It’s still dark with just the slightest tint of pink behind us as we enter through the piers of the marina from Las Palmas. It’s a big marina but crowded and in the dark we see only one spot where Guppy could fit. Once moored up, Sander and I try to get some sleep after having been up most of the night but it doesn’t last long. About 10 minutes later we are being woken by someone from the marina who tells us this place we tied up is fine and we need to come to the office at 9 am to clear in. That’s still another 1.5hrs but we stay up and have some breakfast. Slowly the rest of our young crew crawl out of bed as well and after some schoolwork and having registered at the marina office we head out into the city. One of the girls phones has broken and we set out to find a phone repair shop which we find relatively quick. The guy said he would see what he could do and we should come back at five o’clock to pick up the phone. So we head further into town to look at the city centre and the big cathedral. By the time we come back to the phone repair shop we have walked quite a few kilometres. The phone is working again which brings a big smile, so we head back to Guppy who still lays peacefully moored in the Marina. The following morning Sander sets out to get a few supplies and spares for the boat as this is the last big city we will see in a long time. When he comes back we set sail again towards Anfi Del Mar. A great anchorage that I spend nearly a month in on my original circumnavigation 10 years ago. I made good friends there that would be very disappointed if I would have just sailed past. So we couldn’t miss that spot. We race along the coast over the turquoise blue water that is being whipped up by the strong blows that come forth from the squall behind us. With this great speed we sail out of the cloudy and rainy part of the island and into the sun. Gran Canaria has a high mountain and often the clouds will all pile up against it, causing the north part of the island to be greener but also rainier than the south. We manage to get to the anchor place just before dark, anchoring in 10 meters of Crystal clear water. We have a good holding on anchor and so I am very pleased. As soon as I have the engine turned off the first teens have already landed in the water for a nice evening swim. That night Sander and Mike make a huge pile of very tasty pancakes which we eat outside in the soft warm evening breeze. The following day I spend some time with my friends and Sander leaves the young crew the choice whether they want to explore ashore or stay onboard. They choose to stay on board and spend most of the day swimming and playing around the boat. At 4.30pm we raise the anchor again, this time pointing Guppy’s nose west to sail to La Gomera. An Island where I haven’t been before so I’m just as curious as the rest. The winds are as expected, we motor sail along the coast of Gran Canaria until the 25 knots of wind that funnels between Gran Canaria and Tenerife kicks in. Sista did a great job making good Pizza’s in the choppy seas that Guppy is now wrestling though, while most of the others stayed outside dodging the odd wave jumping on board. As soon as we get behind Tenerife the wind drops again and we slowly motorsail the rest of the way, arriving in La Gomera early morning.

La Gomera

We anchor in a bay close to San Sebastian for a few hours and head towards the marina entrance at 10.30am to witness the start of the Talisker Ocean Rowing Challenge. This is an ocean rowing race that goes from La Gomera to Antigua – a complete Atlantic Crossing. Most of us onboard agree that the people partaking must be a bit crazy, but are also very brave and strong. There are different classes, some row alone some together and there also a few boats that have three or four people onboard. We follow along for a little while before veering off back to the coast to anchor in another beautiful bay that has good snorkelling around the rocks. So we all put on some wetsuits, fins and snorkels and jump into the dinghy to drive to the best snorkel spot. 

The following day we head to the Marina in San Sebastian because we have an appointment to get everyone a COVID-19 PCR test which is required for our next stop, the Cabo Verde 🙂

Laura.

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