Sunday, 26 October 2008

SailBlog - Taking a break...

Graham
26/10/2008, Playa Blanca, Lanzarote

It recently occurred to us that Tracey and I had been on QUASAR IV for nearly a year without ever leaving it for a break. So, a short stroll along the seafront here in Playa Blanca, and we found an excellent looking hotel called the Hesperia which we booked into for a 4 day break. Bongo disappeared to the UK for some socialising and some home admin, and Mark T guarded the boat, whilst at the same time doing a superb spring (autumn?) cleaning job on the carpets, deck and woodwork. 

Back on the boat now, winter is beginning to take a hold; dark skies, heavy rain showers and Force 7 winds are now becoming more frequent, and the reversion of the clocks to back to GMT winter time at the weekend has made darkness arrive by about 6.30pm. Summer is clearly well over now. Still, we have managed to complete some of the outstanding jobs that are required prior to crossing the Atlantic and we are well on track with being ready to go early, giving us some time to actually relax before we leave on the 2700 mile journey west. We can really recommend the Rubicon Marina here where we are staying. It's location, facilities, and friendly staff are great, all at a reasonable price. Once the wind dies down a bit and the sea state has decreased from 'rough, 4 metre waves' we are planning on heading over to Fuertaventura on Saturday afternoon, then working our way towards Gran Canaria. The other Canarian islands will have to wait for another time to be visited as all effort is now being focussed on getting ready for the ARC 2008.

No comments:

Post a Comment

SailBlog - ARC Prize giving

Graham 22/12/2008, Gaiety Gros Islet, Saint Lucia Club Having taken 25 days to reach Saint Lucia, we were clearly not expecting to win any p...