By then it was time for Justine and Paul to head off to their seminars which Elaine had signed them up for, while Roy accompanied them on the walk so that he could continue on to the hardware shop to purchase a tool needing to be replaced and the all important paint for our rock painting efforts, following which he visited the HiperDino again to get a few top up provisions to see us through the rest of this week. On his return, Elaine met him at the Barlovento 326 café for a coffee and baked delight.
Not long after we had returned to Paw Paw, Justine and Paul had completed their morning seminars, had returned for a quick bite to eat and had headed back out for their afternoon seminars. This allowed Elaine to catch up on her blogs and social media while Roy adjusted the gas in each of the new struts he’d installed, then went for a nap.
ARC Sundowners, followed by the ARC Crew Dinner wrapped up our day, but made for a very loud and late night, with everyone having to scream at each other to be heard over the noise.
Today was methotrexate day, which seemed to have come around rather quickly. It didn’t help matters, though, that Elaine woke to the news that Paul was ill, with what appeared to be a head cold. Regardless, he’d taken the decision to leave Paw Paw and booked into a hotel for two nights in the hope of recovering by then. This did, however, send Elaine, in particular, into a panic, but Roy too on what this meant for the rest of us and the possible impact on our imminent departure. A COVID-19 test revealed a negative result and, although, this was good news, our experience of home tests is that they don’t always pick anything up until the 3rd or 4th day. At this point all we could do was take each day as it comes and see what materialises, say our prayers and hope that he makes a speedy recovery without having infected anyone else.
A slight alarm occurred this afternoon when Elaine headed back to bed for an afternoon nap, after suddenly starting to feel extremely fatigued during the morning seminar we had all attended. Putting this down to the late night combined with the methotrexate initially, panic really set in when she woke from her nap feeling absolutely dreadful. It was then that the decision was taken that we’d all skip the costume party and Roy and Justine would set off to get takeaways for dinner, while Elaine went back to sleep.
Thankfully, when Elaine woke up again to an empty yacht, she felt as right as rain, clueless as to why she’d felt so terrible earlier.
With that, arrangements were changed again; she met Roy and Justine at the top of the dock to head out to enjoy another tasty dinner at the Pier 19 restaurant, then returned to Paw Paw to get dressed in our costumes; Roy as “super” pirate and Elaine as “super” Birthday Barbie, then joining all the other ARC 2023 participants at the “superheroes” party, following which a rather fun evening ensued. By the time we returned to Paw Paw, Justine was in bed, having opted to skip the party because Paul wasn’t attending, understandably so. Such a pity, though, because it was an enchanting evening with everyone going to a great deal of trouble with their costumes. and a night Elaine won’t forget in a hurry after someone she didn’t know sat down next to her to tell her that, as far as he was concerned, she was the superhero of everyone at the party and had inspired many people on this rally.
In between these events, we tidied up and gave Paw Paw’s decks a cursory rinse so, at least, she looked somewhat presentable for our guests, Elaine enjoyed a chat to her sister in Ireland and we stopped at the Sailor’s Bay café for a coffee, since our preferred venue was closed being a Sunday.
The parade occurred around midday, preceded by all the flag bearers congregating to collect their respective country flags, then stood in the demarcated areas to allow the rest of the ARC 2023 participants to gather behind their respective flag. We opted to carry the Irish flag, given that we’d only travelled on our Irish passports during our circumnavigation, which had got us this far without incident or the inconvenience of visas and the European Union’s Schengen restrictions and since Ireland is our chosen county to “retire” to once we swallow the hook.
We were delighted when a bunch of Irishmen joined us from one of the Oysters participating in the Oyster rally next year leaving from Antigua, bringing along with them the all important ingredients for a parade; fun, laughter and beer!
Walking to the sound of the bands, one to the front of the parade and one to the rear and following the colourfully dressed contingent of St Lucian delegates, we made our way around the marina.
