2nd November 2005 (Isla Graciosa to Arrecife, Lanzarote 33nm)

We slept great last night, no wind, no waves, no night watches, just sleep, deep sleep! Then I awoke, to a strange noise in the boat! I jumped up, threw on some shorts and went outside! We'd dragged our anchor overnight and were almost on the beach! I fired up the engines and motored back out towards the channel, giving us a bit of depth below the boat! Graham and Patty woke up wondering what was going on and after a brief chat, we agreed that we hadn't dragged, but the tide had gone out! After a year in the Med, with tides of maybe 0.5m I had been relaxed and not even thought about it when we arrived here at night time! They have 2.5m tides here, which means that the 3.5m we had anchored in last night must have been near high tide and we had awoken in about 1.5m of water! If I hadn't woken up when we started touching bottom, we could've been stuck or suffered some serious damage to the keels!

As we were now all up, we decided to go into port and complete the formalities of arriving in a new country. We motored into the marina, only to be sent away again! The marinero on the quay advised us that they didn't have customs here and we should go to Arrecife in Lanzarote when we are passing! That suited us, so we motored 1 mile round the corner to the next bay, dropped anchor with about 10 other yachts and had a swim in the Canaries for the first time!

We decided to leave Graciosa about lunchtime and sailed down the Lanzarote coast to Arrecife, where we were able to anchor inside the very crowded harbour, then headed into town to find a restaurant!

3rd November 2005 (Arrecife, Lanzarote to Pozo Negro Fuerteventura 55nm)

After we woke up and had breakfast, we decided Arrecife wasn't the nice bay we were after, so we motored to the far end of the harbour and anchored again, then went to find customs and sort out the formalities. Other than a 10 minute wait whilst the police phoned the customs officer and told him he had customers, the formalities were really easy and he was very friendly. It didn't even cost us any "donations" unlike Morocco!

As we headed back to the boat, we were stopped by Aubrey from Toronto onboard "Veleda IV" He was just warning us that we might be asked to move as we were near where the tug boat came in. We explained that we were leaving soon anyway, but ended up chatting to them for 20 minutes and doing a book swap with them! We also had a brief chat with Kittywake, an Athena 38 catamaran who we'd been moored next to in Gibraltar before setting off.

We set sail and set a course for Fuerteventura, aiming for a bay called Pozo Negro, which looked sheltered and was half way down the island. At 19:15 we caught our first Canary Island fish, a generously sized Dorado. Then at 20:00 we decided to bring in the lures and Patty had caught another one. She called for help and we brought over the fish net (laundry basket) ready to assist. Patty could feel the pull of the fish and was sure it was a big one! As it came closer, it became clear she was just winding in the lure, so we decided that from now on, when the hook had nothing on it, we had caught a lure fish! Patty took some ribbing on that one, but we did enjoy the Dorado after anchoring in Pozo Negro that night.

4th November 2005 (Pozo Negro to Morro Jable, Fuerteventura 34nm)

We got up early as we wanted to find a sandy beach and have a swim today, but the wind was up (as usual in the canaries) so we set sail along the coast of Fuerteventura waiting until we spotted a suitable spot to anchor. It clouded over a bit, so we kept sailing and decided to skip the beach for the day.

We sailed past Playa de Jandia where I'd been on holiday a few years earlier, and watched as the Hobie Cats and windsurfers enjoyed the strong winds and waves off the beach. We rounded Punta del Morro Jable, a sandy peninsula with a lighthouse on the tip, and headed for the harbour to find shelter from the huge swell we had been sailing in for the past week,

The pilot book mentioned some pontoons in the harbour which you could tie up to and sure enough, they were there, with a number of boats already moored. We found a space and tied up, before realizing that we'd picked the only one which didn;t have a walkway to the shore! As we had enough provisions, we decided to just stay on the boat, chill out and have a good nights rest.

5th November 2005 (Morro Jable, Fuerteventura to Las Palmas Gran Canaria 57nm)

We'd had enough of arriving at places in the dark, so we decided to get up early and set off to Gran Canaria first thing. We had agreed on a 6am start, but it wasn't until we arrived in Gran Canaria, that we discovered we had the wrong time and had actually set off at 5am!

We had read and been told lots about the acceleration zones in the Canaries, expect an extra 15-20 knots of wind to suddenly appear as you head round the lower ends of the islands. This was very true in Fuerteventura, as the mountainous usland drops down to a flat peninsula at the Southern tip, causing wind to swerve around the island, then meet here doubling its strength. At 9.50 the autopilot failed, so I was hand steering, then the wind went from 15 knots to 28 knots of wind within a very short distance! and Graham and Patty had gone back to bed an hour or so ago! I couldn't leave the wheel without an autopilot, so I started the engine under their bed ready to turn up into the wind. They woke to the sound and Graham came up. I explained the situation and we agreed it was now wise to reef! (It would've been wise to reef an hour earlier if we'd believed the truth of the acceleration zones!). During the crossing, the autopilot started working, then failed again, as did the wind meter!

