We have enjoyed our stay here in Las Palmas, although going online has been frustrating. In theory there is marina wifi but it does not work (John even tried getting up at 4am to see if that made a difference!) but after a week we found out about a little private club where we can join on a weekly basis and go online in comfort. Soon after arriving Harry met a group of English speaking kids, aged 10 – 14 and from Holland, Wales and Spain. They have all been here for a year, are really friendly and it has been great for him to be out with them. We have been doing lots of boring boat jobs, like sorting out lockers, cleaning and fixing things. We hired a car for a week over Christmas, spent 3 days in a holiday apartment (with a bath!) and did a big shop in the supermarket getting the heavy stores on board ready for the Atlantic crossing. Then we had a hair-raising drive around the mountains, with hair-pin bends and huge vertical drops. The really scary roads are closed when it rains, with a great sign showing a car under a rain cloud (but not sliding over a cliff).
The Dutch family left for the Cape Verde Islands after Christmas and we waved David, Sarah, Bethany and Bryn off on board ‘Cape’ on the 31st December as they sailed away to the Gambia. They are a lovely family and we were able to help each other– computer stuff from them and medical stuff from us. They left Wales nearly 5 years ago and are taking the slow route around, planning on the Cape Verde’s after Gambia then across the Atlantic. We will keep in touch and may see them somewhere around the world. Tom, on Makatea, sailed into the anchorage a few hours after us, having been in Tenerife for a few days. It was good to see him and we shared a few meals together, including a Christmas dinner on board. Cooking roast chicken, roast potatoes and lots of extra bits is quite a complicated procedure on a boat, so it was even more of a treat! Tom sailed off to the Cape Verde Islands on the 1st January and we hope to catch up with him in the Caribbean.
We are sailing over to Tenerife tomorrow, a trip of about 52 miles so should take about 10 hours. Charlotte is flying in to join us on Thursday, crossing the Atlantic with us!