After a few short speeches from various dignitaries, the country flags were raised, 33 nationalities in all, marking the opening of the rally. In many ways it was very emotional. It’s still hard to believe we’re about to undertake the last leg of our circumnavigation with friends who were aboard Paw Paw when we did our very first passage on Paw Paw, almost ten years ago.
Once Justine and Paul were settled and after they’d enjoyed a walk to stretch their legs, we enjoyed a delicious dinner at the Pier 19 restaurant, bringing a memorable day to a close.
Today, after all the energetic people went for their morning exercise walks or run, ie everyone onboard except Elaine, the day was all about completing the Safety Debrief, something Elaine was responsible for and decided that a practical application was the best way to transfer the knowledge to Justine and Paul. That meant it was all hands on deck to complete the associated activities after they’d paid the obligatory visit to the marina office to collect their access passes and the Immigration office to get stamped into the European Union, given that they travel on their UK passports.
First their lifejackets were checked, the PLBs (Personal Locator Beacons) were programmed and then fitted to their lifejackets. Next up was getting them setup to use the “at Sea” Iridium-GO satellite communications equipment onboard, ensuring all the Emergency Contact telephone numbers were transferred to each of their smartphones, following which various tests were undertaken so they knew how to make a phone call, as well as send and receive emails and messages.
Once that was completed, armed with the laminated card indicating the location of all the emergency equipment onboard, they started their “treasure hunt”, starting with the liferaft and grab bag, hauling both out of the dedicated locker, primarily to feel the weight of each and satisfy the ARC criteria that the crew can remove the liferaft to be deployed, if necessary, within 15 seconds, as well as adding the additional emergency food rations to the grab bag. This was followed by a discussion on the procedures involved, should abandoning ship become necessary and discussing the emergency steering system, then working our way through the rest of Paw Paw, lifting floorboards, bunks, lockers, etc, to find the equipment and receive instruction on how each is to be used and under what circumstance, delegating responsibilities as we progressed. Topics covered everything from MOB (Man Overboard) realities, hazards, procedures and rules to avoid this situation entirely, fire prevention and procedures, water ingress, demasting, medical emergencies and avoidance, including completing the Crew Health Form, etc.
Other discussions included what expectations everyone had of the voyage / experience and what they hoped to get out of it, handling small annoyances and the all important adherence to “provisioning consumption rules”, at which point Elaine presented each person with their individual bag of “goodies” for the passage, much to everyone’s delight. Bets were taken on who would finish their entire “stash” within the first week, with Elaine and Justine making it abundantly clear that they weren’t sharing under any circumstances!
Although it was a long day, briefly interrupted by a light lunch, complements of Roy, Justine and Paul felt more prepared and informed, besides having the practical aspects appeal to the best method for their learning, much to Elaine’s relief.
Deciding to enjoy an early dinner before the ARC sundowners event, all dressed in our team polo-shirts, complements of Justine and Paul, we made our way to the Sailor’s Bay café, only to discover the kitchen didn’t open until 1900. Resigned to the fact that we wouldn’t be getting any food for the next two hours at least, we enjoyed a number of cold beverages instead before heading to Restaurante Aramara for another delicious dinner. In fact, it was so delicious, we promised the very friendly chef that we would be back, after having an opportunity to meet her and chat.
In between all this activity, Roy added tbe last of the waypoints to the chartplotter for our route, and Justine and Paul’s lifejackets were inspected by the ARC Safety crew, only to discover the lights and triggering devices had expired, a problem for another day, but brought a rather hectic day to a close.
However, Roy finished the repairs of the water tank and together we returned it to the starboard forward locker, shimmying it along the deck. Prior to that, though, we did the laundry and enjoyed a mid-morning coffee while the washing machine cycle finished. Back onboard everything was hung out to dry, then we walked to the HiperDino to stretch our legs and purchase the additional emergency water we still needed and a few provisions for the week. Deciding to skip the sundowner evening with the ARC, a chat to Elaine’s mom and an early night wrapped up the day.
