Tag: Canaries

El Hierro – Saving the best for last

We set sail for the last of the eight islands that make up the archipelago of The Canaries.   We had not visited two of the main islands, Fuerto Ventura and La Palma.   We skipped the former as we needed to get from Lanzarote to Tenerife quickly due to our battery issues, and we missed the latter due to the volcano that started erupting in September 2021 and was still threatening livelihoods.   The marina was open and many yachts were taking advantage of visiting the island to experience the activity for themselves.   We would have loved to have done this, but needed to continue to El Hierro to rendezvous with Ruffian and finalise our imminent departure from The Canaries.  

As we left La Gomera we could see four islands – The peak of La Tiede on Tenerife, the coastline of La Gomera, the growing shape of El Hierro in front of us and the outline of La Palma to the west.    The wind had faded to nothing and we ended up motoring most of the 35NM to Puerto De La Estaca, taking advantage of having the engine on by making water for a few hours along the way.   When the wind increased a little, we unfurled the sails but found it hard to maintain 4knots so only enjoyed the peace and tranquillity of the passage for about an hour.   I don’t like motoring, for a number of reasons – the noise (even though our new engine is so much quieter and cleaner than the old one, it’s still noisy when you’re down below), the cost of burning fuel and finally, I feel it’s cheating when we are a sail boat!  

We spent our time reading, talking and playing with knots!   Steve had a go at making a food hammock by knotting several lengths of string.   The hammock we were using proved unsuitable, with several of our precious fruit, falling through the holes.  We tried many different variations, including putting the fruit in two plastic colanders before putting them in the hammock that was strung outside behind the steering wheel, but the hammock strained under the weight and the colanders tilted over precariously so we ended up taking it down.   We don’t like storing the fruit in the boat as they attract fruit flies which then lay eggs in the boat and infest other food in our stores, so we try to keep any fruit outside.   Steve’s project has a little way to go, but will keep him busy while on passage!   Next he’ll be taking orders for any knitting requirements!  Kidding!

We arrived at the marina without being able to get hold of anyone, except for Iain and Fi on Ruffian who assured us there was plenty of space.   We had emailed the marina a few days earlier and been told there was no need to book a berth in this new facility as there was always lots of room.    As we arrived at the small marina we could see this was very true.   A whole pontoon finger was empty so we were able to pick our space while being welcomed by Fi who caught our lines – it was great to be back in the company of Team Ruffian.    We celebrated that night on board Ruffian and were joined by Peter and Inge from the boat next to them.   We had been in touch with Peter a few weeks earlier as they were also sailing to The Gambia.   They founded a Dutch campaign called fossilfreearoundtheworld which they run from their sustainable yacht, Ya.   We had a lovely evening getting to know Peter and Inge and catching up on each others news and plans.

The next day we went over to see Ruffian for morning coffee and as I was climbing on board, I felt a sharp pain in my back and was unable to straighten up without considerable pain.  Steve helped me back to Cerulean where I took some painkillers and anti-inflammatories and lay flat on my back for the rest of the day!    Steve joined team Ruffian for a trip into the main town of Valverde for one of Iain’s “epic” walks.   While they were out Peter came to check on me after earlier having asked Steve if I needed any help and getting the answer, “always”! 

Later, as we were below, there was a heavy thump on our cabin roof, like a football landing above us. Steve went up to see what caused the noise and found a large, young shearwater sitting on our deck. Poor thing must’ve got disorientated and landed heavily on our boat. Fortunately it was fine and left us at some point during the night.

That evening was the first of a three night festival that was held at the marina with food trucks, craft stalls, music and children’s entertainment.   It was a lovely atmosphere with a range of music and people dancing, catching up with friends and excited children running around.   It reminded me of the street festivals in Lyttelton I used to go to with the friendly banter of a close community and catching up with old friends and neighbours.  

The four of us hired a car for two days and, with me still in considerable pain, opted to make the first stop the hospital.   It was hard trying to make myself understood but, judging be the odd way I was standing, and the back stretches I kept performing as I waited to be seen, a nurse soon realised what was wrong.   She directed me into a small room and gave me two injections – painkiller and anti-inflammatory – and sent me on my way, all done for free and within 30 minutes of arrival.    After an hour I was able to walk without looking like I had a pole up my back and the more I moved, the easier my back seemed to be.   It felt so good to be able to move, and move we did!   Over the two days we explored the whole of this beautiful island, once known as “the island at the end of the world” because in the 2nd Century BC a meridian line was placed in the most westerly point and remained a meridian line until 1885 when Greenwich was eventually recognised around the world as the meridian.   Unlike some of the other islands, El Hierro has both a beautiful, unspoilt coastline and stunning interior.   It has large flat plains, lava fields, extinct volcanoes, lush forests, black beaches, natural rock pools and pretty villages.   In short, a beautiful, special, unspoilt island.

