We are coming to the end of 30th October as I write this. It’s Halloween tomorrow and a festival day here for All Saints Day on 1st November.
We spent two nights at Puerto Chico marina in Santa Cruz, Tenerife. The first night was very quiet and peaceful; the second night we had a loud disco at the adjacent night club until 4.00am!!
We spent two nights at Puerto Chico marina in Santa Cruz, Tenerife. The first night was very quiet and peaceful; the second night we had a loud disco at the adjacent night club until 4.00am!!
We left a few hours later in a gentle breeze. By lunchtime we had reefed the one sail we had up, the genoa, and by the afternoon we had a tiny storm gib size sail and a huge following sea. The barometer had fallen 7 millibars in 2 and a half hours! However, there were no other signs of a strong wind or storm – no clouds, no rain – a general forecast of moderate winds and a local forecast of light winds. We reached our anchorage at Bahia Abona to find it was untenable so we had to continue and look for somewhere else before it went dark. Our pilot book said there was good holding off a beach at Playa de las Tejitas so we anchored there in strong winds. The anchor held at the second attempt.
El Teide 3718 metres
We had a quick trip ashore in the dinghy the next morning and I was extra careful after my previous soaking. By lunchtime another hoolie was blowing but the anchor held firm. The next morning a big ship was coming straight for us but it anchored near some huge yellow mooring buoys and a small boat secured lines to the buoys. This was the tanker containing aviation fuel for the nearby airport which was put into a pipe they pulled up by crane from the seabed. We left them to it and called into Marina San Miguel where we booked in for two nights, 31st Oct and 1st Nov. 
After a cup of tea and a chat on Avantyr, a Dutch yacht, we set off to explore the SW and W coast of Tenerife, ending up in the marina at Los Gigantes as there was nowhere comfortable or sheltered to anchor. There were only 6 other yachts in the marina and many power boats, probably because of the shallow 2 metre entrance and the warning in the pilot book about dangerous swell.
Our first night there was quiet and peaceful, my only complaint being the cold showers. We checked the weather forecast with the marina the next day and began to be a little concerned about the 25knots of NE wind mentioned. No-one expected a raging gale with winds up to 64knots. It was a terrifying noise as the wind swept down the cliffs and around the marina, ripping covers on boats and sending spray all around. Sleep was impossible. Jeremy put extra shore lines and springs on as we bounced and heeled on the pontoon. We were very fortunate to still be in one piece by morning and very pleased to be able to get out in strong, but much quieter winds, later that day. We had an uncomfortable journey to the marina at Las Galletas, back in the south, where we had to tie up stern to the pontoon and be held by lines from the seabed to the bow.
Tomorrow we hope to anchor again in Las Tejitas for lunch and then go to the marina at San Miguel for two nights. We can’t wait to see Emily and Ben on 1st November. They are joining us for a week.
After a cup of tea and a chat on Avantyr, a Dutch yacht, we set off to explore the SW and W coast of Tenerife, ending up in the marina at Los Gigantes as there was nowhere comfortable or sheltered to anchor. There were only 6 other yachts in the marina and many power boats, probably because of the shallow 2 metre entrance and the warning in the pilot book about dangerous swell.
Our first night there was quiet and peaceful, my only complaint being the cold showers. We checked the weather forecast with the marina the next day and began to be a little concerned about the 25knots of NE wind mentioned. No-one expected a raging gale with winds up to 64knots. It was a terrifying noise as the wind swept down the cliffs and around the marina, ripping covers on boats and sending spray all around. Sleep was impossible. Jeremy put extra shore lines and springs on as we bounced and heeled on the pontoon. We were very fortunate to still be in one piece by morning and very pleased to be able to get out in strong, but much quieter winds, later that day. We had an uncomfortable journey to the marina at Las Galletas, back in the south, where we had to tie up stern to the pontoon and be held by lines from the seabed to the bow.
Tomorrow we hope to anchor again in Las Tejitas for lunch and then go to the marina at San Miguel for two nights. We can’t wait to see Emily and Ben on 1st November. They are joining us for a week.
2 comments:
Hi guys, Sorry to have been offline for a while. Great to hear all is well, the blog is superb. Everything is going great in Toronto with the whole clan doing well. Abigail enjoyed Halloween and was dressed as a princess, Oliver - Indiana Jones and Tristan - Death. The boys travel to Amsterdam, Bruges and Brussels this week for a school choir trip. I've never heard either of them sing!!!!!LOL Robin.
Great to hear there are now three people reading the blog! Hope the boys sing well. I seem to remember that I was in the choir in Durham. Please send photos particularly of Abigail to our email as we have not seen a photo for AGES.
The Water Gypsies.
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