Arrived in Las Palmas last night in the dark. It was quite a tricky arrival. Lots of shipping anchored off shore that we struggled to ID against the shore lights of the city. Turns out that Las Palmas is being used as a base to stack offshore drilling rigs - this explained all the strange shapes that we were struggling to identify in the dark.

The next challenge was to find somewhere to park. We knew we would be at anchor. Because of the ARC the anchorage was pretty full so we were anchored on the outer line of boats in deeper water than we would have liked but all worked OK and we had a pretty settled night by Canary standards. In the morning we awoke to see what we had not seen the night before - inc lots of drilling rigs. It is quite a place.

Then off to watch the start of the ARC+ which was quite exciting. They had a good wind up the chuff (technical term for a down wind start) and off they went to the Cape Verde islands. It will take them about 6 days to get there. Then we checked into Las Palmas marina which will be our home for the next 2 weeks. Looks like lots to offer here so it should not be a hardship. Loads of ARC flags flying and boats dressed overall - very colourful.

Now to explore Gran Canaria and to enjoy the pre ARC festivities.