Harriette - Happy Christmas

Season's Greetings to all our friends and family,

Jo & I have been in Tenerife for a few weeks now. We have settled in to the Marina Atlantico, right across the main road from the centre of Santa Cruz, the capital of the island.

After Fuerteventura we sailed across to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, hoping to get into the marina and then see the ARC boats leave for their trip across to the Carribbean a few days later. We were too optimistic and found the marina absolutely full. The sight of all the yachts fully bedecked with flags was very memorable but we had to anchor in the harbour, outside the marina. The harbour was fairly crowded and my enthusiasm for this was not encouraged by seeing another yacht trying to leave, only to find she had a fouled anchor. So I used a tripping line tied to a fender, for the first time. As it turned out we did not need to use it when we left early the next morning.

After a few day hops round the coast of Gran Canaria, we sailed over to Tenerife. On this crossing we experienced a wind acceleration zone in earnest. This is where the wind funnels between the islands, creating very much stronger winds, and rougher seas, in certain fairly well-defines areas. In our case the wind was about 5 to 6 knots as we motor-sailed round the southern, sheltered, side of Gran Canaria for an hour or two. Then we could see white-capped waves ahead and all the way to the horizon. At this stage we put 2 reefs in the main - even though the wind was only 6 knots at that stage! Within a few minutes the wind rose to 16 knots, then on up to 25 to 30 knots for the rest of the crossing. Not too pleasant as we were motoring directly into the swell and waves for a few hours, with solid water coming right across the foredeck on one occasion as we buried the anchors in a wave.

Still, it's all part of the learning curve.

In Tenerife we've met up a various times with friends from the Tamaide mountain walking club, who we met last year when we stayed in Laida & Eduardo's flat in Puerto de la Cruz, on the other side of the island. The club kindly invited us to their Christmas dinner, which we enjoyed very much.

I haven't time (you'll be glad to hear) to go into all the social events with friends here but one that was particularly memorable was Las Tablas. This takes place in the evening (mostly) in the steep narrow streets of a small town called Icod de los Vinos. Individuals with more guts than sense sit on a home-made board the size of a tray and slide down the gutter at the side of one of the steeper streets, getting up to stupid speeds over the couple of hundred yards descent, till they hit a pile of tyres at the bottom. Then they scramble out of the way before the next participant hurtles into them. Meanwhile the street is packed with onlookers, some only stepping back from the path of the Tabla maniacs at the last second. Mostly they go down singly or two to a Tabla, the one at the back steering with his hands on the road/pavement. The more experienced do a twirl where the street levels out to cross a horizontal street half way down.

This festival happens every year over a period of a few days. Roast chestnuts and beer and wine are consumed in and around the bars.

When we arrived in this marina we were greeted by Mark and Marie, with their 35 foot junk-rigged yacht with a lamp post for a mast. We last saw them in Portugal, the day they set off for the Canaries.

They have since left for the Cape Verde Islands and we had an e-mail from them saying they had arrived safely after a 7-1/2 day crossing. Now they should be on their way to the Caribbean. They have a tin of turkey for Christmas. Let us know how the rest of your adventure goes.

Max and Alice are also here and we have had quite a few drinks and a few meals and games with them. They have now got a job lined up as skipper and hostess for Moorings, on a 50 foot yacht in the Caribbean. To qualify they flew back to England to do courses. Max is now a yachtmaster and Alice has done the RYA Coastal Skipper course. Congratulations to both of you and we wish you well. Keep in touch and hopefully we'll meet again somewhere.

Talking of people that we have met before, thank you for a lovely lunch yesterday Shona. We met Shona and David Irvine in Cherbourg a few months ago
and have now made contact again in Tenerife, where they have a flat. We will no doubt be doing some sailing together.

Well, I have some preparations to do before Bill and Eve arrive on Saturday morning, so I'll finish off now.

Carnaval, from about 24th February till 4th March will be a particularly good time to be here. Santa Cruz is claimed to be one of the 3 best places in the world for Carnaval. In this marina we could not be better placed for it. It is only a few minutes walk to the Plaza de Espana, which is the centre of the city. It's an opportunity not to be missed, for those who can stand partying well into the night. I'm sure the atmosphere in the streets will be great, with most people in fancy dress some days, carnaval processions and carnaval music. And hopefully sunny, T-shirt and shorts weather during the daytime.

We both wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and hope to see you soon.

Love and On On,