Thursday was a busy day, crammed with ARC seminars we wanted to attend as refreshers. So, after breakfast and listening to the morning net, we set off on foot to the Real Club Nautica, about a twenty to twenty five minute walk for Elaine from Paw Paw. Seminar topics included Emergencies at Sea, Weather Routing and Downwind Sailing Tips, followed by the evening ARC sundowners event, with a light dinner squeezed in between. A midday break allowed us to enjoy a light lunch at the Barlovento 326 café back at the marina. We certainly did our fair share of walking for the day that’s for sure, but, although it was a long day, we enjoyed meeting other cruisers and the associated camaraderie.
We also added water to the water tank, but neither of us wanted to check to see if it was still leaking, so we didn’t. We’re both just so over fresh water leaks on Paw Paw at this point and didn’t want a lovely day ruined!
Yesterday we were up with the alarm to enjoy some R&R; well, sort of. We were attending the ARC Foresta outing, managed by the Foresta Reforestation Project, and by 0900 we were on the coach heading inland and up into the mountains, leaving the city behind, surprised to discover how lush the interior of Gran Canaria was.
After arriving at our destination, a rather steep walk up the mountain side got us to a rest stop, where refreshments were served before we all received an explanation on the project and what our involvement would be for the morning; we were essentially helping to right a wrong by assisting in the restoration of the cloud-forests.
Before humans arrived on Gran Canaria, most of the island was covered in over 100,000 hectares of forest. Only the coastal strip and the highest point of the island were free of trees. While the original inhabitants cleared some forest for agriculture, it wasn't until the Spanish arrived that wholesale deforestation started.
Lowland forests were cleared for farmland, the pine forests were turned into charcoal for fuel and vast areas of forest were chopped down to fuel the island's sugar cane mills, thus destroying the historic indigenous woodlands and the native cloud forest eco-system, needed to produce fresh water and prevent soil erosion on the island, the latter only discovered later on.
The Foresta Reforestation Project is rectifying the problem and working with this non-profit organisation ensures that the trees are planted where they are most needed and that only endemic species, best suited to the climate, are planted.
The goal was to plant around 200 of these trees, but the request was to only plant one tree correctly rather than 200 incorrectly.
After receiving our instructions on the proper way to plant the trees, we all chose our holes and started planting, making for a fabulous morning, stopping only to admire the spectacular views. Before long all of the 150+trees available had been planted, less than the 200 we thought we would be planting, but we’d met our objective, much to everyone’s delight.
Before returning to the rest stop for a light picnic lunch, we enjoyed the views out towards Tenerife and beyond.
Fortunately Elaine didn’t have to walk back down the mountain after her and another cruiser were offered a ride back to the bus, thankfully, as Elaine was definitely huffing and puffing getting up the mountain, but she was delighted, nonetheless, to have made it and had participated in this wonderful undertaking, an undertaking that the World Cruising Club and ARC participants have seen 3800 trees planted over 14 years, of which 4 were planted by us. Today, up to 20,000 hectares of Gran Canaria is forested again, but, at just 20% of the original tree cover, there is a long way to go to restore the forests to their former glory, but at least, the work is in progress to do so.
By 1400 we were back in the marina and enjoyed a few refreshments with cruisers who’d invited us to join them. Leaving Roy to enjoy some male company, after her coffee, Elaine returned to Paw Paw to get a few chores completed and to get ready for the Welcome Drinks outing, following which another fun evening ensued.