One of the villages we visited was La Frontera – a picturesque settlement with calm natural swimming holes surrounded by jagged rocks and thundering waves crashing on the boulders around the pools.   Steve and Iain jumped into the cold water while Fi and I watched them laughing and acting like excited teenagers as waves broke nearby and water sprayed around them.  

We continued to a wrestling arena in the village, which is still used today for Canarian Wrestling where two wrestlers try to get any part of their opponents body to touch the floor.

There is another marina at the south of the island called Puerto de la Restinga.  As we walked around the marina we noticed a sea turtle feeding and swimming in the harbour.   It is one of the few marinas that has a clean beach within the port – we loved it and the laid back feel of the town which the marina is in the heart of.

Like so many of the other islands, artworks feature in towns, beaches and countryside. We stumbled across amazing statues and murals in hidden away places. One, close to the capital, Valverde, is a large plaster of paris construction that, on first inspection was a little unusual, but when we read the story behind it I liked it more! Underneath all the plaster was some discarded electrical equipment, fridges and even an old truck. Local children helped decorate the sculpture with other found objects, giving an impressive entrance into the town.

Once the car had been returned, Iain led us on exciting walks he had researched near to the marina.   We walked up hills and down cliffs.  We watched birds, swam in pools, were impressed by the many stone walls that zig zagged across fields and generally looked in awe at the impressive vistas we were treated to.  Every day my back was getting stronger and better. 

We had originally intended to only spend a few days in El Hierro but, with no wind forecast and an opportunity to rest my back, we were happily delayed on the island, along with a number of other boats in the marina who were waiting for the same good weather window to leave.   We decided it would be a perfect opportunity to meet new people so, with Ruffian, we organised a Sailors Sunday Sundowners and encouraged all the boats to bring food to share.    The turnout was great with most of the boats represented with people from France, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, USA, Norway, UK and of course NZ attending.   It was a lovely evening and afterwards the marina had a very different feel with everyone mixing, visiting other boats and more laughter and conversation.

The weather started to change and a window opened up for us to leave.   Iain had managed to work out why our Satellite phone would not allow us to send emails – a huge achievement and mission which we would not have found without him.    We were ready to go.   I spent the last day baking and preparing food for the 7 to 9 day passage, while Steve worked his way through a long list of last minute jobs.

We were about to start the longest passage either of us had done yet with 900NM of ocean in front of us.   We felt excited and ready to leave Europe behind and start exploring another continent.   El Hierro had been a perfect way to draw a line under our 20 month European adventure and we really did feel we had saved the best island in the Canaries to last.

La Gomera – Checking in with family and checking out of Canaries

La Gomera is the second smallest of the islands in The Canaries and is the most lush due to its micro-climate. We set sail with huge expectations, as many before us had said it was the most beautiful of all the islands.

We slipped out of the anchorage at Anfi Del Mar in Gran Canaria before it was light – which, seeing as it doesn’t get light until after 7am, did not necessarily mean it was horrendously early!   The forecast was for strong winds and this, on top of the acceleration zone, determined our early start to ensure we could be well on our way before the winds piped up later in the day.   We reefed our mainsail and made steady progress towards the southern most point of Tenerife.   We had booked into La Gomera marina for the following night, so wanted to ensure we were within easy reach for a slow sail in the shadow of Tenerife for the next day.   The wind continued to increase during the passage, getting over 30knots on occasions and the sea was very rolly as we approached Tenerife but Cerulean handled the conditions well and, as we rounded the southern most point of Tenerife, the seas calmed and wind dropped significantly.   

We anchored in Los Cristianos, just south of the popular tourist destination of Playa de las Americas but far enough away to enjoy a quiet night on anchor.   The bay was small with only room for around seven yachts and we were the seventh!   We anchored next to a Dutch friend’s boat and talked to him on the VHF for a while as neither of us had our dinghies inflated, but shared a drink over the radio and watched the sunset together!

The next morning we left early for La Gomera.  The sea was flat with not even a breath of wind so we motored and practiced different down-wind sailing sail plan options.    As we were drifting and playing with different sails, we noticed dark shapes in the water beside us and soon realised we were close to a pod of pilot whales.   We drifted and watched these magnificent animals slowly feeding and making their way north until a number of whale watch boats powered over towards us and chased the whales away.   It was a very special moment we shared with the whales in the peace and tranquility of the flat sea just watching them feed and listening to them blowing air and spurting water a few feet from the boat.  

