On 26 September 2022 at around 6 pm our anchor went down in the bay between La Graciosa and Lanzarote – after a dream passage from Gibraltar. Lanzarote was to be our home for the next six months: we moored ME in the marina of Puerto Calero.
At first sight Lanzarote looks barren: black lava, hardly any green, white houses and a huge sky. But the longer we stayed, the more the island and its many sights won us over.
All the sights ticked off
The fire mountains of Timanfaya National Park, the works of César Manrique, the vineyards of La Geria and the market in Teguise: we saw everything the island has to offer.
How fenders turned into a friendship
In Puerto Calero we had been given a spot alongside the side pontoon in the fairway. To make sure nobody bumped into us, our fenders were hanging out on the port side, towards the harbour basin.
After two or three weeks a German boat came in. At the helm: Siggi – not to be confused with our Siggi from Lelystad – who runs a sailing school on Lanzarote. We heard him tell his crew: “Look, they’ve got their fenders out – that means we can raft up alongside them. That’s how they do it in Holland!” We just called out: “Sure, no problem!” Siggi was rather surprised – then he came aboard with his whole crew, and over a few beers a real friendship was born.
Since then we have done lots together, sailed together and met many lovely people through him. One day at anchor off the Papagayo beaches will never be forgotten: Siggi demonstrated his potato cannon. The potatoes flew 300, 400 metres, and we had a great deal of fun.
Through Siggi’s sailing school we also got to know many of his crews who were taking their sailing licence – some really nice contacts among them. The best of all was Bernhard: he is a sailing examiner and lives on La Gomera himself. An incredibly well-read man, with whom Wolfgang spent many an evening in long conversations about life, the universe and everything. And not to forget Horst and Christine, who showed us many beautiful corners of Lanzarote.
Christmas in the sun
This year we spent Christmas in a very unusual way: in shorts and sunshine on Lanzarote. But we couldn’t do entirely without some Christmas spirit – Steffi wanted a Father Christmas on board. And not just any: three metres tall, he sat enthroned on our trampoline at the bow and greeted the whole marina.
Anchorages and excursions
Every now and then we had to fly home – after all, we still run our business in Germany. But whenever we were on ME, we set off: we anchored off the little Isla de Lobos and explored it, visited the harbour of Arrecife and kept going back to our beloved Papagayo beaches.
A trip south – and back again
In February 2023 we finally wanted to discover some other islands. We sailed down the east coast of Fuerteventura – and on the way Wolfgang caught his very first tuna. Needless to say, he was very proud!
In Gran Tarajal we celebrated Steffi’s birthday and from there sailed across to Gran Canaria, to Las Palmas. After a week, though, we headed back to Lanzarote once more.
The night passage back was quite something: a heavy storm plus calima, the reddish Saharan dust. Off Marina Rubicon we had to ride it out for several hours in 35 to 40 knots of wind. Only when it got light in the morning did we dare to enter the harbour. There we celebrated Wolfgang’s birthday – with calima, but still really lovely. Marina Rubicon is always a special place.
After a few days we returned to Puerto Calero.
Boys’ trip with Michi and Norbert
On 12 March 2023 Wolfgang set sail for a week with his friends Michi and Norbert. The plan was to sail from Puerto Calero to La Graciosa – the three had already booked a berth through Puertos Canarios. But Michi got seasick, so they called it off and put into the harbour of Arrecife. After a few days they sailed back, past Puerto Calero to the Papagayo beaches and on to Marina Rubicon, where they spent a few lovely days before mooring in Puerto Calero again.
Michi wasn’t having much luck on day one anyway: to fight the seasickness he sat up on the cockpit roof in the sun. With his very fair skin he had put sun cream on everywhere – except his feet. By the evening in Arrecife they were bright red, he could hardly walk and had “fun” with it for another three or four days.
And then there was the matter of the flip-flops: Norbert hadn’t brought any. In Puerto Calero the others steered him into a shop and bought him the ugliest flip-flops they could find – assuring him, of course, that they looked fantastic. As soon as he put them on, all they did was make fun of them. Eventually Norbert threw them away in frustration. Wolfgang secretly fished them out of the bin – and for his 60th birthday Norbert was ceremonially presented with them.
There was plenty of beer on this trip – so much that in Marina Rubicon Norbert fancied a sangria for a change. So off to a bar, sangria ordered, jug emptied. Only then did we look at the bottom of the jug: filthy, smeared and full of slime. All of us felt instantly queasy. Since then there has been an iron rule on board: no more sangria!
We then stayed on Lanzarote until April. Only then did we finally say goodbye: we sailed back to Las Palmas – and stayed there for quite a while. But that is a story for the next logbook entry.