ABONA to LAS GALLETAS south coast of Tenerife 28 00.4N 16 39.6W
Barada
Paul Downie
Sat 20 Oct 2007 18:11
first a tanker appeared on the horizon, then 15 mins later a freighter
appearing to be heading straight for us. For some reason the Radar wouldn't
fire up, so we tried to raise them on the VHF but no reply. Then it appeared
that the first one was altering course to pass to our stern, then 20 mins
later the following freighter altered course also - a tense half-hour has
passed! The wind increases as we sail through the WAZ close to Tenerife and
the NE swell is heading straight for the coast with no easing so landfall at
Abona seems unlikely in these conditions. At 1720 and 1.5 nm offshore we
abandon entry to Abona and head south with a following sea, making for Las
Galletas 10km west of the Airport on the south coast of Tenerife, a small
fishing port with a popular area for anchoring - we hope it will be calmer
seas thereabouts, but will we get there before nightfall?
At 1930 the Nav. and steaming lights are switched on but we still have
nearly 8 nm to go, approx 2 hrs motor-sailing. A half-moon kept us company
and stars twinkled in the sky and by now the sea was flat and calm like dark
silk.
We had to locate a Q(2)G 7s on the end of the breakwater - took a while to
understand exactly what sequence we were looking for, and as you can imagine
there was a lot of shore lights making detection difficult. With the help of
the Plotter and a visual of the lighthouse on Pta Rasca straight ahead of
us, using the binnoculars we sighted the green breakwater light and headed
in slowly keeping close to the end of the breakwater because of the danger
of outlying rocks on either side. We slowly motor in and are surprised to
find the anchorage area taken up by pontoons - 2 deckboys call to us and
allocate us a berth, but we have to turnaround and organise the fenders and
ropes for bow-to mooring. Roberto and a Dutch guy off the yacht lying aside
our berth helped with the mooring lines and by 2145 we were secure and
heading for our bunks.
We sailed 50nm in 11.5 hrs.