Madeira to Tenerife
4 October to 13 October
We left for Santa Cruz Tenerife on the Saturday morning with
a good weather forecast and a feeling that it was only 300 miles so was a short
hop. We planned for Catherine and me to take out the boat as part of the first
watch but with the swell entering the marina the boat was moving about in all
directions and we had not untied it yet! So Steve and Annie we called up and
between us we made it out of the marina unscathed.
The winds were stronger than expected at first which was due
to the funnelling effect of the islands. After 30 minutes we put in the first
of three reefs that we would need that day with winds exceeding 30 knots for
most of the day. The wind and the waves that followed the wind were not a
problem and we had an enjoyable sail at first. During the day, a further set of
waves built from the East, which came in groups of three, every four minutes or
so directly across the beam. These waves were steep and caused the boat to roll
from side to side. Not too bad during the day (you could do things between the
waves) but it made sleeping very difficult at night– back to sleeping in a
washing machine.
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| At last some fair weather |
Further reefs in the sail overnight kept the boat well
within its comfort zone until the morning when the Easterly waves subsided and
we were left with a very pleasant days sailing.
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| Our only sighting of Dolpins on route. |
Once we had arrived at Santa Cruz at 11am in the morning we
were very tired to the point that Catherine and I did nothing until the late
afternoon while Steve and Annie went to explore. Santa Cruz is a very
attractive town and the more we explored it the more we liked it. Catherine and
Annie search out the best restaurant on google before we headed out in the
evening. It took an even more intensive search on foot to actually find the
restaurant but was well worth it.
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| Catherine, Steve and Annie |
The following morning we all went on the tram to hill top
town of La Laguna which is 30 minutes away, high into the hills. It was a
former capital of Tenerife and was very engaging with old convents, churches,
museums and building. If there is a tower then we will climb it and so when we
found the church bell tower we climbed to the top. There were clear signs to
warn people about touching the bells or throwing rubbish off the top of the
tower. They did not mention that the bells strike every 15 minutes and it is
deafening when they do. So it was a shock to us at the top of the tower but
even more of a lucky escape for Steve who had been standing inside the bell just
seconds before it struck.
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| Lucky escape for Steve |
The following day we sailed from Santa Cruz to Las Galletas which
would be the end stop for Steve and Annie. But we had a few days still once we
were there to explore the area, particularly the British parts of Tenerife. But
first we had some maintenance to do.
Hope, Despair and
Victory
Steve had agreed to do spend Thursday on maintenance with me
and the main priority was to fix the water maker. Replacing the hose that we
had cut in error in Lisbon was straight forward and we put the diverter valves
in the correct pipe this time. We tracked the leak down to one particular joint
which we took apart and using TPFE tape we repaired it. We re-cleaned the water
maker with the cleaning chemical but this time we used warm water and set the
water maker to actually make water at the same time so all parts would be
cleaned.
So two hours later when we tried the water maker with sea water,
we were really pleased that the water had no smell, tasted drinkable and with
only a slight weep in the joint that we had repaired. We discussed that we could
live with the leak and we could make matters worse if we tried to repair it.
However, there is that nagging feeling that we had not quite finished the job
so we took it apart and brought some better jointing “string” (better than TPFE
tape according to the advert) to secure
the joint.
After a couple of attempts, we wound yet more of the string
around the thread and on the final attempt to screw it in we cross threaded it. I
had noticed this quickly so there was limited damage but it was not going to go
back on without a Tap to recut the first part of the thread. Nothing left to do
but pack up and go into Los Americanos to meet Annie’s sister Lynne and
boyfriend John for a curry. Nice to have traditional English food again and
this was our first experience of the British part of Tenerife. Curry was not bad and after a few more drinks
we put any thought of water makers behind us.
I was confident on the Friday that we would fix the problem and
we set off to the local hardware store where they speak English to buy a Tap
and Dye set. On the way we passed a Chandlers come hardware shop and decided to
ask them as we were passing. The shop keeper did not speak one word of English
but was interested in what the problem was. So Steve mimed the sequence of us
screwing in a thread which became cross threaded. It was clear he still did not
quite understand (as he tried to sell as PTFE tape) but he pointed to his phone
and tried to call someone, presumably who spoke English.
After failing to get through, he indicated that we should
follow him and he beckoned us to get into his van. We were a little
disconcerted after driving 20 minutes when we had no idea where we were going
and why. During the journey, Steve sat in the front, and through a combination
of mime and naming the odd country which he recognised, recounted our journey from
England to Tenerife.
We arrived at a house which can only be described as a
building site inside, rubble everywhere and not habitable but we did meet his
friend. Not sure how he thought this person was going to help as he was not a talented
builder, could not speak English and seemed to have no tools other
than a few hammers (which explains the state of the house). But
clearly a very good friend of his and it seemed that he had used us as an
excuse to leave his wife in the shop while he could go out. Steve once
again mimed what the problem was and how it happened using a large plastic
bottle as a prop which seemed to generate a common understanding of the problem at last.
They drove us to the hardware superstore and after 30 minutes (mainly chatting
to more of his friends) established that they did not have the right tools
either.
We were resigned to not getting the problem fixed today on
the way back to the marina but once again we stopped off at his shop on route
while the two of them rummaged through various drawers. Eventually he showed me
pipe joint with a thread that was tapered which might just recut the thread. My
hope was restrained by the knowledge that they could just further damage the
thread and I would have even a bigger problem to sort out.
So the four of us went back to the boat to find it locked up
– it was now two hours after we had said that we had said to Catherine and Annie that we would be 10 minutes and
neither of us had our phones. We had the possible means of correcting our
problem, two willing volunteers but we could not gain access! As an off chance
I suggested that they may have put the keys somewhere for us which
proved to be the case. A dodgy couple of moments where I could see everything
falling apart yet again!
However, we got access to the boat and we use the tapered
joint to recut the first part of the thread to my great relief. The question
was now how to pay them for the last two hours but they refused to take any
money. And we had not even managed to speak one sentence to each other.
Thirty minutes later the pipe was back on, fully secured and
we had cured the leak. Thanks to Steve, his enthusiasm, patience and
determination that is one big job successfully put to bed.
Back to Real Life
That night we met up with Lyn and John again and went to the
restaurant that is colloquially known as the Cow Shed – basically it serves
meat and lots of it. We ordered 3 meals for 5 of us which was still far too
much but the meat was excellent. Managed to drink too much again and ended up
in our favourite bar on the way back. I am beginning to think that Steve and
Annie were a bad influence – they may feel it is the other way round!
Saturday was the last day Steve and Annie were with us and
they went off to the beach for the day. Catherine and I went to explore Los
Christianos as we had never been there. Steve described Los Christianos as
Blackpool with sunshine which is probably a fair description - everyone we met
was British, the signs were in English and the bars were run by Brits. It markets
itself not on charm but on cheap beer and curries although we did not really explore
too deeply.
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| El Medano |
The next day we went to El Medano to see if this would be a
good place for Rebecca, Ed and our grandson Arthur to come to in October. It
has a nice feel to the town, a mixture of different nationalities and good
restaurants and Cafes. The beach was also sandy so would be good for Arthur.
With that settled, we prepared to set off for la Gomera the
next day.
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