Nice place for a Christmas break
Persephone... Cruiser/Racer
Nigel & Karen Goodhew...
Fri 30 Dec 2016 13:45
We had made our plans for Christmas on board, and done all the shopping, so Christmas Eve was free for a little exploring.
Tim had brought with him two lovely bottles of Champagne and, of course, a top up to our supply of tea bags! Karens masterpiece from Persephone's galley on Christmas day was a delight. We had bought the largest chicken we could find in the supermarket, found lots of lovely fresh vegetables, including brussel sprouts and chestnuts in the market, so she was able to put together a pretty impressive traditional Christmas lunch, which we washed down with the champers.
On boxing day, we hired a car and toured the island. La Gomera has it's own character. Nowhere near as high as Tenerife, the scenery is craggy and beautiful nontheless. At the top of the island is the national park, which is a wooded section of dense but young forest. Some is still scarred from the effects of a serious forest fire in 2012. Above all, it offers the keen hiker a plethora of well signposted hill walks, and the tourists come in their numbers to do just that.
Germans are everywhere, with large numbers in the marina, and larger groups in the bars, restaurants and on the walking trails. The particular group here this year seem to be less gregarious than others we have met...more insular than before. But they seem to love the Canaries!
Then, in other news, a couple of days ago, a couple from Northern Ireland popped round to see us. Stuart and Katherine were chartering and had arrived here. Stuart recognised Persephones lines as those of a Sigma, and Katherine had seen photos of our boat in the course of her work in sports media. It turned out that Stuart had spoken to me about a Sigma 38 some time ago, and that he had subsequently bought a Sigma 35, which he keeps at Strangford Lough.
They invited us out to a delightful dinner in San Sebastian, where we discussed everything up to and including the meaning of life...a very pleasant evening which ended in the wee small hours.
We are maintaining the social calendar, with a gathering on board last night for Eltjo and Lilian (Win2Win), Per and Toril (Topaz) and Michael, a mainly solo sailor.
As yet, there are no specific plans for the New Year, but we have a loose plan to set sail on January 1st....if the wind gods deign to play ball.
Sent from my iPad