El Hierro
Last week has been spent enjoying lovely anchorages. We left Arrecife with light but sailable winds for a night at anchor south of Lanzarote. Unfortunately the swell changed direction so we had to leave earlier than planned for a night sail of 130 nm to south Gran Canaria.
After a night at anchor at Placito Blanca we sailed 15 nm to Anfi del Mar. This anchorage was ideal in terms of firm sand bottom, no swell (at least not when were there) and easy access to dinghy landing. We stayed there 3 nights. We managed to get our long waited for solar panel replacements rerouted to the small, private marina. Lessons learnt – use a transport company with local (delivery) presence and allow time (in our case 3 weeks). At the anchorage we also met Harmen and Marieke, dutch owners of a Hallberg Rassy 49 on route to the Caribbean. Always nice to compare similar boats and different “solutions”.
As the distance to El Hierro was 120 nm we opted to raise the anchor around 5 pm for a night sail. The first 5-10 nm was dead into 6 knots wind due to sea breeze. After 1.5 h motoring we got a steady 15 knots downwind sail, with the usual addition of 10 knots west of Gran Canaria and west of Tenerife. A couple of hours before entering the Puerto Restinga we were greeted by a large, 20+ shool of spotted dolphins that stayed with us for almost an hour. Always a nice feeling!
El Hierro is living up to its reputation to be a place to “watch the world drift by”. The harbour is really small with friendly marineros and almost every activity related to scuba diving. Apparently the nearby water reservation areas are the best diving places of Europe. We did a short snorkelling tour this afternoon and checked out “the local turtle” (0.7 m long), and several large species of exotic fishes. This place is known for many hammerhead sharks. Tomorrow we will check them out. Wish us luck!
S/Y Tina Princess 