It has been somewhat more than a week in Tenerife, and we feel that time is beginning to run out. In 4 days we shall leave for another round in mainland Spain and a holiday in Israel. This time our excuse is a visit to the police station near our “new residence”’ next to Ruth’s house. This calls for another shared fun period. The excuse for the Israel holiday is Gili’s 30th birthday and Passover … it is good that the Israel visits are more often than we had planned, they lower the level of homesickness and provide us a more constant attachment. The less-fun aspect is the preparation for each trip: finding a suitable time window, flights, having to stay near an airport, so that sailing weather does not prevent us from reaching the airport, finding a suitable marina to leave Ester safe, cleaning the boat and locking it up. All this takes up quite some time, but provides satisfaction and excitement.
Back to Tenerife –
We arrived in a wonderful sail from the south of Gran Canaria. Yet again we tried a new sail which we had not used before. The sail is called a “stay sail”, and it is a “front” sail similar to a standard “front” sail named “Jib” or “Genoa”. It can be used by itself or together with two others, the mainsail, which goes back from the main mast, and the jib sail. The stay sail’s advantage is being smaller, much smaller than the jib sail, and it is closer to the center of the boat. It is useful in side winds when they are relatively strong, when one does not want to go too fast, or challenge the boat too much, or lean too much. Furthermore, in suitable weather, when the wind is not too strong, the stay sail can add sail area to add speed. Mostly, and this is important when crossing oceans, it can provide safety in night sailing and in situations when it is not safe to use a larger “front” sail. In such a situation it is best to have a mainsail not fully spread to its full height, and a stay sail as a “front” sail. When it is clam, one can add the jib sail and adjust its size. That’s it, enough with the technical description for those interested and those concerned …
We left Puerto Mogan at first light, expecting a sail of 10 hours, during which the wind will blow from a convenient direction but change much in its force, which is common when hopping from island to island. The “channel” between the islands produces a funnel for the winds, which are weaker near the coast, and all of a sudden increase when one leaves shelter of an island and cross between. This is exactly the situation when the new sail should be used, it provides safety when the wind may become suddenly much stronger. We arrived in the late afternoon to Santa Cruz de Tenerife, which is the main city of Tenerife, and one of the largest in the Canary Islands. Tenerife is known as one of the attractions for European tourists. Like all the islands we saw to date, the tourists typically choose the south of the islands, which is protected from winds, and choose to be on the beach. If we do not insist to stay just there, we can enjoy beautiful landscapes, cute villages, without experiencing tourist crowds.
A Three sails boat
The following day was Udi’s birthday! On the way I planned a surprise. I kept contact with French friends, with whom we celebrated the New Year, approximately two months ago in Fuerte Ventura (see a previous post …) which was an enchanting evening. Since then we have not met. When we travelled from the Canary Islands to Ruth and Israel and back, they continued south along the islands. A moment before we left the south of the island we decided to arrange a meeting. As we were sailing peacefully between the islands, when we had cellular reception, I coordinated with Karin and Manu a surprise for Udi. They should come next morning (the morning of Udi’s birthday) together with Manu’s daughter who came for a visit, and stay for a “Pajama party”! We prepared as for a military operation. We sent encrypted text messages, maps, tracking data and plans for invasion and takeover. Hmmm, in these days of real war, these descriptions take on a different meaning. Nevertheless I leave them, and hope you will be accepting.
Below are some pictures and descriptions of a little more than 24 hours of real surprise and great fun. Karin and Manu are really cute and fascinating, we have a close connection, and hope to preserve it. For those who want to know more about them see January’s post. They are really exceptional.
Before watching this video make sure your sound is working
as it is accompanied by an important soundtrack!
