On Wednesday, sightseeing over, we set off from San Sebastián on La Gomera for Santa Cruz on Tenerife. On 6th September 1492, Admiral Christopher Columbus set off from San Sebastián with a somewhat more ambitious goal, discovery of westerly route to the East Indies and Japan. We succeeded, he didn’t.

We set off at noon, still trying to take in the US election result, and got in a bit after 1am, tired, wet and hungry after a very hard sail.  For the first part of the journey, the three hour crossing from La Gomera to the south side of Tenerife, we were sheltered from the strong north-east wind by Tenerife itself. But once out of the lee of the island, we were sailing into 30-40 mph winds (15 mph more than forecast) and 1.5-2 metre high waves. Sailing in these conditions requires a lot of concentration and we found that half an hour on the helm and then half an hour off, on deck but sheltered from the wind, worked well.

It’s a few years since we have had such a rough passage and the best thing to say about it is that the boat got a good shake down and came through with no signs of stress or leaks. Very reassuring.

From the hill above San Sebastián, looking east towards Tenerife and Mount Teide (3718m, Spain’s highest peak)