Tenerife

It’s now Thursday 23rd October and we are in a small marina called Puerto Chico near Santa Cruz, Tenerife, having been turned away from the Marina Tenerife as they have no berths left.
We were not very impressed with Grand Canaria as there was nowhere to anchor comfortably away from Las Palmas and most of the marinas were fully occupied. Thanks to the pilot book updates we knew a huge breakwater had been built near Bahia de Arinaga so we anchored there for the night. There was nothing there except a windfarm and some people fishing but we were visited by the civil guard who shone a spotlight on us, asked us some questions and said we could stay there one night. Our next stop was outside the full marina at Plasito Blanco. We passed huge holiday developments on the way. The anchorage was a bit bumpy but we were able to have a swim and snorkel. The next day we anchored outside the marina at Puerto Mogan, which is a small holiday resort and quite pleasant ashore. We shopped at the Spar supermarket and started to fill some containers with water from a tap on the pontoon. A Norwegian told us we could not have water as the tap was “his” and he had to pay for it. It seems that the water was metered. I managed to get one 5 litre bottle filled at the marina office and that was all we were allowed!
We left Puerto Mogan the next day and travelled up the west coast to Puerto de la Aldea. The dramatic cliffs and isolated beaches with a few tents or shacks on them were in complete contrast to the resorts just around the corner. We anchored close to a small harbour but the holding was not good so we soon had a stern anchor out as well. Strong gusts of wind funnelled down the hillside and each time the anchor dragged a bit. We relaid the stern anchor with some difficulty and went snorkelling on the many reefs. Later we went ashore to be told the nearest shop was 4 kilometres away and there was no water in the harbour. There was a pine wood with hosepipes attached to each tree and a huge number of picnic areas – oh and there was a helicopter landing pad complete with windsock but the village only had a handful of houses!
When we returned it was clear we would have to reanchor. I thought it would not be a good idea to spend the night there so we had supper, made some sandwiches, weighed both anchors and set off into the night with two reefs in the mainsail and the engine on. We arrived at Playa Antequera, Tenerife at 5.00 am the next morning navigating into the unlit, uninhabited bay by radar, GPS and laptop charts. There was an unlit ketch on anchor, which we avoided and dropped our own anchor into good holding.
The next day we explored the remains of a bar and restaurant with its own small harbour. I was thrown out of the dinghy by the surf Tom and Jerry style – full spreadeagle backwards. I was unhurt (although I have since found big bruises on the back of my knees) and we collapsed in laughter as I walked ashore wet through and covered in black sand, which found its way into my underwear! We were visited later by Stephan, from the ketch, Tamata. The following day we were invited aboard and met his wife, Simona and their delightful 4 year old daughter, Naphalie. Stephan was a very intense young man with strong views of the world but we enjoyed talking to him.
Today we travelled 5 miles to Puerto Chico, where we filled up with diesel and water, caught the bus into town and stocked up at a supermarket. Jeremy has done an oil change so we’re ready for the next 100 hours of motoring now!