We arrived in Las Palmas at about 14:00 and found a spot in the harbour to anchor. Las Palmas harbour is absolutely huge, but space to anchor was limited, as boats had started gathering for the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) which was due to set off for St Lucia on 20th November. After chilling out, then going ashore for a look around, shopping, emails etc, we returned to the boat for a rest! We met Cathy and Steve (Bear) from the yacht "Claudia B" They stopped in for a chat and gave us loads of advice about Las Palmas and the Canaries in general. They had been in Las Palmas for a few months as they were part way through their second circumnavigation of the globe. Quite an achievement on a Ferro Cement boat they bought in New Zealand 25 years ago.

One of the most important things that came out whilst chatting to Steve and Cathy, was that we were planning to pick up the rest of the crew on wednesday at the wrong airport! Tenerife has 2 airports, one near Santa Cruz in the North and the other near Los Cristianos in the South. We hadn't spotted the one in the South, so believed that Santa Cruz was near the airport! Tenerife South is the international airport, whilst Tenerife North is mostly local flights! We would've been 60 miles out if we'd waited there! Text messages and emails to Maggie, Floris and Natalie, just to check where they would be arriving.

6th November 2005 (Las Palmas, Gran Canaria)

Laundry, boat cleaning and boat parts shopping day! Or so we thought! We bagged up the laundry and set off ashore to find the launderette, only to discover that they were both closed on sundays. The Chandleries for sailing bits were also closed sundays, so a bit of boat cleaning and check emails at the internet cafe.

I received a text from Maggie to discover that she was not coming with us!!! She had been offered a place on a French yacht delivering it to the Caribbean and they were paying her flights and food, whilst I was expecting to split the cost of food between us all and she would've had to pay her own flights. It came as a bit of a shock to us, but when we thought more about it, it was probably a good thing for all of us, We now had a spare cabin for food and more water each for the crossing!

7th November 2005 (Las Palmas, Gran Canaria)

Laundry, boat cleaning and boat parts shopping day! This time they're all open, so we managed to achieve a lot today, clean clothes and bedding! Boat bits either ordered or bought, even checked our emails again in the Internet Cafe and did a bit of shopping!

8th November 2005 (Las Palmas, Gran Canaria to Anfi Del Mar, Gran Canaria 43nm)

We set off at 10:00 and for once had lightr winds, we just sailed gracefully down the coast, arriving in Anfi Del Mar at 18:00. What a beautiful spot! Anfi Del Mar is a 5 star resort, with a small marina, then a man made beach and some very luxurious apartments and restaurants. We just dropped anchor off the beach, swam ashore and enjoyed the atmosphere! We had a barbecue on the boat and watched the sun going down and relaxed!

After losing at cards, I had to demonstrate my famous headstand on water as a forfeit!

9th November 2005 (Anfi Del Mar, Gran Canaria to Los Cristianos, Tenerife 57nm)

We did our usual (for the Canaries) and got up at 06:00 to make sure we would arrive in Tenerife during daylight, motored for the first hour with no wind, then suddenly hit the acceleration zone and 25 knots from the North East! We put a reef in early this time, but still raced across the channel to Tenerife! Just off the coast of Gran Canaria and we were doing 8 knots, when the fishing rod bent nearly in half. We reeled in another big Dorado, then checked the line on the other side and this one had something huge on it. Graham couldn't pull it in whilst we were still doing 8 knots, so I luffed up into the wind and slowed the boat down. Graham landed our biggest catch yet, a 2 foot Dorado! We were going to eat well tonight! The rest of the crossing was uneventful, but we made Los Cristianos by 15:00 so time to anchor up and go ashore!

10th November 2005 (Los Cristianos, Tenerife)

We woke up to the sound of engines nearby and I don't mean outboards, these were huge rumbling engines! I went outside and was greeted by the sight of the biggest fast ferry I'd ever seen, coming straight foir us! A quick check around and we were still amongst all the other boats, so they must miss us, but what a sight???

Time to relax, Floris and Natalie arrive tomorrow evening so we have a day and a half to finish a few jobs on the boat, tidy up and empty their cabin. First priority though is chilling out and going ashore to have a pint in an English pub! We did a few jobs, then went ashore and found tourist information (it was closed) Graham and Patty were going to go up Mount Teide tomorrow, so we found the bus station and they had to be there at 9am tomorrow. That was all we needed to know, so back to the seafront, into an English bar and order a pint! We stopped for a curry on the way back down, then went back to the boat for the night!

11th November 2005 (Los Cristianos, Tenerife)

Floris and Natalie arrive tonight, so I dropped Graham and Patty ashore early for their bus and finished tidying away my things and cleaning the starboard bow cabin. It took me most of the day, so I only had half an hou ashore bvefore going to the bus station and off to the airport. I arrived at the airport about 10 minutes before their flight landed, then waited for them to come through. 40 minutes later and they were out. We caught a taxi back to Los Cristianos and stopped for our first beer together in a seafront bar. We'd arranged with Graham and Patty to meet them in a different bar, but we could see the beach and would spot them when they came ashore. We saw them land, waited for them to walk round, then missed them! How they got past us we still don't know, we must've been chatting! So we had to walk the length of the beach to go and meet with them, then get another beer, have some food, then back to the boat! The Atlantic crew were finally together on the Blue Dolphin!

