Position: 28:07:74N 15:25:56W

Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands

Well, we managed to tear ourselves away from Lanzarote, and left there on 5^th November at 1540 in the afternoon.  It is a 95M sail to Gran Canaria, so we decided to do this as a night passage.  Winds were reasonably strong as we left the shelter of Lanzarote, but in the few hours before darkness, we tried sailing with twin jibs hoisted on the 2-groove furler.  It worked, and was a useful exercise in setting up the two poles and all the sheets & guys, but it was quite rolly with a cross-sea.  We decided, given that at that point the wind wasn’t right behind us, to revert to the main and genoa combination for the night. 

Unfortunately, Sarah and Jemima were both quite sick.  I think it is a mix of the wrong type of seasick pills, and hormones (we ran out of the seasick pills that worked, French ones called “Mercalm”, on the way over from Madeira).  It was a real shame, given this was the last passage for us on this leg of our adventure.  The night was beautiful and the sail was excellent though – we sailed parallel to a tall ship called “Sea Cloud” for a while and spoke to a very relaxed-sounding American voice on board, who told us that we looked lovely!  We actually overtook them; I think they were killing time en route for Tenerife.  Sarah did stand her watch, which was very impressive given she felt so ill.

We arrived off Las Palmas at dawn, and with the girls still being sick, motored into the harbour.  Not a fairytale arrival by any means.  However, we were quickly out of the swell and rafted 3 boats out on the fuel pontoon.  We then got “told off” by the harbour manager for not listening to his instructions (whatever..) but were eventually shown into a berth on Pontoon 17 where we moored bows-to – a first on this trip.  There were other boats to raft against so it wasn’t difficult, and the now-friendly harbour master then took me over in his launch to check in.

After a quick trip over to fill the tanks with fuel, we went back into our space and settled in.  This is where we will be for two & a half weeks – the longest we’ve stopped anywhere.  We’re surrounded by large boats – the average size on this pontoon is about 45ft, so we are dwarfed!  This is the family pontoon – all the boats with kids are put on the same pontoon which is really nice, and very quickly we met various families, mainly Dutch, Norwegian and German. 

A couple of interesting stats: 

• We are the only British family in the ARC – where are all the Brits??
• We appear to be the second-oldest boat in the ARC
• We are 16^th-smallest in a fleet of 235 yachts!!

I am amazed by all three stats.

The next few days were, unfortunately, not much fun.  With retrospect, we were very tired from a night with no sleep, and this left us a bit vulnerable to finding it all a little trying.  The catalysts were firstly being told by the man who does Gas refills that our bottles couldn’t be filled as they were the wrong type, and secondly finding that we had used more water than we thought possible, and consequently taking the boat to pieces to check if there was a leak.  The difficult time was compounded by hiring a car to go to the Gas plant and finding them shut for the day, and draining the water tanks to find that the whole marina had had it’s water shut off for the day.  I was not best pleased.

Sarah did a sterling job of keeping the girls out of the way whilst I was fixing the water tank and servicing the engine, and on Sunday she took them to an Anglican church service where they had a lovely time.

The girls outside church – bit different to St Nic’s!

Time, money and a lot of effort solves most issues, and we eventually got our bottles refilled at the central gas plant.  On the water front, I think we just didn’t fill the tank right to the brim when we left Lanzarote.  We might have had a very slight leak but I bought & fitted a new tank just in case, so now they are all new and OK. 

Emilia being a figurehead

Las Palmas is a big, dirty city.  I don’t know who was in charge of town planning but it is one of those waterfront cities where they build a 6-lane motorway right along the waterfront, thus cutting off the centre from the beach and port.  The port is huge – this is the main Atlantic bunkering stop and is also a massive container hub.  The marina is pretty dirty too – it is a municipal one rather than private, so we were glad we did not arrive here any earlier.  I think in hindsight we could have even arrived a bit later.

Pontoon 17

However the ARC is what we came here for, so it was great to meet the other families.  Interestingly, there are only 3 or so boats – much less than 50% - who are taking their kids across the pond on board, rather than flying.  It has been a common sight to see children being passed from boat to boat to go and play with their new friends.  We have a lovely Norwegian boat next to us and Jemima’s new friend is Inkaborg, a lovely little girl who has taken a shine to Jemima’s dolls house. 