The passage from Tenerife to La Gomera was only 20 nautical miles but we were in no hurry and, with no wind most of the way, we motored until we were about 10 miles from our destination when we unfurled the jib and enjoyed a leisurely sail.    I was not paying full attention and should have been more observant, so when we were hit with the acceleration winds a few miles east of the island, we had to act quickly to reef the jib.   We continued at good speed with just the one sail up but reefed down, until we were close to the entrance to the marina.    San Sebastian is the capital of the island and, once again we had problems contacting the marina to announce our arrival.   We were given permission to proceed through the port and follow the clearly marked buoyed channel into the marina.  Fortunately someone was there to help us berth and we happily settled into the lovely environment with big cliffs in front of us and colourful houses clinging onto the hillside, providing a wonderful backdrop to the small marina.  

La Gomera is almost circular in shape and is the second smallest island in the group. It has a population of around 22,000 and has a reputation of being so beautiful that many sailors arrive and never want to leave! It is lush and has its own micro-climate in the upper reaches of the island which is in contrast to the dry, steep cliffs on the coast. Christopher Columbus apparently enjoyed visiting this small island due to the fact that he was, allegedly, having an affair with the islands First Lady and they would secretly meet in the Torre del Conde, an old tower in a park on the waterfront.

Steve and I walked around the small town, visited the museum and climbed lots of steps to look out across the bay towards Tenerife. A dark stripe on the water clearly showed where the acceleration winds started which was fascinating to see from up high and interesting to watch boats approaching the zone, many being caught out in the same way we had been!

Back at the marina, once we managed to find the office to check in (it was not where the sign said it was…!), I was pleasantly surprised when I was able to arrange a space for Take Five to join us so we could spend more precious time with my sister and the Take Five crew.   A number of other boats had been trying for weeks for a space, and failed! Take Five had experienced an exciting passage from Gran Canaria, being hit by 40 knot winds so were really pleased we had been able to secure them a place.

Sadly, despite all our attempts, there were no hire cars available on the island which meant that our exploration had to be constrained to buses which definitely detracted from the full appreciation of the island.   Steve, Bea and I caught the bus to explore an area I had identified as a must see, but we missed the stop and ended up at the end of the bus route in the small town of Vallehermoso on the northern side of the island.   Fortunately the bus ride was beautiful and took us on windy, cliff edge roads around the rocky centre and northern coastline.    We found a lovely walk in the hills, climbing steep slopes following an initially, badly marked path through houses, up steps and then a gravel, dusty path leading sharply up a hill.   As we climbed higher the stone walls that terrace La Gomera’s steep hills became more apparent.   The island is lusher than its neighbours and has an ideal climate for agriculture.  However, the terrain is not so conducive, so from the late 1400’s to mid 1900’s,  the land was terraced to grow mainly tomatoes and bananas.  Sadly, as more people turned to tourism for a living, agricultural-based activities were abandoned so the stone walls started to fall into disrepair.   Recently they have been recognised as a World Heritage site and work has begun to restore and save the many terraces that are found all over the island.    The landscape is beautiful with the mixture of natural and man-made vistas across deep valleys and steep slopes. 

Our time with Bea and Andy was special but short.   We shared some great dinners and, on the last night, Suzi and Candice entertained us with beautiful music and singing.   We felt very privileged to spend time with this lovely, talented family but it was time to go our separate ways again.   We checked out of The Canaries, although were heading to the last island in the group but there were no check out facilities after La Gomera.   The procedure was not very formal and we’re unsure how “legal” it was, but we were given a photocopy of our passport with a date and marina stamp, which seemed to confirm we had the intention of leaving the country!

We said goodbye to Bea and Andy again, and left as Take Five blew their horn and waved us off.    We motored in no wind to the south of the island and anchored in a tiny bay on the South West side of La Gomera in an anchorage recommended us by an intrepid friend who had cruised the Canaries extensively a year ago and said this was one of his favourite anchorages.   We could see why as the bay was only big enough for one boat to anchor and the impressive cliffs rose above us and seemed to hold us close in on both sides.    A cave to the east was tantalisingly close but too far away for us to explore without inflating the dinghy.   As the moon came up we relished the peace and quiet of being alone in a beautiful anchorage and felt it was an apt farewell to another stunning island in this archipelago that has surprised us at every turn.    I felt we had not done La Gomera justice but from the little we had seen of the island, we had loved it and were once again leaving with the wish to see more.