- kwilenacat
One island at a time - Canary Islands
We said Goodbye to our 2 1/2 years in the Mediterranean Sea and our last stop in Gibraltar.
Goodbye nice night and day view of the Rock of Gibraltar from our boat
Goodbye to Marina Gibraltar life
We did get some important items done, whilst staying in the marina. Apart from finally getting our Honda dinghy engine fixed (sadly worked twice only!!!!!,) we also bought and installed an Irridium Go Exec (a portable satellite access device/kind of a satellite phone) and tested the connection to our Predict Wind application.
The Irridium Go Exec, Data hub and Antenna can be seen on the first 2 pictures below, before Sven did his normal fantastic job of making it all look perfect. Its now nicely hidden behind the TV. Sven also got some less glamourous jobs done like maintaining the black water pipes....
So glad that Sven is master of many trades. I think I keep him!
We made the most of being onshore in particular on our last few days before leaving.
Drink of the month: Caipirinha. Together with Brazilian all you can eat BBQ - dangerous! We also got our all time favourite in one more time: Japanese Sashimi.
Our last walk to get some final grocery shopping done. Caroline was busy pre-cooking a lot of our favourite meals for when underway and shopped for fresh meals and cooking (weather permitting).
Our Crew of two resting during their time off after 3 hourly shifts. This is of course a lot of shifts during a 600 kn transit (5 days & nights) our longest to date. We managed really well and felt good once we arrived in the Canary islands. Feeling confident now that we can mange our upcoming longer journeys as a team.
We tested our new toy (offshore app together with predict Wind) for this specific longer route planning exercise.
We knew, that we will be faced with big waves and strong winds when leaving Gibraltar. On the predict wind forecast it looked like a dragon is planning to spit us out into the Atlantic, but we would not have left if we did not feel that it is safe to do so. We also needed to consider high and low tide again and therefore needed to leave 5 hours before high tide (to not have waves against us at the exit.)
The wind was a bit stronger than forecasted and the waves were big (they did come as predicted from the back which made it "comfortable"). They were also nicely spaced 10 seconds apart making it safe but it felt like being on a roller coaster. I (Caroline) did not enjoy the first part, in particular during the night.
We are both so lucky to not get sea sick. It would be challenging to feel sick in bumpy weather, trying to hold onto the outside railing and facing in the right wind direction !!! Since we are only the 2 of us, one being out would put more pressure on the other.
Once out of Gibraltar Straight (grateful to no Orca sightings) , the Atlantic showed us its other side... a huge contrast to the previous day.
Check out the calm sea after that. The water was flat and crystal clear. It was such a highlight to have these dolphins coming to say high.
The next day we got a visit from another pod of Pilot whales and a visit from a precious and tagged pigeon. She needed to use the toilet (pooped on the boat) and rested due to windy conditions.
We familiarised ourselves with our new location. We also have a new map on our table. You can see the Canary islands South East under my coffee cup.
Below is a picture of the night sky before the moon comes out.
Looking at the stars reminds us each time what a tiny dot we are in this universe.
Our constant and easy companion Teddy. Here being disturbed by the full moon during the night!
We anchored in Francesca bay on Graciosa, after our 5 day/night long journey.
Graciosa Island is a volcanic island in the Canary Islands of Spain, located two kilometres north of Lanzarote. The island forms part of the Chinijo Archipelago Nature Reserve, which is the largest marine reserve in Europe.
It was quite windy when we arrived in the Canary Islands. We were keen to get out and do a hike. Unfortunately our newly fixed dinghy engine let us down yet again and we needed to paddle back to the boat and swap it for the Stand up Paddle board.
Look at this amazing volcanic nature here.
After our hike we walked to the next village for a lovely lunch.
Lanzarote Island
Sailed to Lanzarote and stayed a day on anchor before heading into a fancy marina with a swimming pool, lots of trendy shops and many bars and restaurants.
There was a sand storm and our boat was covered (in and out) with red sand
Lanzarote is one of the Canary islands off the coast of West Africa administered by Spain, and is known for its volcanic landscape. Timanfaya National Park’s rocky landscape was created by volcanic eruptions in the 1730s.
It was 41 degrees when we visited this national Park (we hired a rental car for the day). The Euro 12.- per person covers you for the park entry, car park and a bus. You are not allowed to get out during the 30 minutes bus ride through the national park.
Wine grapes can be seen all over Lanzarote. Seems that winemakers find the soil (lava and ash) good for growing. They have some lovely white and red wines here.
The villages have all white houses but we did not see any animals. Most villages we passed had little greenery but some had lovely palm trees.
Drove up north. this is looking back towards "our" first Island Graciosa, the mountain we walked up to and the village we visited for lunch.
The streets here are excellent and there is very little traffic (except the queue leading up to the national park car park).
We left the Marina after 2 days and went back on anchor.
The dog sign below means " I am a dog, don't make me look like a pig"
We are going to get very wet paddling back to the boat!
We will post more of the Canary islands in our next blog.
Here a quick update from Sven's hike up Mount Kilimajaro in Tanzania in September. All 3 of them (Sven, his Son Mirian and Mathias) managed to get up the very top!. This is a great achievement and congrats to them all.
This slimmed down version of Sven came back from his Tanzania !!
Here a few Pics from Morocco (Caroline's trip with her sister Jacqueline in August). Went to Tangier by Ferry and Chefchaouen by car.
Whilst Sven was in Tanzania, Caroline spent some time in Australia to see her sons and friends.
Sending you all our love - WE ARE THINKING OF YOU - Family and friends are very important to us
Below is our interactive map of all anchorages and marina stops to date (road trips are not shown on the map).
Below is our live position of our boat
Below is a our new Predict Wind location of our boat
thanks for the post. Cannot believe that it is already 2,5 years that you are living on water. Now comes the scary part that you are crossing Oceans. Stay safe and healthy and keep posting
Patrik
Another great post of your last leg. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Sven and Caroline....firstly congrats to Sven for rising to the challenge...no mean feat! It must have been nice for both of you to reunite with family and friends again. Glad to read you made the journey to the Canary Islands safely and without any catastrophic events to deter you....look forward to your onward posts and discoveries. Take care xx Noel🌻♥️🙏