Hi all,
Well I got a bit stuck after the sight seeing, I had to wait for a parcel from sister Lynne, it got lost in the post! previously I had been waiting for it to be delivered to her so she could send it! it all boils down to me being in La Palma a lot longer than intended. Things I did whilst there as I can not do nothing. All decks, Toe rail outboard and inboard and cockpit scrubbed on hands and knees till clean as a whistle, then oiled with real teak oil! (its so powerfull it melted the sikaflex in a number of places) Fore hatch base sanded and varnished, Cabin sides sanded and varnished, Skylight sanded and varnished. Lamp fitting installed main saloon (two still to do), Water Maker fresh water outlet pipework piped into system with valve for dumping salt brine and turning handpump off so now direct filling of water tank, New gear case joint fitted to stop oil leak (still one left to do), when finally arrived new Bowsprit end Cranse Iron fitted. So no wasted time here.
After sorting all that lot out decided to make a move ASAP, couldnt make my mind up where to go next so I decided to let the wind make that decision for me. I left Marina La Palma at 1300hrs Monday 26th and from the map positions you can see I nearly made it to Gomera, but early morning on the 27th the wind changed to the SW so went to the north west tip of Tenerife. There then followed an un-successfull 2 days looking for an anchorage. Its something I had overlooked and never thought about in these Islands, but there are not many places you can anchor, the water is so deep right up to the shore which is also very steep, then theres the Swell waves, anywhere on the west side of the Ilands is presently not possible due to the big NW swell. Tuesday and Wednesday was spent going to every beach and Puerto down and up the coast of Tenerife looking for a good place to stop, Nada.
So 1700hrs Wednesday I arrived in Marina Atlantico Santa Cruz Position: 28,27.99N , 16,14.67W. Importantly here I needed a USB too Serial cable for this Inmarsat e-mail facility, it failed a week ago and Ive been out of touch since, but as you can see I'm now back on line as shopping for one was top of the list this morning. Next stop after this is Gran Canaria again, its getting close now to the time to leave for Cape Verde Ilands or forget them and straight across the Ogin, Pond or Atlantic, think Ill plan to arrive in Las Palmas again the day after the ARC boats leave at the end of November, then a good thinking session about victuling, and a shopping trip. If theres any takers for the trip across! I would be open to having some company, must be fit as a fiddle though! and willing to help with expenses. Have a lot of confidence in the boat now after the journeys so far, so will be going solo with the same confidence otherwise.
Roy
