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Date: 05 Dec 2006 12:00:00
Title: Las Palmas, Gran Canaria
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It was a day’s sail from Santa Cruz and we have now been in Las Palmas for a week.  The marina lies within a large commercial port and the water is dirty, the traffic noisy and the pavements crowded.  BUT, we have two remarkably well stocked chandleries at the end of the pontoon,  technical experts arrive within an hour or two of a phone call, the yard is accommodating and there is a really excellent oriental restaurant in the environs.  The jewel in the marina’s crown is Pedro, in charge of the fuel dock.  He fixes everything, including Camping Gas, disused equipment removal and hire cars, which he arranges to be brought to the end of the pontoon where transactions are concluded at very reasonable cost and with the minimum of paperwork.  He is pleased to describe himself as “your secretary in Spain”.  What more could we want?  Only moderate marina charges and these too are part of the package.

 

It is a bit of a change to find such impressive shops within walking distance.  El Corte Ingles is very reminiscent of John Lewis’s except that one floor is entirely devoted to food.  Mags finds it not entirely to her liking to be carried back into the wider commercial world from the vegetable stalls and mini-markets that we are more used to.  Still it’s a wonderful place to stock up in.

 

We are expecting to be hauled out on Monday for a look at the skin fittings, a change of anodes and a coat of anti-fouling.  We are also having to fit a new VHF radio.  The thirteen-year-old unit that came with the boat has given up the ghost and, of course, the manufacturers give a sharp intake of breath and explain that spares are now quite impossible.  It goes without saying that when facing the cost of the wonderful new radio the metaphor that springs immediately to mind involves “an arm and a leg”.

 

Our friends Chris and Sue join us on Saturday and, all being well, we hope to leave here on Tuesday or Wednesday.  We shall probably aim for a 100 mile “shake-down” to La Gomera.

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