Las Palmas, Gran Canaria

Yesterday afternoon we arrived at the reception pontoon at Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. The sail from the anchorage at Morro Jable was good from a performance point of view, 60 nm in 8 hours but we underestimated the impact of swell from the full reach of the north atlantic so were very tired on arrival. The 30th May was Canaries Day, i.e. a regional holiday so we had to wait until the next day (today) to get checked in. Las Palmas Marina is a pleasant change compared to most marinas since we left Sweden. The mooring fee is about 11 Euros, add to that Electricity and Water and we pay 13 Euros a day. Signing up for a longer term contract reduces the fees further. We haven’t seen to much yet of the city, plan to unfold our bikes tomorrow and check the surroundings. But already now, we enjoy the “yachty” atmosphere. The Marina is mostly “alive” with liveaboards, the yachts (and owners) are of all kinds of shapes, types and conditions. Unless we can anchor (the anchorage is closed until ARC period Sept – Nov) we enjoy a living harbour more than a tidy, ship shape, all shiny marina. Also, still a theory to be verified, we guess that amount of real, blue water experience, is on average much bigger here than in most other marinas in western Europe. Besides fixing our constant to-do list we hope to tap into some grey beard sailors knowledge while we are here for a week or so.

Alternative washing machine

Attributes of a blue water sailing boat