Gibraltar to the Canary Islands Sailing

Gibraltar to the Canary Islands leg is only a 4-day trip to the northernmost island La Graciosa. We had been looking at the weather for a week and seemed all good for departure Sunday morning. The forecast was for a nice 15kt reach out of the straights then downwind all the way.

Day 1 Departing Gibraltar and getting out of the Straits

Well, daybreak saw the Marina with 25kts gusting 35kts. Waves at the entrance and cold though clear day. You will notice that the crew was really rugged up!!

We decided it was time to go anyway. It took considerable horsepower to get off the dock as we had to swing the sterns right out into the wind.

The first stop was the fuel dock in Gibraltar for duty-free fuel. Luckily it was out of the direct wind. They also sell food and alcohol but we’re out of beer due to an Aussie boat that came in the day before and bought all the beer they had!! Pete and Nev managed to go down the road to the supermarket while we were refueling.

Departed the fuel dock and motored across the harbour around all the ships, and into the lee of the hills to raise the sails 2 reefs in main and Genoa.

Then tried to sail for the exit of the Straits but really managed very little forward motion against the wind waves and tide. Did time tacking up the African side then crossed back to the Spanish side. Tangiers VTS did not want us amongst their traffic!!

Finally made it out of the Straits late Sunday. For the first half of the night, it was still windy and rough and we were still motor sailing.

Day 2 Fishing and Dolphins

Neville who is a very keen fisherman had put out two lines to try and catch some fish. He has been allocated one hull to fish in as we knew that it would get very messy. Also because we were traveling fast he was told he had to wear a harness – separate from the sailing harnesses when leaping outboard to bring the fish in. Suddenly one day he caught a skipjack tuna. didn’t have the harness on and was not ready. He hauled it aboard and bleed it all over the back of the hull – as expected and then had to wash the area down. This is a short video of the instant – but we were not ready either – so it is rather jagged. https://youtu.be/cXpBOyjAWAE

Also the same day we managed to get some footage of dolphins, but also on a new camera and very unprepared – hadn’t even read the instructions!!

Very little to report on the way down – for the first two days there was mostly motoring. The second night we were called on VHF by an Italian warship asking for details. Luckily a week before all ships had been warned that there were naval exercises in the Mediterranean and as part of this, they would be hailing boats at random and asking questions. I was not expecting it in the Atlantic though. Never mind they were very polite and gave us something to talk about.

Day 3 Good sailing and rolling seas

We got some good weather and sailed with genoa initially and then genoa and main for the whole day in a 15-20kt breeze and 2m rolling seas – much nicer than the Mediterranean, the interval was 12 sec rather than 4 sec.

Well all good things come to an end and as night was approaching and the wind was increasing and forecast to get worse with larger seas we made the decision to stop at the northern island of La Graciosa and then consider continuing south the next day.

Day 4 – Playa Francesca and Montana Amarilla Walk

We were pleased to arrive at La Graciosa around midnight and anchored at Playa Francesa. There were 7 other yachts in the bay at the time. We went to bed and as forecast, the wind increased overnight. The wind has stayed up for two days now max wind 38kts so we have all been snuggled in inside and getting on with other jobs. Neville and Mark have both been for a swim but the rest of us are waiting got the warm weather!! Air temperature 18deg, water temperature 18.5deg.

Day 5 Departing La Graciosa

We got up in reasonable time and discovered a small yacht had drifted back in the night a long way out of the bay so I sent Hew and Nev to check on him. He was very grateful that we cared but did not want to change anything while he was firmly attached to the seafloor in the current wind! Following breakfast, Neville and Mark have taken up an exercise regime as they feel the food is too good and the exercise too little. So in the morning, they were out on the aft deck doing pushups and planks!!

The afternoon arrived and they felt they must climb the hill so we dropped them off on the beach for a walk. This is the video of the walk https://youtu.be/z_0bb_KYtTE

We decided to stay the night and the next day head off at dawn which we did into a 3.5 m swell and 20kts, much better than the previous day. we had a good sail for most of the way but the wind decreased all the way to Las Palmas until we were on the motor again. The forecast was accurate throughout. A nice video of the conditions.

We arrived at Las Palmas on Grand Canary at 2 am on Sunday morning. Moored outside reception, woke at 6 am changed piers at 9 am, and made the first seminar at 10 am.

More on the next blog

Photos: All the crew Narration: Mark