La Gomera, Tenerife, La Palma

24th December to 16th January 2017

Of course, as a single-handed sailor – or even not as a single-handed sailor – you do meet many other lovely folk. For,  most waterborne people agree, one of the greater delights of sailing – or travelling in general – is meeting, talking, and exchanging ideas, opinions, experiences and knowledge with others. But these encounters will always be fleeting compared with the hourly and daily contact of familiar others. Never mind… all travel is enriched with understanding (or trying to understand) fellow beings. The world seems such an overcrowded bundle of multiple confusion and fascination.

….The above stuff is not really what this blog set out to cover. But, if you read this, you might find it rather tedious to have a repetitive diet of ‘where I go and what I do and who I meet and what I eat’ – hence: the odd rambly thought.

To cover briefly the where/what/who stuff….George and I enjoyed some typically inspiring walks on the island of La Gomera. With so many varied routes, you may spend many months here and rarely cover the same ground twice, and of course it was doubly delightful to share outings with my youngest son.

Garajonay National Park

Pretty street, Agulo

…and swimming…

Walking on La Gomera….

With George leaving me for the brighter lights of London for New Year, Stephanie and I, plus sailor-neighbours from Hampshire, Norway and Holland, enjoyed local New Year celebrations in San Sebastian de la Gomera (friendly and welcoming with magnificent fireworks and shared champagne). San Sebastian is perhaps my favourite little town on my favourite little island in all the Canary Islands – at least, while aboard a boat.

Lunch

Lunchtime

From Tenerife, the wind forecast looked just-about-ok for the 120-mile trip round the top of Tenerife and then round the bottom of another island, La Palma, to the welcoming port of Tazacorte. In the event, conditions were not really ok and temperamental winds blew from any of the compass’s 360 degrees with anything between five and nearly 50 knots – so, it was a sleepless 24 hours.

On arrival we were not allowed into a berth (manoeuvres considered too risky) and, with strong south winds, spent the first night lurching, creaking and wallowing at a reception pontoon. Next day, wind eased and we shifted to a berth. And now, a week later, as I write this, I feel pretty much at home. I’ve enjoyed several new walks on La Palma. Henrietta is comfortably sandwiched between two Dutch yachts, between them sporting three charming and disarmingly attractive girls from Holland.

Here are some images from La Palma….

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Despite such delights, it’s been a time of half-hearted decision-making – i.e.not quite ‘-making’. I’ll head back to La Gomera in a day or two, or three. Then, try to work out if I really want to leave the beauty, the diversity, the security, the cultures and the delights of Europe (especially warm friendly Canary Islands) for the world’s less-privileged continents.