Gran Canaria – Friends, family and gas bottles

We were headed to Gran Canaria for two reasons only.  We are members of the Ocean Cruising Club (OCC) – an excellent organisation for long distance sailors which gives us access to training, support and friendship around the world.   In fact, it was through OCC we had met Ruffian as well as many other wonderful people as we add miles to our journey.   

OCC have Port Officers located in popular cruising destinations around the world.   The Port Officers are volunteers who are usually experienced sailors and share a passion for meeting like-minded people.   Agustin is the Port Officer, based in Pasito Blanco on the south coast of Gran Canaria.  He had invited all visiting OCC members to a BBQ at his home at the end of October.   In addition to attending the party, my sister, Bea and brother-in-law, Andy, were joining a friend’s boat in early November to sail across the Atlantic with them, so were flying into Las Palmas, the capital of Gran Canaria, a few days after the BBQ.    We looked forward to both events with equal excitement!

We had a great sail in 15-20knot winds and, for once, proved to Ruffian that Cerulean has pace when the conditions are right.  Two boats on the water at the same time is a race after-all and so far Ruffian was beating us hands down!   With perfect conditions for us, we sped away from Tenerife, putting a reef in the main just before the acceleration zone caused the winds to increase by another 5-10knots and then fade to nothing as we came close to the land in the SW of the island.    We spent the first night in a quiet, anchorage before heading further east towards the more touristy bays of the island.

Iain led us on, what had become, a regular adventurous morning walk, usually involving climbing steep hills, finding hidden pathways with the promise of spectacular views at the end.   We had fun discovering new places, meeting interesting people along the way and generally getting hot and sweaty as the late morning sun beat down on us!   It was nearly November and yet the daytime temperatures were still in the mid to high 20’s and we had seen no rain since arriving in Porto Santo six weeks earlier.  

Anchorages and marinas were getting very busy with boats preparing to leave to cross the Atlantic as boats from all over Europe converged on the small island.   The annual Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) was leaving from Las Palmas, the island’s Capital in the north, with the first fleet of over 70 boats due to leave in less than a week, so Gran Canaria was becoming the main hub for transiting yachts from around the world.   Considering all this, we were surprised we managed to find space in the small, friendly and lovely marina at Puerto De Mogan for a few nights.   As we waited to get clearance to enter the marina we practiced reversing in the bay outside the entrance as Ruffian alerted us that we would need to use Mediterranean mooring – a first for us.   This involves reversing into a tight space between two boats, fixing two mooring lines from the stern (back of boat) and picking up two lines at the bow (front).   Cerulean does not reverse well, particularly if a gust of wind catches her, and I had avoided reversing into tight spots but now had no choice.    The reversing practice went well with Cerulean, and me, responding well to the test course Steve instructed us to follow!   By the time we entered the marina I was feeling quite confident and luckily we had been allocated a space with plenty of room for us to swing around and approach the berth straight on in reverse.   We had executed our first Med Mooring and nailed it!  

We hired a car for a day and this time, with me driving, the fearless foursome set off to explore our third island together.   It did not take long until we were out of the built up tourist destinations and back in the hills, to discover the beauty of the inner part of the island.   It seems that all the islands we have explored so far, have an unspoilt inner landscape which is very different to the towns on the edges of the island.    Gran Canaria is no different with roads that twist around high mountains and sheer drops on the other side.   With me driving I had a very different experience this time, not wanting to drag my eyes away from the narrow roads as my happy passengers exclaimed wonder and joy at the vistas they were able to view as I negotiated buses, tight corners and other hire cars while driving a manual on the right side of the road!     Having said all that, it was still a wonderful day.   We went from sand dunes in the south east to the high rocky hills of the central north, visiting mountain villages and walking through beautiful terrain.  

On the way back to the boat we stopped at a large supermarket and loaded up the car with as much food and supplies as we could fit, before Fi and I returned for a second shop after dropping off the boys.    We bought enough tins and non-perishable items to fill almost every storage space in the boat, stowed everything carefully and felt confident we now had sufficient stocks to last us until the end of January. 

Agustin, the local OCC Port Officer, is a wonderful, helpful, patient and generous man.  He recently retired from a long career in the airline industry and is now preparing his boat to fulfil a dream to sail to Tonga.   Agustin had offered to help us try to refill the gas bottles we had failed to fill in Lanzarote and collected us early one morning to drive us to a gas depot close to Las Palmas.   The facility was only open to the public between 9 – 11am and the drive was 40 minutes so we woke early to make sure we did not keep Agustin waiting.   On arriving at the facility we had our gas bottles taken from us and placed outside a portacabin while we were told to wait.   We waited and waited.  In fact we waited for over an hour without the bottles being collected or anyone taking any notice of them or us.   Eventually a big truck arrived and loaded our two empty bottles into the cage at the back before disappearing round the corner for about 30 minutes.   When he returned he handed us the gas bottles and explained through Agustin that he couldn’t fill them as they were all out of date.   It appears that when we last swapped our empty bottles for full ones in the UK we were given bottles that had not been tested for over 10 years and this was the reason we were unable to get them refilled in Spain.    Feeling disheartened, frustrated and embarrassed that Agustin had just wasted half a day driving us around for nothing, we returned to the boat.  

A few days later we met up with Agustin again, this time at his lovely home overlooking the marina at Pasito Blanco when he and his wife hosted a great afternoon BBQ for OCC members.   There were about 40 of us who gathered and we spent a wonderful afternoon talking, getting to know each other, hearing fascinating stories and learning of plans and past adventures.   It was a very special afternoon in the company of inspirational, well travelled and interesting people.  

We decided to stay for a few more days in Pasito Blanco, welcoming the arrival of Take Five, the boat my sister, Bea and Andy were joining in a few days.   We farewelled Iain and Fi on Ruffian as they headed off to the lava flow of La Palma while we socialised with some of the other boats in the bay and waited for Bea and Andy to arrive.

The anchorage became a little rolly, so we moved further west to the most protected anchorage on the island at Anfi Del Mar.  Surrounded by big swanky hotels and sandy beaches, we were able to continue preparing the boat for the next passage and explore nearby Puerto De Arguineguin which had a surprisingly excellent hardware store which came in very handy when one of our toilets needed repairing!   

Bea and Andy arrived and we joined them on board Take Five for dinner to celebrate.   It was fantastic to be with family again and we enjoyed spending time with them, Suzi, Emmanuel, Michael and Candice on board their beautiful 59ft Beneteau, complete with piano in the main saloon!    The evening was over far too quickly but, with strong winds forecast, we were keen to make an early start to leave Gran Canaria and head towards our next island.   We had managed to secure a marina berth in a popular harbour and did not want to risk losing it as we had spoken to a number of other sailors who said they had been trying to get a berth but with no success.    I was ready to leave Gran Canaria for the next adventure, but saying goodbye to Bea and Andy was much harder although there was a chance they may join us at the next island if all went well.