Today was a work day to get through the last of the bits and bobs that still needed to be completed before our departure. These included checking all the hose clamps on both engines and replacing any, where necessary, taping the sharp edges on the lifelines of the foredeck to ensure these don’t catch any of our sails, taping all the crocodile clips to ensure they can’t open by accident, plumbing a valve to the fresh water pump to reduce the water pressure, thereby helping to reduce our water consumption on passage, plumbing a shutoff valve on the starboard hotwater tank to ensure the water can be switched off with ease should the tank start to leak again while on passage, running the engines and generator to make sure everything was operational, running the fuel polishers to ensure we don’t have contaminated fuel, securing our ARC rally number to the starboard lifelines, completing our final route planning, reviewing all the Skipper’s Briefing notes and printing what was needed, informing family and friends of our “at sea” contact details, diarising all the activities that need to be completed with Justine and Paul to make sure the time is set aside to complete those before departure and finally packing the last of the tools away.
Given our busy day, we decided to skip the ARC sundowners this evening and instead enjoyed a nice, leisurely home cooked meal, after Roy walked back to the HiperDino to purchase the ingredients we needed.
Our day ended with news that the crew off Lost Abbey had arrived safely in Cape Verde together with the rest of the ARC+ participants.
Well, after arriving at the hospital, paying for her vaccination, waiting to be called, all of which was very efficient, albeit that not a word of English was spoken and Elaine doesn’t speak Spanish, the nurse promptly announced: “No COVID!” after she was called. Confused that the appointment was specifically for a COVID-19 booster, Elaine’s queries resulted in the same response: “No COVID!“. Resigned, she returned to the registration desk to get a refund, much to the surprise of the administration staff member and even more surprising to the administration staff member who had made the appointment for Elaine a week ago. After a long conflab on the phone to the clinic nurse, Elaine received the same response: “No COVID!”. Trying to enquire as to why not and where she could get one, proved to be completely pointless. Reluctantly we left the hospital and decided to ask at a pharmacy instead, given that we’d already tried all the hospitals and clinics, to no avail.
Not surprisingly the pharmacy we visited gave us the same response, indicating that we needed to go to a hospital. At this point, exasperated, Elaine decided to at least try to get a flu shot as a bare minimum. She was elated when the pharmacist indicated she could provide a flu vaccination, but when it was placed into a “to go” packet after Elaine had paid, confusion was swiftly followed by incredulity; no one would administer the shot! We left with a flu shot in a bag.
After enquiring at the ARC office as to whether or not there was perhaps a First Aid Officer of sorts that could possibly administer the shot, it was down to trusty Dr Roy once again.
Armed with a youtube video, an alcohol wipe, a cotton wool pad, a plaster and the injection, he administered the shot, at which point Elaine thought she was going to pass out from fear, but never felt a thing; he had performed the task expertly. This experience, however, brought healthcare to an all new low for us and this in Europe of all places. Incredulous, and quite honestly, shameful!
Regardless, as you can imagine, Roy thoroughly enjoyed sticking the needle in Elaine, but he duly kept her under observation for the prescribed fifteen minutes. Fortunately, we didn’t have to deal with any side effects or reactions.
Earlier in the day, besides continuing with the repairs on our one fresh water tank and sorting through all the ARC documentation we’d been given during our check-in, as well as diarising all the events, after visiting the hospital we found the El Corte Inglés store recommended by Anne, off Time Bandit. Delighted to find a huge, well stocked establishment with everything one could possibly need for provisioning, will certainly help with those items we haven’t been able to find elsewhere on the island thus far.
Our final errand for the day was the paint shop we wanted to visit on our walk back to the marina, but, unfortunately, it was closed, since we’d, once again, forgotten about afternoon siesta time.
Back onboard we enjoyed an early dinner before making our way to the first of many ARC sundowners, hosted by various vendors supporting the rally and enjoyed meeting some of the other cruisers, although rain interrupted play.
With the blustery rainy weather conditions continuing, this morning, the first task of the day was to sort out the purchase and delivery of our emergency drinking water, as well as some non-alcoholic beverages for the passage, since these are too heavy to lug from the store to Paw Paw. A very efficient service was offered by HiperDino and Roy had barely returned to Paw Paw when our purchases arrived. The downside, however, was that water is rationed to purchasing a maximum of ten bottles per day regardless of volume. That has resulted in a second trip having to be made. At this point, though, it feels like Paw Paw is going to crawl out of the marina, given the load she’s carrying.
