13 September to 13 November – Canaries On the 13th of September we departed from Lagos on the Algarve (Portugal) with destination Lanzarote (Canary Isles). This is a distance of about 550 nautical miles – the longest passage we have done so far with only the two of us on board. The long-term weather forecast looked favourable, wind force 4 to 6 from the North. According to the pilot book, this is normal for this passage. As we motored out of the marina, there was a light wind from the South. This wind stayed with us for the first hour or two, apparently the effect of being in the lee of Portugal. But then finally the wind picked up from the North. For the first three days we had indeed a force 4 to 6 between north and north-west. The sea was a bit rough. Waves 3-4 meter high would loom up behind us as if they were going to crash on deck, or land in the cockpit. But then the stern would lift up, and the waves passed underneath us, accelerating the boat. The autopilot was doing a fine job steering us downwind. Tania felt a bit scared in these conditions, and thought she would not be able to control the boat, should this become necessary. I encouraged her to try and steer by hand. Much to her own surprise she did very well. It was much easier than she expected. Her confidence in the boat and in herself improved, and she was no longer scared. The first few days of a long passage are always tiring, especially with a small crew. The body has to get used to a different rhythm (we did three hours on and three hours off), and you have to catch up sleep during the day. On top of that, the seasickness tablets tend to make you feel sleepy as well. After three days, life on board started to become a routine, and lack of sleep was no longer a problem. That last day, as we were approaching the Canaries, the wind dropped completely. Up to that time we had done very good speed. We had to slow down to avoid reaching the marina of Puerto Calero before daylight. Entering an unknown harbour in darkness is generally not a good idea. So we ran the motor at low speed and had a very lazy day at sea. We entered the marina at first daylight. This is when we learned about the terrible tragedy in the US on the 11th of September. Somehow we did not see or hear the news before our departure from Portugal on the 13th. Puerto Calero is a beautiful marina, lined with palm trees, and a range of small restaurants along the waterfront. We found a marine engineer who happened to be a dealer for Spectra watermakers. This was a nice coincidence, because our watermaker had been making strange noises. He could fix the problem under warrantee, but needed spare parts from the States. Unfortunately, in the Canary Islands this takes three weeks, even by courier. Eventually it took a month until the watermaker was running again. We did not feel this was a problem though. We spent the time exploring Lanzarote and Fuerteventua, doing some small jobs on the boat, and generally relaxing. Lanzarote is a very dry island. Like all the other Canary Islands, it is of volcanic origin. The expat engineer who was fixing our watermaker thought it looked like the moon, and this wasn’t far off the mark. Apart from the various beaches, most other tourist attractions in Lanzarote were designed by Cesar Manrique, a local artist who acquired international fame. This includes his own house, which was built partly inside a lava tube, a cactus garden, and a large lava cave, which he converted into a beautiful party area with swimming pool. Tania and I both liked his work very much, but despite this, these attractions started to feel a bit like a tourist trap after seeing a few. They appeared to be purpose designed to extract money from the tourists. Much to our surprise we found a wine growing area on this arid island. We bought a bottle of semi-sweet white wine from the vineyard, which tasted really nice. During our stay in Lanzarote, the contestants in the mini-transat race arrived in the marina of Puerto Calero. They had started from France and, after a stop of about a week, continued on their way to Brazil. These courageous (or foolish?) young men race across the Atlantic, single- handedly in what seems like little more than a big dinghy. The landscape of Fuerteventura, with its many colourful rock formations reminded us very much of Oman. There was also an area of sand dunes. The sand, incidentally originates from the Sahara, and was blown over by easterly winds. The Jandia area in the south has miles of beautiful beaches with white sand and turquoise water. Although not a designated nudist beach, mostly ugly tourists tended to take off all their clothes. In my opinion this should be subject to permission from a beauty contest jury. We moored our boat in the harbour town of Corralejo. The Island Rock café in Corralejo has live music every night, and a very nice relaxed atmosphere. We also found a very nice bar in Calle La Ballena run by an English lady, and a very small (6 tables) but very nice Italian restaurant in the same street. We spent a day and a night at anchor in the lee of Isla de Lobos, just off the coast of Fuerteventura. The water is crystal clear in this anchorage. There are no facilities for tourists on Isla de Lobos, and although we were rolling a bit on the incoming swell, this is a very peaceful place during the night. During the day, ferries bringing tourists from Fuerteventura, as well as jet skies etc disturb the peace. Shortly after we arrived in Lanzarote, Tania started to have dizzy spells. She has had these problems before, many years ago, and on that occasion it disappeared by itself after two weeks. When the dizzy spells continued for three weeks, we decided to see a doctor. We went to a private hospital in Lanzarote. The doctor recommended us to see a number of specialists in a hospital in Tenerife, and Tania made appointments there. As soon as the watermaker was fixed we departed for Tenerife. Lanzarote to Tenerife is about a 24-hour sail. It turned out to be a very pleasant trip, broad reaching in a force 4-5. We arrived in the harbour of Santa Cruz