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Once we left Papagayo early on 15 October, we sailed across to Fuerteventura and along the inside of Isla de Lobos before cruising down the east coast down to Gran Tarajal. 

  

 

It was a mix of a sail with little wind to blowing a gale when we neared out anchorage! There were 2 other boats anchored in the bay - one of them an ARC+ catamaran. We have never anchored in a place with rolling waves coming through!  So we put out plenty of chain and dug the anchor in well. It was surprisingly comfortable at anchor - until the wind dropped over night and we ended up side on to the waves. 

We kept ourselves busy on the passage by making soft shackles, low-friction rings and bobbles for use around the boat!

  

Gran Tarajal is a beautiful little place with very few tourists and is visited mostly by locals. 

We anchored there for a few nights in the small bay opposite the town. The anchorage is quite exposed and there was a small marina we could have sheltered in if needed. 

Walking round town we came across these amazing murals!! 

On the second night we ate at a small restaurant called Da Nonna right on the beach which had great reviews and is renowned for its seafood. Our journey to the restaurant was a bit challenging- our first dinghy landing through waves onto the beach. It didn’t go very well!! We both were slightly soggy when we sat down at the restaurant. 

We were recommended and ordered Fula Fish. Incredibly, it was caught just beyond the bay we were anchored in at a depth of 500m. 

 

  

Day two we took the bikes out for a ride. Loaded them into the tender and motored round to the marina to offload and build them.

Andrew drafted a route that took us up some big hills but it was well worth the effort as the views we came across were beautiful!

  

The landscape is very different but similar to Lanzarote. Spectacular hills and everything is brown as you would expect and not the black of Lanza! The colour and the sand of Fuerteventura’s beaches is due to the close proximity to the Sahara. 

Traditionally, Fuerteventura’s name (strong and fortune) was regarded as a reference to the strong winds around the Island and resulting danger to nautical adventurers! 

  

 We stopped for lunch at a small village called Cardon where all the tables were laid out with cards and possibly betting chips! No idea what the card game was despite going over and watching it being played!! 

Arriving back at the marina we packed the bikes up, loaded them into the tender and headed back to Walkabout. 
The wind had picked up while we were out riding and so our trip back was pretty hairy!! Large waves and us two sat in the dinghy with the bikes … very pleased we made it back and eventually managed to unload the bikes on to Walkabout and put the kettle on!! 

The next day we headed a little further down the coast to Morro Jable ahead of our crossing to Las Palmas, Gran Canaria.