Afterwards Roy continued with his repair efforts on the fresh water tank, which are being hampered by the much cooler temperatures, requiring longer drying periods between stages, before we enjoyed lunch and a coffee at the Barlovento 326 café, following which Elaine started her preparation tasks for departure, since she had the time. These included checking all the head torches, completing our Water Management and Fuel Management calculations, creating our Deck Log and Fuel Consumption Log and, of course, the all important task of checking our toilet paper stock to ensure we have enough for the passage, much to the amusement of Justine and Paul when they were asked how many toilet rolls they use a day; the devil is in the details as always!
In between all this activity Roy enjoyed a chat to his brother in South Africa and Elaine had a brief chat to her sister in Ireland.
News from the Cadman Jr household was that Carter had lost his first tooth, but poor Brayden had been at the dentist to have two teeth removed, since his second teeth were already growing in, but his baby teeth were stubbornly staying put; poor little mite. A photograph of a drawing William had done for us was also sent; it’s clear he really likes sharks!
Once our purchases had been sanitised and we’d had another early dinner, it was time for the second round of sundowners, organised by the ARC rally and one of the sponsors, wrapping up a somewhat busy day.
Besides enjoying a morning coffee at our new venue, Barlovento 326 café, where we don’t have to deal with numerous smokers, Roy also took a walk to the HiperDino to purchase a few items, but didn’t stay long, given that it was packed with ARC+ cruisers doing their last minute provisioning.
Then, since Roy’s costume for the upcoming Costume Party was ready, Elaine only had hers to “make”, although neither quite fit the theme, something we discovered too late, but they’ll do. It was only when Roy started to bake again, however, that we felt the first sign of life returning to normal on Paw Paw.
After a great night’s sleep, Roy was up early yesterday morning to enjoy his walk and to finish his baking efforts; freshly made English muffins, which he served for breakfast and went down like a treat.
Afterwards we both took a walk to the HiperDino to stretch our legs and to pick up a few last minute provisions we keep thinking about or worrying that we don’t have enough of something, before enjoying a coffee on our return to the marina.
Given Elaine’s arts and crafts day on Friday, to pass the afternoon, she continued those efforts to create the stencil for our “rock painting” outing with the ARC this week.
A light dinner onboard followed by sundowners with Lost Abbey (Lu and Jeff) wrapped up our day. It was also time to say our goodbyes to Lu and Jeff, given that they were setting sail with ARC+, all hoping to see each other again in the Caribbean.
Today Roy went for his morning walk again, returning with freshly baked croissants which we enjoyed with bacon for breakfast. However, although our day started on a good note, it wasn’t long before we discovered an old gremlin had resurfaced; the leak in our one fresh water tank, something we could actually have done without, especially having extra people onboard for our Atlantic passage. So, heads (aka bathrooms) were cleaned, showers were taken, etc to use the last of the water in the tank, following which it was removed to be repaired again.
By then it was time to walk to the entrance of the Las Palmas harbour to watch the start of the ARC+ rally and to give the crew off Lost Abbey a sendoff.
Something that has become increasingly obvious, though, since being on Gran Canaria Island, and today was no exception, is the number of large groups of young migrant men we’ve seen all around Las Palmas.
In the short time we’ve been here, news outlets have reported on numerous migrant boats being rescued in the Atlantic Ocean off the Canary Islands, arriving with anything from 500 to 1000 men, women and children onboard a single boat.
The Spanish coastguard said yesterday that the number of people arriving on the archipelago so far this year neared an all-time record posted in 2006. Sadly, the coastguard also said they had found two dead bodies among those rescued from four boats in the waters off El Hierro Island, the smallest and most westerly of the Canary Islands, while two others died later in hospital.
