Santa Maria

Even in a strong easterly swell, the marina in Vila do Porto on Santa Maria remains a tranquil and pleasant place. It is probably the best sheltered marina in the Azores. We definitely like the somewhat remote and sleepy place. Sleepy except for the busy fishing boats that kept coming in to unload and just turn around to head out again for another big load of tuna. Seems fishing is good this season. We spend a lazy week in the familiar place and as always carefully looked what had changed since last year, as we see a steady progress on the island. The economy is so small and the crisis so far away. In the past years the main project was the gigantic sea front at the eastern village of Sao Lorenzo and now, that this is finished, some magnificent old buildings that have been decaying over the years in Vila do Porto, are now being renovated. Also new is that the big travel-lift has started to operate and they now have a few boats on the hard there. It seems also a great place if need to get out of the water for a quick repair, as craning with the new 85 ton travel-lift is a steal at 90€ for a boat our size.

Harald had the usual land tour per rental car with Henry and Kikki of Endelig, but Beate preferred to stay on Taniwani not feeling too great. The pictures give some impressions around the island. For this time in the year the steady NE winds were a bit unusual, while the had brought us here quite swiftly if a bit rough, they caused a rather hazy weather around the islands. So, the pictures are lacking a bit of sun.

La Palma

By the time we were ready to leave Gomera for La Palma, we had entered a phase of stronger trade winds and so we had a boisterous ride through the acceleration zone north of Gomera. Add to this that we forgot to fully close the hatch in the forward bathroom, which then received some serious salt water shower. Still, we had a good, if rough sail to Santa Cruz de La Palma. We really like the little town and the fact that you just have to step of the boat to be in its middle. For Taniwani this was the fourth visit and it doesn't get boring. Together with our friends from Endelig we again enjoyed touring the island, up to its top at almost 2500 meters, where the clear air and quiet atmosphere provide for a very special way of relaxation. In the south, the relatively new volcanos remind one that the island is still volcanically rather active. The latest eruptions occurred less than fifty years ago and enlarged the southern tip, but luckily spared the lighthouse and the salt pans.

La Palma was the last island in the Canaries and we planned to leave from there for the Azores. After a week in La Palma there was still no easing of the strong trades in sight and so we eventually left prepared to sail modestly close hauled in 25 knots of wind and 3 meter waves for the first two days. Well, we thought we were prepared, but this time none of us checked the main hatch in the saloon and when the first massive wave travelled over the deck, it pushed it open and delivered a huge waterfall down into the cabin.  A shocking sight, water wobbling around on the saloon table, the floor and all the upholstery. Not a good start. Nevertheless we had a swift trip and it just took us 3 1/2 days to Santa Maria, averaging about 180 miles a day.

Gomera

As expected, the wind around Tenerife varied from almost calm to quite a fierce blow. Yet, the two boats had a nice Sunday trip, the 75 miles around Tenerife and across to the west of Gomera.

And in the more quiet zones we were even able to sail close by a relaxed group of pilot whales. The anchorage at the west side of Gomera lies below towering cliffs and is quite calm in the prevailing NE-trades. It is one of our favorite anchorages and so we decide to skip the main town of San Sebastian with its marina and rather rent a car in the little fishing town near the anchorage. The impressive and beautiful Valle Gran Rey which ends right at our anchorage, is probably the most impressive sight on this island. There are fantastic views down and across, from the street that winds up the steep wall on the north side of the valley. On Gomera, the north is green and very scenic with nice views onto Tenerife with its majestic volcano. The main town of San Sebastian is exactly opposite our anchorage, and as usual the place was quite windy. We toured back via the dry south including a visit to the little harbor of Santiago where we had a nice meal before returning back to our boats. The plan for the next day was to move on to La Palma.

Tenerife

With the boom back on, we left Puerto Calero in the afternoon and had a smooth overnight sail to Santa Cruz de la Tenerife, a place we haven't been to since the start of our world tour in 2004. Not much seemed to have changed in the harbor, except for a new marina building, which by now looks like it has always been there. The harbor itself is as sleepy as always, and it seems just the ferries and the occasional cruise ship which dock in the next basin up north. But the town, which we always liked, had improved and now features a nice central pedestrian zone.

Our friends had already started exploring the island by car when we got in in the late morning. So we took off for another island tour the following day. First along the north coast to the rather pleasant little town of Garachico, which once was the major port on the island, until a volcanic eruption filled most of the natural harbor basin with lava. A new harbor has recently been built to the east and the new marina is just becoming operational. It's quite a large basin, that contains a little fishing basin, the marina and a ro-ro terminal for a ferry that is supposed to go to Tazacorte on La Palma. Right now, the still narrow and fast shoaling entrance would not allow any such ferry to make it into the harbor. So, that's ll future. But yachts are welcome and in decent weather the entrance should be fine.

After exploring the old town center of Garachico, we moved on west and south towards the large caldera that surrounds the mighty Teide at an altitude of about 2000m. From in there the big cone goes up another 1700 meters. It si possible to take a cable car up to almost the top and a limited number of pre-registered people is allowed to hike up to the summit from there. We skipped all this and just enjoyed the views from the mezzanine level, which is still way above the clouds.

The next day we started early for a long long 75 mile day cruise, first down the east coast of Tenerife, then along the south and across to the western side of Gomera, where we anchored in our favorite anchorage at Valle Gran Rey.