San Miguel only went to reaffirm our appreciation of La Gomera. For fans of the ITV2 epic “The only way is Essex” San Miguel might be likened to a cross between “Marbs” and Sauf’end.

 

Anyway, I digress. We left the following morning and had a pleasant motor to an anchorage by the best beach in the canaries. I think this might have been an exaggeration, but it was a beach in that it had sand and was located by the sea. Always keen to improve our sailing performance, Mandy and I dived in and spent the evening scrubing the hull. I had a rather nice snorkel dive but got carried away and somewhat hypothermic.

 

 

After dinner and a film on the boat cinema we set off to Las Palmas, where the ARC will depart on the 20th. There was no wind so we motored. At the crack of dawn Avril and I put out our highly researched and considered fishing equipment, expecting it to be a fruitless task as usual. I was just getting some breakfast when Avril noticed a growing number of seagulls overhead. WE HAD CAUGHT A FISH!!!!!! After 3 weeks of nothing I hauled in a small tuna. The tuna was completely resistant to apple schnapps but a screwdriver was very clean and avoided the blood bath that was seen with the dorado. Unfortunately sashimi for breakfast seemed wrong so it went into the fridge for later.

 

 

We arrived to Las Palmas where there was some delay with formalities but we eventually squeezed into a berth which will be our home for the next week and a bit. Our safety inspection was scheduled for the afternoon so we rushed around the boat doing some last minute jobs. Needless to say we passed without any problems and our inspecting chap was very impressed.

 

 

In the evening we attended our first of the ARC parties, accompanied by Rod and Cal, friends of Pete and Avril who Mandy and I had met on the Round the Island race. There was plenty of roast pork and potatoes canaries style which were just awesome.

 

The next day we explored the town and Pete worked on optimising the SSB. Mandy and I cooked the tuna. In steaks, seared on the BBQ, seasoned cajun style. Possibly the best meal of the trip so far.

 

The evening kicked off with free drinks at happy hour, then went on to the local government welcoming party. More free booze was appreciated by  (some of) the crew. I remember there being drag artists and some magicians. Good times.