An early start was not needed today which was just as well as Si rather fancied pancakes for his Sunday breakfast. I was a good girl and made blinis for later with my share of the mix. After a quick top up with water we were ready to leave. Half way through preparing the lines the wind doubled in strength and swung 180°. It was a tad breezy out of the marina and we flew along with just the jib until through the channel between Isla de Lobos and Fuerteventura. The sea was the brightest blues I’ve ever seen and despite the nasty swell made me yearn to take a dip. Fuerteventura looked so different from Lanzarote; not a fraction of the tourism, sand coloured buildings and a desert feel to the landscape. It was no surprise when zooming out on the chartplotter to see Gran Canaria was the same distance away as Sahara. We were probably only 50 miles from the African coast. Turning south round the top of the island we hoisted the mainsail and Fuerteventura (Strong wind) lived up to its name. It blew F5/6 and our top speed was 10.4kts Yo! What a shame the swell was so awful as well though providing a very rolly day and making our planned anchorage totally unfeasible. Si checked the pilot books and we decided to press on another twelve miles to the southern side of the island which would hopefully provide more protection from the elements. Luckily we picked up about a knot of tide rounding the south-east corner to speed us on our way, but this also came with converging winds. Swift reefing of sails was called for then a gybe to take us round the corner. The landscape had now changed from yellow sandy beaches backed with volcanoes to very barren, hilly and mountainous terrain. Looking along the coast I was so relieved to see high headland to windward of our anchorage which the chartplotter showed tucked nicely into a bay. There are no real facilities for yachts on the island and most of the anchorages are along the east coast; not good for the direction of today’s wind and swell.

   Dropping the sails was rather hairy heading to wind straight towards the cliffs, but soon an empty anchorage greeted us. We dropped the hook in 7m of water above a sandy bed. Far from being protected however we found ourselves being hit by quite a swell from one way and F5/6 winds being funnelled towards us over land between the hills on the other. On a bright note, with the help of the tide earlier we had arrived with perfect timing before dark and caught the last of the sunset with G&Ts and smoked salmon blinis. I was a little ambitious in the galley cooking dinner considering it resembled a see-saw. I thought I’d taken pork chops out of the ice box but it turned out to be chicken breast fillets. Coating them in seasoned flour, egg then breadcrumbs before the pan was quite a challenge and I don’t know how the egg stayed on the plate. The ever hardy carrots and cabbage came out again, they last forever and cook so easily in so many ways. Usually in conditions like these we are at sea eating one handed out of our ‘dog bowls’, so eating at the table was quite entertaining. Instant death would result from laying a knife down! Both tired it was an early night but sadly a sleepless one. Waves slapping into the stern and the wind generator going crazy moved us to the saloon berths but the rolling of the boat and high winds lead to an eventful night with frequent checks of the anchor.