Otherworldly Lanzarote

After a good night’s sleep following our five and a half day passage, I was still feeling a bit groggy.  I felt like I had jet lag but I suppose the more accurate term would be ‘watch lag’.  Perhaps I could get the condition in the next edition of the International Classification of Disease (ICD) as a new syndrome.  Hang on, there is a diagnosis.  It is called ‘Circadian rhythm sleep disorder’, mainly relating to shift workers.  But I reckon sailors deserve their own classification!  But I digress (Could I be missing my epidemiology work after being retired for 5 years? – Let me think… No!!). 

   

When the bleariness cleared from the eyes we were greeted by the pretty anchorage of Playa Blanca.  

Playa Blanca on the south coast of Lanzarote

After a late breakfast, we weighed anchor and headed into Marina Rubicon for a few days.  This is a large, very nice marina surrounded by restaurants and shops; a bit touristy but pleasant.  First order of business was taking a much needed shower and getting into clean clothes.  Then we headed ashore in search of a nice Linner.  There was no shortage of restaurants to choose from but most were a bit upmarket.  We found one that suited our budgets and during the meal we were introduced to the local liquor – Honey Rum.  I really took a shine to it.  It is a bit sweet but a very pleasant drink after dinner.  We had no idea that the Canary Islands had a thriving liquor industry.  Needless to say after our early dinner, our three shots each of honey rum and Circadian rhythm sleep disorder, sailor subtype, we adopted the Spanish siesta time!

 

Reg and Bob partaking in the local brew

The next day was taken up doing laundry, washing the boat, food inventory and getting everything back in order after the passage from Tangiers.  Walking around the marina we saw the ‘famous’ boat Delos.  I have been following their adventures on their blog for years.  For anyone who wants to see how some Millennials are living the dream, check out their website: https://svdelos.com/ .

SV Delos

Chores done, we decided to rent a car and tour the island.  The Canaries were populated by Europeans in Christopher Columbus's time. Columbus stopped off at one of the islands, La Gomera, for blessings from a church on in 1492.  Lanzarote was hit by massive volcanic eruptions in the 1730's and is still covered by lava flows and barren rock.  The island is an amazing place!  It is simply otherworldly.  Some areas reminded me of the gibber desert in Central Australia, other areas were like nothing I had every seen.

 

 

 

Tourists ready to take a camel ride up to the volcanos

Since there is so little rainfall in Lanzarote (125mm or 5 inches a year) very little has grown on the rock.  The island is a moonscape yet there is a thriving wine industry. They grow vines in holes in the volcanic rock surrounded by rock walls to protect the vines from the prevailing winds.  These vineyards are not the image that comes to mind when thinking about wine production!  We stopped at one winery, had a tasting and bought a couple of bottles of very nice wine.

Each semi circle contain two vines in a recess to catch any water

The vineyard stretching up the barren volcanic hills

We continued on to the northern part of the island.  The whole island is only 60 km long and 25 km wide.  There were some fantastic views from the sheer rock cliffs.  

 

On the northern end of Lanzarote over looking La Graciosa

On the way back south we stopped at a cactus garden.  The gardens were very well done. There were thousands of different species of cacti.  We spent hours there and took hundreds of photos.  I had no idea cacti could come in such a variety of bizarre shapes and sizes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a grand day out. Lanzarote is a fascinating island.

Passage from Tangiers to Lanzarote

After a pleasant interlude in Tangiers it was time to do our first big passage.  The 600+ nm shakedown cruise from Tangiers to Lanzarote in the Canary Islands will tell us what works and what doesn't.   

Everyone got into the routine of watch schedules.  We each had a 3 hour watch and 9 hours off, which allowed us to get a good block of sleep.  I had the 9 - 12 am/pm watch, which meant on the night watch I had 3 hours in the dark but usually someone else (Reg) was still awake, so that I was rarely alone.  The moon was a lovely during the passage, starting with a waxing half moon and building each night.  This meant that there was plenty of ambient light and it was not too onerous to stay up until midnight.  Reg relieved me at midnight until 3 am when Bob got up for the dark and lonely watch until 6 am.  Then Phoebe relieved Bob.  We had the same time period watch in daylight hours.  Most of us were able to fall asleep during our off hours for a decent block of sleep and did not suffer too much sleep deprivation. 

Sunset, day 1

Phoebe and I shared the meal preparation with dinner and lunch the next day so we only had to make one meal a day.  Breakfast was catch as catch can as many were asleep early morning. Plus we didn't need or want three meals a day - a light lunch and dinner was all we needed.   At about 5 pm we all convened in the cockpit for a single light drink and chat together.  Then we had dinner and those who were not on watch tried to catch some sleep.  

  

So our days went – reading, resting, chatting, napping and taking our two 3 hour watches in every 24 hours.

