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Puerto Calero marina is much better than Marina Bay marina in Gibralta. Mooring is on a pontoon instead of bow (or stern depending on which way round you prefer) too. Hence no need for the dreaded paserelle (gang plank). The marina is quiet appart from a few party boats belonging to the Blue Water Rally and calm. The boat doesn't move, it feels as though we are on land, no waves slapping against the stern all night keeping me awake, I can sleep without ear plugs! There are lots of bars and restaurants and a very expensive supermarket with a very restricted selection of food (though it does sell beach ware). Hence we have hired a car and found some much larger supermarkets near Arrecife. We have stocked the boat ready for the Atlantic crossing, every available space is full of food. The beer has still to be found a space but it will probably have evaporated before we leave, this seems to happen to all beer on boats!!
Last Sunday we went to a market in the pretty little town of Teguise, the old capital. It sold all sorts of things, clothes, bags, souvenirs, jewellery but not fruit and veg. I bought two pairs of shorts for 11 euros and a caftan for 5 euros, bargain!
There have been a number of events organised by the Rally, starting with welcome drinks in one of the local bars on Sunday evening, a lecture about whales and dolphins in the Canary islands and two coach tours, one around the south of the island and the other round the north, a yacht race against the local club and a dinner outing. All events being organised by the Rally and Lanzarote tourist board and are free of charge for rally participants.
On the south island tour we were taken to Los Hervideros, a group of blow holes where the sea comes in against the rocks, very spectacular in windy weather and a big swell. There was neither the day we visited, so it was a bit tame. We then went to El Golfo, a beautiful deep green pool on the beach, coloured by minerals in the water and reflecting the surrounding cliffs like a mirror. Finally we went to the Montana del Fuego an active volcano in the Timanfaya national park. We were shown all the usual tricks done for tourists, pouring water down a shaft and making a geyser shoot up. Cooking food over a shaft using heat from the volcano. The park is covered in lava from numerous volcanic eruptions mostly between 1730 and 1736, extending over a quarter of the island. The scenery is amazing, a geologists paradise but you are only allowed to visit by coach and all pictures had to be from the coach window when it stopped at various points of interest. However you can visit the lava fields further away on foot or by camel and later in the week we walked into the crater of an extinct volcano (then realised the camera was in the car).
Vegetation is as you would expect sparse, especially in the south, with scrubby bushes and lichens. Grape vines are grown in strange round hollows in the black volcanic gravel, surrounded by low walls to protect them from the wind and help retain water. The volcanic soil is very fertile, being high in magnesium. Aloe Vera and prickly pears are also crops, the fruit being made into jam and a small beetles (cochineal) which live on the cactus are harvested for the red dye they contain, which is used as a food colouring. The north of the island is more cloudy, hence more green (though not very) and the black or red grit is replaced by yellow sand around La Santa on the northern coast. There are more crops here including potatoes, carrots, pumpkins and even strawberries. Towns have various types of palm trees and bright coloured shrubs such as bougainvillea but this requires irrigation and water is scarce being obtained by desalination. The town of Haria in the central north in palm tree county, is very scenic and there is a snack bar which does very good tapas. Houses are flat roofed white buildings, traditionally with green windows and doors in country areas, or blue in fishing villages. Gardens are black gravel areas with bright shrubs and palm trees which look very neat and effective. They do have garden centres but I haven't investigated. In the south there is a cactus garden (Jardin de Cactus), designed by a local artist Cesar Manrique. I thought it was very interesting because I like cacti. Only two species of the 9,700 plants are native but the climate is ideal for them.The loos have interesting depictions of a man and woman (you can't get them mixed up!). In the greener south (which is unusually dry for this time of this year), there are euphorbia bushes. these come in two varieties a sweet one and a bitter one. The bitter one being used by local fishermen as its sap is poisonous to fish.
The south tour visited the green caves (cueva de los verdes) which are the worlds longest lava tubes and were used as the setting for the film 'Journey to the centre of the earth'. Then it went to the Mirador del Rio, a view point looking down at the smaller islands, the building being another of Manriques creations.
William and I took part in the racing being crew (or a passenger in my case) on Penelope III, a yacht belonging to our friends from Gosport, John and Jane. We reached the amazing speed of about 2 knots as there was not enough wind. My first race and it was nice and sedate. Afterwards all crews got a free curry in the local bar. There have been a number of birthdays while we have been here. Paul on the 5th, we all went for a Chinese to help him celebrate. Alex on the 13th, he went to a huge water park and played on the slides. John on the 15th. This may help to explain why the evaporation rate for beer has been so high!
Preparations for the next 'little hop' are proceeding on schedule, sails and bits of string everywhere and the spinnaker is poised for action.
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