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.