Genoa poled out for downwind sailing

The seas were quite rocky rolly which made cooking quite a challenge.  Vegetables had to be chopped up while bracing against the galley wall and swaying with the boat motion.  Although gimballed, the stove still moved a bit erratically and one day a half cooked frittata nearly landed on the floor.  So a project for Las Palmas is to sort out the stove so the movement is smooth and we can safely cook.  Also our resolve to cook up meals in advance and freeze for the Atlantic crossing was strengthened.  Then we will only have to heat the meals up while the boat is rolling.  

We realised the ungimballed microwave will not be useful on a rolling boat.  One must time the opening of the door with the waves and the side ward motion of the boat or the whole tray will come flying out!  It is just not safe with hot food.

We have been told that the sea state is a bit worse on this north-south passage than it will be when we are going east-west.  The Atlantic swell rolls east-west so we had the swell on our side (beam) most of the time which gave the boat quite a roll.  Going west we will go up then down on the swells in a nice gentle motion.   That is the theory anyway!  

The routine of the passage is broken up by the events of the sea.  On two mornings we found a lone flying fish in the scuppers.

A flying fish found in the scuppers

On our fourth day we had a beautiful pod of dolphins leaping and playing along the side of the boat for about 20 minutes – Lovely!

 

 

 

The crew have been great and seem to be happy to be at sea again.

Happy crew

 In the afternoon of our fifth day at sea we spotted land, Roque del Este, and uninhabited rock off the north coast of Lanzarote.  Phoebe won the contest for guessing the time when we would first spot land.  She guessed the correct time within a minute – hum……  We still haven’t decided on the prize.

Land ho!

We sailed down the east coast of Lanzarote all day and arrived at Playa Blanco on the south coast just before midnight.  This was the first time we anchored in the dark but with a near full moon the anchoring was quite straight forward.  After a celebratory drink we were all grateful for a sound night’s sleep on a relatively still boat at anchor.  Five and a  half days at sea covering 609 nm.

 

Crossing the Straits to Tangier

Our friends, Reg and Phoebe, arrived from Canada enthusiastic to crew on Songster.  It was great to see them again and we spent hours catching up on all our news and sharing sailing and travel experiences.  We hadn’t seen each other since sailing in company around the Greek Dodecanese islands in 2016.

Reg and Bob relaxing at anchor before we leave to cross the Straits of Gibraltar

The first step on our way across the pond was to cross the Straits of Gibraltar.  After nearly 5 years doing cappuccino cruising in the Mediterranean with no tides or currents to speak of, it was time to dust off our navigation skills and think about tide time tables, wind directions and strong currents. 

Approximately 1 million cubic metres of water from the Atlantic flow into the Mediterranean every second through the narrow 7 nautical mile wide Strait.  This combined with tides can produce up to a 4 knot current going from west to east.  Then with a prevailing westerly wind, a small sail boat does not have a chance of getting out of the Mediterranean into the Atlantic.  So it is essential to pick a good weather window with an easterly wind and the tides countering the prevailing currents.

It is a busy waterway

The long term forecast was for strong westerlies for the next ten days, except for Friday when a light westerly was predicted.  No easterly winds were in sight so we decided to go with Friday (despite the sailor’s superstition to never leave port on a Friday) and catch the tide three hours after high water in Gibraltar as recommended.  

Early morning departure from Gibraltar

We crossed perpendicularly to the busy shipping lane towards the African coast and then followed the currents west.  There were impressive tidal races off the Belyounach point.  The engine was running at 2500 rpm which normally would give us 6 - 7 knots and we were only making 2 knots. 

Tidal race off the African coast

Finally we got the current in our favour and zoomed along the coast into the new marina in Tangiers.  This marina was being built when we were in Morocco 4 years ago and the entire waterfront then was a noisy construction site.  Now there is a very pretty marina and open public space which attracts the young people, families and elderly couples every evening for their twilight stroll. 

Moroccans enjoying the marina area

Songster along side at the marina

 We spent two nights in Tangier revisiting some of our favourite spots and exploring the new areas. 

Reg, Bob, Phoebe and Eileen relaxing at the Hotel Continental

The streets of the Kasbah

Morocco seems to be going from strength to strength.  It is still maintaining its old Arabic charm but modernising without crassness.  Four years ago on our road trip through Morocco, the desert was covered in discarded plastic bags.  From a distance we thought these were some kind of cactus bloom and were horrified to see that the specks of colour were plastic rubbish.  Plastic bags have now been banned in Morocco and replaced by paper fibre bags.  There is very little rubbish in the streets and Tangiers is looking very nice.

The busy streets of Tangiers

Preparing for the Off

After Caitlin and Pat returned to Australia we planned to stay at Alcaidesa Marina, near Gibraltar, to prepare for the big Atlantic Crossing and wait for our Canadian crew friends to arrive.  We had a few small jobs to do to finish off boat preparation but waiting seemed to be the major activity.  Sadly pontoon lassitude has well and truly taken root.

