Bongo Turtles

Where can you buy coral for two fivers?  Tenerife (tenner reef, geddit?).  Comedy gold like this doesn't come easily.  This particular corker was the result of my night watches on our journey from Gran Tarajal, Fuerteventura to Marina San Miguel, Tenerife.

I have read a fair few books and blogs that others have written about their sailing journeys and the night watches that I read about sound much more romantic than mine ever are.  These other lucky sailors are usually wallowing in their cockpits wearing t-shirt and shorts.  They will mention that they threw their jumpers away months before and haven't needed them since.  Now, they enjoy balmy nights with cooling breezes blowing gently through their silky, tangle-free, moisturised hair.  Whilst they sprawl out in their cosy cockpits, slipping cool grapes fresh from the refrigerator into their mouths, they look up at cloudless skies, full to bursting point with millions upon millions of stars and contemplate profound topics such as the meaning of life, or whether there's someone out there, orbiting one of those countless other stars, staring  back at them.  No doubt, if there is, it will be a little green man kicking back in the comfortable cockpit of his levitating yacht, feeling equally smug about his situation.

Smiles as we approach Tenerife

My night watches, however, don't bear any resemblance to this idyllic bliss.  I'm usually tired, cold, huddled uncomfortably right up into the only corner of the cockpit that is marginally safe from the onslaught of chilling, salty spray blowing back over our deck and I don't have any time for cool grapes because I'm busy dodging shipping lanes, adjusting our course and pulling on soggy sheets to trim our sails.  Cowering under an overcast, ominous-looking sky, hoping that we're not about to make the acquaintance of an ugly, unforecast storm, I don't get to turn my mind to philosophically challenging subjects.  The best I can do is come up with bad jokes that barely make sense.

It's not really as unpleasant as I make out, I have simply misplaced my rose-tinted glasses so am making do with some grey-tinted ones I had lying around.  We are both actually enjoying the sailing.  We haven't felt badly seasick for quite some time, we have renewed confidence in Firebird and ourselves, now that we have mentally recovered from the rough passage we had on our way from Portugal, and it felt great to be on the move again.

The trip from Fuerteventura to Tenerife took us a couple of days.  The first day, making our way south-west along the coast of Fuerteventura, was particularly tiring because we had to deal with tricky conditions caused by the wind acceleration zones along that coast.  These are areas where the wind gets funnelled through valleys, or between islands, resulting in much higher localised wind speeds.  Outside of these zones, the wind was light, usually too much so, and quite confused, so we were constantly altering our point of sail and changing the foresail.  It's amazing watching an acceleration zone approach.  You can see exactly where it is, as though a line has been drawn in the water.  On one side of the line is calm water, on the other, white horses are getting whipped up by the strong wind.  As we crossed the line, the wind speed would increase by about 25 knots.  The opposite would happen at the other side of the zone - we would be heeled hard over, tearing along towards a flat sea and as soon as we crossed the line, Firebird would sit up straight, the noise of the wind disappeared and we would slowly drift away from the white horses.

Out for a sail with David and Pauline

Although the wind was blowing hard inside the acceleration zones, because the zones are quite small, resulting in a short fetch, the sea state doesn't get as rough as it would if those wind speeds were encountered in open water.  The combination of high wind speed and relatively small waves would make for an exciting ride, where much progress could be made in relative comfort, but because Firebird's mainsail can't be reefed as deeply as we would like (a high-priority item on the to-do list), we are over-canvased when the wind reaches speeds above 30 knots, so picking our way through the acceleration zones was too 'exciting' and quite tiring.

All this meant that by the end of the day, we had had enough and didn't fancy continuing through the night.  We found a spot to drop anchor at the very south-west tip of Fuerteventura.  We both needed a rest and it was great fun to spend a night at anchor in Firebird as we haven't done so since the beginning of January.  We enjoy the isolation and the feeling of self-sufficiency when away from marinas and it feels extra cosy to be tucked up in our little boat when just outside the hull is 'the sea', rather than pontoons.

After weighing anchor the following morning, we were almost immediately clear of Fuerteventura, heading out into the ocean towards Tenerife.  Unfortunately, Gran Canaria lay directly in our path, so we headed to the north of that island, to avoid the acceleration zones to its south.

Underwater selfie

I was staring idly at the water passing by us when all of a sudden I was looking at a turtle.  He was just cruising along on the surface and as we overtook him, he raised his flipper out of the water as though he was giving us a friendly wave.  A few minutes later we passed another one and I started hoping that we would sail through a big group of them.  My thinking was that it might sound like someone playing a tune on bongo drums as they bumped their shells against our hull.  Unfortunately, those were the last turtles we saw and I never found out if running over turtles sounds like bongos.

By nightfall we had made it to the northern edge of Gran Canaria, which turned out to be a very busy shipping area.  We had to keep a keen eye out for traffic heading into the large port of Las Palmas.  You wouldn't think it, but those huge container ships can really creep up on you if you're not constantly on the lookout, due to the high speeds they move at.  Although they should avoid us when we're under sail, and generally do so very well, it's best not to rely on them altering course on our account because I haven't heard many successful outcomes of the David and Goliath story when transposed onto a maritime context.

I was on watch as night turned to day again and I enjoyed taking in the sunrise.  The light first struck the tip of El Teide, the highest peak in Spain and the third highest volcano on a volcanic ocean island in the world.  Gradually the orange glow dripped down the snow-capped mountain, looking almost like the volcano was oozing lava, until the whole of Tenerife was basking in its glow.  Eventually, the sea's patiently awaited turn was up and as the waves started to sparkle, I could feel the warmth soaking into me and driving away the night time chill.

