In April 2023 we finally left Lanzarote and sailed to Las Palmas on Gran Canaria. The marina there is the cheapest in the whole of the Canaries – although you sometimes need a little patience with the marina office. We were lucky and got a good berth, which we could book in advance until the end of September, even October.
That is not a matter of course in Las Palmas: from September or October the boats of the ARC, the big Atlantic rally to the Caribbean, arrive. Then well over 200 boats fill the marina, and the ARC sailors have priority. Anyone occupying a berth that a rally boat needs has to leave or stays only “on call”. As we keep having to fly back to our business in Germany, “on call” was not an option for us – so we left the marina in good time.
Discovering Gran Canaria
We explored the island by hire car – and Gran Canaria won us over: from the green, almost rainforest-like north to the huge dunes of Maspalomas in the south, from picturesque Puerto de Mogán to many other wonderful spots.
A trip to Tenerife
From Las Palmas we also made a lovely trip: first down to Puerto de Mogán, where we anchored, and from there across to Tenerife. On board were Wolfgang’s cousin Verena and her husband Jörg.
Since an experience on Ibiza, Steffi isn’t too keen on going into the water – schools of fish make her a little uneasy. So we helped ourselves with a wetsuit. Only it was Wolfgang’s wetsuit, and it was a few sizes too big for her … the photo speaks for itself.
On 26 April 2023 we arrived on Tenerife at Marina del Sur in Las Galletas. From there Verena and Jörg flew home, and we sailed up the east coast of Tenerife to Santa Cruz. There we hired a car at the marina and explored the island on a big round trip: we visited Mount Teide, several of the wild barrancos (gorges) and drove along the south coast once more – beautiful!
From Santa Cruz we then sailed back to Las Palmas, where we moored again on 5 May 2023.
