San Miguel, South Tenerife 28:01.10N, 16:37.50W

Saro's Gyda
Derrick Thorrington
Fri 4 Mar 2011 18:41
Our weather window opened up on Fri
11th Feb, so we bade farewell, as usual, to friends and set sail from
Tazercorte, La Palma. The plan was to sail around the north of both La Palma and
Tenerife and then to drop south down the east coast of Tenerife to
make our landfall at the capital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife. This would make
best use of the forecast northerly wind, accepting the shortish
stretch up the sheltered west coast of La Palma where we may have to beat into
the wind. The distance was measured at about 130 miles which, at our average of
5 knots, would take at least 26 hours.

Tazecorte and The
Crater from the sea
We started off well but soon were in the island's wind shadow, so
motorsailed until we picked up wind again at the north end of the island. It was
a great wind, but not quite the right direction (of course!). We sailed
beautifully but were forced to the NW when we really wanted to be going NE.
Tacking wasn't helpful either as we ended up heading straight back towards the
north coast. Eventually the engine was employed in order to sail closer to the
wind to clear the most northerly point of La Palma. The good wind stayed with us
but did not allow us to clear the north of Tenerife so we changed plans and
decided to head to the south of Tenerife instead, passing between Gomera and
Tenerife. It became an exciting ride with less and less sail as we picked up the
acceleration zones. Eventually, down to only a reefed main, we were still
flying along at 7 -8 knots through the night. Early morning saw us heading down
the SW coast of Tenerife in the wind shadow with both sails and engine before
the sting in the tail as we rounded the SW point, a few miles from our
destination. Within a few minutes the wind rose to a F6-7 (on the
nose). We scrambled into full waterproofs. life jackets and harnesses for
the 2 miles into the marina!
We were not too sure about southern Tenerife having watched the
resorts slide by as we headed south. We found ourselves in a purpose built
golfing resort populated by English. We had a look ashore and discovered that
there wasn't really a centre to the resort. There were a few bars and cafes and
a moderate supermarket, all selling everything that the English tourist is
perceived to desire on holiday. We are not sure if this is due to English demand
or whether the Spanish think that we expect burgers, chips, English breakfasts,
scones, teacakes and children's menus.
I eventually managed to locate a bus stop and
then a timetable by masquerading as a guest at one of the enormous hotel
complexes. Suitably armed we planned an excursion to the National Park of Teide,
Spain's highest mountain at about 3717m. Plan A, going up to near the summit by
cable car and then walking to the top was dismissed when we found out that
we needed a special pass, only available in Santa Cruz. Plan B, just going up by
cable car, was dismissed due to the high cost so we settled on Plan C. Plan C
was to catch the bus to the visitor centre, the route of which passed
through the National Park. (We had seen the peak many times and had a fine view
of it from the marina). We should have realised that this was going to be a
problem as there was only one bus per day to and from the visitor
centre.

El Teide from the
Marina
We set off early and caught the bus to Los
Christianos bus station where we waited for our connection. The bus started at
the previous resort, Playa das Americas, and ours was the next stop. It
arrived on time, absolutely full, to receive the thirty or so passengers waiting
with us. I suppose that this is the way that numbers are limited in the National
Park. So that was the end of Plan C!
Checking the timetable, we toyed with the idea of going to Santa
Cruz, but when the bus arrived and was also full we gave up. We then had a while
to wait before our bus home, so had a quick look around Los Christianos which
was a vastly concentrated version of San Miguel. We ordered coffee in English
for the first time in Spanish territory and decided that as soon as the wind was
in our favour, we would try to head north to Santa Cruz to try and gain a better
impression of Tenerife!