Sunrise lights up El Teide as we approach Tenerife

We were both excited to get to Tenerife because our reason for going there was to meet friends and family who were flying out to say hello.  First to arrive were the Westwoods.  Chris and Chrissie's wedding was the reason we made the trip to America back in 2011, where I ended up proposing to Kate.  On their journey to Tenerife they had the fun of flying with their daughter for the first time and, tantrums involving bleeding bite wounds aside, didn't find the experience too bad.  Aside: Chris later apologised for his outburst and promised to avoid the small cans of Stella on future flights.

It was great fun to spend time with Chris and Chrissie and their incredibly well behaved toddler.  As chance would have it, Chris' parents were also out visiting the island with an overlap in dates, so we got to see them as well.  I promised that I would tell everyone that Chris' hotel was wholly superior to anyone else's, having three pools, one of which was on the roof and another of which could be seen through its glass bottom from the reception area below.  Peeping Toms need not get too excited - the most frequent sight that could be glimpsed in this fashion was highly unflattering and unattractive.

Chrissie demonstrates the emergency actions to perform if your toddler fills her nappy while swimming

It turned out that Chris had been disappointed not to receive a mention in the blog after we had breakfast with them when we were back in the UK over Christmas.  To make amends, we can truly say, with no joke of a lie, that Chrissie cooked us the best full English that we could remember having for a very long time.  We often find it hard to know how much to write about other people; some are happy to feature in our updates, some, understandably, value their privacy and don't want their photos and movements made publicly available.

Strange rock formations and a view of El Teide's peak

Our next visitors were my uncle and aunt, David and Pauline.  They happened to be on holiday in Spain last year when they saw an update on the blog saying that we were also in Spain on Firebird.  Unfortunately, on that occasion we were too far apart to meet up, but this prompted them to think, and we agreed, that it would be fun if they planned a holiday to coincide with us arriving somewhere on Firebird.  Although we don't now see as much of our friends and family since leaving London last year, when we do see them, we get to spend much more quality time together and can really enjoy a week of each others' company, rather than the odd meal together, squeezed in between our other commitments, which is what would happen back when we were part of the rat race.

Home made 'banofio' cake at the El Teide base station

David and Pauline are no strangers to Tenerife and they were fantastic tour guides, showing us round the island in their rented car.  This was a luxury that we don't usually have as, most of the time, we only explore as far as our legs, or the odd bus, can take us from Firebird.  We couldn't believe how different the centre of Tenerife is from the areas by the coast.  As we drove up winding roads and reached the tree line, it felt like we had been teleported to a different place altogether.  I was reminded of summer trips to the Alps, full of pine forests and rich wildlife that has been completely missing from the other islands that we have visited.  Although the cable car running to the top of El Teide was closed due to high winds when we visited, the view from the base station alone was stunning and well worth the visit.

All in all, we had a fantastic couple of weeks on Tenerife and consider ourselves very lucky that our friends and family find the time to come out and visit us, because having them drop in along the way is like a sprinkling of spice over our journey.

An actual forest! We have barely seen any greenery since arriving at the Canaries so this was a welcome change

Even though we were already well on our way down from visiting El Teide, we're still way above the clouds

How Big Is Your Mountain?

Every once in a while, we cross paths with someone who changes our outlook on life. The change can be subtle or monumental, and often the person responsible has no idea of their influence. For Alex and I, such an occurrence took place whilst visiting our new favourite Canary island, Fuerteventura.

Gran Tarajal marina is small, but well protected and full of friendly locals

Our arrival in Gran Tarajal went very smoothly. We entered the small marina and were directed to a berth by a security guard, whereby we were immediately surrounded by friendly locals ready to take our lines. As the light was beginning to fade, we secured Firebird and then took our documents to the office, before retiring to bed for some much needed rest. The following day, we were pleasantly surprised by the temperature, which felt a good deal warmer than Lanzarote. Perhaps it was the absence of the persistent wind that we had become so accustomed to in Arrecife. It made the task of cleaning Firebird far more enjoyable than usual, which resulted in her looking better than ever!

Firebird glistens after a good clean, in her Gran Tarajal berth

It's funny how warmth and sunshine can make life seem so much better. Alex and I felt revived by our new environment, and headed for a much deserved shower. The shower blocks at the marina are very clean and well appointed but, sadly, have no hot water. That being said, having a cubicle with a roof makes a huge difference to comfort levels and I can honestly say that this was the nicest cold shower I have experienced yet.

Alex is down with the kids, wearing his baseball cap backwards

We had just over a week in Gran Tarajal before needing to make our way to Tenerife, and during this time we really fell for the place. The town is not too large but has everything you might need, with many shops including a chandlery, a "Casa de Cultura" that has desks and free WiFi, a fruit and veg market on a Friday morning and a wide selection of cafes and restaurants to choose from. Aside from the practical elements, Gran Tarajal is fronted by a sheltered bay with gorgeous clear blue water and long sandy beach, which serves as a focal point as well as a playground for locals and tourists alike.

Stocking up at the local fruit and veg market

On days when the waves roll in, the promenade is filled with tanned teenage boys putting on wetsuits and heading for the water with their boards, whilst their female counterparts lap up the sun around them. On calmer days, the beach becomes the main attraction, transforming into a sandy playing field. From football and volleyball to gymnastics and tumbling, as well as the next generation of young architects building structures from sand before undermining their foundations with buckets of seawater. It is a joy to watch youths of all ages spending time outside, enjoying their surroundings and the company of their friends and family. On one occasion, we walked along the seafront and wondered why there was nobody in the water, given the surf looked rather good. We then noticed signs placed along the beach warning of "medusas" in the water. Now that is a Spanish word I won't forget, as what a wonderfully descriptive translation it is for jellyfish!

