Log of the Island Spirit - Playa Blanca to Santa Cruz, La Palma

Friday 28 October 2016 – Marina Rubicon, Lanzarote

After three fabulous weeks in Playa Blanca, and having gained a crewman, my Brother in Law, Nigel, it’s finally time to get this show on the road again. So tomorrow, we unstick ourselves from the pontoon and, after stopping off at the fuelling jetty, we set sail for the island of La Palma, 208 NM to the west, estimating to arrive on Monday afternoon. That will give us two days of fairly gentle sailing to shake us down working together as a crew. Having sailed solo for more than a year, it’s going to be just as challenging for me as for Nigel.

The time here was highlighted when t’other Brother in Law, John, came here on hols with niece Pam, her husband Glynn and the kids, Ellie and Isaac; along with their grandparents, Jim and Christine. It was good to see them all.

Brother-in-Law John, Niece Pamela, & Family - Dinner at Playa Blanca

John and Co were fortunate with the weather, because the day after they went home the heavens opened and we had a rare week of heavy rain, thunderstorms, and high winds, brought to us courtesy of an unseasonable shift south in the Azores Low. It’s still a bit shifty, but forecasts for the next few days is calm (perhaps a little too calm).

Views of Playa Blanca

Nigel is settling in nicely, learning to cook, refreshing his seamanship, chatting to all our marina neighbours (and hopefully getting past trying to micromanage his company by phone). He’s with me till February/March so I guess after a month incommunicado he’ll either be crawling the bulkheads in frustration, or (more likely) be pleasantly surprised how well they’ve got on without him.

Nigel & Me on Island Spirit

We were invaded by some friends from Arrecife last Sunday (Chris & Cathy, Robbie & Christine, and Zara), which predictably turned into a rather boozy boat-party. I think Nigel enjoyed it, and is perhaps secretly disappointed that those events don’t happen more often. Personally, I’m perfectly happy at their infrequency, though I’m sure that will change when we reach Carriacou.

More when we get to La Palma and you can read how we got on (or not, hehe).

Saturday 29 October 2016 – Marina Rubicon. Passage to La Palma
1100 – Departed Rubicon after taking on 160 litres of fuel. Once clear of breakwater, hoisted main (1 reef) then rolled out the genny; close reach on a moderate northerly breeze. Nigel got his first go at hand-steering; apart from one or two lapses, he soon got the measure of the wheel (he’s more accustomed to a tiller).

Hee Hee, Life so easy with an extra pair of hands

1230 – 28 49.9N 13 57.6W Co 275 Sp 6.5
As the hazy mountains of Lanzarote melt away astern, we’re making six plus knots on a pleasantly calm sea, a slight northerly swell, and a clear sky. Then Nigel makes an observation, “Why is the leach of the genny flapping?”
“It happens,” say I, “she’s an old sail and a little baggy in places.”
“What about that piece of string hanging down?” replies Nigel.
“As my old sea dad once told me,” I rejoined, “if a Jenny has a piece of string hanging down, don’t, whatever you do, pull it.”
Of course, Nigel pulled the string, and the leach stopped flapping. As I’ve said many times, you never stop learning on a boat.

1729 – 28 50.5N 14 22.9W Co 280 Sp 3
Wind dwindled to a lazy breeze from the starboard quarter, wafting us along at walking pace, while the lowering sun spreads a great swathe of ocean with sparkly sequins. Nigel sits reading his book (Potato Mining… by Stewart Hale, a hard copy. Oh, we’ve had such fun trying to get his Ipad Kindle App working – two old geezers trying to use technology designed for twelve-year-olds.)

Me? Well, between writing up this, I doze peacefully in the warm sunshine. No other vessels in sight, and nothing much on the AIS. Oh, and the new fishing rod is getting its first airing, trawling a weighted pink lure about 200 feet astern. One way or the other, we’re having fish for supper tonight – Nigel’s cooking, and, at the moment, it’s salmon. I’ve just reminded him to take it out of the freezer – duh. Looks like we’ll be eating in darkness.

Sunset - Will Dinner be ready?

Nah!

Ok, well you can live on it.

1822 – 28 50.4N 14 25.7W Manoeuvring

Spotted an orange-coloured object in the water a couple of hundred yards off to port, couldn’t make it out with bins, so turned, jibing, to investigate (me secretly dreading finding a bloated body and thinking through how we should deal with that situation.) Turns out it’s an escaped mooring buoy. It’s small, but quite a solid thing with at least two metres of wire cable hanging beneath it – a possible danger for any fast motorboat. I’ve no great love for stinkpots, but I wouldn’t wish them harm, so I call it in to Las Palmas MCC.

1947 – 28 50.4N 14 31.4W Co 279 Sp 3.2
Having fulfilled our sailorly obligations, we continue on our way. Nigel is cooking, and yup, dinner’s going to be late, so our hopes for a sunset feast in the cockpit are going to be dashed.

Sunday 30 October 2016
0222 – 28 49.2N 14 59.6W Co 279 Sp 4.2
I’m on the graveyard watch, 2 till 8, and we’ve just entered the busy shipping routes heading in and out of the inter-island Separation Zones. Several vessels are predicted to pass quite close so I need to watch them carefully – they’re supposed to give way to us, but you can never quite be certain they’ve seen us.

0433 – 28 48.2N 15 13.5W Co 279 Sp 6.5
Whoopee! Wind has strengthened and we’re flying along. Still in the melee of merchant shipping, but most have so far passed well clear. Only one came close; we crossed a cable or so ahead of it, a big factory trawler heading for Las Palmas, (Tenerife) at 14 knots. I always hate crossing ahead of a potential killer-ship, and watched anxiously until both her red and green lights became visible, portable VHF in hand ready to call for sea-room. It was good to see her pass safely across our wake. It was then I heard strange noises coming from up forward. It kept me wondering for a while, until I realised my crewmate snores rather loudly. Oh dear.

1125 – 28 47.0N 15 58.6W Co 279 Sp 5.3
It’s Sunday, so I cooked us breakfast; egg, bacon, and beans, bread and butter (toast would have been nice, but not possible to use the toaster at sea – my little inverter can’t handle it). Lovely morning again, warm, sunny, and skipping along nicely on a friendly sea.

1835 – 28 46.2N 16 33.7W Co 279 Sp 4

What a glorious day’s sailing! We couldn’t have asked for a more benign wind and sea, and our speed is averaging out well for an early arrival tomorrow morning. Just cooked us dinner – one of my speciality Chinese chicken stir fry, with rice and a medley of fresh vegetables. Quick and simple, and very tasty. This time we eat in the cockpit at sunset. Perfect.

Monday 31 October 2016
0230 – 28 45.1N 17 09.3W Co 270 Sp 2.8
Drat – wind dropped away overnight, so flapping along disconsolately. Reluctant to use engine, so we’ll just have to arrive later in the day.

1040 – 28 40.5N 17 41.1W Co 271 Sp 4.7
Wind is zero, so running in the final 12 miles on engine. La Palma standing up clear and jagged in the morning light, while astern, Mt Tiede on Tenerife rises majestically up into the glare of the sun.

Approach to Santa Cruz, La Palma

1150 – Berthed alongside in Marina La Palma, Santa Cruz. Our final stop in the Canaries, before sailing for the Cape Verde’s on 9th November

It’s Halloween, and already, as we go for our first stroll into the town, little ghosties and skeletons wander the cobbled streets. The first beer is predictably delicious.