Going home from Lanzarote

Having been here almost 2 weeks, in extreme heat (for us at least, which would have been OK if we hadn't had to be working nearly all the time), we feel we have achieved almost everything we set out to do.

Spare parts have been ordered for delivery to Follyfoot, including a fan for the fridge which conveniently  (or not depending on which way you look at it) packed up the day after we arrived. Fortunately The Engineer managed to diagnose the fault in a short time and get this essential piece of equipment running again. Other items include new hinges for one of the 'heads' lids, replacement mushroom aerial for the satellite phone and a couple of small blocks which have worn out ... to name but a few.

Not all work and no play however. On Sunday evening we invited a few English and Irish people on other boats in the marina, whom we had met by various means, for 'drinks on the pontoon'. This was cause for much amusement amongst the other occupants of our pontoon, mainly French and German, who had to negotiate a path through our impromptu party up the walkway to quayside - no tables on the pontoon! I think we can safely say a 'jolly' time was had by all.

Now to Lanzarote: the marina in Arrecife is very new without a lot of character - there's alot of concrete involved. What it does have is a high number of eating and drinking places, including a Burger King. Now I have nothing against hamburger joints per se - great for kids - just as long as they are not positioned directly above the end of the pontoon on which we are berthed. Similarly Friday and Saturday night rave ups, actually extending into the morning (07:00 is the latest we have experienced) are fine for the youngsters. But please don't have the bands play through huge speakers on a stage actually in the marina, or even in the town about a kilometre away which was almost as loud!

There are a huge number of boats here, mostly sail boats like ours and some alot larger. But the most interesting are the 6.5 m yachts in the mini-Transat fleet. To enter this race, the boat must have NO engine and be sailed single-handed. Shortly after we arrived they started arriving from the first leg of their marathon (Douarnanez to Lanzarote). Most of the skippers are well tanned, good-looking young men (I'm allowed to say that now I'm a pensioner ...) but there are a few lucky young ladies too, also pretty good-looking themselves, it has to be said. The next leg goes from here to Guadeloupe starting at the end of the month. Not a challenge to be undertaken lightly.

Lanzarote does have a large sandy beach which at the far end away from the hotel, the only multi storey building on the island, is hardly crowded, as seen below. The sea is very warm! We were not expecting golden sand since this island is volcanic. Hardly possible to have imported that amount of sand though ....?

Tomorrow we fly back to UK, just in time to attend a wedding, and then back home on Monday. No posts from me until we return to Follyfin on Christmas Eve. We will than have to transfer her to another marina two islands further south, Gran Canaria. Then it will be all systems go for the "off" from Las Palmas on Gran Canaria on 9 January 2016. The Ruby Crossing is fast approaching - exciting!