The bay attracts a couple of anchored yachts and surfers

Even the town itself is pretty, with colourful buildings and well maintained parks and squares. Benches strategically placed under luscious palm trees provide a perfect, shady place to watch the world go by. A unique feature of Gran Tarajal is the dozens of painted murals that can be spotted around the place. Many of them are nautically themed, and they are all very well drawn and interesting to look at. A particular favourite of Alex's is one depicting Rapido, who is a little fishing vessel that is berthed near us in the marina. Both Rapido and his portrait are sporting a shining red livery and appear to emanate a contented, warm glow.

Rapido, on the beach and in the harbour

Whilst in the marina, we got to know a Belgian gentleman called Bernard, who has a long history with boats and is incredibly interesting to spend time with. We spent a lot of time socialising aboard his boat, as well as inviting him over to dine with us on Firebird, and got to know him very well. We were intrigued to hear about his travels, which have taken him all over the world, as well as learning about the modern social and political issues that exist within his Flemish homeland. As with many of the sailors we meet, Bernard was of the opinion that most people in this day and age do not actually have time to enjoy their lives, so busy are they working to earn, to spend, to save, to repay; working hard to afford luxuries that they have less and less time to enjoy. Some of his thoughts and opinions came across as quite conspirational, but we found them very interesting and it gave us something to think about, that's for sure.

A Punch and Judy show entertains adults and children alike in the town square

However, it was a single concept about consumerism that struck a chord with us; one that was expressed so articulately and really made us question how our existence will impact the world we live in, at the most basic level. Bernard was talking about his friends and family who reside in Belgium, holding down very respectable jobs, with their company phones, company cars and healthy salaries. He spoke of the way so many people upgrade to a new car, new phone, new gadgets, long before the existing one really needs replacing. Of course, we are all guilty of it - companies promote us to do so at every opportunity, and the build quality of products these days can often encourage us to upgrade, as niggly problems emerge and signs of wear and tear appear. It's considered so normal, that I had never really thought much about it before now. That was until Bernard introduced us to the concept of our mountain.

Some more examples of the pretty murals that can be found around Gran Tarajal

He spoke of a relative, who has had so many new cars, phones, televisions, etc. and said that "the mountain he is leaving behind will be enormous!" The way he explained it made so much sense - I could picture the size of the pile that would be created by this man, if every time he bought something new, he placed the old object in his garden. Before I had chance to be judgemental, I began thinking about my own mountain. How would that look? I have never bought a car from new, but I must have owned some 15 or so cars in my relatively short driving history - did I really need to replace them? Certainly, only a handful went to the scrapyard - I can only hope that most of the materials from them were recycled and didn't make it to landfill. Mobile phones and computers; now I have certainly had a fair amount of them from new. Did I replace them before getting the most amount of use from them? Almost certainly. The more I think about it, the larger my mountain grows.

Another mural, depicting a camel as an island

Of course, I could do what is quite natural to do in this situation - blame someone else for my mountain. I would have had no need to buy a new phone if Nokia had not released a new model with a camera built into it, making my old one seem inadequate. But as I thought about it more, I realised that I already had a camera - why on earth did I need my phone to take pictures too? Aha, perhaps it was a good move actually, to combine multiple devices into a single super device - that will surely help my mountain! But, really, will it? Will there ever be an end to the production line of new phones, new features, new devices, that we all excitedly upgrade to ever year or two? We can recycle our old phones, of course, which helps reduce our mountain a little... but how many mobile phones does the world need? And this is just one area of our mountain - what happens when we start to add our cars, clothes, toys, packaging, food waste; the list goes on and on.

No packaging on these oddly shaped carrots!

When we begin to consider it in earnest, it really is quite sobering. And, so you see, with this image in mind, Alex and I are now constantly reminding ourselves of the size of our mountain. A few less paper towels here, a reusable shopping bag there - we have been discussing whether buying clothes from a charity shop would offset against the new clothes we have previously purchased, or could actually make our mountain smaller. Imagine if we could eventually reduce our mountain to nothing, through reusing items that would have otherwise gone to waste! We are thinking about whether our purchases can be recycled, whether they will bio-degrade or rust to nothing, or whether they will just sit in our mountain for hundreds of thousands of years... a broken, plastic legacy of a life well lived.

A view of the seafront, with a striking swordfish mural

And, so you see, just one simple conversation can have a profound affect on our lives, whether we realise it or not at the time. I have no grand aspirations to leave this world having achieved any greatness in terms of inventing the wheel, curing cancer, winning wars - I have inherited my dad's desire to simply leave the world a little bit better than when I found it. With that in mind, I go forward with this new outlook, really questioning everything I consume and whether it is a necessary, worthwhile purchase. Will it really make my life that much better, or can I do without it? Is it worth spending a little bit more to get something that lasts, rather than replacing poor quality goods at a rate of knots? There are many considerations, for sure, but no matter where in the world we are or what we are doing, there are always ways that we can reduce the size of our mountain.

The Longest Hour

Enjoying the Jardin de Cactus

Hot on the heels of Ben and Ash, my sister, Lucy, came out to visit us in Arrecife.  Lucy stayed aboard Firebird with us, which was the first time we have had a visitor for more than an overnight stay and it worked very well.  The forward cabin used to be a double berth, but we have converted it into a storage area for our clothes.  It was small anyway, and contains the heads, so was never a particularly great cabin.  Luckily, Firebird has a trick up her sleeve and the amazing table in the saloon can be lowered on its telescopic leg into a comfortable, generous double berth.  This is where Sis slept and the fun of having a sleepover every night outweighed any hassle of having to make the bed each day.  With three people below decks, you have to take it in turns to stand up, or else you spend all your time shuffling past each other, getting nothing useful done while performing some sort of badly choreographed dance for zombies.  Once you get the 'one person standing' rule sorted, though, it's perfectly comfortable.  Sis even went so far as to say that Firebird is spacious "as long as everyone is lying down".  We appreciated the sentiment, although you could probably say the same for a coffin.

Tapas at Casa Firebird (on Lucy's bed!)

