The afternoon before Emily and Ben arrived we went to Marina San Miguel to find they had forgotten about our booking and there were no berths left! They found a place for us alongside a huge tourist catamaran called Freebird V. Almost by chance we found they had a laundrette and took the opportunity to wash and dry some bedding. Horror of horrors, when we returned for the washing, a cockroach was crawling out of the drop down seat back in the main saloon. Jeremy killed it and left me to cook supper while he went to the laundry. Within minutes another cockroach crawled out of the seat back on the opposite side. Being a bit squeamish, I put my rubber gloves on before I squashed it and cleaned up the mess. When Jeremy returned he emptied every locker in the saloon and found no more stowaways. We didn’t tell Emily and Ben about this until the day they were leaving, especially as Emily was sleeping on one of the affected berths! We didn’t sleep very well that night. Unusually, it rained heavily. At around 5.30am the alarm went off on Freebird V and a red light started flashing. We didn’t know whether it was burglars or if she was sinking! I wrote some words down from the Spanish phrase book and walked the full length of the unlit harbour to find the night security guard. He seemed to understand and one and a half hours later an engineer arrived and pulled the wires out of the alarm. Apparently the heavy rain had set it off!
Anyway, we had a great week with Emily and Ben. We crossed the 36 miles from Tenerife to La Gomera after a much quieter night on a proper berth in the marina. The swell was big and uncomfortable and the wind rose as we left making Emily unwell. She recovered quickly once we were anchored in a bay and we were all able to go ashore in hot, sunny weather to have a beach BBQ.
An engaging couple enjoying the warm winter sun on board Sal Darago.
The next 3 days were cloudy and warm with light winds. We enjoyed swimming, snorkelling, exploring caves and wandering round the remains of a fish canning factory. We went to the main ports of Sandiago and Vueltas, arriving here at San Sebastian on Thursday afternoon.
Continuing easterly winds meant the return trip to Tenerife might be rough so Emily and Ben booked on the ferry to Los Christianos, where they found some accommodation for the night.
Sal Darago seems empty without them but we have been busy doing shopping and washing and Jeremy had a fibre glass repair to do to the inside moulding in a near inaccessible place in the bow. This afternoon we will move back round to Puerto Vueltas and prepare for the 47 mile sail to the island of La Palma.
Emily and Ben wave bye bye from the stern of the hi-speed ferry.
Hasta la vista amigos.
2 comments:
We miss you guys! Great to see you. Caught up with the whole Deacon clan today as it was Rocket's 40th. Si's finished making his longboard and the house was tidier than when we left. No cockroaches here! Back to work tomorrow. Heh ho. Loads of love, Ems xx
Thought Ben and Emily looked very well - for an engaged couple!!!!! Watch out for Vendee Challenge yachts that are racing your way.
I will forward some photos of Abi soon.
Love Rob
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