27:48.99N, 15:45.95W . A few days of city life is always guaranteed to prompt us into moving on again, and whilst Las Palmas has a romantic sounding name, in reality it's a city with all that's good and bad about city living. The original small town has been swallowed up by newer high rise developments which, it has to be said, are not very attractive. The city has also spread towards the busy container port, with ships from around the world offloading their cargoes. Not really our cup of tea, although we did take time to visit El Corte Anglais the famous international department store to top up on supplies. (Poor Nikki - she keeps stocking up for the Big Trip and we subsequently continue to eat through it as we move through the islands). The highlight of our Las Palmas visit was a reunion with our friends from Lanzarote who were visiting the island for the day and our friends from the catamaran Lambada complete with their gorgeous Australian Cattle Dog (called Sydney). Otherwise we were pleased to be moving on, and to a location we'd last sailed into in February 1991 - Puerto Mogan on the southwest coast of Gran Canary. Nicknamed "Little Venice" and situated in a small bay with a dramatic backdrop of towering cliffs it is a small harbour/marina which is surrounded by cafes & restaurants around the waterfront, with colourful apartments making up the remainder of the backdrop. The "canal" running between and under the apartments adds the Venice flavour.  Mogan also sustains a small fishing fleet which adds additional interest as well as a slight fishy essence. We loved this place in 1991 and wondered if so many years of mass development would have spoiled this idealic haven. 

Our trip from Las Palmas also gave us a opportunity to see what the coast to the south was like. We left the marina at 0900 and set out into a choppy windless sea with an underlying swell from the northeast. After a couple of hours motoring the wind filled in and we had a north-easterly force 4-5 which despite our heavy load gave us a pleasant sail as far as Maspalomas where you enter the island's wind shadow. The fishing line was out for some hours only to be hauled in later with an old plastic bag caught round the hook - not terribly attractive to any passing Tuna. Anyway - back on with the engines with a final couple of hours motoring into Mogan. Whilst time does dull the memory most of what we remember is still as it was, although the backdrop of high cliffs has been eaten into by apartments and villas, but unlike other locations on this coast in a subtle way. So we were glad to be back after so many years, the only fly in the ointment being a non operative marina wifi system. And we are fresh out of homing pigeons! Oh how cruising has changed over the years.