Geography geek loving the volcanic rocks

We had a really fun week together and managed to squeeze in just the right amount of sightseeing without making the stay too hectic.  Thanks to Sis' fluent Spanish sweetening the lady in the tourist office, who didn't seem overly impressed with the usual calibre of tourist she deals with, we discovered that we could buy a ticket for entry to multiple attractions.  This made the already reasonable prices dangerously close to cheap.  I would recommend this approach to anyone doing a similar visit to Lanzarote.  The best part of having this combo ticket is that we essentially got free entrance into the Jardin de Cactus (Cactus Garden), which meant that we set that as our destination when we hired bicycles for the day.  We otherwise wouldn't have bothered going as it didn't sound that good on paper, but were very glad we got to see it.  The garden is really pretty, peaceful and interesting to look around.  It made the perfect place to recuperate in the shade with a coffee before turning homeward bound.

Surrounded by geology.  It doesn't get better than this

Exploring salt pans with Andrew and Juliet

An interesting twist to the week involved possibly meeting our first mitchyboyandgirl fans.  It turned out that Lucy's work colleagues, Andrew and Juliet, have an apartment on Lanzarote and were out here on holiday.  We met them one day for a picnic on the beach.  Once we had got the measure of each other in a well populated public place and could be fairly certain that neither party were crazed psychopaths, Andrew and Juliet invited us over for dinner, before which they took us on a tour of the surrounding area and showed us an interesting salt pan, which we weren't sure was still operational, but concluded that it probably was.

What happens when you put three teachers together in a room?  They do crosswords

Kate star gazing. She says she saw
Tinie Tempah and Bruce Willis

When I say that they are fans, don't imagine hysteric teenage girls fainting at Beetle concerts, instead, imaging someone casually saying in passing that they enjoyed reading the blog.  It's hard to say whether this was merely classic British politeness or not, but we're racking it up on the scoreboard anyway!  I don't like to assume that anyone other than our close friends and family is mildly interested in reading about our adventures, as that seems somewhat self-absorbed, but it certainly felt good to hear that the blog might be providing entertainment to a wider audience.  The hospitality that we were shown in Andrew and Juliet's lovely apartment was certainly fit for internationally renowned authors, even if we're not.


Kate and I spent a day more in Arrecife after Lucy flew home, which we used to prepare Firebird for setting to sea once more and on the morning of 24th April, we cast off and set sail for Gran Tarajal on Fuerteventura, some 60 NM south of Arrecife.  The forecast was for 20 kts NE, which we assumed meant slightly stronger, as it usually seems to be that way and it's safe to assume so in any case.  Once out there amongst it, we were in about 30 kts of wind and an uncomfortably close-spaced 2 to 3 meter swell from abaft.  Luckily we were heading with the wind and so the ride wasn't too bad.  With so much wind behind us, we certainly made good progress.  In fact, it was our fastest journey to date.  Kate said the technical term for the wind and sea state was "lively", which she said conveys the fact that it was a fast, slightly hairy passage, without admitting to any fear.  I'll go with that.

Kate in the Jardin de Cactus

Lunch cooked on our amazing BioLite (stick-burning stove)

One phenomenon we have come to rely on when sailing is that the final hour of the journey will be the longest hour of our lives and, amazingly, those sixty minutes actually last about four hours.  Whether it's the wind gods having a laugh, or an unamusing coincidence, what happens is that we will be doing, say, 6 kts with 6 NM to go, so one of us will say "Yay, only an hour to go".  Then, after some time has passed, we will get curious and check our speed and remaining distance again.  This time, whoever checks, will announce, with slightly less enthusiasm, that we are doing 5 kts, with 5 NM to go "Great, only an hour to go".  We both scratch our heads and wonder whether we imagined it already having been only an hour to go.  Next check, 4 kts, 4 NM, then 3 kts, 3 NM, by which point we're getting seriously fed up.  We should have been there three hours ago and yet, contrary to all the formulae we remember from A-Level mechanics, we're still an hour away from our destination.  On this journey, though, the last laugh was on the wind gods because as the now feeble blow died even further, the sails started to flap around pathetically and our speed dropped to 2 kts at 2 NM range, I pulled a shiny secret pendant from the lanyard about my neck.  Brandishing it towards the skies, letting rip a throaty, rumbling laugh of triumph, I inserted the magical pendant into its hallowed, snug-fitting receptacle, forged with unrivalled craftsmanship in the fires of Mordor, or possibly mass manufactured somewhere in China.  With the slightest twist of my wrist, the beast that sleeps beneath the floor was awoken and, miraculously, the never-ending final hour of the journey was reduced to a swift 20 minutes, courtesy of Rudolf Diesel.

Kate feeling lucky at Gran Tarajal

Sunny Days and Holidays

It strikes me as a little strange that neither Alex nor I have ever been to the Canary Islands before now. It has always seemed like quite an exotic holiday location to me and, in fact, before our journey here, I didn't even realise that it was in the EU, being part of Spain. However, now that we are here, we are realising just how popular the islands are as a holiday destination. This may be due, in part, to the multitude of cheap flights that exist between the Canaries and the UK, but it seems that it has long been a favourite holiday destination for Europeans seeking some winter warmth. Certainly, it is able to deliver well in this area, with very little rainfall and daily temperatures rarely dropping below 17 degrees Celsius, in the time that we've been here. The only downfall seems to be that it can be very windy, but this is nothing like the bitingly cold winds we are used to in our British winters and if you can find a sheltered spot, you are soon taking your outer layers off to cool down.

