28:00.423N 16:39.603W Tue 5^th Feb 2019

We are off again at last!  We left our berth in Las Palmas on Monday, Feb 4^th  and were very glad to be moving on after rather a long spell in the city.  Our first 7 hour sailing day was down the eastern coast of Gran Canaria in rolly seas.  We had to motor for over 2 hours at the start, but then sailed, patiently, on genoa alone with a following wind.  By 3.20pm we were anchored off the resort of Anfi del Mar at the southern tip of the island with several very large hotels overwhelming a modest beach as backdrop.  David then leapt into action and snorkelled under the boat (water temp. 20C) to scrape off the worst of the very extensive worm incrustation we had picked up, whilst stationary in warm Canarian waters.   First mate could only marvel at his energy and make him a cup of tea after his half hour of exertion.  Shortly afterwards we were visited by a Spanish customs rib who boarded and took all our details down – not a very common experience for us on our travels.

After a fairly calm night at anchor we left before 8am for the 54 mile passage west to Tenerife’s southern tip.  The wind was again well behind us so we sailed goose-winged and then conventionally but with still poled out genoa for most of the day.  Dying, fluky winds at the end meant we motored for the last hour to the marina in the small town of Las Galletas.  The location here is unusual as the marina is right in the town which is described as a genuine and not very touristy.  A walk around after our arrival confirmed this, despite a huge and very ugly hotel dominating one edge of town.  There are views towards the mountains inland including Mt. Teide, Spain’s highest at over 3700m but all pretty hazy at the moment.

Distant view of Mt Teide Tenerife from the harbour of Las Galletas: