A hose, a hose, my kingdom for a hose! 28:07.52N 015:25.49W
Seaflute
Thu 20 Oct 2016 10:56
Arrived Lanzarote following a 3.5-day passage from Gibraltar, the latter
half nearly all under sail which was a very pleasant change from motor
sailing. Not running the engine as much also highlighted a few areas of
necessary improvement regarding power management. Although we have 400 amp
hours of capacity, the useable bit is only 25-30% which amounts to 100-120
amp hours. With a background usage of 11-14amps per hour this does not last
long. Fridge, freezer, tricolour (port/starboard/stern light), primary
navigation equipment and cabin fans fell into the essential category, but
off went some secondary electronic navigation, the ships computer, 12volt
power sockets, cockpit fridge and hey ho we were down at 7 amps.
Lanzarote with exception of fast reliable wifi (hence the delay in this
blog) proved to be a most enjoyable few days. Dave and Lindy enjoyed a few
nights in a luxury hotel with family and friends...
A two day car hire is sufficient to inspect the island key assets which
include spectacular volcanoes, lava fields, lava tunnels and stunning views
from the northern tip of the island.
Building is heavily regulated to positive effect and we only saw one
skyscraper building, all others are a maximum of 2 storeys and there are
many examples of art & sculptures on roundabouts and visitor sites courtesy
of the internationally known Lanzarotean artist Cesar Manrique who also
played a major role influencing and controlling planning on the island.
On the way to Lanzarote we had noticed some minor blistering of two engine
cooling pipes and so the plan was to have these replaced while in the
marina. Part 1 went well, the boatyard came on board, confirmed it was an
easy job, emptied all the antifreeze coolant and removed the pipes, part 2
didn't go as well, having removed the pipes they could not tell us exactly
when the new ones would arrive..could be a couple of days or longer. We did
question why they took them off in the first place without spares in stock
but hey this is Spain. Peds made the decision to recover the old pipes on
the Sunday from the workshop (not sure who he bribed to get in) and then set
about repairing and refitting the old pipes, filling with new antifreeze
with a view to departing for Gran Canaria 0600 Mon morning...thankfully
after 95NM we are now in Gran Canaria with much more time to carry out the
repairs and prepare for the big one!
Bye for now Ian
Hello all you avid blog readers out there, it's Lindy here
What an enjoyable week we have spent in Lanzarote, Dave and I had been here
before so we knew of the barren landscape but it really has a stark beauty
all of its own. An episode of Dr Who was filmed here and also Ten Million
years BC which all you men out there of a certain age will remember very
fondly. What made the visit so much more enjoyable for us was meeting up
with family and friends, and also staying in a very swanky hotel for 3
nights, sheer bliss! Ali, Dave's sister and her husband Jules had hired a
car for a few days so they gave us a tour of the main sites, we visited the
Fumeroles (tunnel like caves made by the lava flow) and Mirador del Rio
where there were amazing views. On our journey back we dropped Tom off at
the Airport for some R and R at home (relief and respite from spending 24/7
with his rents). Jules also very kindly took Dave to nearly all of the
Garages on the island to try to find replacement for the coolant that the
marine engineers had kindly drained from the engine without first checking
that they had some to replace it with! That and not having the right sized
hoses after they had cut them off was for Dave, the last straw, especially
as it was then the weekend and the boatyard was closed. We had a nail biting
crossing hoping the hose that Dave had repaired with chewing gum and string
didn't burst on the way to Gran Canaria. Dave spend most of this trip with
his head in the engine compartment and his fingers crossed. I feel like our
morals are slipping as I have stolen all the toiletries from the hotel and
Dave could in theory be charged with breaking and entering! But they were
his own hoses your honour.
If any of you would like to contribute to Dave's bail fee, I'm sure he would
greatly appreciate it!
Ta ta for now. X
GEOLOGY OF CANARIES: Read on those who are interested.
The Canary archipelago includes Gran Canaria where we are now and Lanzarote
where we were and was formed in the late Cretaceous/Early Tertiary.
Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, which is a cock-stride to the south, are the
oldest (22million) with La Palma/El Hierro in the west being the youngest (2
million).
All the islands are intraplate - like Hawaii.
I recall that this is a sort of hotspot scenario where there is a massive
magma chamber with a route up to the surface and volcanoes form as the plate
(in this case, new ocean plate is being created to the west via the Mid
Atlantic ridge and moving eastwards towards the continental North African
Plate) slides over the hotspot. BUT, because the east (Lanzarote) and west
(La Palma) islands of the Canaries are still active (Timanfaya blew in
1730-1736 and covered a quarter of Lanzarote with lava), this theory is
disputed. It is so long since I did any of this sort of stuff, so I will
leave it there, other than to say that Lanzarote/Fuerteventura are probably
one volcanic mass located on a bit of a fracture.
Either way, the Canaries are volcanic in origin - 4 to 5km from sea bed to
summit. Lanzarote scenery is fantastic - a moonscape in places. The
archipelago is 'officially dormant' so read into that what you will but I am
not convinced.
xxLizx
