We decided to go over to Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, to fit the battery charger and solar panels that John's dad had kindly contributed towards (he can obviously appreciate the necessity for cold beer! )   as there is a sheltered anchorage and lots of chandlers to supply lots of bits we needed.  The motor across there was in stark contrast to the last time we crossed between Tenerife and Gran Canaria with Jim and Jo as the sea was flat and the winds light, howeve,r the Canaries had their usual sting in the tail, as lumpy seas and headwinds developed as we finally closed Las Palmas and headed south to round the 3 mile long breakwater.  The anchorage was incredibly crowded but we found a spot with more space than anywhere else.  As we started to anchor an old German witch and her dreadlocked toyboy partner started to moan that we were too close.  No wonder there was such a gap around them if they'd done that to everybody that had previously tried to anchor there.  Despite their protestations we anchored where we were, though John snorkelled down to position and set the two anchors.  In the morning we decided to move to anchor Mediterranean style with a bow anchor and stern lines to the breakwater wall. 

 

The next couple of days were spent buying bits, fitting equipment and completing a round of jobs we'd meant to do over the past 3 or 4 weeks.  The marina was jam packed with ARC boats and we spent an interesting hour looking at the big boys on the super yacht pontoons.  Oh how the other half live on their multi million pound yachts, we even saw the crew of one yacht wiping the owners backside!  During our stay a tanker had spilled some crude oil and the water line of the yacht and the tender were covered in it. We  spent a couple of hours trying to clean the oil off the tender on the night prior to departure but decided we'd have to tow it all the way back to Tenerife as it was still filthy.

 

Back to Canadelaria once again.  We spent a full day with some nasty chemicals and an industrial pressure washer and the tender was eventually clean enough to stow on the deck.  That evening we received news of the Keswick floods Huge thanks to Clare, Chris and Phil for getting access into the house and moving all the furniture off the floor.  Despite the fact the house was under 2 inches of water our day of departure across the Atlantic drew closer and so whilst I frantically did masses of shopping John took the bus down to the airport to meet our Yorkshire friend Duncan.  Despite his long journey he was put to work straight away finishing the final jobs.  On the afternoon of the 22nd we refuelled and started the trans Atlantic leg.