The first leg was to Lanzarote, this was the longest stretch so far, about 640nm (1198km…) and 5 days at sea. Kai Robert checked the weather, wind, tides and currents in the Strait of Gibraltar to find the best time for crossing and going out. And he checked again and again. Finally, we (he) decided to start 06.30 Monday morning. The timing and choice of route turned out to be super and we had nice downstream parts of the passage and was a little ahead of schedule - if you miss you get 3+ knots directly against you. We stayed for an hour in the middle of the strait (on the "red stripe") between the ships, to cross the next shipping lane and towards the Moroccan coast - better current conditions and few reports of attacks from large "fish".
I (Monica) dreaded this part of the trip, due to herds of orcas that have attacked sailboats in the area from northern Spain to the Strait of Gibraltar. No one knows why they do it, but over 100 boats have been attacked in the last year. No "big / dangerous" injuries despite the fact that they "hit" into the boats, but most of the boats have been towed ashore when they suddenly lacked the rudder😏 There were several attacks in the weeks before we were to cross, and in the weeks after we crossed 😮.
Phuu, it went well, we saw no orcas and we could set off undisturbed down the Moroccan coast. Gradually there were fewer and fewer boats to see, and in the end it became a bit like "ohh look, there's a boat" 😃.
We got a lot of waves from a forecast storm in the Strait of Gibraltar so there was a lot of rocking back and forth and I (Monica) must admit that I was quite nauseous for a couple of days 😩. Kai was also not at his best the first days. It eventually passed, but the waves persisted, so it was a long trip with continuous roller coaster - supposedly as it is on the Atlantic. Bigger waves in the same wind versus the Mediterranean, but long (5-8 sec) = much more comfortable 🤔, «we will see » 🤷♀️
One night when we were going to reef the genoa, it was completely "stuck", the rope had been tangled in the furling ("pulley"), and we chose to sail towards an area where there was little wind for the next day. We, Kai, could not bear to work in the bow in the dark and occasionally big sea - fortunately no scary weather situation that would require fixing there and then. A glorious morning the next day, "we" sent Kai forward in the bow, and equipped with ropes and various tools in a sack on his stomach 😉, he managed to untie the tangle 👍. Good he is handy and sees how things can be solved. The "detour" cost us half an extra day in time, but so what.
In total, it was quite a lot of nice sailing, but also some motor sailing in no wind belts. And if it's no wind, you're lying there - you do not have enough diesel for such long passes. But we had enough time and then you get the opportunity to swim, and 3 days out at sea is far from land🤪. It was lovely water, but a little scary though... (thought shark right away😃).
When it finally became so calm sea that we could stand fairly still on our feet, we managedmto do some training too. We sit more or less still when the waves are big and the boat rolls.
Finally land in sight - Lanzarote. We used 5 days. It was lovely to get into port in Marina Rubicon - the most beautiful port and area so far. There we used a couple of days to explore the area including Playa Blanca. We have acquired a "manual" scooter, so we get a little further around. The area around the harbor is certainly a place that can be recommended for a quiet holiday.
If you look closely at the picture with my foot (Monica's) there is a teaspoon molded into the sidewalk. This is a "must try to find" in Playa Blanca, and Kai found it 👍😃.
We rented a car a couple of days and explored the island from south to north and back again. We were on narrow winding roads to the Mirador del Rio lookout point, in the far north. Here is built a beautiful place inside the mountain, 400 m above sea level, with floor-to-ceiling windows and with views to La Graciosa.
Lanzarote is not that big, so Kai Robert said: "if you change lanes you risk driving past the place you are going to" 😉.
We commented on the trip that it was so nice everywhere, there are many new and big houses, and well kept pretty much everywhere.
Along the way we saw one of many vineyards and got a tour and tasting.
We checked in to a small hotel near the Timanfaya National Park, and the next day we went for a 2.5 hour walk in and up to a large volcanic crater. Pretty barren landscape, but beautiful nonetheless.
We decided to stay an extra week on Lanzarote and one day we walked along the cliffs to Playa Papagayo with beautiful beaches. Here there were few restrictions as to "types" of people, those with swimwear, the topless and the nudists. All on the same beach 😉.
It was a great, long and warm hike, but the sea with nice tempered water was not too far away 😃.
We met several boats in the harbor that will also participate in ARC +, and we sailed with a British couple on the leg to Grand Canaria. It was nice to see a light nearby during the night, especially when Monica's "friend", the moon, did not shine that night. 😉. It was pitch dark.
We sailed most of the way, only motoring some distance the port of Lanzarote and into the port of Las Palmas. We sailed with a speed of 4.5 to 7.1 knots 😃.
Here in the harbor, ARC boats fill up every day, and we meet new, nice people with whom we exchange info. Maybe we will meet again one day in the Caribbean.
We checked lots of shops in the city to find out where we could get the selection of food we wanted to take with us on the trip before we shopped. Then we spent almost one day, at least felt like that 😜, to prepare dinners (excluding refrigerated goods) for 25 days + 8 in backup. This was packed away in baskets under the floor.
We rented a car for a few days and drove around the island, first northwest along the coast to Agaete and La Aldea, and further inland on narrow roads to Artenara. Large variations in the landscape, from barren lava landscape to lush "almost" tropical rainforest, fascinating 😃.
Since we had the car for several days, we also got some nice "hickings", including 8.2 km to the Reserva National de Los Marteles, here we saw lots of falcons that «souret».
We went on to the area Tejeda, where we walked 7.2 km in the mountains near Pico de las Nieves (raw area - must be seen 😃) in lovely pine forest at 1600-1900 meters above sea level.
We spent the night in Cruz de Tejeda at the first "rural" hotel in Gran Canaria, Hotel Rural El Refugio. The next day we set off to "climb" Roque Nublo, a large rock on top of a mountain with a fantastic view, 2 km and 200 meters up to 1800 meters above sea level.
Gran Canaria has many beautiful, well-marked "trails" in beautiful nature - drop the beach a few days and you will not regret it.
On October 27th, the ARC office opened and the "activities" started. The first day with registration, welcome drinks and tapas and we also signed up for the crew dinner . It continued with security check, for us it was really only a conversation on board since we had taken the check virtually before arrival.
Egil, Monica's brother , our crew member, arrived on Sunday 31 October and was already set to work on Monday to sand and polish "everything" of metal on the outside 😉.
Kai performed a final rig check, just to check "security pins" and to perform a surface check. Well up in the mast he checked that the radar was securely fittet - it was not, it was loose !! 😮 There was a popping missing, and several were loose. We got help from riggers to attach the radar the next day, so one more thing was fixed - "check" 😃.
Otherwise, the rest of the week has been full of activities organised by the ARC team. We have had crew dinners, helicopter rescue demonstrations, dinners with new friends and "farewell drinks party".
We have received vacuum-packed meat and sausages from the market and fruit and vegetables directly from the farmer.
Tonight there will be fireworks and tomorrow at 1 pm we start.👍😃
Monica og Kai Robert
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