour or so to get to the lower station. We brought our warmest clothes, including hats and gloves. Can't say I thought we would be using our warm weather gear as much as we have been since leaving the UK in August. Once up the volcano we were in snow. The girls were in heaven.

There were a few venting holes along the path. It smelt pretty bad, but it was fun to stick your hands near the warm air. reminding us that this volcano is still active. 

Pine trees sprouting out of the volcanic rock on our way down to the sea.

Thankfully on Christmas day we awoke to find that Santa had found the boat. 

He had left the kids stockings on their beds and their presents all wrapped up in blue snowflake paper under our mast tree. 

Christmas morning also meant dressing the boat overall. This was the first time we did it and I have to say I think Dark Horse looks pretty smart. 

After opening their stockings the girls sat down to a hot chocolate, a homemade cinnamon bun and a good read. A collection of Winnie the Witch books were delivered by Santa. 

After brunch on the pontoon the girls and Adam were busy playing with their presents as John and I enjoyed the prep for dinner. And a lovely dinner it was too. A simple traditional Christmas dinner of turkey, and the usual accompaniments. Followed by plum pudding. Lovely! Girls and Adam off early to bed leaving John and I in quiet digestive contentment.

Just a couple of days now and my Dad will be arriving! As will David, the Irishman who we met in Las Palmas, and will also be joining us for our Atlantic crossing. 

From Arrecife to Las Palmas, Gran Canaria with a detour to MarinaRubicon

Isla de Lobos, sounds like a singing group from the 90s, but is actually a very small island nature reserve on the northern tip of Fueteventura. And while you may be thinking lobos=wolf, lobos in this case is referring to a grey seal that used to be present on this island but was hunted to extinction, though according to a travel book I read the seals have be reintroduced which is why it is a nature reserve.

We planed to make the 20NM journey from Arrecife to Lobos on November 24th. John performed all the necessary engine, hull, rigging and sail checks we do before we head out to sea. The kids and I made sure that the interior of the boat was sea worthy. We even had our dinner prep. and ready to be cooked when the time was right. So with that, the wind blowing nicely in the right direction, sun shining down on us we headed out of the Arrecife Marina and began our 20NM journey south to Isla de Lobos. Our plan was to spend 4-5 days enjoying the sandy beaches and the calmness of a more isolated anchorage before making our next port of call, Las Palmas, Grand `Canaria, where we knew we would be in urban surroundings again. But, when John and I prepared to raise the sails we discovered that our autopilot wasn't working. We checked everything making sure that all the correct switches were turned on and while doing this we soon discovered that it wasn't just our autopilot, we seemed to have lost our AIS too. So, we stood in the cockpit puzzled and frustrated that our electronics weren't working when they had been fine before we had left La Graciosa and decided that it would be calmer, and nicer to try and fix this problem swinging on an anchor in Lobos than it would be in the Arrecife Marina. So off we continued on our merry way doing 8 to 9 knots. The occasional shower crossing our bow, the appearance of a few rainbows off in the distance, it was a great sail! As we came closer to our destination we could see that the swell was still coming from the northeast and it was still quite big, this made the anchorage impossible for us to stay in. So we quickly checked our charts and decided that we would turn around and make way for Marina Rubicon, about 3 NM back in the direction we came from. 

We arrived at the marina at twilight. We turned up into the wind dropped our sails just outside the marina entrance then I began to take us in, John sorting out the mooring lines and fenders.The entrance to the marina was very narrow and not particularly well lit. So, when a person with a flashlight near the port entrance marker started waving and jumping up and down I feared I was taking us into some rocks or some other unseen danger. But then voices shouted out, "Hi guys, it is Pacific, the Dutch family from Arrecife." Boy was I relieved when we realized who it was and that I wasn't about to plow us into a wall of rocks. Even though, John brought us into the pontoon, my adrenaline was pumping just a little to much.  

We made it through the usual marina formalities, and were shocked at the extortionate prices of the marina! But once in our berth all was calm, kids were fed and sent off to bed, John and I sat down with a drink and remarked that we, the sail boats, were the back drop to a tourist village, complete with swimming pool and bars. It felt a bit like a theme park. 

Morning came and we made our way to find Pacific. Pacific caught our attention in Arrecife firstly because she had kids on board, secondly because she was berthed next to us, and thirdly because she is also a schooner and of similar size and age as Dark Horse. She is a lovely fiberglass boat, who has been in refit for the past 11 years, all being done by the owners over the years. After catching up on boat maintenance gossip, and a fabulous latte, the kids were off together to the pool/beach and John, Adam and I were off to the office to see if they could help us fix our electronics problem.
We were in luck. There boat yard manager was a registered Raymarine technician and he had time this afternoon to look at the problem. It took the rest of the afternoon and the following morning but they were able to get our autopilot working, but at the expense of loosing our depth and wind.

Pacific kids and ours at the beach

Rock sculptures on the way to the beach apparently tourists add their own, a bit like the Inuksuk. I've seen many Inuksuk like sculptures in my travels and I can't help but wonder if this whole tourists leaving rock sculpture (Inuksuk) thing where ever they have walked/been did not begin with this Canadian Heritage moment.

I could be wrong though. 

Ruth and Lucy building a drip sand castle at the beach.

But with the autopilot working it meant that we were able to leave, and that we did, that evening we said goodbye to our friends on Pacific and sailed overnight to Grand Canaria, Las Palmas. It was a fine sail. Winds were about 20 plus knots. We did between 6-8 knots through the night. John even saw the dorsal fin of a pilot whale. 

We arrived in the Las Palmas harbour early in the morning, and anchored in the bay next to the marina to catch a few z's before heading into the marina. And here we have stayed. We have been getting lots of work done. We have pretty much finished all our refit jobs. We have our new furler on, our fridge works, we even have a freezer now, and there are lights in all the cabins and in the galley now too. And of course we have all our electronics working thanks to the guys at Rolnautics. It feels so nice to have the big jobs finished. John has been working so hard to get them done and doing this on the move has certainly been challenging, but he has done it! I couldn't be more proud.

We're off to Tenerife in a few days, where we'll see friends, Celia and Alberto who live on Tenerife, have Christmas and pick my Dad up from the airport. Just one step closer to our Atlantic cruise.