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LOG ENTRY DATE: November 2, 2003 Please click here to view a map of the Canary Islands. Tom, Lincoln, and I arrived in Santa Cruz, Tenerife, on Thursday morning, October 30, thus completing the second of three legs in getting back to the Caribbean. We left Madeira and the Ilhas Desertas at 1200 on the previous Tuesday, expecting that the 250 mile trip would take 48 hours—especially given the slow wind conditions we were experiencing before we left. At first we were right: after the northerly died at 1700, we motored for the first night, and into the next morning. But, the wind shifted to the northeast, and before long, it was filling out sails well, pushing us on beam reach on a course of sse towards Tenerife. And, it kept building, to the point where we were averaging 7.5 knots. . . we realized that unless we slowed down, we'd overrun the island at night (0300 or so), meaning we either have to anchor, circle around outside the harbor, or try to enter at dark—neither of which appealed to me. So, we tucked in one reef on the main—slowed us down to 7 knots. OK, how about another reef? That slowed us down to 6.8 or so. In came all but a small scrap of the genoa— down to 6 knots! The final configuration: no genoa and a double reefed main, moving at an average of 5.5 knots, which brought us the northeast corner of the island at daybreak. I've always worried about keeping the boat going—never trying to stop her—didn't realize it could be so difficult! The other excitement of the day came when we hooked a fish while moving at about 7 knots. . . Tom reeled it in, and it turned out to be a small dorado. Since we were almost on top of Tenerife (and all of us with secret but as yet undiscussed plans involving eating onshore and imbibing large quantities of beer), we unhooked the fish and set it free. Next time. . . hopefully on the way across to the Caribbean. All in all, this trip barely qualified as a passage, since it took us 50 miles or so to be out of sight of Madeira, and we were able to spot the lume of Tenerife from about that same distance. . . so, we were never too far from land! Nonetheless, the motion of the boat was certainly "offshore" (rolling left and right as the large swells came up from behind and passed under either side of the transom), and our three man, 4 on—8 off schedule made us feel like we were back at sea again. Like Madeira, Tenerife is a rugged island, with jagged green mountains and cliffs that front the sea. However, it isn't quite as steep, and it's also more populated: 700,000 people live on Tenerife, the Canary's largest island. The city of Santa Cruz underscores this: it's a bustling town, with a very active waterfront. Commercial vessels come and go, as well as cruise ships and the fast ferries from Spain. The marina is large, and holds a large variety of sailboats— the vast majority of whom seem to be sailing for the Caribbean in the next month or so. As planned, we ended up the first night at a good Spanish restaurant, after getting ourselves situated at the marina, which is always a series of chores: i.e. plug in the electricity, get the water hooked up, take off the bikes, clean up the cabin, check in with the authorities, take showers, chat with the new neighbors, tie and retie— several times—all of the lines associated with docking, etc. So, it's hardly unreasonable to think that after that amount of work, our efforts should go unrewarded. Problem being, of course, that we are the ones that mete out our own rewards, which we do with a heavy hand—often resulting in a heavy head the next day. On Friday, we did our standard rent-a-car-and-explore-the-island thing. In this case, the exploration was as interesting as it was on Madeira. Like Madeira, one put oneself completely in the hands of the driver (in this case, Link, whose style includes taking sharp, cliff-side corners in the oncoming traffic lane) as the car goes up and over the ubiquitous mountains and switchbacks. And, like Madeira, the views were awesome: small towns nestled into ravines, the Atlantic pounding the northern shore. Unlike Madeira, though, Tenerife has a much more explicit geological history, which can be seen when one visits the Parque Nacional del Teide. The park is named after the largest mountain in Spain: El Teide, which rises up over Tenerife at 12,195 feet. What makes it interesting is that it's also a volcano, and a relatively young one. So, when one visits the park—which is a huge area, but well marked with educational signs—one can see the lava and pumice fields, the leftover lava pipes (which, given their relative hardness, did not erode at the same rate as the surrounding rock, and thus left tall spires), and the obvious volcanic cone of El Teide. Interestingly, El Teide has built itself up recently, in geologic terms. Although it only "blows" after centuries of being dormant, it has arisen in a place that once contained an even larger volcano. This volcano's entire top actually sheared off and plunged as a landslide into the sea, leaving an enormous crater behind, in which newer volcanoes have sprung up. Anyway, I don't know if my shipmates were as fascinated by it as I was, but I know they were enthralled by the landscape: it's much like the pictures we see of the surface of mars: lots of red rocks (pumice) in dust, and very, very barren. Like traveling through another world. Even the approaches to the park were interesting: pine forests that were completely clear of undergrowth, and roadway sections that showed the piling up of volcanic emissions layer by layer. We found yet another good Spanish restaurant that evening in the town of Candelaria, which is 10 miles south of Santa Cruz. And, we were treated to a local wine that was delicious and cheap—standard fare for Spain! In the morning, we said an early goodbye to Lincoln, who headed for home at 0600. Sorry to see the last of the crew depart, but looking forward to the next arrivals. In the meantime, Tom and I continue to do boat chores, including fixing leaky deck fittings, masthead work, replenishing our diesel and propane supplies, and a variety of other things required before we set off for Antigua on November 15th. |
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