Alex's cousin, Julie, and her husband Chris came for dinner on Firebird

Our last few weeks on Lanzarote have been busy and enjoyable, with a good number of visitors flying in for us to meet up with. Some had planned to come here in order to visit us, whilst others just happened to be coming here anyway and the opportunity to catch up came as a welcome surprise. We are berthed in a new marina/construction site in Arrecife, which is the capital of Lanzarote, and a place that not many tourists stay in for long. The airport is on the outskirts of this small city, so most people arrive and then get transferred to one of the more touristy resorts either north or south of here. Costa Teguise is the resort just north of us, and south of us are Puerto Del Carmen and Playa Blanca. Luckily for us, the islands main bus station is a short walk from the marina, and from there we can catch buses to pretty much anywhere.

Traditional Canarian music is played around Arrecife on a Saturday

The buses are nice; fairly frequent and, for the most part, air conditioned. The most popular line is the number 3 bus, which runs from Puerto Del Carmen, through Arrecife and on to Costa Teguise. As a result, it gets very busy with tourists exploring up and down the coast, and we have had to wait for the second or third bus before now, due to them being completely full. Unfortunately for us, one of these occasions happened to be when we decided that, enough was enough, we simply had to do our quarterly clothes wash. Having only hand washed essential underwear and the odd t-shirt since dominating my parents' washing machine in Portugal back in November, we were completely overrun with dirty laundry. We had great plans of keeping on top of our washing after that humongous task but, quite frankly, at anchor in the freezing cold in December and January in Alvor, going outside for an hour or more to hand wash clothes was a task placed right at the bottom of our "to-do" list. And, of course, once you let these things build up, it seems like an insurmountable task that you never feel like tackling.

Unrelated to anything in this post, but our neighbour's dog Isis
is the most adorable little Beagle that we have ever met!

So, we found details of a self-service launderette in Puerto Del Carmen and set off with what turned out to be 35 Euros worth of washing, at 5 Euros a load. We finally managed to squeeze ourselves, our jam-packed rucksacks and four large 'bag-for-life' style carrier bags of clothes onto a number 3 bus with all the tourists, and headed off to Puerto Del Carmen. The journey was mostly ok, as we managed to ram the carrier bags into the luggage slots above people's heads, but leaving the crowded bus was awkward and clothes were spilling out of the open bags as we tried to retrieve them. Thankfully, I spotted that a pair of my jeans was still on the bus before the driver shut the door, so I managed to jump back on to fetch them before he drove off. As we watched the bus leave and gathered our belongings from the floor, Alex reflected that we probably looked like tourists ourselves, and people around us had probably been wondering why we had packed all of our holiday clothes in carrier bags rather than just bringing suitcases!

Spot the difference! We found this bar sign on Fuerteventura very amusing!

We decided to visit the nearby island of Fuerteventura for a couple of days, as there are ferries from the resort Playa Blanca on the south of Lanzarote. This was a fun trip, and we travelled on the bus down to a marina on the south of the island - Gran Tarajal. The trip could not be done in a day, due to the length of Fuerteventura, so we found a cheap self-catering apartment in a resort called Caleta de Fuste and stayed there for a night. It was really interesting to see the difference between Lanzarote and Fuerteventura; the latter feels a lot less developed, and most of the tourists we met there seemed to be German rather than English. The first thing we noticed about Fuerteventura was how colourful the buildings were - on Lanzarote, nearly all buildings are white with either blue or green doors and window frames, due to strict planning legislation passed as a result of campaigning by local artist César Manrique, back in the 1970s. On Fuerteventura, no such restrictions exist and the locals seem to delight in decorating their homes in a range of bright colours. Another difference is that the island is very sandy, with long sandy beaches running down the east coast. Sadly, along this coast there seems to be a large number of abandoned building sites - it seems that perhaps investors ran out of money and have not returned to finish what they started.

A calm night time view of El Charco de San Ginés, near the marina in
Arrecife. I've just discovered that 'charco' means puddle!

On our way back to Lanzarote, the sea was getting pretty rough and this made for an interesting 45 minute ferry journey. As ever, Alex and I were enjoying the thrill of being in amongst some large waves, whilst not having to worry about controlling the vessel ourselves - instead we could just sit back and enjoy the ride. Other passengers didn't really seem as enthralled. It all started off ok, with women letting out those excited/scared screams that they seem to do whenever we surfed down a particularly large wave. However, by about halfway, any sounds of excitement were long gone and, looking around, most heads were down on the table. Of course, the inevitable happened and one man was sick - that's all it takes before the sick bags start getting dealt out faster than a deck of cards in Caesar's Palace. The smell was pretty repulsive and we felt sorry for the ferry staff - I'm sure they much prefer serving refreshments on passage to dispensing and collecting sick bags! Nevertheless, they did a sterling job and eventually managed to mask the smells with strong cleaning fluids.

Ben looks happy to have arrived on Lanzarote!

Our first planned visitors were my brother, Ben, and his partner Ash. They booked to stay in the Arrecife Gran Hotel, which is easily the tallest building in Arrecife. It was originally built prior to the planning laws that restrict the height of buildings on Lanzarote, but has had a total refurb since catching fire in the early 1990s and so looks very modern. It's actually quite an attractive building, in my opinion, and makes for a useful landmark when out sailing along the coast. We thoroughly enjoyed having them staying nearby, as there were many tourist activities that we had fancied doing but decided that we should wait until we had visitors before indulging. We took a trip on the little tourist train that drives around Arrecife and, on another day, hired bicycles with which we cycled along the coast to Costa Teguise. It was so nice to be back on a bike - it made both Alex and I realise how much we miss riding our bikes, and has caused us to start reconsidering whether we could fit a couple of folding bikes on the boat.

The coastal route from Arrecife to Costa Teguise makes for an interesting cycle

We also took Ben and Ash out sailing on Firebird, picking a day when the forecast seemed best for our visitors, especially as they had no prior sailing experience. We planned to sail down the coast for a couple of miles, drop anchor near their hotel and have a leisurely lunch before heading back to the marina before dark. We let the lines slip and motored away from the pontoon shortly after midday and, as there was a good amount of wind, Alex decided to switch the engine off immediately and tack all the way up the narrow channel that leads out to sea. It was a bit of a baptism of fire for the boys, who did well to keep out of the way of the tiller as Alex called out "ready about, lee ho!" almost continuously and expertly manoeuvred us away from the harbour walls, lateral markers and other vessels. I would like to be able to claim that I was, at the same time, expertly sheeting the foresail back and forth but, in reality, we had the self tacking jib on and were very glad that we did.