12th November 2005 (Los Cristianos, Tenerife)

Our first day all together and we just had an easy one, we went ashore and walked along the beaches towards Playa de Las Americas, then walked back and stopped for food in an Angus Steak House! In the afternoon, we split up, I watched England beat Australia in the rugby, followed by an England victory in the football.The others went shopping! We met up early evening and went for a curry and some beers, dragging along an English couple I'd met whilst watching the football. Later we were glad the other couple left, as he was getting to be a bit strange, the more he drank! So we then went for a curry again! (I liked Los Cristianos!)

13th November 2005 (Los Cristianos, Tenerife to Abano, Tenerife 28nm)

Time to move on again, we had a late start, no rush today, but planned on leaving Los Cristianos and going round the coast of Tenerife ready to cross to Gran Canaria tomorrow, We left at about 10:30 and ended up running the engines all day as we travelled round to Abano. It was only about 20 miles, but wind and current were against us, so we didn't arrive until 17:30. The bay looked a lot smaller in real life than the pilot book had indicated, and it was sheltered from prevailing winds, but only just. We put 2 anchors down to stop us dragging towards shore as the big swell was coming in round the corner of the bay. We even put the third anchor down as a kedge to try and stop the boat from spinning side on to the waves. This was less succesful and we had a pretty uncomfortable night!

14th November 2005 (Abano, Tenerife to Puerto De Sardina, Gran Canaria 39nm)

Nobody slept well and we had agreed on an early start, so we left Abano at 7:30, all glad to be out of the rolly anchorage. The wind was up, North Easterly 21 knots, so we set sail for the Northern tip of Gran Canaria, almost close hauled all the way. We had hoped to make it all the way to Los Palmas, but it became clear we would arrive late at night if we tried, so we decided to head for Puerto De Sardinia on the North Western tip instead. We arrived there just after 4pm and it was almost perfect. The waves were huge and breaking against the peninsular, but in Sardinia, they became big rolllers, which we hardly noticed at thye spot we anchored. Further in, they turned into surf and there were about 20 local kids on boogie boards out playing in it for hours. The area was crowded with fishing pots, but we dropped 2 anchors again just clear of them and had a good nights sleep.

15th November 2005 (Puerto De Sardina, Gran Canaria to Las Palmas, Gran Canaria 25nm)

An easy day today, we had slept well and we didn't have far to go, so we upped anchor at 9:15 and motored out round the peninsular. There was no wind in the bay as we were sheltered by the huge cliffs, but as we came out into free air, we realised there was no wind there either, so we motored all the way to Las Palmas! We arrived about 13:00 anchored up, said hello to Steve and Cathy on Claudia B and went ashore.

16th November 2005 (Las Palmas, Gran Canaria)

OK so we're in Las Palmas, we have a list of things to do, but we also need to go shopping and buy enough provisions for 3-4 weeks at sea. 2 - 3 days of ficing things and shopping and we should be ready to leave! We started by creating a list of jobs to be done, which just kept growing as people thought of things! Then we started the shopping list, I insisted we all wrote out 4 dinners and 4 lunches each, then broke down the ingredients for them all so we could create one list based on the actual meals. We then listed liquids, eg water, milk, fruit juice etc. then, snacks, fruit and onto non food items etc. Read all about it and download the full spreadsheet on the Atlantic Data page. It took us a long time to compile the list, but once it was done, Patty, Graham and Natalie went shopping, whilst I stayed on the boat with Floris and we worked on the list of jobs.

17th November 2005 (Las Palmas, Gran Canaria)

Similar to yesterday, lots of jobs to be finished, lots of shopping to be done! We made loads of progress, but there still seemed to be lots to do! We went ashore in the evening, visited the internet cafe and checked emails etc. I also checked the weather forecasts and discovered that there was a storm around the Azores, which was heading this way! It looked like the storm would arrive in the Canaries Sunday or Monday, so we decided to try and leave tomorrow (Friday) and get away ahead of it. We still had a lot of shopping, plus a few jobs to do first, tomorrow would be busy!

18th November 2005 (Las Palmas, Gran Canaria)

We finished off a few jobs, then set off for the customs office to get our exit stamps for leaving the Canaries. We walked half way, then a taxi pulled over and offered us a lift, there were 5 of us and none of us are small, but he let us all squeeze in for the ride. He then turned off his meter and charged us double because he was breaking the law taking us all! It seemed a bit of a cheek as he dropped us off at the police station, where we would get the stamps! At the police station, Patty worked hard as translator, whilst we met the nice guy, nasty guy team! Mr boss, was complaining because we hadn't had an exit stamp when we left Fuerteventura and then a new entry stamp for Gran Canaria! We explained that we had been told in Lanzarote, that we only needed an exit stamp when we leave the Canaries, but he was insistent on paperwork! Luckily he disappeared and mr friendly finished serving us, even including a few jokes in part English, part gestures! We got our exit stamps and headed for the Internet cafe to send fairwell emails and let our friends know we were setting off. One last shopping trip and back to the boat for final preparations, then we upped anchor and set off......... Read the rest of the day on the Atlantic Diary page