Aleria Update 4

4. Update from the Canaries

We were leaving from Quinto do Lorde on Madeira at 8:30 am on Tuesday morning. We were tied up to a floating dock facing the wrong way to exit the marina. Across from us was a 70+ foot custom sloop from Holland (gorgeous) and behind us was a 50+ foot aluminium sloop from France. We had to either back out or turn around in a VERY tight space. Fitting Aleria through the slot between them had kept Alex up all night. She doesn't back very well. So he devised a plan to spring Aleria forward on a dockline partly into the inside slip ahead to get our stern past the Dutch boat, then reverse across the channel and swivel her into forward position for the exit past the French boat in a space not much longer than her own length. It worked like a charm as the neighboring skippers' jaws dropped (everyone watches when a boat is maneuvering in tight quarters). Very cool. I handled the spring line and stood by with fenders in hand in case needed. They were not. Alex did a great job!

Anyway, we had to go 300 miles south to Tenerife in light northerly air. It was our first true taste of real tradewinds sailing. A constant 10-15 knots NE, and one nice reach all the way. And luckily, we did not run into the Ilhas Sevagem, an island group which, according to the cruising guide, are not where they are charted. At a nice balmy temperature, crystal waters, and 8 knots average boat speed, we could easily give up high latitude sailing for the trade winds routes. Until the seas became confused. Then we had the most unsettled night yet. Sleep was completely impossible in our last night with the irregular bouncing motion and little wind to steady us. Ugh! Alex said it was his worst night aboard a boat yet. Poor Onyx didn't like it at all either. She nestled in with either one for comfort through the entire ordeal.

We arrived at Santa Cruz in Tenerife at about 3 am and hove to with several cruise ships to await the dawn when we could see our way into the marina. At least then the motion calmed.

We've now traveled more than 2000 ocean miles on this segment and have almost 3000 more to go to the Caribbean. There is no doubt about it, being out at sea is boring. There is nothing to do but keep watch, read, fix things, and write. Sometimes it is terrifying and boring. Sometimes it is mesmerising and boring. You are always busy yet mostly bored. The landfalls make it all worthwhile.

Short hops are interesting. They are easier to prepare for but harder to deal with. There is not enough time to acclimate to the motion of the sea or the rhythm of the watches, so mal de mer and insomnia are to be expected. Yet, psychologically, it is easier to accept the prospect of three days at sea than three weeks.

Provisioning is easy for short hops. Some fresh bread, eggs, meat and veggies and you're fine. It is going to be interesting to provision for the Atlantic crossing. Where normally I would have prepared frozen lasagna and spaghetti dishes at home that were ready to make for dinners at sea, we'll be leaving after already having been at sea for months. So, we'll have to think differently. We'll have several weeks in the Canary Islands to think about it. I've just spent several days of ocean crossing doing the same.

We arrived at Tenerife just after dawn. The harbourmaster and his mate met us outside the harbour and escorted us to our slip and then helped us tie up. Once again, the nicest people you could hope to meet.

We were docked next to a mega-yacht s/y Icarus. The mast is so tall they have a warning light for aircraft! The rest of our dock was empty. Since we've been here, it has filled up. The two big boats and several others from Quinto do Lorde have come in, as have several French boats, a German sail training ship, three gigantic cats, and a Polish steel vessel. The Polish guy is a hoot. He left Poland 32 years ago for a short voyage and has been crossing the Atlantic ever since. He is heading to the Caribbean next, then back to Poland. His wife is still waiting for him, he says.

A young British couple left to anchor out yesterday. They didn't have any charts of the Canaries having spent all their money on Caribbean charts and fixing up their boat (immaculate). So they copied our guidebook which has chartlets of all the anchorages and harbours. At least they'll be safer. He did the OSTAR last summer and is doing his third Atlantic crossing this year. His partner got a redundancy and is financing their trip with it. Good for them.

The Brits on one of the cats are very nice. We've struck up an instant friendship, sharing locations of chandleries, secrets to navigating the marina and the city, etc. They sailed through a pod of a hundred or more whales right off the harbour here after having sailed socked in with fog completely all the way down the coast of Portugal. Their watermaker and a hydraulic system failed so they spent the day doing repairs and laundry in an exotic place.

It's interesting how the nationalities come into play. The French congregate with French and the Germans with Germans. The English speakers all mix - we have a couple from the Marshall Islands (pretty flag) here. It is so much easier when you can tell a story or ask a question and someone will understand and respond.

Yet you do find yourself using whatever to be understood. When the pressure is on, a word of Spanish, two of Portuguese, a spattering of German and English, with the occasinal Latin and Ukrainian thrown in usually does the job. When it doesn't, hand signals almost always do.

We've seen some of Tenerife outside of Santa Cruz. We rented a car and drove through the Parque Nationale to mount Teide, the volanic heart of the island. Beautiful forests leading up to increasingly more desolate lava badlands. You take a gondola to near the top of Teide, and with a special permit you can hike to the top of the crater. It's a strenuous walk with sulfer fumes, altitude effects and precipices, but spectacular! We had a cloudless day, and we could see forever. We could see the entire coast of villages from the desolate heights of volcanic lava floes. Eerie. Like a lunar landscape. It was dizzying and breathtaking. Well worth the trip. And to see the horizon from above the clouds was completely disorienting.

We also went to the "best beach on Tenerife" for a swim, had lovely tapas lunches, enjoyed the best ice cream ever in Porto Cruz, and once again fixed the boat and did laundry in an exotic place.

But we're ready to move on. We need an anchorage. Have had too many marina nights. Need that anchor to dig in and swing into the wind. Need to jump in for a wakeup swim. Need to stop and smell the salt air for a while.

We can't go to Gran Canaria until after Nov 22 when 225 boats leave for the Caribbean with the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers. The word is that Las Palmas is a zoo with no space and no services until they go. Until then, we'll be cruising the small outer islands.

Our plan was to head for the Cape Verde Islands from here in the next couple of weeks. However, a serious outbreak of Dengue fever has led us to alter our plans. There are more than 13000 cases now in just over a month, including several hundred hemorrhagic episodes and several deaths. So it looks like the Cape Verdes are off the list as there is no prevention and no treatment for this viral infection transmitted by mosquitoes. That means we'll be going direct from the Canaries (Gran Canaria) - three weeks of ocean crossing. Some time soon.

So until the next update... buenos noches from Tenerife.

Daria, Alex and Onyx