Canaries at last

We left Rabat for Gran Canaria on 30th September. It was much later in the day than intended but various things conspired to delay us... We went to pay our bill in the office only to be told they didn’t take credit cards, the first we knew of it, which necessitated a long walk into Salé for a cash point machine (the bonus was a final stop at the patisserie shop there for some essential provisions! It was also the first day of operation for the new fuel quay which made for an interesting time but we were eventually following the pilot boat out into the Atlantic about 4pm.

After motor-sailing in light winds for longer than we had hoped, we finally settled into a good downwind sail. We had obviously been in the marina for far too long because it took me almost 48hrs to get used to the Atlantic roll, even Nic felt it a couple of times. With the sliver of the new moon ending Ramadan only briefly appearing, the nights were inky black but stunningly star-studded and the whitecaps were aglow with sparkling phosphorescence. The only downside was the cold which certainly didn’t feel like we were sailing south. I was wearing my ski trousers!
Frequently logging between 7 and 8 knots when I had passage-planned at 5, we made good enough time to make an unscheduled stop off the southern coast of Lanzarote on our 4th morning after covering 530 nautical miles.

We anchored off a series of lovely sandy beaches and coves in a nature reserve. A long walk ashore was very welcome as were a couple of indulgent ice-creams in the picturesque beach bar.