Lanzarote 28 57.727N 13 32.369W
Persephone... Cruiser/Racer
Nigel & Karen Goodhew...
Tue 15 Nov 2016 16:46
Our sail across, some 300 miles was a swift one. We were "treated" to a beam reach...with about 20 knots of wind. For you non sailors, let me tell you here that my father always told me that a beam reach is the fastest point in sailing....not actually true these days, but a fair enough approximation, especially if you are not using spinnakers...
The thing about 20 knots of wind, too, is that it builds up a wavetrain. If the "fetch", the distance the wind has travelled before greeting you, is long....say 1000 miles, the wavetrain can get quite pronounced. And 20 knots of wind is enough to start the occasional wavecrest to break away....whitecaps come tumbling down the front face of the wave and can slap the side of the boat. This can make things a tad rolly, and the occupants of small yachts have to hang on to grab handles while moving around inside. Spray flies around outside and on Persephone, our autopilot cannot see or understand the waves, so we experienced a number of sharp, even alarming, slaps to our port side as we sped onward.
Eventually, after an afternoon, night and the following day, speeding along at anything up to 9 knots, it became clear that we were going too fast! If we kept this pace up for a second night, we would arrive in the very early hours, and the pilotage into Arrecife, whilst not difficult, is not recommended at night if you are unfamiliar with the entry. So we decided to slow down. Not an easy task for the committed, albeit recently retired, racer! We already had 2 reefs in the main and a very small jib flying. So at dusk, we took the mainsail down!
Persephone responded by slowing to around 4 knots, but we rolled even more. Karen, who had succumbed to mal de mer on the second morning, sank deeper into her malaise....all she wanted to do was (1) die and (2) get her feet onto terra firma, not necessarily in that order. Slowing down seemed to prolong her agony....but nevertheless, it was the right, and safe thing to do.
Dawn found us rounding Graciosa, and we had half a mind to anchor there and recover, but the wind was building and the shelter was marginal, so we carried on.
Mid morning, and we slid into the harbour, and were directed to a berth on E pontoon.
Oli flew in a couple of days later, and we hired some bikes to explore the coastal path between Costa Teguise and puerto del Carmen. This coastline is holiday central in Lanzarote...a winter sun destination for Brits and Germans.
We didn't see the holiday resorts last time we came. Being based out at Calero, we needed a car to see the island, and perhaps we sped past, but we certainly failed to notice the fast food restaurants, the madding crowds, the resort hotels and the huge number of bars etc. This time, on bikes, we took it all in...and agreed we had really gained an insight into the side of the island people refer to as "Lanzagrotty", though to be fair, it is all spotlessly clean and tidy.....just not really my cup of tea!
Our bikes were off road type machines, with big knobbly tyres and lots of gears. We explored the coastal path and cycle track as far as it would lead us, in superb sunny if rather windy conditions.
Tomorrow, Tim is due to arrive and we are organising a car to explore the rest of the island, maybe even scale a volcano?
Sent from my iPad