Time is slipping away incredibly fast. I’d been pushing our departure date for the Caribbean into the back of my mind, it felt so far away. But we’ve only got two weeks to go now and we have to leave Europe by the 27th of November as we will have run out of time on our Schengen clock. The swift passing of time means I’m also very behind with the writing of the blog. Or perhaps I’ve been putting off having to write about how very wrong I was about the Canaries. In my previous post I wrote about how I wasn’t looking forward to our time here as I’ve always found Fuerteventura bleak with mediocre waves. I would now like to retract this statement. Having been here for a month now, we have been blown away by the scenery and the waves (although, we did skip Fuerteventura, aside from a couple of trips to Los Lobos).
We had anticipated spending our time prior to Atlantic prep on Tenerife sailing around the Canaries and exploring all of the islands but we got caught in the Lanzarote effect and couldn’t bring ourselves to leave. We spent our time in Lanzarote in Marina Rubicon, in Playa Blanca. Whilst, Playa Blanca itself left a lot to be desired, with the distinct lack of culture, the marina itself was one of the best we had been to and this includes the people we met there; we enjoyed many good hours discussing sailing and taking in the wealth of knowledge that was offered to us.
No Wind Week
For our first week on Lanzarote, we hosted our first visitors from home, Bens parents and whilst they were with us, we were also lucky enough to spend a day together with Ben’s cousin and her partner who were on holiday on Fuerteventura. We had a proper holiday afternoon on Papagayo beach, soaking up the sun and warm water and an introduction to black rice (a seafood paella with squid ink), that became a favourite of Tim and Annes whilst on their geocaching adventures.
Whilst on Lanzarote, Ben had been trying to book me into a few wing foil lessons to get me up and riding for the Caribbean. But we kept hearing talk of no wind week. Having looked at the forecast ourselves, we knew the wind was going to be light, but we couldn’t quite comprehend the fact there really wasn’t going to be any wind in the Canaries. To our astonishment, no wind week did indeed fulfil its name, wing lessons might not have been on, but the surf certainly was. And so began no wind week, that turned into no wind fortnight and three weeks later, was the main reason why we were still kicking around Marina Rubicon and struggling to leave. It’s pretty hard to walk, or in our case sail away from perfect waves.
The waves on Lanzarote were exceptional, we surfed perfect longboard waves on the beach break at the eastern end of Famara under the towering cliffs of Risco de Famara, fun reef breaks in Arrieta, I tested my nerve on a point break with thundering sets and Ben relished big wave days in La Santa. The three week no wind week was concluded with another two days of phenomenal longboard waves at Famara. It was no wonder my whole body felt drained, I was quite simply surfed out and it felt sublime.
Photos @phgigi who very kindly took these amazing photos of us at Famara
Not so Lanzagrotty
It wasn’t just the surf that captivated us, I went from viewing the harsh volcanic landscape as bleak and desolate to seeing it as raw, rugged and wild. Despite the rawness, the volcanic remains had been harnessed and vineyards flourished. The vines nestled into pits of volcanic gravel creating a sense that you had somehow arrived on another planet. In between days of surfing, we explored the island, that despite being small had so much to offer. We walked through lava fields, climbed volcano craters and up and down cliffs to reach secluded beaches. All offering unbroken views of the Atlantic Ocean and the dramatic landscapes of Lanzarote and La Graciosa that had been born from its depths. It seemed that our favourite activity after surfing had become climbing steep hills in 30c temperatures in search of the best view. We were not disappointed. On one walk up Caldera Blanca, having completely underestimated the heat and distance we ran out of water and snacks. In our sweaty state of despair, whilst contemplating the hot walk back through the lava fields we were overtaken by two Spanish guys out on an afternoon jog and looking as though they’d barely broken into sweat. We slowly made our way back to the car discussing which flavour fizzy drink we were going to reward ourselves with when we found a shop. The whole island feels rural in itself, the resorts are well contained and the architecture is fitting across the entire island. But, on a trip to the northern most tip of the island we felt like we had found the real rural Lanzarote. Small cottages were surrounded by terraced fields of crops and flowers, flanked by rows of palm trees. The area was a true oasis among the rugged volcanic geology and was completely unexcepted.
Whilst Tim and Anne were with us, we decided to stretch Cariads legs for a day and take her on a trip to Lobos, a small island north east of Fuerteventura that is completely unspoilt. Coincidentally, it is also home to a world class point break that is only accessible by boat. After dropping the anchor, we jumped into the crystal-clear turquoise waters and soaked up the feeling that this is how we were spending a Wednesday in November. Having explored the island on our previous visits to Fuerteventura we dropped Tim and Anne off at the breakwater to allow them to conquer the island and find their sought after geocaches. We chose not to surf the main break on Lobos and instead surfed a small, novelty longboard wave that was close to the boat and gave us a good hour of entertainment as we tried to avoid getting thrown onto incredibly shallow reef. This was our last day with Ben’s parents before their flight home and after returning to the marina we went out for a delicious dinner and discussed when and where we might see each other next.
I don’t think I will forget our time in Lanzarote easily and despite by love for my Madeira and my initial contempt for the Canaries, it is the first place that I have said I genuinely miss being at. Even now, I still the miss the magic of our time there. As I was writing this, I came across the Lanzarote Tourism website - the videos and the words strongly resonate with the impact the island had on us. (I don’t think I need to add this, but this post is no way written for the tourism site, just simply my own opinions and feelings.) >> The Lanzarote Effect
One final hop
As with the nature of travelling, there always comes a time to leave. The end of the no wind week(s) signalled it was time to move on for pastures new, our last and final stop in Europe before we head for the open sea. We left Marina Rubicon on the 31st November and spent a quiet night at anchor at Lobos. During the day, the anchorage fills up with charter boats and the tranquillity of the island can be some what lost. With little in the way of surf, as the first charter boats arrived, we took this as a cue to leave for the short 120nm hop to Tenerife. We had anticipated a slightly frustrating sail ahead of us, we would be sailing downwind most of the time and still didn’t have our downwind sails available to us, new parts were due to arrive in Tenerife with our next round of visitors. However, as we rounded the top of Fuerteventura and the wind filled in, we were flying along at 7 knots.
With the changing of the clocks, darkness came early but the slither of moon lifted us from total darkness. We settled into a comfortable final night passage with just the two of us. As morning came, the wind dropped and we motored the final few hours to Marina Santa Cruz, Tenerife, taking in the mountainous landscape of the western Canary Islands. After two weeks in Tenerife, we have been utterly overwhelmed by the diversity of the landscape, the scenery being on par with that of Madeira. I couldn’t have been more wrong about the Canaries and continue to eat my every last word.
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