two day’s before Tania’s appointments in the hospital. Unfortunately, all the pontoon berths were taken, and we could only moor alongside the harbour wall. This meant it was very difficult to go ashore at low tide, when the harbour wall was some 2 meters above the deck, and I was very reluctant to leave the boat unattended. Luckily the next morning we were allocated a pontoon berth. The specialists in Santa Cruz quickly diagnosed the cause of Tania’s dizzy spells. They were harmless, and would go away after doing some specific exercises 2-3 times a day for several weeks. And indeed they did. Meanwhile we had time to explore Tenerife. Santa Cruz is a very busy industrial harbour with ferry terminals and container terminals. The marina is situated opposite Plaza de España, which is the centre of the old city. Several shopping streets radiate from this main square, each shaded by beautiful green trees. There are some beautiful historical buildings, and a very pleasant park / botanical garden. Tenerife is the largest island in the archipelago, and also the highest. El Teide, a gigantic volcanic cone reaches to 3718 meters. The prevailing wind tends to be from the north-east. As a result of this, the north of the island is covered in lush green vegetation. The south of the island is dry, and gets the most sun. Seven different climatic zones have been identified, and the island is often termed "a continent by itself". We rented a car for three days to explore. As you go up, the temperature gets cooler, and we had some very pleasant walks in the forest. Lower down there are banana plantations, and wine growing areas. Near the top of the Teide it is cold, dry and windy. Here you are above the clouds. At sunset the view is breathtaking, as you can see the islands of La Gomera, El Hierro and La Palma poke their heads through the clouds. Before we came to Tenerife, I thought of it as an island spoiled by tourism. Indeed, the tourist centre of Playa de las Americas in the south is a horrible place, with loud neon lights everywhere. But luckily most tourists don’t go beyond this Mekka of tourism. So many beautiful places we shared only with the locals. A beautiful four-masted square-rigger pulled into port. It was the "Libertad", which belonged to the Argentinean navy, and was used as a training vessel for their cadets. We were allowed to look around on deck, and spoke with some of the sailors. As you would expect, the vessel was immaculate. There was lots of brass on deck, which they polished every day! Four days later they left with lots of ceremony, an emotional song on the speakers, and the crew standing in the rigging. We had made arrangements to meet Max in Gran Canaria. Max is from Liverpool. We met him in Caracas where we belonged to the same diving club and had many weekends away from the city together. On the 23rd of October we sailed from Santa Cruz to Las Palmas on Gran Canaria. This is a distance of 55 nautical miles, almost straight into wind, and with half a knot of current against us as well. We wanted to make sure to arrive in Las Palmas before dusk, so we got up early and sailed out of Santa Cruz at 6:30 in the morning. Alegria performed well, sailing close hauled at almost 6 knots into a steep sea. We could just make the northern tip of Gran Canaria without tacking. We arrived in Las Palmas at 4 pm. We anchored for the night, and next morning we were allocated a place on the pontoon. The friendly owner of a black boat next to us helped us with the dock lines. Then we recognized him. It was Gerard, whom we met on the first aid course in Holland. He is sailing on his own, and plans to sail to Brazil and Chile. It was nice to exchange ideas with Gerard, and to see his boat, which he built himself. Gerard is a very experienced sailor. I was still not satisfied with the wrinkles that formed in the mainsail when it was reefed (we have a furling mast). I had been in contact with the sail maker in Denmark. His representative in the Canary Islands is in Las Palmas. On recommendation of the designer in Denmark, he changed the "luff curve" a little bit. This has made a considerable improvement. Max arrived the next evening, with his girlfriend Alex. Together we explored Gran Canaria. They stayed with us for a week. The capital Las Palmas is a big modern city with fancy shops, department stores etc. Max and Alex were delighted to discover that the prices in the shops are considerably lower than in the UK. The old city centre has some beautiful historic buildings. The Cristobal Colón museum, located in the former governors house tells the story of the discovery and the colonisation of America. The northern part of the island has lovely green valleys with mixed vegetation (pine trees, cacti and agaves) as well as banana and citrus plantations. We found some nice old villages in the mountains, which remain virtually unaffected by tourism. The monstrous tourist developments are centred on the beaches in the south. We went sailing for a day. Alex had never sailed before, and she enjoyed the opportunity to have a go at the wheel. At the end of the day we returned to the marina in Las Palmas. As we reversed into our berth, the rudder suddenly blocked up. We have cable steering, and the cable had jumped off the quadrant. Luckily there was only a light wind that day, and by putting the engine in forward, I could moor temporarily alongside a catamaran on the outside of the pontoon. Closer inspection showed that one of the pulleys in the steering system wasn’t aligned properly. The next day we found a company in Las Palmas who could fix this problem. Hallberg Rassy agreed to pay for the repair under warrantee. Max and Alex stayed for a week. A few days after they left, Paul van der Kooy arrived. Paul is a good friend of ours. He is Dutch, but we met in Oman. At present he lives in Brunei with his family. Paul will stay on board with us for the trans- Atlantic crossing to Antigua in the Caribbean. We will sail along with John and Amanda on board the "Mahina Tiare", a Hallberg Rassy 46, and Tad and Joyce on board the "Lyric", an Alden 44.