Sunriser

The Canary Islands are also known as Islas Afortunadas (the lucky islands), a well deserved nickname. We have spent more than 2 months in Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and finally Gran Canaria and enjoyed summer temperatures during the European winter. The only disadvantage is the lack of protected anchorages as the islands are exposed to the Atlantic Ocean swell. However, now and then the luxury of a marina is also welcome.

In Lanzarote we stayed at marina Rubicón in the south and visited the Timanfaya Volcano and Cesar Manrique house. After saying farewell to Matthias and Sandra we sailed to Fuerteventura where we met some old friends on Dreamreacher, Spartivento and Stardust. Fuerteventura is a very dry volcanic island and a surfer’s paradise, but the waves which make the surfers happy make it uncomfortable for sailing boats at anchor. A series of rolly anchorages in Gran Tarajal and Morro Jable forced us to move to Gran Canaria earlier than planned.

The marina at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has been our home for over a month. Here we have been part of small community of 25 boats which, like us, take part in the “Viking Explorers” Rally, a loosely organized Atlantic crossing. From here we will start our crossing direction Grenada in the Caribbean via Mindelo on the Cape Verde islands and possibly Surinam around January 6th. You can follow all boats here.

In the weeks before the departure, all boats are arriving to the harbour, all on the same pontoon. We meet many new people and regularly visit each other’s boats and have drinks together. But mostly we all are preparing our boats for the crossing. All participants of the rally are busy doing maintenance on our engines and sails, fixing broken parts and installing solar panels, bimini’s etc etc. We help each other with knowledge, tools and advice.

Although we miss the sailing and the quiet anchorages, it is nice for a while not to have to think about the wind, weather, where to go, where to find groceries and have abundant (warm) water and power.

Christmas flew by with family visits and reunions (so happy to have Julia, Esther, Sven and Frank on board!) and including the arrival of Maurice who will sail with us to the Caribbean, but we still found time to visit Gran Canaria. We did a beautiful hike on the rim of the volcano, an adventurous trip to the dunes of Mas Palomas and visited the aquarium.

Now we are cramming every hole of Sunriser full with supplies and spare parts for the big trip looking forward to our longest crossing until now.