As usual, the actual writing has been left to the last minute. Too much sun and shopping. We've enjoyed our time here, met great people ( as usual ) and it will be a bit of a wrench to move on from this particular comfort zone. But we will meet them again for more of those 'small world' moments which never cease to amaze us, even if they don't surprise us.
AT ANCHOR
On September 15th, the bay we tried so hard to anchor in on our arrival opens for boats. Off we went accompanied by Vladimir and a couple of others, thinking that there would be a mass exodus. After all, it is considerably cheaper ....
We dropped the hook on a wreck ( good start ) but community spirit won and a guy rowed over to see if he could help. Half an hour and he had dived down and got it free. It seems to me that anchoring is a black art. Like conjuring. Our trick will be finding our anchor when we leave! And everybody can have problems - we seem to have had our fair share of boats snuggling up a bit close - including a 'small world moment' with a boat from the US with a UK owner who hailed from Tavistock. And of course we've met up with another pair who we knew in Turkey. And so it goes on .... We have access to the marina facilities and can get water and even bring the boat in to top up on electricity. We daren't do that in case we lose our prime spot!
We're a fixture and have been credited with being experts on Guyana and Suriname! Whilst we have some knowledge passed onto us by a friend in the UK ( thanks Pete for getting us into this ... ) and I've looked at Noonsite, we are far from expert!
The majority of boats here, both in the anchorage and in the marina, we think are French, followed by Germans, Scandinavians. The UK boats seem to be with the ARC, which we found interesting. No Spanish ( until Mario, the Yanmar engineer decides to leave ) and one Portuguese. Given their sailing history it's a shame. Perhaps we're all in danger of becoming serfs with the spirit knocked out of us by successive governments. That and being 'dumbed down' to by the media and education systems ..... OK - another soapbox moment over with! Having said that, there are so many different varieties of boat arriving ... from this ....
The chandlers are moving up several gears with huge boxes of stuff arriving each day. They are excellent and their prices aren't too bad either. It all adds to the atmosphere.
LAS PALMAS
We like it. It's a Spanish city with interesting back streets as well as an old town with the usual tidy architecture.
Less of the jokes about 'tidy architecture' please ....
There is a Sunday market - everything an euro!
They also have plenty of sculptures - some of a nautical flavour, and some that are not .......
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| They have just seen the weather forecast .... and are not very happy about it ... |
And of course there is the other sailors hide out ...
SAILORS BAR
Everyone ends up here (and in the launderette which is open 24/7 ) However, it's our first real contact with a 21st century bar in that sailors do meet and talk but there also a holy hush as they worship at the shrine of the great god Apple. Ipads, laptops, Iphones. Talk of connections, signals, 4G, dongles (how rude! ) Each to his own. I'm afraid my own inclinations, budget, ability and patience makes me a poor candidate for anything technical, and as for Brian, he has trouble working his phone!
But we've made friends there and had some laughs as well as lots of coffee and tea after the ubiquitous shopping trip! You see - I'm not such a curmudgeon!
We decided that we would have crew to help with the crossing. That might mean that Brian gets some sleep and I don't get keel hauled for some misdemeanour or other. We put an advert on Crewseekers and immediately the replies started to come in. Some lovely people ( well, they wrote good mails ) are now on our list for the future, plus others who have passed the acid test of sailing with Larry on Blue Star.
We are a truly international group who should be speaking fluent English, French, Spanish and German by the end of the trip! You will hear more about them as we go, but I'll give you a taster ....
This is Ishmael and Lisa who are good friends but not an item ( as we thought ) This pic was taken on Brian's birthday when they cooked beautiful crepes au chocolat. Such good things comes from France! They were one of the first to approach me in the bar about joining us and whilst we looked for more, didn't want us to forget about them - hence the offer of crepes! Vladimir came complete with naval hat and T shirt. It was a memorable time! Ish was a professional chef and has been invaluable in helping me provision the boat. His father also works/ed for Beneteau. Lisa actually knows about the film actor Jacques Tati so she shows discriminating taste.
Philip is German and has travelled widely. He makes a surprising number of Euros juggling at traffic lights. Frank Walmsley take note - here is a chance to utilise your unicycle skills and earn your beer money!
Tony is from the UK and has owned boats and done a lot of sailing. This is his first really long trip. but anyone who can negotiate the English Channel has a flying start!
There are many people looking to cross. Lots with little or no experience. The Atlantic has a somewhat romantic hold on some - sunsets and gently rocking yachts, as on the back cover adverts of Practical Boat Owner .. we won't hold our breath on the gently rocking boat bit ...
So - when customs releases our EPIRB - we'll be off into the wild blue yonder. I'm not putting the epirb story on the blog. I don't want to go there again - it's a nightmare story. When my blonde bits grow out I'll be white!
It'll be a while, but don't give up on me - there are BOUND to be stories .....
