28:05.310N 017:06.503W
Whisper
Noel Dilly
Wed 7 Nov 2012 15:24
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"7th November - La Gomera"
Third time lucky! We have reached the
Canaries! It took us exactly 48 hours from leaving Madeira to
arrive at the beautiful island of La Gomera where the sun is shining, but
only on the southern end for the moment, the north is shrouded in
cloud. We have had a very wet and bumpy passage in gale force winds and
constant rain. Despite having 3 reefs in the mainsail and a reefed
headsail Whisper managed to achieve 12.6 knots with the help of a huge wave
as she surfed down it, but in general she averaged 7.5 knots over the
250 miles.
Tony has cooked us two tremendous evening meals and
Vicky sent Michael to join us with two delicious cakes, so we most certainly
have not gone hungry. Thank you Vicky, afternoon tea has been much enjoyed,
despite the rain.
La Gomera is a volcanic island with many peaks and
valleys and a beautiful Laurasilva forests. Noel and I had a wonderful time here
several years ago, walking the many trails on the island. I remember that
it was very wet in the mountains and quite cold at the highest point we walked
to. As we need to press on having been held up so long in Madeira we will
not have time to explore here.
This morning we saw Mount Teide peaking out high
above the clouds over Tenerife, as we passed by on our way to La
Gomera. We have just heard that Tenerife is suffering heavy flooding at
the moment. No doubt part of the weather system which we have just sailed
through.
This afternoon, Tony and I will venture again to
the supermarket to replenish the stocks which we have used on this short
passage. Hopefully we will only need half a trolley and not the two piled
high that it took us to stock up the boat on Sunday before we left
Madeira. As the Canaries are Spanish islands everyone takes a siesta in
the afternoon, so the supermarket will not open until 16:00. The plan is that we
shall eat out this evening. Sophistication in deed - plates on a stable
surface, instead of deep bowls which need to be clutched tightly to avoid
spilling the contents all over the boat or oneself as the wind and seas
batter on relentlessly!
The plan is that we shall only stay here one night,
so will probably be on our way again tomorrow. I don't know for certain if
we will continue to head south towards the Cape Verdes, or whether we will head
off across the ocean. This will be debated this evening once the grib
files have been studied and we can see the weather patterns and wind
direction. Either way we are on our
way!!
.
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