Las Palmas We made it!
Chiscos - Atlantic Cruise
John Simpson
Sun 16 Oct 2011 12:58
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28:07.36n
015:25.40w
We have finally arrived in Las Palmas ready for the
start of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers which leaves on 20th
November.
 It was an unbelievably tough sail to Gran Canaria! We
left San Miguel, Tenerife at 0800 with a forecasted NE4-6 wind.
Once we cleared the land, it started blowing harder. It
then got stronger and stronger during the day until afternoon when it was
blowing a steady F8 at 36 knots. We made very slow progress! We had
hoped it would take about 14 hours to cover the 65 miles, as it was,
we were tacking all night covered 109 miles(!)and eventually arrived here at
0800 in the morning.
The crew were fantastic and coped well with the
conditions.
After checking in, we have been shown to our 'ARC' berth
where Chiscos will be for the next 5 weeks. Stern to moorings are the order of
the day.
Gran Canaria is the biggest city we have been to since
La Coruna, and it feels strange to see so many people, buses and cars. It is a
large marina, and a real sailors cross roads with people coming and going to all
points of the globe.
Our berth is on R pontoon just across the breakwater
from the nice looking beach.
 Sadly today we have said farewell to Corrine. She has
been a great member of the Chiscos crew, and we look forward to welcoming her
back to the boat in May to sail with us for the leg from Tortola to the
Azores.
 Mikaela, the skipper and Corinne as she left the boat,
bound for the airport and a return to Switzerland.
For those of you who are interested, since the 21st July
2011, we have logged 2162 miles and used 153 engine hours.
The blog will resume when we get back to Las Palmas and
start our ARC preparation around the 10th November.
John
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