Jemima reading in the forecabin

Someone organized a pontoon party on the Friday night, and it was a great night, with only one child falling in.  During the evening, “Saefthinge” and “Samba” arrived so we met them with hugs all round – so lovely to see friends again!

The children at the pontoon party

There is a sandy beach next to the marina which, although it overlooks the port and there are 30-40 “NARC” (Non-ARC) yachts anchored off, is pleasant enough.  One of the other boats organized a picnic on the beach one day, so all the kids played in and around the water, or up at the playground. 

A day at the beach

I met Sally, who is our fourth crewmember.  She has sailed down from the UK on “Skyelark”, a Skye 51, with a couple called Dan & Emily.  It turns out Emily’s mum went to school with my mum.  So the mums have been saying “Oh, you must go and say hello to one another” in that embarrassing way that mothers do… (I haven’t yet, but I will, before you ask).  Sally is from Hove, actually..

Part of the pre-start qualifications that you have to go through is the safety check which appears to have some unjustified infamy.  We passed with only one issue, which was quickly sorted (our “steamer scarer” torch was rechargeable rather than plug-in – which might not give enough light time if tracking a man overboard). We now have a DIN plug in the cockpit, which will also be useful for those mid-passage DVD-in-the-cockpit requests from the kids.

The ARC organizers set up a wonderful family supper at the nearby Club Varadero, and we had a fantastic barbeque with lots of wine and the ARC staff were really good at entertaining the kids.  Tom’s chimpanzee impression has probably left a lasting mark on Emilia!  In general, the ARC organization and staff have been extremely good and very professional, more so than I was anticipating.  There have also been some excellent lectures on topics such as weather & routing, emergencies, provisioning etc which Sally & I have been to. 

Tired girls

Everyone is focused on clearing through their job lists and starting to provision for the big trip, and after creating an uber-spreadsheet which was passed between Pam and I several times, we had a shopping list for provisioning Nutmeg.  We’ve divided the provisioning into dry goods and fresh goods, and Sally & I spent about four hours in El Corte Ingles doing the initial dry-goods shop.  Four trolleys and €680 later, we staggered out!  It’s all being delivered on Monday; I hope we can find space to fit it all onboard.

Sarah spent a lot of the week changing Nutmeg from a family boat into an ocean-going ship for a crew of four adults.  No small task – it is akin to moving house as you have to go through everything and sort it, bag it and stow it.  We’ve now got empty lockers throughout the saloon, ready for the provisions to arrive.

Alas, the time I had been dreading arrived, and I took Sarah and the girls to the airport yesterday, for them to fly home to the UK.  It has been really really hard letting go of them.  We have lived together as a family on this small boat for the last 5 months, 24 hours a day.  We are closer than most families ever get, and I realized as we were packing up that every decision either of us makes is qualified by the other.  I really wonder how I will cope without my soul mate at my side.  I feel like my arm has been chopped off.

My wonderful girls

When you think of what we have achieved, I am so proud of my daughters and my wife.  Despite seasickness which has never gone away, and despite the challenges of looking after a young family in a very small environment, we have sailed without assistance, all the way from the UK to the Canaries.  That is more than most people, let alone with young kids, ever achieve, and Sarah has done this with grace.  I am very lucky.  We have also had the time of our lives these past few months and we will all treasure the memories.

The proud crew of Nutmeg, having sailed all the way from the UK to the Canaries

However, as one chapter ends, a new one begins, and whilst dropping the girls off I picked up Rob Neild, who together with his wife Pam (who is arriving tonight) will make up the crew.  We’ve now got a week to finish the jobs, provision the boat, and mentally prepare ourselves for 3 weeks at sea in a small boat.  Rob and I spent today whipping through the job list – it is incredible how much faster you can work when there are two of you and no small children!

Well here I am, a week away from starting the Transat; a week away from being able to fulfil a lifelong ambition. 

I don’t know if Emilia was trying to say something meaningful here