Puerto Calero, Lanzarote to Santa Cruz, Tenerife

We finally left Puerto Calero on 5^th November after almost 1 month, we knew the winds were forecasted to be light but we had to get going as the strong southerlies a few days before had already delayed our departure and we had commitments in Tenerife on the 8^th.

Leaving Puerto Calero with my nice clean fender on the side deck

The yellow haze on the horizon is the dust from Africa which is blown in the wind

We had a force 2-3 north-north easterly so motor sailed towards Fuerteventura with the occasional downpour of rain which was not forecasted! By 12pm were passing Playa Blanca on one side and Isla Lobos with Fuerteventura in the background.

The closest we will get to Fuerteventura

With the wind settling at around 10 knots from the east, Mark decided it was spinnaker time and the preparation began, thankfully the wind remained whilst he prepared the lines and we hoisted the spinnaker and set off at 7 knots. For about 40 minutes it was glorious downwind sailing then the wind died and engine was on again.

Spinnaker up

The wind then grew to force 5 south easterly and both sails were full for a couple of hours, then the wind died again and we were back to motoring, this was the routine we settled into for the rest of the day and into the night and at every opportunity we attempted to sail as we were sick of the sound of the engine.  With the sun setting around 6.30pm and thye moon not rising until 23.30 the night was long and we both had various attempts to sleep, Amanda  as always was the most successful and when she got up around 7am after being asleep for just over 5 hours Mark was desperate for his turn.

The remainder of the journey was pretty uneventful; we had various stints of sailing but lots of motoring. It was like being back in the Med! The skies were grey and we could often hear the thunder in the distance and see the lightening.  We did see a pod of pilot whales (we think) around 10 miles off Tenerife but they didn’t come very close –  after attending a presentation on Whales and Dolphins at Puerto Calero we felt quite confident in identifying them.  About the same time we were hit by the thunderstorm luckily we were on the edge but the thunder was very loud and we switched all our instruments off and sheltered from the rain. The mainland was still looking pretty grey as we approached.

Clouds over north of Tenerife

Santa Cruz had almost disappeared at points but we could see the Independence of the Seas, this cruise ship always amazes me as is over 1 mile long and over the last 18 months she has cropped up all over our travels.

A grey Santa Cruz with a distant Independence of the Seas