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. 

Post La Graciosa

The jobs list is getting shorter. John seems to be able to get atleast one job done a day, if not more. I've got into a good routine of school in the morning, while John works on the boat, and then we are off doing something in the afternoon. Similar routine to the one we followed in Gibraltar. Thankfully, Adam slots into all of this in his good natured way.

So, after our idillic time in La Graciosa, we headed to Arrecife, Lanzarote, where we bid farewell to Jocelyn, (she is now on a NZ boat who should be making the Atlantic crossing sometime next week). 

While in Arrecife we were able to do a bit of tourizing around the island which was pretty amazing.

The last volcanic erruption in Lanzarote was only 100 years ago. This last erruption lasted 15 years and  left a very dramatic nature reserve on the southern end of the island. The lava flows that can be seen in the nature reserve are smooth in spots, like a slide and others spots the lava is very angular and sharp, taking on a sort of ice storm shape, and yet other areas you can see how the magma dripped from above, like in this picture below.

I have to apologize for the lack of pictures, this is due in part to the fact that we were inside a tour bus for this part of our Terra del Fuego experience, and also due to poor photographic techniques. This picture below is of the caldera of the volcano that last erupted in Lanzarote. 

 

Below you can see Lucy posing, reluctantly, next to a drilled heat tube taping into the energy of the tectonic activity below our feet. It was really very hot when you got close to it. You could slowly cook over the heat, and in the resturant that you can see in the top left corner they do just that, cooking punters dinner in a large volcanically heated pit. Tourist gimmick, but pretty cool none the less. 

 

The other site we visted was the 7km long lava tube on the northern end of the island. This guided tour took us along 4km of the 7km long tube. The tube was created 1500 years ago, which is really not that long in Earth terms. There were places along the walk that were huge open areas, and then other areas where there were many tunnels heading off in different directions where the magma decided to divide its path. Again, I was in awe of the power inside our little blue planet. 

This week we have been focused on Lucy's 7th birthday, 7 years old, where has the time gone. Anyway, birthdays are a really big deal for both the girls, but in particular Lucy. We asked her what she liked about birthdays most and she said, having friends over and the special food. So, special food was easy to cover, homemade cinnamon buns for breakfast, pizza for lunch and a gingerbread castle for birthday cake, but finding other children for her to play with was hard. Thankfully Pacific showed up on December 2nd, a day after her birthday, and we were able to celebrate her birthday with the Pacific family. Below are some pictures of her birthday outing with us, and her party with the Pacific friends.

Birthday Breakfast of Champions!

Yahoo, isn't it great to be 7!

Lucy, Kato, Hang and Tang three legged race.

The "cake" This year the girls did all the decorating.

So that is what we have been up to since leaving La Graciosa. More to come soon...

A Short Thought on Gibraltar

As we were coming up to our departure date from the UK, John and I were continuously identifying things that could get done or purchased in Gibraltar. New sails, sail covers, shade tent for foreward deck, a larger anchor, more lights in the cabins, comfort food such as Yorkshire and PG Tips Tea, tinned mackerel, etc. And we continued this mantra throughout our journey to Gib. 

So, the morning we arrived after our 24hours sail there, we were excited and determined to get the ball roling on everything we had been talking about or planning for this arrival. However, when we arrived in Queensway Marina, we shortly realised that what we had planned and hoped would happen in Gibraltar and the velocity in which these plans were going to be carried out was not going to happen the way we envisedged. With Sheppards being the only riggers and the primary marine electricians in Gib they were just too busy and not really interested in our jobs list. So after a few days of banging our heads against the wall trying to get some work done on the boat, we escaped to Andalucia and when we returned we were pleasantly surprised to discover that our Lancashire neighbor in the marina was a highly skilled carpenter. So, he set to work on building us a box for our propshaft so we could use our "generator space" for storage without the danger of something falling into the shaft. He also built a shelf in another cupboard and, most amazingly, he and John fitted the granite tiles we purchased before we left the UK on our galley countertops. It has really cleaned up the galley, actually, I think it is pretty beautiful now. We were also able to get our inverter installed, but other electrical work has been put on hold as we have not been able to find the appropriate 24V lights for the cabins. 

