The last few weeks have been a mix of boat projects and fun. First the fun: We rented a car for a couple of days of exploration of Tenerife beyond the confines of Santa Cruz. A highlight was the town of Garachico on the northwest coast of the island. It was an important port on the trade routes between Spain and the New World until May 5, 1706, when the nearby Arenas Negras volcano erupted. Two rivers of lava poured down the side of the volcano, destroying the town and blocking the harbor. The only evidence of the original town is a small stone fort that was between the two lava flows.
We went for a hike behind the town, and got some great views of the coastline
Since the eruption, the lava on the seashore has eroded to form natural swimming pools, some shallow, some deeper, and most connected to the sea at high tide. You can walk amongst the pools, with paths that give the impression of an Elizabethan maze except with lava instead of hedges
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After ourhike, we joined dozens of others who were sunbathing, swimming, and jumping off into the clear water. It was great.
Another highlight was attending a modern dance concert at the Auditorio de Tenerife opera house, with performances by Italian, Korean, Spanish, and Israeli artists. And we have enjoyed the local cuisine as well. Here we are with Danny, our favorite sailing neighbor from our pontoon.
But with less than a month to go before we head off for the new world, the pace of our preparations is starting to accelerate.
We brought the boat 6 miles down to coast to the marina at Radazul to have it lifted out of the water to investigate some damage to the keel and rudder. We are not sure when the damage occurred, but it may have been from a fishing net or floating debris that we did not realize we had hit. We were fearful that the damage might be extensive, but luckily it was fixed within a couple of days and we were back in the water.
Chafe or wear on lines or sails is a major problem for long distance sailors... the last thing that we want is to wake up in the middle of a storm to find the sails ripped or lines parted. To reduce chafe on the mainsail, we went up the mast to attach foam pipe insulation to the spreaders.
We also changed the lead on our furling line to avoid a sharp edge of the deck after it almost chafed through on a previous passage. We will monitor all of our lines daily on passage to hopefully identify any problems that we have missed.
And we have started to provision for the passage. Kitty has created a meticulous 25 day menu plan, and with my principle contribution being to encourage her to increase the quantity of snacks. We have made three major runs to local grocery stores...
and have most of our non-perishable larder tucked away in compartments under the floorboards, behind the settees, under beds, and in every cupboard.
Now we just need to figure out a way to store the perishable items. Kitty has also been cooking and freezing meals for the trip, and tried out a new bread recipe... perfecto!
We will head across to Las Palmas next Saturday, the starting point of our crossing. There we will complete the remainder of our preparations and meet our friends Tasha and Douglas who will join us for the voyage.
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