Still here in Las Palmas!

We are still here, preparing for the next step. We think it will be Brazil somewhere, if we are not stopping at the Cape Verde Islands. But first we must do a few things, like installing an extra solar panel, repair some scratches on the bow.., change a broken piece of the watermaker, hook up the SSB, install the Hydrovane... And Ingeborg and Thorstein have a period of more intense studies as we don't know how easy it will be while we are underway. Well, we have to know where we are also, so last week-end we rented a car to see more of the island. We drove down to the south where we had been with the boat earlier. Walked around in Playa del Ingles and in Arguinegin together with all the tourists. Then we headed north, through the mountains and found some of the very "scenic routes". Some road blocks were poorly marked so we ended up with some detours. But it was a wonderful landscape, strange rock formations and the view over to Tenerife and Teide behind clouds and mist. A remote finca had put up a stall by the road where they sold wine, honey and various other of their produces. We bought a bottle of wine but haven't tasted it yet. I'm afraid it won't gain much from storage.. so we'll taste it before we leave. We have also seen that there is a museum presenting the original inhabitants of the islands here in Las Palmas, Pueblo Canarias. I hope we find time to visit before we leave.

Gjertrud

Las Palmas!

We have arrived safely in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, after a smooth sail from Gibraltar. Originally we planned to stop for a day in Lanzarote, but after a couple of days at anchor south of Isla Graciosa we decided to go directly to Gran Canaria. Anniken, Ingeborgs friend will arrive tomorrow, and we didn't want to have a too tight time schedule. The summer has arrived also, with a forecast of sunny days and 20 degC all of next week.
As indicated the weather has been good for sailing over the Easter week. Even if the first days were a bit too calm and later it was a bit rolly with the Atlantic swells. But all in all within the limits of what is good sailing conditions. We have tried the cruising chute and the mizzen staysail for the first time. Really, colorful and nice sails for the light winds of the first days. We have seen a lot of dolphins, and even observed how they were surfing just below the surface when the waves was big enough.. It looked as if they had a real good time, too!
More scary was it to encounter a fishing boat that must have sunk just before we came. Only the tip of the bow was above the surface, while another fishing boat was patroling the area to make sure no-one would hit the wreck!