Author: Bernd Page 96 of 122
Today morning, four navigators met for a round table discussion on SY Hullu Poro to exchange their views and get an introduction to the basic functions of weather routing with my preferred program called qtVlm. While the program itself provides functionality for complete navigation, our focus was on weather routing only. I have used it twice only, first from Porto to Funchal and second from Funchal to Lanzarote. On both passages it worked well with minor deviations and surprises.
This software was initially introduced to me by Uwe (call sign DD1HUR), who is one of the Netcontrols within the Intermar e.V. association.
Fair winds to all…
One of these days in the saddle you won’t miss. Paddling through this amazing landscape in this pleasant climate (no wind today 😀) flushes body and brain with serotonin, endocannabionide and whatever hormons but it allways gets topped during the final downhill back to Puerto Calero. What a damned fortune!
It appears to become a drug.
Rainer, skipper SY Geronimo, said: 11am we throw the lines! Volker (SY Hexe), Achim (SY Jojo) and myself were on time as by no means we wanted to miss it.
Another fight against the wind took me to Arrecife today. Besides checking out the Specialized Concept 🚴♂️ Store I am chasing some fittings to install our new Seagull IV water filter underneath the sink in the cold water line towards the tap. It is part of an improvement project to ensure constant water quality for making delicious tea despite changing water supplies from varying marinas. Ferreteria is the Spanish word for hardware store, very well sorted.
I also had the opportunity to visit Jutta and Willi from SY Leonie. They have now arrived from Porto Santo/Portugal in Arrecife and we had to update each other on sailor’s fairy tales over the last few weeks since we met in Funchal. We are sharing the same adventure, spending the winter in the Canary Islands before heading North again towards the Azores.
Thanks for the coffee and cake!
Cycling in these winds is a new experience. They are not particular strong, perhaps 20 to 25kts, but the impact on the bike and its rider is remarkable. It’s worth another blog entry.
Fair winds…
Following the wine tasting yesterday at Bodega Buiguan, today’s bike trip took me along one of the wine routes here on Lanzarote called: La Geria
It is just nearby, a bit up into the hills, but the strong headwinds today made the initial climb feeling like cycling the famous pass at Femés, which I did twice until now.
The pattern of the vinyards here is very different to what we know. Its appearance within this volcanic landscape leaves again the feeling that you cycle in a different world – vinyards on the moon.
Despite the fact that most of the Lanzarote wine is consumed on the island, online shops offer a selection, if you wish to try. It´s worth it.
Another day in paradise. 😉
Fair winds…
A plan is a plan until Volker from SY Hexe sends you a WhatsApp! If I fancy to join a wine tasting? No brainer, for sure. Half an hour later we went together with Ulrike, our local guide living in Arrecife – obviously with some sailing background.
We ended up at Bodega Guiguan in the village of Tajaste and tasted its five different wines in the backyard of this family run vineyard, established in 1948.
The quality of the wines is very good, much better compared to the tasting I did on Madeira. As you can imagine it is hard to make quality red wines in this climate and soil conditions but the dry white wine made from volcanic Malvasia grape and the sweet Moscatel dessert wine put a heavy spell on me from the first zip onwards.
Ended up with some more bottles stored onboard now waiting for Susan’s arrival mid December to pamper our tongues over a good meal.
Fair winds…
Wow, yesterday it was raining on Lanzarote, the start of the rain season. I personally had the last rain on 18th September, early morning hours, during the final approach towards Funchal/Madeira, when Susan and myself got hit by a nasty shower. Here on Lazarote it has not rained since February this year, which basically concluded the previous rain season. It goes from October to March with 16 rainy days and about 125mm rainfall on average – not much. Temperatures are still up with lowest at about 16°C during the night and highest at about 28°C during sunny days. Water temperature sits at around 21°C. From April to October the predominant wind direction in Lanzarote is given by the trade wind from Northeast but at this time of the year the wind can blow from any direction. We had very moderate winds since our arrival but some stronger winds are now expected over the coming weekend. Overall the climate here is very pleasant and enjoyable.
Based on our current sailing plans, we will have another 6 days at sea until May 2022, not much but enough for a full time live-aboard. 😅
Fair winds…
