Tenerife Touring

Tenerife has been a bit of a crazy blur. We arrived at Marina Santa Cruz on Wednesday 2nd

November and were instantly thrown into big city life. The marina isn’t quite Marina Rubicon, the berth is overlooked with little privacy and the marina is on the other side of the harbour to where the cruise ships dock making it noisy and smelly. But what it lacks in quality marina, it certainly makes up for in Spanish city culture. That evening we went straight out to explore Santa Cruz and hunt down some tapas.

We had two days to tidy the boat, provision and sort out a hire car before my parents were due to arrive on the 5th November. When travelling by boat, some of the more mundane everyday life necessities turn into a bit more of an event. Food shopping, in particular seems to take twice as long and forms a major part of the day, food shopping and picking up a hire car in a city that you’ve never been to before is also a lot harder when you don’t have any internet on your phone. After picking up the hire car from Tenerife North airport, we tried to make our way back to the port with absolutely no directions. The end result was a seemingly never-ending tour of the roads near the port and a few heated words thrown between us. But we got there in the end, we will skip the part about Dad pointing out the built in Sat Nav when we picked them up from the airport.

I was particularly excited for Tenerife as it’s where my parents were joining us, they hadn’t been abroad for 21 years and I was excited to share some of our adventure with them and for them to have their own adventure. It was incredibly surreal picking them up from the airport and being in a different country with them, it’s not something we did when we were younger as we spent our summers chasing our horse riding dreams.

The Manning’s on Tour

With only five days to explore with them, as activities coordinator for Cariad charters, I had a jam-packed agenda. Ben and I hadn’t had time to do any exploring ourselves and everything was just as new to us as it was to them. First up was a hike in the Anaga mountains, the same mountains that form the back drop to Santa Cruz. As we drove up to the mountains, a lot of hilarity passed between us. It was raining! I’d promised mum and dad wall to wall sunshine and warned them of the stresses of hiking in the heat. But, as we climbed out of the clouds, the rain cleared and the walk provided us with some unexpected views of sweeping green vistas, high mountain peaks and wide ocean views. Both mum and I had spent some time researching what to do on Tenerife, but we were still taken aback with just how green and mountainous the landscape was and we had only scratched the surface. The day was concluded with pizza and late-night ice cream, with dad providing some entertainment as we watched him try and speak a foreign language for the first time in many years.

On Monday, after a quick visit to the market, in order to soak up some more culture we caught the tram to La Laguna, the old University town of Santa Cruz. We marvelled at the efficiency of the tram system and its cleanliness and took in the city views as we climbed above Santa Cruz towards La Laguna. We wandered through the streets, admiring the architecture and filling up on Tapas and patisseries. Dad was slightly put out by the lack of coffee at the café for lunch, but after a bit of English humour and persistence the waitress disappeared off laughing to the neighbouring restaurant and returned with the sought-after coffee. The day was concluded with boat jobs and a tasty tagine.

Next up on the agenda was our second walk, a hike in Teide National Park to reach the summit of Alto Guajara, with an altitude of 2,715m. This walk was promised to give the best views of Mount Teide. Even after our walks in Madeira, this walk totally blew us away. I felt like I was back walking in America, the scenery was just overwhelming and a complete contrast to our previous hike in the Anaga mountains. I did also make some small apologies to my parents, making them climb a pretty serious ascent, but they had no trouble making the summit and revelled in the landscape that was in front of them. I was very proud of mum for pushing through her concerns of what I was forcing them to do, the path did at times look like it was disappearing under the side of a cliff. Dad, being a spaghetti western fan was in his element and took over 100 photos.

It wasn’t just the hiking that provided panoramic views of Tenerife, the roads took us through slopes of Eucalyptus and Canarian Pine and onto ridge roads where every view point offered moments of awe. The return trips provided a whole different perspective, with the clouds and the setting sun making us feel like we had stepped into another domain. Dad’s photoshoot continued, with requests to stop at every layby. I’ve never seen him so snap happy, an activity that is usually reserved for mum. The last full day with mum and dad we spent chilling out on a beach, we took another drive through the edges of the mountains, along another spectacularly winding road, that elicited various swear words. I’m not sure if they were from fear or awe, perhaps both! The northern side of the island, as with Madeira, is a lot more wild. The swell was hitting the beaches with such power it was almost uncomfortable to watch, but mesmerising at the same time. On the way back we stopped at a Guachinch for a drink and a portion of wrinkly potatoes and mojo. Mum and Dad had offered to cook that evening, an offer we gladly accepted. We gave them directions to the best nearby supermarket and sent them on their way, I had also given them instruction not to go to Spar as you couldn’t always get what you wanted. Their excursion provided some entertainment, they hadn’t been able to find the supermarket (there are many Dino’s dotted around town) and had instead found themselves at the dreaded Spar. But the Spar pulled through and provided all the ingredients for Spaghetti Bolognaise, exactly what Ben had been hoping would be on the menu.