 

One of the major activities is getting our sail inventory all sorted.  There were several sails that we just have not needed in the sailing conditions of the Mediterranean.  We dug out the spinnaker sail (the big colourful balloon sail), the mizzen stay sail and the No 3 genoa that have been sitting in the bottom of the sail locker unused for years.  They are all in good shape and we refreshed our memories on how to rig them up.  

The No 3 genoa will need modification to fit our new furler but fortunately someone on the pontoon does sail repairs and can do the job for us.  We hope to use this second genoa as a twin headsail.

This is what we are aiming for with twin headsails.  Easy to furl in and out.

In light winds a colourful spinnaker can go up

We also bought a second hand storm jib that you use in really bad weather when the other sails may rip.  Storm jibs are definitely one of those sails you hope you will never have to use.

 

I am really looking forward to having consistent trade winds to sail. I have had enough of the Motorterranean.  It is a big unknown for us.  Many say that the trip of 2-3 weeks can get quite boring.  Boring is okay.  I just don't want stressful with bad weather.

We did have a bit of excitement a few weeks ago.  A boat came into the marina and tried to back into their mooring spot.  There as a bit of a cross wind and the boat ended up smashing across three other moored boats.  Sadly one of them was ours.  It bent the davits for the dinghy (the metal crane like structure to lift the rubber rib/dinghy up out of the water).  The skipper, a French man, was leaving the next day so gave us his insurance details and some cash in the hope that it would cover the repairs and the insurance people would not have to be involved.  We got the repair work done fairly quickly for a reasonable price with no need for insurance paperwork.  

Meanwhile when Bob was dismantling the davits he dropped one of the knobs holding the davit arms into the water.  Of course our model of davits is no longer being made. The original manufacturing company in England said it would look around in case there are spares in a dusty corner but we had no result there.  I doubt they were interested in spending much time looking for a 30+ year old knob.

The twin of the offending lost knob

I decided to bite the bullet and get out the diving hookah to have a look on the sea bed under the boat.  We are in about 5 metres of water.  I do not have a weight belt and just do not sink at all, especially with a wet suit on.  I needed a weighted line to pull myself down.  We got out our old propeller (the only use for it now a day), tied a rope on it, attached it to the boat and lowered it down onto the sea bed.  As much as I tried to equalise the pressure, going just a few metres down really hurt my ears.  I was able to see the bottom quite clearly but there was no sign of the knob.  I did three dives in different locations looking for it.  I really had to hang on to the rope or I would have shot up like a cork.  My ears hurt for a good 24 hours after the dives, not good.  I am definitely going to look into taking a proper diving course when we get to the Caribbean.  

Then in further desperation, Bob thought he would have a go looking for the knob but had even less luck and more trouble with his ears after only one quick dive.  The frustration is that the davits are not useable without this knob.  

We went to all the chandlers looking for something we could use to replace the knob. Also Bob spent hours searching the internet for a knob/bolt replacement.  The problem is that the nut/bolt combination is a weird English thread - a half inch Whitworth, which of course also has to be in stainless steel as everything rusts on a boat.  Bob curses the lack of uniformity in measurements and wishes Napoleon had won so that all of Europe would now be metric. 

Who would think finding this bolt would be such a hassle!

We finally found a supplier of these bolts in England who makes them primarily for restorers of old English motorcycles (Triumphs, BSA, Nortons etc).  We ordered several bolts, just in case as they were only £2 each.  So all this long story is just an example of how, for the lack of a presumably simple bolt, we can be stymied for weeks.  The joys of boat repair.  Moral of the story:  “Don’t drop parts overboard”!

The other major activity is planning the provisioning.  How to feed 4 people for 3+ weeks with interesting and nutritious meals and where to store all that food with limited space and refrigeration?  There will be no popping out to the local shop for bread and milk while in the middle of the Atlantic.

This will be us in a few weeks

We have popped over to Gibraltar several times to do some shopping.  (We have alread done the sightseeing spots when we were here a few years ago.)  It is funny that people call that area 'the frontier' which evokes, to my mind, images of wild country and gun totting bandits.  Instead, although a 'hard' border, one just walks through a few buildings while flashing your passport, which is rarely given even a cursory glance, then you have to cross the airport runway before entering Gibraltar proper. It is all very civilised and routine, if a bit bizarre crossing an international airport runway to enter a city.  When planes come in (about 8 - 10 times a day) the barriers come down and you have to wait until the plane lands before you can walk across into Gibraltar.  

Crossing the runway into Gibraltar

Many people cross the border every day for work.  The weird thing about Gibraltar is that it tends to be more British than Britain which is so often the case in colonial outposts.

Glories of the Empire

The red phone booth

and post box

All the familiar shops

Such is our life waiting for ‘The Off’.  Our crew friends arrive in a week and we will then take the first weather window to have a short sail to Tangiers then a 5-6 day sail to the Canary Islands where we will join the ARC+ rally to cross the Atlantic in mid November.