At anchor in the sunshine, not far from the centre of Arrecife

Once out of the port entrance, we had a fast sail downwind to the anchorage, with the wind being slightly stronger than predicted. We made our way to the small harbour by the Arrecife Gran Hotel, as planned, dropped the anchor and enjoyed a delicious salad made with sprouted lentils. It was a lovely hot afternoon and we were in no hurry to leave; particularly myself and Alex, who both knew that beating back up to the marina in the lively winds would be quite an uncomfortable sail. Still, we said nothing and made the most of being so relaxed and peaceful at anchor... that was until the nearby sailing club started their Friday afternoon activities and Firebird found herself being used as a marker by the endless stream of youngsters spilling out in their Optimist dinghies. It was actually quite fun to watch them - I think Alex rather envied them being out in such nice conditions, as his Wednesday afternoon dinghy lessons were conducted in the London Docklands and were no doubt a good deal chillier than Lanzarote!

A view from the top of the Arrecife Gran Hotel

We eventually tidied up Firebird, lifted the anchor and sailed away from our lunch spot, heading into some slightly choppy seas. I think that Ben and Ash were alarmed at first, as Firebird was bouncing around quite a lot and we were heeled over due to being so close hauled, but they seemed to realise from our reactions that there was really nothing to worry about and so handled it very well. We made it back to the harbour entrance before anyone started to feel queasy and then had a nice gentle sail down the narrow channel back to the marina. Ben later commented that the waves had been quite big, and Alex and I almost laughed out loud at that notion. We explained that the waves had been pretty small and used a nearby lamp post as a reference to explain the sizes of some of the large waves we have seen. Of course, in many ways, smaller waves can be far worse as they are often close together and make for an uncomfortable ride, whereas huge waves are usually fairly well spaced and the boat rides up and down them a lot more easily.

Alex proves that the "box of doom" is, at last, empty! This large box has been
getting in the way since Brighton, having become a junk storage area.

After our fun-filled "holiday" with the boys, we spent last week doing the usual tasks of work on the boat,  development work and general chores. I've been making the most of the endless sunshine by getting out the yacht varnish and treating some of our woodwork to a few coats, whilst Alex has been working with wires and electronics, on both Firebird and a neighbouring yacht. We have now almost finished tidying and cleaning Firebird for our next visitor, Alex's sister, who will be staying on the boat with us! We are both very excited, as we have had guests stay with us before whilst berthed in London and it always feels like a sleepover due to the close proximity in which we all sleep. Lucy ran the London Marathon yesterday and after such a tough training schedule, let alone the run itself, she sure does deserve a good holiday. Of course, a welcome side effect is that we, too, will be having another "holiday"... and the forecast is, of course, sunny days ahead!

Back in the Saddle

After the shake up we received on our way to Graciosa, neither Kate nor I relished the thought of going sailing again.  Slowly, though, as is usually the way, the passing of time eroded the unpleasant memories.  I can't understand why our brains work like this.  It seems an unlikely trait to succeed in the Darwinian selection process.  I would have thought that the caveman who went out on his yacht, got caught in a storm and felt like he was going to die, remembered it exactly how it was and never set foot on another yacht for so long as he lived would be more likely to survive to pass on his genes than the caveman who went sailing, took a right pasting, yet a month later thought it was a good idea to go sailing again.  Maybe the caveman who remembered all the bad stuff ended up starving because he was too frightened to leave his cave to go hunt a ferocious sabre-toothed tiger after his last encounter with one.

Me and Kate in a nice little park in Arrecife

In any case, when Warren and Faye, of Moonshine, asked us if we wanted to join them for their sail from Graciosa to Lanzarote, we jumped at the chance.  We were eager to see what it was like to sail on a larger, much heavier, twin-masted boat and also to learn from Warren and Faye, who have a great deal of sailing experience under their belts.  We had great fun and were pleasantly surprised that heading against the wind into choppy seas was about as uncomfortable on Moonshine as it would have been on Firebird.  Why is this good?  Well, it means that we don't need to add 'uncomfortable ride' to the list of cons in our list of for/against having a small boat.  In fact, the only real problem we have found with a small boat is the limited amount of storage space available for food, but even this problem could be solved if we put our minds to it and built a clever storage area.  It's also sometimes a shame that we can only accommodate two guests below decks and we can't sprawl anywhere when relaxing.  Now it's warmer, though, we could comfortably have four people over if we sat in the cockpit and ate off our laps.  Some of the benefits of having little Firebird, however, are:

• Marina fees are considerably cheaper for us than anyone else we talk to
• ...as are the running and maintenance costs.  For example, when motoring, we use half the diesel of Moonshine
• The size of the lines and forces involved in sailing are easy to manage
• We can squeeze into crowded marinas and anchorages
• Close-quarters manoeuvring is a doddle
• Most importantly, you are never more than 1 step away from somewhere to puke if you're feeling sea sick below decks.  Seriously, we have both been surprised by how quickly the need to blow chunks hits and I know I sure was glad to be within lurching distance of the galley sink!

The Arrecife Gran Hotel: The same size as Kate's head

I'm not saying that Firebird is perfect, but instead my point is that where things aren't quite to our liking, they would not be solved by simply increasing the size of the vessel and that small boats, in our eyes, have a lot going for them.