Apparently the number of arrivals has jumped recently as milder weather and calmer seas have made it more feasible to attempt the still perilous crossing from Africa.
Spain's Interior Ministry said on Thursday that a total of 30,705 undocumented migrants had reached the Canary Islands in the first 10 months of this year, representing a 111% increase from the same period in 2022. This figure compares with the full-year record of 31,678 migrants arriving on the Canary Islands in 2006 when other routes to Europe were blocked off. The Canary Islands accounted for the bulk of the 43,290 undocumented migrants arriving in Spain by sea last year.
Back onboard, a number of other yachts had filled the berths where ARC+ yachts had previously been, providing a whole new set of floating neighbours. To while away the rest of the day, Elaine enjoyed a chat to her sister in Ireland, before we walked to Allende Muella Deportivo to enjoy a sundowner, wrapping up our day. We did, however, check the Fleet Viewer to see how the ARC+ yachts were fairing as the forecast stronger winds and higher seas kicked in, noticing three yachts had turned back and returned to Las Palmas after experiencing problems. Not the best start to their adventure, but hopefully they will be underway again soon. To the rest of the fleet, we wish them fair winds and following seas, but not too boisterous.
Deciding on a change of venue for our morning coffee, we took a walk to the Barlovento 326 café, then walked along the east wall of the waterfront afterwards, passing the anchorage outside the marina and choosing a few rocks as options for our upcoming rock-painting event. On our return, we stopped by the ARC office and scheduled our Safety Check.
Back onboard we prepared for the Safety Check, which was completed late afternoon and, thankfully, no issues were uncovered; we were bonafide, thankful that we didn’t have to make yet another trip to a chandlery.
Our day ended with disconcerting news of a yacht having sunk two days ago en route to the Canary Islands from Gibraltar, obviously getting caught up in the awful weather conditions associated with Storm Ciaran, which is still wreaking havoc on mainland Europe. Definitely not the kind of news any cruiser wants to hear, especially before an ocean crossing.
Today was our grandsons, Brayden and Carter’s 7th birthday, but before we “celebrated with them”, we enjoyed a long walk to the mall on Gran Canaria, CC Las Arenas, passing the rather odd looking Alfredo Kraus Auditorium for the Arts and the huge Christmas Tree being erected at the mall.
It’s fair to say Elaine was definitely surprised to find a lovely modern, clean mall with numerous brand named shops and, in particular, the large Carrefour supermarket we wanted to visit. Before browsing the supermarket, though, we stopped for a coffee at Cafés de Carla and what we thought would be a baked delight, the latter not very tasty at all, forcing Elaine to leave her choice of apple cake uneaten. It was, however, novel to have our coffees served by a little robot, bringing back fond memories of Singapore. Unfortunately, however, unlike Singapore, this was a classic example of an inefficient automated service, where our baked “delights” arrived fifteen minutes after our coffee.
Setting that aside, we then enjoyed a stroll around the Carrefour, settling on freshly made sushi for lunch, enjoyed back onboard after our taxi ride back to the marina.
After lunch it was time to enjoy the “birthday celebrations” with the twins. After singing Happy Birthday to them, much to their delight, we were shown their presents and heard all about what they had built, before the candles were lit on the birthday cake and a second round of Happy Birthday was sung, this time with mom, dad and big brother, William, present. After a brief chat to William, who was engrossed in the Lego truck he was building, it was almost time for the grandchildren to head off to school, but not before we heard all about their Halloween costumes and the Trick or Treat they enjoyed with friends.
By late afternoon it was time to fetch the additional diesel jerry cans we had ordered and had these filled. Thankfully another cruising couple on our dock had hired a car and happened to be at the same fuel station where we were filling up our new jerry cans, generously offering to take ours jerry cans back to the dock for us, thus savings us a very long shlep, for which we were most grateful.
Our day ended with a lovely long chat to Keenan, who had time on his hands, after dropping the grandsons at school and Brooke at the airport for her weekend getaway to visit friends.
