Santa Cruz, Tenerife 28:28.034N 016:14.662W
SeaTrek
Bill and Judy Stellin
Sat 27 Oct 2007 18:09
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Our stay in Lanzarote was extended a little
because our good friends Mats and Ulla
on Hokus Pokus II came into the port and an
important regatta was also beginning at the
marina.
We met Mats and Ulla (Swedish) in Kemer
Turkey and sailed the EMYR together.
Later we visited them in their home in
Gothenburg.
 The regatta was of Trans Pac 52's, GP 40's,
Swan 45's and a large fleet of Beneteau
First 40's.
 King Juan
Carlos Trans Pac 52
This marina is owned by a man named Senor
Don Calero.("Don" is a title) The regatta is his idea
and he does it first class. Every
boats transportation cost to the Canaries is paid for by him.
Each crew is given
a hotel room, a car to share and the boats
skipper is given 600euro to help with other
expenses. There were about 75 boats
involved so you can see how much this must have
cost him. His buddies include, Juan
Carlos the king of Spain, and the king of Norway, both of
whom had their TP 52's racing here.
Somehow he has convinced the Swedish Volvo Ocean
racing team Ericson to base one of their two
home bases in his marina.
The Volvo Ocean Round the
World race will begin in 2008 through part of 2009 so there will be over 50
people working
and training here for almost two years.
Each night for a week the Marina put
on a fabulous party for everyone
including a delicious buffet of
typical Canarian food and all the beer and wine we could consume.
There was always a live band to accompany
the festivities. On the last night the place was turned into
a gigantic disco with fireworks, and an open
bar for at least 1000 people. This shindig started
midnight and continued till 5 AM. Our
berthing cost here was about 24 euros per night. Since we ate
and drank at least 25 euros each, he lost
money on us too.
 I took this picture from a balcony
and was quick to rejoin the fun.
The day after, we departed for Santa Cruz,
Tenerife, where we are now. It was a passage of
one hundred forty one miles that included
sailing, motor sailing, motoring, every combination we
could think of.
About one half was pure sailing. For
practice, we put up the spinnaker at midnight to get used
to rigging, hoisting and fly it in the
dark. After an hour or so we doused it because the wind was very
light
and there was a fearsome swell that had the
boat rocking from side to side. We didn't want to risk a bad
wrap.
We arrived at dawn and then slept for a few
hours.
Normally we get pretty good sleep while on
passages, but this one involved so much sail
handling and trimming, to say nothing of
constantly watching for traffic, both of us were
awake most of the night.
The Canary Island are all the result of
volcanic eruptions and thus have a similar look. Tenerife
is dominated by Pico del Teide at 12,195
feet, the highest point in the archipelago and indeed all
of Spain. We rented a car and drove to
the peak located in the middle of a national park.
The drive of about 50 miles to get there was
one of the most spectacular we've seen in the long time.
The road straddles the spine of the
mountains leading to El Teide and one minute you are
looking at the sea on the west and around a
bend, the view is of the sea to the east.
A good bit of the time we were well above the clouds and looked down on their tops.  We are at about 6000 feet here, with another
5000 feet up to go. The road is good
and goes through really beautiful pine
forests, with ferns at their base. This is semi-
tropical so it is almost a rain forest
atmosphere until you reach 6-7 thousand feet.
 The peak is about 600 feet above us and we
would have needed better clothing and shoes
plus a permit to ascend to the rim.
Judy is about freezing to death here, with wind at
25-35 MPH and temps in the 40's At the boat
the temp. was in the 80's.
 Grand Canary Island is 40 miles in the
distance. This view is from the top of a cable car which brought
us to a foot path just
below the peak of the mountain that Judy is on in the previous
picture.
The crater in this picture is the result of
the original cataclysmic explosion which created
the entire island.
It is over a mile to the other
side.
At this point we were above 11,500 ft. and
the air was a little thin. Some people were having
difficulty and getting dizzy. Many had no
idea of the weather at the top of a mountain and were
dressed in only tank tops and shorts with
flip flops for footwear. They were clearly suffering.
The Canary Islands attract over 10 million
visitors each year, and with extordinary natural beauty
like we've seen, one can understand why.
dizzy.
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