We spent a very enjoyable week on Lanzarote with Warren and Faye, exploring the island, relaxing, and hunting down the best-value English breakfasts.  Well, to be fair, this last part was mainly driven by me and Warren, although when push came to shove, Kate and Faye didn't complain for too long after the hash browns started flowing.  Aside from shunning local food to instead opt for badly prepared, greasy fry-ups that we should be ashamed of rather than embrace, their reluctance was down to the fact that to get the breakfasts, we needed to venture into the heavily touristic areas, full of 'Brits abroad'.  By going there and having the breakfasts, we were essentially becoming what we proclaimed to abhor.

Stay healthy by running marathons and drinking beer

At the end of the week, Kate and I took part in the Lanzarote Music Marathon, which, despite the name, was only a half marathon, 5 or 10k.  Kate ran a very respectable 10k and I was doing OK on the half until I was reduced to not much more than a hobble with what I suspect is ITB syndrome.  Hopefully it's nothing too serious and will be solved by stretching and strengthening exercises.  It was a fun event with live bands scattered along the route to keep you going.  It was held in Puerto del Carmen, one of the tourist resort areas that does a good breakfast.  The organisers had obviously taken note of the type of person that visits this area and instead of handing out the usual energy drink or protein shake that you normally get given upon completing an organised run, they had a table full of beer!  When I reached for an alcohol-free can, the lady behind the table helpfully corrected me and said that those cans were for the children.  She looked most perplexed when I thanked her and continued to take my 0% refreshment!

Graciosa as seen from Mirador del Rio on Lanzarote.  You can see the marina we were in (left of centre)

After watching the carnival on Lanzarote, which was a mass of amazing costumes, drumming, and elaborate floats, we returned to Graciosa on the ferry.  One thing we enjoyed about our stay on Lanzarote was being able to have hot showers and, once back on Graciosa, we couldn't bear to take another cold one in the windy, half-exposed shower block that we had been using on the campsite there.  We held out for as long as we could manage while still being able to call ourselves civilised, after which time, we cast off our mooring lines and took Firebird down to Lanzarote.  We were really excited to be sailing Firebird again and it was nice to make the trip on our own, to prove to ourselves that we were over the trauma of our trip from Portugal.

Watching the J/80s race

We have been on Lanzarote for a few weeks now.  In this time, we have taken Warren and Faye out for a reciprocal sail on Firebird, so that they could see what life at sea is like for a Firebirdian and to offer commentary on any aspects where we could improve our sailing.  Some of the tips that Warren gave us were really useful, and I would much rather learn from his experience than to have to do it the hard way and learn from our own experiences.  We have also watched some J/80 racing, a J/80 being a small racing yacht.  Well, maybe that's a bit rich for me to call them small seeing as they are only 2 foot shorter than Firebird!  We watched the racing with Sven, a friend we first met in Baiona (Spain) and who happened to be on Lanzarote when we turned up, which was a lovely coincidence.  The useful thing about having Sven for company while watching the J/80s is that he's a real sailing guru, who has done a load of racing himself and whose boat is a pedigree racing thoroughbred, so he could explain the rules and tactics we were watching and act as our own private commentator on who was sailing well, who wasn't and why.  At one point, a yacht passing through the area got caught up in the middle of the J/80s, who were all frantically beating back and forth on their upwind leg, tacking only inches away from each other.  We were so glad that it wasn't us amongst that tangled mass off nippy J/80s, being bombarded from all quarters, with only a few seconds to work out who should be avoiding who between each narrowly-avoided collision.  It reminded me of a similar experience we had when leaving Falmouth back in September.

Remote controlled yachts

We also had fun watching some racing on a smaller scale, with local chaps battling their remote control boats in a bay off the front in Arrecife.  All in all, there has been a fair amount of sailing action and we're loving it.

We are really enjoying exploring Lanzarote and although we are no closer to formulating a plan of what to do after the Canary Islands, at least now we have been able to put our unpleasant sailing experience behind us and will be venturing out of our cave to hunt more sabre-toothed tigers in the future.

Well; what more can I say?

Joie de Vivre

A month has passed since we first set foot on La Graciosa, and what a wonderful month it has been. After our less-than-enjoyable passage here, a few weeks to wind down and relax on a pretty much deserted island was just what the doctor ordered. We decided, upon arrival, that we would have a proper 'holiday' before starting any of the boat DIY or looking for online contracts, and that is exactly what we did. It may seem odd to some, the idea that we would need a holiday… after all, we haven't worked for over six months now… how much more of a holiday do we need?! But, whilst we haven't worked in the traditional sense, for the most part we have been busier than we ever were when we worked full time and, when we aren't busy, we are feeling guilty about the never ending to-do list that begs for our attention. So, our holiday began.

The captain made light work of this humongous chocolate pastry

The morning after our arrival, Warren and Faye invited us for coffee and pastries on the waterfront. Given our love of fresh coffee, and the alternative being to begin tidying up the destruction that had taken place inside Firebird on our passage, it was an easy invitation to accept. We whiled away a good few hours chatting and enjoying the sunshine – it felt so good to be safe on dry land and be wearing shorts and flip flops! We met a Swedish friend of Warren and Faye's who works as a tour guide on the island, and were all invited back to Moonshine for some lunch following a brief tour of the essential shops and amenities in the village. The next couple of days continued along this theme, with us barely spending any time on Firebird at all. Finally, we decided that we simply had to buckle down and get her ship shape, so that we could once again relax and feel at home on her.

