Okay-lah…to speak in the slang of my Asian friends…this photo flavours an interesting and perhaps frowning welcome here in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Not sure how google is going to translate that sentence. You find out. 😅
Anyway, following a warm welcome with Jutta and Willi over a cold “Einlaufbier” my busy schedule included the engine oil change upon arrival and its completion before sunset. It was tight and cleaning the mess needs to wait until tomorrow.
Good night & fair winds…
Following the Intermar e.V. morning net yesterday, Uwe/DF5AM, Lothar/EA8DES and myself agreed for a test connection from Gran Canaria to Lanzarote. Silvia/DM1SIL also joined from the south of Fuerteventura.
I did run the calculation with VOACAP and a snapshot of the results can be seen in the picture below. It basically provides you with the best frequency to be used at a given date/time for the distance you want to cover. We agreed to try 7195kHz as we had a high probability that this should work.
It worked in one direction. Both Silvia and Uwe could hear me very well with a strong signal but vice versa was just noise and I could not hear anything.
This result is not a surprise as experience shows that receiving while at berth in a crowded marina is hard. There are too many sailing masts absorbing the incoming signal. We agreed to run another test at the time we are out on the ocean again.
As a HAM radio operator on High Frequencies (HF = 3 – 30MHz) you depend on these external factors and the challenge is to “cooperate” with the propagation conditions of electromagnetic waves influenced by many factors.
Fair winds…
I like Las Palmas. The city is average – below average for biking – but it offers all you need and good friendship among fellow sailors as this is probably the main starting point to go West. The scenery is divers, from beach to commercial harbour, from high-rise to local fishermen, etc. 🧐
Fair winds…
As a HAM radio operator there is always something you try to enhance on your installation to improve connectivity. SSB antenna grounding on a sailboat is a science in itself, especially on a hull made out of GRP like ours.
Although the actual radio installation worked fairly well so far, I am up for even better results. Lothar and myself installed today 3.7 sqm of aluminum foil and testing is on its way.
Fair winds…
SY Geronimo will throw the lines on Tuesday to rock the Canary Islands for a week plus. There is little these four sailors have not faced on the ocean yet but any sail will bring a new adventure. I am sure they will have great fun out there.
Although invited to join, I will stay back in Las Palmas to keep going with my boat work and prepare for my departure on Friday.
Fair winds…
As Calima is considered “over” and the wind has calmed down after 7 days unusual strong from South to Southeast direction and constantly between 20 and 30kts it was time for cleaning day!
Teamwork! We rinsed both masts very thoroughly from top to bottom and while Rainer offered to get up on both masts, it was me operating the lines from the deck. I missed the view from the top but was quite happy that Rainer offered his help.
The dinner is on me tonight, three courses…😅
Fair winds…
PS: Tomorrow the cleaning goes on, not all done yet. Also more boat work over the next few days to keep the lady in good shape. 😉
Irene and Peter arrived with their Outremer 55 named Zapoli in Las Palmas at 4am in the morning and the Marinero on duty directed them to the anchorage in front of the marina, despite heavy wind and swell at that time. Not a surprise as allocation of berth appears a bit arbitrary now and then in this marina.
After two days at anchor finally a free spot in the marina was allocated and now help needed to transfer the boat from its choppy anchorage to a relaxed berth inside the marina. Rainer, Thomas & myself were picked up by Peter with the dinghy to help on board of this vast catamaran to ensure a smooth manoeuvre and transition.
All went well and a peaceful night is granted after this truly shared supportive spirit within the Trans-Ocean e.V. community.
Fair winds…
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