Las Palmas on Gran Canaria, and now Tenerife

At El Teide, Tenerife

Internet continues to be difficult to find, so again this will be short.  We sailed to Las Palmas overnight, trying all the time to slow down so we would not arrive before dawn.  We wanted to go because any sailor knows that it is the traditional departure point for crossing the Atlantic to the west.  Even Columbus knew this!  The Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, 250 boats strong, leaves from there on Sunday the 20th, so we were concerned that we would not find room in the anchorage, but we were wrong.  All the rally boats were in the marina, so we independent cruisers had plenty of room.  We loved the place, walking all over in the old town to see the Columbus museum and taking the bus up the mountain to wonderful botanic garden.  Gran Canaria is dry and volcanic too but not as starkly beautiful as Lanzarote.

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Volcanos everywhere

But the calendar was moving on, as it does, so very early in the morning on Friday we raised the anchor in Las Palmas and motor sailed to Tenerife.  Dale has a flight to meet and Harry wanted to connect with an old friend from his Foxboro days who is only here until Wednesday.  After a terrible night at a sub-standard marina called the Marina del Sur, we moved to Marina San Miguel only 3 miles down the coast and are happily settled.  We have rented a car and yesterday drove across the high volcanic canada and took a windy and sometimes cold hike around some fantastic volcanic rock formations.  Luckily we chose the right direction so it was fun and not another "Bataan death march".

Dale has to leave tonight and we are really going to miss her.  She has been such fun, as well as a very valuable member of our crew.  The time has flown by, and she has an open invitation to join us anywhere, anytime.  We will spend the next few days reorganizing our boat and finishing jobs we need to do before the passage.

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