Fw: Arriving at the start - Las Palmas!
Freespirit
Fri 6 Oct 2006 15:04
 More beautiful
sunsets....
Colin, James and I had a relatively
uneventful last leg of 280nm to make Las Palmas by 0800 on the 20th
September. The sun shone, there was some wind most of the time and we had
a wonderful sail for the first night. The wind dropped during the second
day but we motor sailed for most of the remainder of the trip. The
watermaker was fully operational, enabling us to use as much water as we
wanted. The only slight negative was that we did not catch any
more fish, in spite of the extra gear we picked up in Madeira. We know we
can catch them but our technique clearly is not yet fully refined.
It was a great feeling to see Las Palmas
at dawn and know that Free Spirit has made it to the start. It has been a
much bigger task than I had really expected to get everything organised in the
timescale I had set but we have made it. I am relieved, elated and
exhausted all at the same time.....
 A tired, but satisfied
skipper
 Colin on the approach to the Las
Palmas harbour entrance
 The marina at Las Palmas
 Filling up for the big
one....
The marina at Las Palmas is better (as
seen from the water) than I expected and seems relatively clean. We refuel
for the Atlantic trip and are given a berth right on the outer pontoon which I
am not happy about. We can see straight out to open water from our
berth. Remonstrating with the port office brings no joy so we settle down
to make the best of the mooring and sorting out the arrangements for the next 2
months. In the end, the marina does not appear to suffer too much from the
swell and wash from the outer harbour and, by the time we leave, I am reasonably
comfortable with the location.
There is a lot to do before we are ready
to leave and we book flights for the Thursday night. Everything seems
to take a huge effort as we are all tired, it is very hot and we are
berthed a long way from the facilities. Slowly, we get sorted
out and head to the airport for another night of travelling - but this
time in the air and not on the water. It all feels a little
strange.....
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