Puerto Calero was great. One of the more picturesque marinas we have been to and our time there was very enjoyable. Jane and Jim had an effortless trip out from the UK and it was just great to spend time with them. Unfortunately Jim was under the weather the first few days but rallied by the end of the week. The GP42′s raced of Arricefe so we took ourselves out to watch them. John and Jim have managed to get the watermaker wired now. All we need now is to commission it. Due to the fact we had to get to Tenerife we decided to move from Puerto Calero to Marina Rubicon at the southern end of the island. This was a huge disappointment in terms of marinas as it was in a very touristy part of the island. We had a great tripdown from Puerto Calero and really enjoyed the spectacle of some 60+ yachts gathering for the days racing. The organisers of the event had made it an open regatta as well as the GP event so it was very busy. Quite funny really as both John and I felt the adrenaline rising and kind of wishing we could take part. Reminded us of Venachar days although John on the start line might have been too much for my nerves.

We anchored in a bay just outside Rubicon which was lovely. John and I managed to scrub the waterline which has been pretty low down and gathered a lot of scum and some barnacles. It was a really good work out – treading water and scrubbing without gettng your head bashed in the process. Jim was not so lucky; in his athleticism he managed to bash his head off the davits as he dived of the boat (ouch!) . We resorted to tourism and had a car for a couple of days. It was great as Jane and Jim know the island well so they were in charge of the land cruise. It is quite astonishing what has been achieved with volcanic rock. We visited the top end of the island and looked over to Isla Graciosa which was quite beautiful but very busy. Another time we may get the opportunity to stop there. A visit to IKEA would you believe? We managed to get the dog bowls for the Atlantic trip. Mind you, we might have had to use them if Jim had dropped his scrambled eggs one more time. Fortunately as we headed back to Rubicon after a lovely day out John spied a large supermarket. We were able to stock up on a lot of heavy goods e.g. water, UHT milk, juice etc which was just great, especially with Gareth coming!

All too soon it was time to say farewell to Jane and Jim and head to Tenerife.

We left late morning in light winds and dark clouds. Not what was forecast but then there are so many extra factors around the Canaries it rarely is. Motored for a while and then the wind picked up enough to put the engine off. We then had a terrific sail making an average of 6 knots with everything up. When night arrived we had clear skies so lots of stars. Both of us saw shooting ones when we were on our watches. Not a lot of sleep as it was too good a sail. Throughout the night the radio kept calling for a yacht that was overdue in Tenerife and asking boats to keep an eye out. That of course guaranteed we wouldn’t sleep much! (It still hadn’t arrived the following day).

We arrived in Santa Cruz just before10 a.m. feeling pretty tired but quite uplifted from the great sail. My Spanish ain’t great and once again the marineros had difficulty with it. We ended up being put on a berth for a 10 mtre yacht. More patheic attempts to explain it was doce not diez plus the visual i.e. the boats’ stern hanging well out, we were put on a longer pontoon. It was lovely to see Michael, Chris and Lani again. They were also awaiting visitors before heading to La Gomera.

We had no sooner got settled than Gareth called to say he was in Santa Cruz. It was just great to see him. We did not linger in Santa Cruz – we did not want to be in a busy commercial port. We were taxed 40 euros over and above the berthing fees. Apparently it is a tax levied on yachts in transit applied at the first port of call in Spain. Course that was like a red rag to John. He pointed out is wasn’t our firs port of call etc only to be told it didn’t matter it had to be paid. All the visitng yachts end up paying a big sum depending on how long they stay. The tax is levied to pay for the navigation lights etc. Something that the U.K. have resisted. Long may it last. We left after a good nights sleep. Had a great sail initialy down the coast. Dropped anchor in a bay with the intention of staying overnight but the swell was too uncomfortable so we upped anchor and headed for a marina. We are currently in marina San Miguel which is linked to a huge time share complex ‘Amarilla Golf Resort’ (some of you will probably know it – possibly even played it)
Anyway it offered a welcome change to have a view of green grass and trees for a while (no we are not missing the Trossachs!)
Arriving in the dark was interesting and very challenging. We had to do our first stern to, lazyline berthing. So glad we had an extra pair of hands! We were being given instruction from the shore by a guy who we think might have been the barman. Anyway suffice to say it was tricky given that we had the dinghy on its davits and no fenders on the stern. The book said they had pontoons!
Gareth thins we shold be doing this on daily baisis while he is here – naw!!!

Gareth’s time with us is going very quickly.