Before their departure Mum and I spent the morning exploring the Mercado Municipal Nuestra Senora de Africa, the local market. Mum was in her element as we wandered through the stalls, soaking in the sights, smells and flavours. We met up with Ben and Dad for one final Canarian lunch. Goodbyes at the airport were kept swift, perhaps orchestrated by dad who knew that myself and mum might have found it difficult as we once again said goodbye to parents, wondering where and when we would see them next.

The in between days

After saying goodbye to mum and dad, Ben and I had just over a week to ourselves before Hector and Ed joined for the Atlantic crossing. The activities continued in earnest, Ben had booked me into three wing foil lessons to get me up and riding for the Caribbean. I can now happily say that I’ve had my first flight on a foil and can’t wait to get out more. Ben went paragliding, something that he’d been wanting to do for a long time and this seemed like a perfect Birthday present given that we will be at sea for his birthday. We also went on two more hikes, one into the depths of the pine forests and the other into the agricultural suburbs of the mountains. We have been astounded by the diversity of the landscape of Tenerife, not one walk has been the same and I would never have imagined Tenerife to be a great walking holiday destination. We have also met a great group of people in the marina, all of a similar age doing similar things and have spent time discussing our lives, plans and boat preparations.

It's not all wrinkly potatoes, wild walks and wind sports. We are about to sail over 2000nm across the Atlantic and with that comes a lot of boat work. We have spent time carrying out repairs and upgrades (dad also helped out whilst he was here), planning our final days on land, writing lots and lots of lists and ordering last minute spares for Hector and Ed to bring out. The marina is buzzing with activity as everyone is preparing themselves and the boat for the massive undertaking.

The final count down

As I write this, Ben is on his way to the airport to pick up Hector and Ed. It’s all becoming pretty real now. Our original plan had been to leave around the 25th/26th, just before our time in Europe finished. But, as with anything things don’t always go to plan and you can’t plan the weather. Currently, there is a low-pressure system in the forecast that is being forced south of the Canaries around the 28th bringing with it 5m swells and 40knots of wind. A less than ideal window to leave. We’ve been keeping an eye on the weather models and hoping that it might dissipate given that the forecast is still quite far away. But good old Brexit, we don’t have the flexibility to wait to leave after the system passes. The current plan, is to leave on Tuesday 22nd November for Barbados to get ahead and south of the system. A quicker turn around after Hector and Ed’s arrival than we had planned for, but adapt and overcome is key to this adventure. Ben and I have spent the day cleaning and packing down the boat, stock taking, going over our provision list for tomorrow and getting as much done as we can to take the pressure off of the next couple of days.

Whilst adapting and overcoming is key, it’s not always that easy. I have found the last couple of days quite difficult and questioning why I thought sailing the Atlantic was a good idea and how I got myself into this. Of course, the answers to how and why I got myself here are easy, Ben and I had a dream so we made it happen. But, whilst offshore sailing is magical and exhilarating, it can also be exhausting, terrifying and incredibly hard work. In Biscay I experienced intense fear and I have been asking myself why I would want to put myself through that feeling again, the chances are it will probably happen more than once in the Atlantic. I have at times felt trapped, like I put myself on the trajectory and there is no option but to go ahead and do it despite not wanting to, when I crave security, privacy and safety. But I also know that I don’t want to walk way from this, our dream and I would never forgive myself if I returned home for a couple of weeks and flew out to the Caribbean instead. Ben needs me as a first mate and I can’t let him down. This being his second crossing, he also reminded me that if he didn’t think I would enjoy it and if it wasn’t a truly captivating experience, he wouldn’t do it again. It can be an intense time in the marina pre departure, I’m quite open with my fears or concerns but there is also a lot of bravado which often leads me to thinking I’m the only person with anxieties about the crossing. I know this isn’t the case and you would be foolish to go into an ocean passage without any form of anticipation. I have no concerns about the safety of the boat, Ben’s ability as a skipper or our preparation, it is just quite simply the fear of the unknown. Not going was never an option. This is the final update from this side of the Atlantic. All being well the next post will be from the Caribbean, some 2500nm away and roughly three weeks at sea.

See you on the other side. Terra firma, out