Las Palmas Gran Canaria 28:07.7N 15:25.5W
Rubicon
Fri 6 Nov 2015 12:29
Mostly we have shopped, hung out, made friends and the kids have had a blast as our end of the "S" pontoon is filled with like minded families.
Shopping: The best food and boat parts and clothing shopping we have seen to date. I can walk to the grocery stores, and they deliver the food and drinks later that day right to the boat on the dock! Heaven. No more lugging heavy bags a significant distance. Also, they will vacuum pack meat for you, which is great for the crossing, reducing space and freezer burn. They have everything we would want except for one thing: Pita Bread! Still looking for that so we can enjoy Vlad's famous humous! Still need to find the local market for fruit and veg, and will attempt that tomorrow first thing in the am.
Hanging out and making friends: We are near the end of the pontoon, which has a T at the end. We arrived early for the ARC, which leaves November 22, and are surrounded by the family boats that are heading off on November 8th for the ARC+. The ARC+ heads to the Cape Verde Islands and has about a 5 day stopover there, before heading to St. Lucia, and in the ARC, which we are participating in, we head straight for St. Lucia. The people we have met are amazing. We are all from different countries, including USA, Germany, New Zealand, UK, Switzerland, Australia, Norway. Some speak English as their first language, others not, and we all get along. We will miss Kiwi Beanz, Elas, Blue Raven (not in ARC+ but they still count!), Widago, and Nikitoo II (not a kids boat officially but Hugh is an unofficial kid:)). Vlad must be wishing we could stay together a little longer, as he asked me "Why didn't we do the ARC+?". Good question. If we had known what great families we would meet on ARC+, a different decision may have been made. We hope we will connect with them in the future, maybe in the Caribbean, maybe beyond:)
Social highlights: The daily water fights on the pier with Hugh dousing the entire contingent with his hose. Halloween: All the kids and a bunch of parents, notably Kiwi Beanz Sarah and Gavin and Kim and Claudia from Elas ( and me too) dressed up. Vlad, the kids and I decorated our boat and put up the panels on the cockpit enclosure, and gave the boat a cave like haunted vibe with orange and black balloons, pumpkin and ghosts hanging from the ceiling, and an added touch of "spiderwebs" with spiders attached. We put on a CD of spooky noises and upped the volume on the outside speakers. A flashlight behind an orange plastic jack-o-lantern added to the atmosphere of the occasion. As the light of day passed to evening darkness, the trick or treating began. The Australians had just arrived, and not being as familiar with Halloween, didn't have costumes. Fortunately I had a spare outfit (Catherine decided to be a treasure hunter instead of the grim reaper) and gave the little one my witches hat. The older one, the 7 year old, got into the spirit immediately and was quite taken with getting free candy. All of the kids ended up on Rubicon to watch Hotel Transylvania. For Vlad and I it has been a lot of fun getting to know the other parents. It is so nice to meet other parents with the same plan, taking time to be with the family, exploring the world by boat. Everyone helps each other, from Elas and me driving to find the propane depot and filling up the bottles, to Brian from Blue Raven helping Vlad with the short wave radio, Vlad trying to fix the Wifi on Elas, to Gavin from Kiwi Beanz helping Blue Raven with a boat issue, to Sarah from Kiwi Beanz giving me advice about bread makers etc. Kids jumping back and forth between boats was a highlight. It was so fun for them to play and visit and not have to plan playdates, be driving around all day in a car, and just go with the flow. It is the life that I had as a kid that just doesn't seem to be as prevalent today, with everyone having to be in elite sports teams by the time they are 8 years old and having all of their time organized and scheduled. I am so glad that the kids have had the chance to experience the spontaneity and freedom that this life allows.
Other activities: Swimming at Club Maritimo, waves at the beach in Las Palmas, Harry Potter movies nights with the kids, the kids making iMovies....