Something else happened when we returned to our boat after our sojour in Spain, the other live-aboards in the marina started to talk to us. We were having nice neighbourly chats with all the boats on our "street." We had John and Dee on our starboard, who have been sailing the same boat for 29 years, are well into 70s and a wealth of knowledge and stories about long term cruising. We had Harvey and Jane across from us who had been living at the marina for 9 years, always friendly and ready to have a chat or help solve sourcing issue for us. Then we had Gavin and Jane turn up, who had been in refit with their boat this past year and had just made the jump to live aboard. I think the highlight of our stay was Halloween though. We asked the afformentioned people if they would mind if our girls came trick-or-treating at their boats on the 31st, and then Jane took it in her charge to get others on our pontoon to participate. It turned into a lovely night for our girls, "the best Halloween ever!" is I believe what Ruth said. 

The communitee warmth and welcome were very tangible. It became hard for us to leave. We were very comfortable. The new park just down the road from the marina was lovely, clean, green and had a fabulous fish pond filled with gigantic carp and atleast 4 taripin turtles. We had met one family who lived in Gibraltar with a little girl whom the girls enjoyed playing with.

 Grocery stores were easy to walk to, the weather was great, everything was just really comfortable, so I can see why some cruisers get there and don't leave. But then we met Jocelyn. 

Jocelyn, smiling, charming American lady from Georgia, had been backpacking through Spain and had been in Gibraltar looking for a boat to take her back across the Atlantic. We saw her "add" up in the marina office and we bit the bullet and gave her a shout. We knew we could do the crossing to the Canaries on our own, but we thought it would be easier if we had one other adult, especially if we found the right one. So, while she did not have a lot of sailing experience she seemed willing to learn and a positive outlook on things, was very okay with sharing a living space with three children and was even keen to help out with them. So, Jocelyn joined the crewed of Dark Horse and we began to make our plans to leave.

I diligently checked the weather forecasts, as many as I could get my hands on, and it looked like November 6th was our day to head out. 

We did not head out of the marina until nearly midday but we eventually got to the fuel pontoon filled up and headed out by 13:30. 

However, the winds were not doing what was forecasted, infact they were doing the exact opposite and that was the prevailing theme for our entire journey. We had left Gib with the intention of landing in the Savage Islands, just south of Madeira, but after nearly 24hours of sailing upwind when the wind was forecasted to be blowing us there, we decided to head towards the Moroccan coast and Casablanca for a few days. However, during my watch I misjudged a fishing net marker and got a very substantial net wrapped around the prop. Thankfully the sun was beginning to rise, and after some angry shouting from the fisherman, we then spent the next few hours with the very nice and very helpful Moroccan fisherman and his not so interested partner detangling the net. Eventually freed of the bulk of it, John dove into the water with the breadknife between his teeth to cut the rest of the lines off the prop shaft with the Moroccan fisherman standing on our stern giving instructions on what line to cut in French, Spanish and Arabic. Our encounter was brought to a close with a bottle of very dark sailor's rum and one of our floatation vests from Nigeria being exchanged. We then arrived in Casablanca to find the "marina" we had read about was only for small boats, there was no chance of us getting in there and the anchorage was being dredged. So we headed back out to sea and that night the winds shifted and we were heading NE doing 9 knots at times. However, by this time the water was a bit confused and the 5m swell was quarting, ie. it was hitting us at about 45 degrees and it made for a very bumpy and uncomfortable ride for another 48 hours. We only had one wave break over our starboard side. It was during the day and Jocelyn was on watch. The kids and I were inside playing in the saloon. However, when the wave hit our starboard there was a great bang and we saw Jocelyn swamped by a large amount of water, much like a floom ride at an amusement park, and the companion way and first few cushions in the saloon got pretty damp.  The first companion way door stayed in for the rest of our crossing. And Jocelyn came in and got dried off. 