Firebird remained in this state for a few days after our arrival

Exploring the Canary Islands is really great fun. As well as exploring our immediate surroundings, we decided to take the local ferry across to Lanzarote for the day, on a mission to find two things; 1) a local Spanish SIM card, to enable us to use the internet and 2) an English breakfast. Of course, with Mr Mitchell on board, the mission priorities were soon reversed, and we set to work hunting down a breakfast that had been recommended by Warren, in Puerto del Carmen. The ferry journey across to Lanzarote was rather rough, as the wind had been picking up a lot over the course of the week, and the return journey even more so. In fact, the following day, all ferries to and from Graciosa were cancelled, so we were fortunate to have been able to get back on what was the last ferry of the day. Whilst on the ferry, climbing up and surfing down some pretty huge waves, both Alex and I remarked on how glad we were to be on the ferry rather than in Firebird (watch a video of the return crossing). At €20 return per person for a 20-30 minute journey, the ferry is probably a contender with the Isle of Wight ferries for being the most expensive per mile travelled. However, we both felt that it was money well spent on that occasion. We returned safely to Graciosa with SIM card in hand, following a successful mission and pleasant introduction to our neighbouring island.

Waves are much better when enjoyed from the safety of a beach

Even though we were still on holiday, there were some chores that really had to be done, such as the tidying of Firebird. Additionally, we desperately needed to thoroughly clean the interior walls, which had started to grow mouldy due to the amount of time we had spent condensated over the past couple of winter months in Spain and Portugal. It wasn't something we were much looking forward to but, actually, pottering about on Firebird on a nice sunny day was really quite enjoyable and we decided that we would give ourselves time off in lieu for our efforts. Another task we wanted to get done was investigating our engine troubles, especially as Warren had kindly offered to help us determine the cause of our problems. Once again, we actually really enjoyed this ‘chore’ as both Alex and I love to tinker with engines anyhow, and it was great to be able to learn so much from having Warren there with us. Even though the problem turned out to be nothing to do with the engine or fuel system, we felt very smug at having completed half of the scheduled engine service, with just the oil change remaining before we can be on our way again.

An interesting local plant, with Playa de las Conchas in the background

As always, we have been meeting a lot of new people whilst in the Canaries, many of them through Warren and Faye and a surprising number of them being French! One evening around Moonshine, the prevailing language being spoken was French which was quite tiring for me, given my French is very much limited to the level at which most of us Brits can converse upon school leaving age. And, of course, nobody was asking my name, age, or directions to the local bakery, so I was pretty much stuffed! However, I actually surprised myself as the evening went on with how much I could understand… I just wasn't really able to contribute to the conversation. Thankfully, Alex's French was on top form, and by the end of the evening he was explaining the difference between AC and DC to another yacht owner, and arranging to take a look at some battery issues she was having – honestly, nothing can keep him away from his love of batteries!

We have nicknamed this mountain Coffee Cup Mountain, as the pattern
on it looks like the one a barista might make on your latte

We have really begun settling into life ashore on this rugged, yet beautiful, island. Following our rather awful trip to get here, I suddenly feel like we have a new lease of life. I guess describing our trip as a 'near death experience' is rather over dramatic but, honestly, at the time when we were out there in such unknown and frightening conditions, I did question whether we would arrive safely and it was the most afraid I have ever been. On the back of that, I feel compelled to make the most of every day that I have, and it’s so much fun. We have started learning Spanish by listening to CDs every morning as we make breakfast, as we intend on being in this archipelago for a good while and would love to be able to converse properly with the locals. Alex has also been playing his harmonica more, and is getting rather good! Most evenings we cook our dinner on our awesome little BioLite camp stove, using wood that we collect from around the island.

Alex managed to bake a banana cake, using a frying pan on the BioLite

We have signed up for a run on Lanzarote in March, with Alex doing a half marathon and me a quarter marathon (just over 10k), so have been running around the island in training for that, as well as working out at the local "gym" (children's play area). Even the cold showers don’t seem quite so bad any more – when I'm shivering and cringing with just my head under the water and the wind giving me goosebumps, I remind myself that I'd rather be here than back in the midst of an Atlantic storm. And, of course, once you force yourself to plunge your entire body under the spray by lathering it up in soap, it is actually quite invigorating.

Alex works his guns on the swings. The kids who turned up
later to play looked highly unimpressed with us!

Our holiday is over now, but we are a bit sluggish on our return to 'work'. February is reputed to be the worst month here, weather-wise, and so we haven’t attempted to do any boat DIY. Of course, when I say the weather is bad, it is nothing in comparison to the UK. Temperatures are still 15-18°C at all times, it just gets quite chilly when the wind is blowing and the clouds cover the sun on their way past, occasionally offloading some of their water content as they go. We are still very much free from condensation and able to wash clothes outside on sunny days, and Alex refuses to change from shorts and flip flops into jeans and trainers, despite my weakness at returning to them at the first breath of wind. We have been making the most of the colder days by getting our hands back into development and updating our online profiles, in preparation for finding some remote work in the new financial year. It has been really enjoyable to get our heads back into some technical work, on our own terms and for enjoyment and the hope of making a bit of money, rather than because it’s what we have to do, 9-5 every day just to make ends meet.

A selfie on the beach. We considered asking someone else to take the shot,
but most people around us were naked so we chickened out!

We have a great deal to look forward to, in both the short and long term. We have been invited to sail to Lanzarote on Moonshine with Warren and Faye, which is extremely exciting, as we can learn a lot from their experience and will enjoy sailing on a larger vessel. We have friends and family coming to visit us on the islands of Lanzarote and Tenerife, so we will be on the move in Firebird again which will be fun. We have also been reading about the other Canary Islands, such as La Gomera and La Palma, which sound fascinating and definitely worth a visit.

A view from the beach to the marina on Graciosa

Beyond this, we have no firm plans, and we are perfectly happy with that. It feels great to be so content where we are right now, making the most of what we have and enjoying our time together. Our dream was to break free from the rat race and set sail on our boat, heading for Greece but seeing the world on the way. Almost on a daily basis we remind each other that this is it – we are living the dream! We have learnt so much on our journey here, and will no doubt have many more experiences ahead of us, from which we will learn more still. The most important thing is that we are here, enjoying life and making the most of every opportunity that comes our way. 

A panoramic shot from the northern breakwater at Caleta de Sebo