Disappointing news for me on Sunday. The marina in Santa Cruz, Tenerife is full. It is very frustrating, with the unpredictability of the weather, estimating the time to sail to destinations, booking too far in advance is a problem. We've not quite found the right balance as, again, there was no room in the marina. 

A lazy day. The awnings Sally made were put up successfully. We now have the spray hood down so any breeze flows across the boat whilst we have protection overhead from the sun. We met Tom & Josie, invited them for early evening drinks - a good excuse to open one of Simon's bottles of champagne.

Monday was very overcast but still mid 20s. We decided to walk into town for an explore then take the open top bus tour of the island. It wasn't a great tour, an enthusiastic driver/guide but very little English commentary. Not a lot to see either, very barren land, no crops, no animals. 

We arrived back, weary, hot and sticky, grabbed our shower kit then back ashore for long cooling showers. Gin and tonics all round in the early evening sunshine on deck. A return invitation from Tom & Josie for after dinner drinks so a chance to look at their boat, Moody 38.  Lots of stories exchanged about boat buying and sailing experiences. 

As Nigel is often saying, a plan is a basis for change and this lifestyle means changes are frequent. After the Tenerife trip was abandoned, we booked into Las Palmas, Gran Canaria but no room until Sunday! However the forecast for the end of the week is no wind so we are currently planning an earlier departure so we can sail and hope to find an anchorage around Gran Canaria for a couple of nights. Watch this space! 

Catherine

View from the hill behind us…

And of the hills...

And the after part of our awnings and wind chutes to keep the boat cooler in the heat and ventilated