With a new crew onboard (these guys had been waiting since March to come) we spent a couple of days visiting some places on La Palma. One of the crew had never been there before and it seemed to be a waste to get that far and not see something of the island. We did a couple of easy walks (Dragon Trees in Tijarafe, and another that I forget).
We also visited the kiosk at Los Guirres. This is a very simple place at the end of a winding road through one of the banana plantations near Puerto Naos. What they lack in comfort they make up for in sunset views. Oh, and the food there is pretty good too.
After a couple of days sightseeing we set off for our usual trip to El Hierro and La Gomera. There was a fair amount of wind and we had a good sail most of the way, although the wind died about 15 miles from the island. However, as we approached the marina the wind came back and gave us a wonderful last hour of sailing.
Entry to the marina was straightforward and, learning from our mistake last time, we put the boat port-side to the pontoon. Previously we had gone starboard-side to the pontoon and suffered a night of rope squeaking whenever the wind blew.
The following morning after breakfast we collected the hire car and set off around the island to do our usual tour stops. Luckily this time we could swim (previously the Covid restrictions had prevented this) and we found a couple of good places for this. As usual it was too cold for yours truly, but the other guests seemed to enjoy it.
All too soon it was time to move on to La Gomera. The weather Gods were favourable (or they weren’t looking) and we had a reasonable sail from the marina at Estaca to San Sebastián de La Gomera.
During our stay on La Gomera we had just a couple of easy walks and a few days just chilling.
The weather forecast for the return trip to La Palma was for good winds with the usual 18 – 22 knots, which usually means somewhat more in the acceleration zone at the south end of La Palma.
During the trip Angelika managed to catch a Dorado (or Mahi-Mahi). This happened just as we were starting to feel the effect of the acceleration zone. The wind and waves had already picked up and it was quite an operation to get the poor fish on board and dispatched into the freezer.
Very soon after the fish was cut into manageable pieces are put in the freezer we got back to the job of sailing the boat. During the time it had taken to deal with the fish the wind had really freshened and the waves had become quite impressive. The boat was throwing water all over the place and the sailing was exhilarating.
To make things even better, as we left the acceleration zone (and the wind dropped to nothing) we were surrounded by a school of Dolphins and Pilot Whales. What a super end to the adventure!
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