The Canary Islands: Lanzarote – Arrecife

Well you will be happy to know I finally got the humans to get moving.

They feigned strong winds, then company and then illness, but they ran out of excuses and I finally got them to cut the tether to the Island of Graciosa.

We were the second last of the ‘Madeira’ crowd to leave, but the family on Selkie quickly caught up to us.  We are to meet up with them again on the next island Fuerteventura.  They plan on spending Christmas there.

Can you believe they built the boat in their back yard in their ‘spare time’.  They did predict that it would take them 3 years.  Nine years and two kids later they are finally sailing to new adventures.

I was hopping the humans would get me to the next great beach on the south tip of the island, but slow going in light winds and some good luck fishing meant they decided to anchor up half way down before dark.  We ended up in the capital city Arrecife.

Arrecife is a city, need I say more, but it is distinctly Spanish and has a lovely sea front and some interesting tourist sights.

Their is a maze of harbours that interconnect with canals and bridges.

Watch out anyone who tries to steal our boat from anchor!

Of the three ‘deep water’ harbours you can only anchor in one now.

The first harbour is industrial, and anchored boats get in their way.

The second harbour is larger and regularly used by the large sea liners.  But, a common trend, they are building a Marina over the old anchorage at the end of the harbour.

The third and smallest harbour remains open for boats to anchor in, but only in fair weather.  The harbour is a mix of sand and stone, giving variable hold and shallows very quickly, leaving very little room for yachts to squeeze into.

When the human’s woke up this morning there was NO wind.

Safe for the anchoring, but no good for sailing down the coast.

They decided to get some things done that ‘require a city’.  One human is complaining of a sore mouth now from a visit to the dentist.  Reasonable cost at 40 euros, but a return visit is needed on Monday to check on it.  The other human indulged in Chandlers.  Lots of little repairs to do before crossing the pond.  Lots of little bits needed to do the repairs.

Light winds are predicted for the rest of the weekend, so it looks like we will stay here until after the dentists visit.  Not the prettiest spot to be stuck, but there are lots of things to do and discover.