So,  what had started out as what we thought would be an easy 4 days down wind crossing with extra help turned into a bit more of a challenging 5 day sail to La Graciosa, Canaries. And boy, was I excited to get there. John and I brought Dark Horse into the anchorage just before sunrise. We awoke to crystal clear water, and a beautiful arrid landscape. We had a swim off the boat and a journey in the dinghy to the beach. We were where we had promised Lucy we would be eventually, a place where she could swim in a warm sea off the boat and play on a sandy beach. Now, to enjoy the next couple of months here before we make the great leap off across the Atlantic. Don't think it will be too hard for us to do that!

Andalucia

Let's go! Let's go! Let's go! We have over slept and are now rushing to get ourselves and three children breakfasted, presentable and out the door so we can get across the Gibraltar boarder to pick up our higher car in Spain. So, bus stop. Where is the bus stop...Hmm, I could have sworn it was on the corner here... Anyway, we walked the length of Main Street and found the number 5 to take us across the airport runway and to the Gibraltar-Spain border. We walked straight through customs, no line up yet. Then on into Spain. La Linea is definitely a border town. There does not appear to be much tourism here, except for the tourists coming through to get into Gibraltar, or locals coming to Spain to buy cheaper groceries. 

Car keys in hand, thank you Gold Car Hire, we were off in the general direction of Granada. A few things that would have helped speed our journey time up and make the camping even more comfortable: 

a road map of Andalusia

a basic idea of campsite locations

possibly a guidebook for the region

a ground tarp for under the tent and for Adam to crawl on

our Peanut Butter Jar of Light

The Peanut Butter Jar of ligh is just an empty peanit butter jar containing one string of battery operated fairy lights from Ikea. Thank you Jane for showing us the light this summer:) 

Anyway, not having the above when we set off were not deal breakers but once we had bought a map navigation was a lot easier and faster. Go figure.

Over all, though the trip was really nice. We were all awed by the beauty and magic and attention to detail found in the Alhambra. It took us two tries to get in, but it was worth these repeated tries. 

The garden, where the royal family played and relaxed away from the eyes of their court.

The fortificatied walls around part of the Alhambra

Gorgeous flowers in the garden

One of the many ornately plasted ceilings

The Sisters doors in the palace

Reflecting pool in the palace. According to the audio guide we were listening too, they believe that the king's wives each had a room off of this courtyard where they lived with their children. All around the pool sented plants were positioned to create a lovely perfumed air.

Our little Granadians

Other highlights of the trip were:

Playing in the snow in the Sierra Nevada

Skiing:P

 A Snow Penguin

We camped for a few nights on the southern side of the Sierra Nevadas. The weather was gorgeous and this thankfully allowed for one long hike with the kids. Below Adam is showing off his sun protection. He kept taking his hats off, so we resorted to a pair of shorts over the head, much harder to get off and throw on the ground. 

While the first half of the hike up the valley was a rather dull plod on a dirt road, the later part was on a winding path back out the valley through old terraced farms. We found a number of old walnut trees along the path, quite tasty.

Not the best picture, but you can make out some of the terraces on the left side.

John and Adam waiting for the slowpokes.

We left the Sierra Nevadas and joined the highway on the north side. Just before we came to the highway we came across the below castle. We couldn't find anythng in our travel guide but it would certainly appear to be a fort protecting a road up into the Sierra Nevadas. The whole area had once been controlled by the Moors and was in fact the last strong hold for them before the were completely removed from the landscape.

A town on the way to Ronda. 

You can see three countries in this picture. Spain, Gibraltar and Morocco. The bird flying is a gryphon vulture. We were onour way down a secondary highway when we spotted a sign saying "Lookout to Africa" we attempted to get up to the lookout but only managed get our wheels stuck so off John scampered up the steep dirt track to capture this picture. Below Adam was sleeping and Lucy and Ruth were colouring. 

So, that was what we got up to in Andalucia. It was a fantastic week and we returned to the boat refreshed and ready to tackle our jobs.