After they left we were rather tired. We had not yet recuperated from the sailing, we needed to restore sleep hours, and to buy food for the boat. It took us two restful days + a guided tour in the old part of the city, again one of the free tours. I found a web site which concentrates such tours all over the world. These are not the only such tours, but it is convenient to have such a concentration. Guru Walks
Our first visit in the main market with our French friends made it clear where we should eat at the end of the guided tour. On the bottom floor of the market is the fish and seafood section. A small shop is hidden in the corner there, with just two tables for diners. The owner loves what he does, smoking fish. On our first visit we bought one kind of smoked fish and tasted it on the boat. A heavenly taste! I know and like smoked fish, but this was a different league. On our return we ordered a variety of smoked fish that came with a potato salad and some toasts. Not only were the fish exquisite, but so was the potato salad with an Indian seasoning and a meticulous serving. A conversation with the owner, who works alone, quietly and with love and patience, revealed the secret: In his past he worked for many years as a chef in fancy hotels around the world, responsible for dozens of workers and experiencing a lot of pressure. Then he decided it was enough, and went back to his old passion, smoking fish, an art that he studied and developed by himself. He buys the fish from his next door neighbour fish shop, and says they are as fresh and good as you can get. Then he smokes them using different methods and a variety of wood types. We were impressed by the patience with which he slices the fish, changing the knife between one kind and the other, organising them on the plate and creating a very esthetic dish!
A few words about the city and our new neighbourhood: The marina is at the center of the city, but does not suffer from city noise, except from some noise from the nearby commercial harbor, which sometimes see a cruise monster discharging hundreds of day tourists. Apart from that the marina is small and intimate, sheltered, with a beautiful view to the North of tall green mountains coming down almost to the sea. The city is mostly low buildings spread over a large area. There is a nice old quarter (less than that of Las Palmas) with nice gardens, a colorful market, and an impressive auditorium (concert hall) similar to that of Sidney Australia. The population is mostly local, few tourists, which concentrate at the south of the island. In all the marina is sympathetic, enables easy access to boat supplies, shopping of all sorts, restaurants (if you must) and most importantly some culture. We spent one evening in a jazz club (middling but cute) and one night in the impressive auditorium, jazz again, at a high level and amazing acoustics. I suddenly realized how much I crave such culture. Such culture as disappeared two years ago when the corona invaded our lives, and is now slowly coming back. In Israel culture is showing more of a comeback, here it appears to come back more slowly. It is hard to find music performances’ which are usually plentiful. Worse, the Carnival which is held here every year in February and March which is considered one of the largest and most impressive in the world, has not been held for two years, and this year was postponed to the summer, so apparently we missed it. But … one should always leave something for next time …
The Santa Cruz Auditorium
We found out that the Architect, Santiago Calatrava, has also designed the Strings Bridge in Jerusalem. Both give an impression of construction impossibilities.
Under the auditorium, on the waterline, some street art.
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| The comedian that started the carnaval in Tenerife. |
A documentation of the carnaval since 1962 through street art.
We had three days of significant rain which did not stop, together with winds up to 50 knots (almost hurricane force), which left us mostly confined to the boat. We managed one hike, on the hills north of the town. This peek was impressive’ we saw and ancient forest of laurels, a remnant of ancient times, together with cacti, of course, palm trees (also to be expected) and plenty of flowers. The hike, which was rather long, sometimes on a steep downhill, left me limping and miserable, with a knee which calls for treatment. Aside from limping I am a little worried in light of the fact that hikes are an essential part of our life. I am trying not to go too far with this (pun intended) and to hope that it is temporary, and a solution will be found. We shall have an expert look at this when we arrive in Israel soon.
So what does one do three days confined mostly to the boat?: work on the boat, cook, write, practice Spanish (me) and Greek (Udi) on Duolingo, get to know neighbors, put things in order, and discover treasures in various corners of the boat. This time we continued making the never-ending lists we started last April. We sort, organize by subject, and write down. Here is something that serves me after decades of science, Excel tables, gained after decades of advanced molecular biology research. ๐
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| A present for some rainy days: a double rainbow! |
Today is Saturday, the sun has come back out. In two days we shall leave for another “voyage” on our way home. I am in a hurry to post. I have learned that once away from Ester, it does not happen.
On the last two days we discovered one of the treasures of this island. The town of San Cristobal de la Laguna. Such a long name for a small but especially enchanting place. We had a local guide through the Guru Walks, and saw small hidden treasures. There used to be a large lagoon of sweet water here, which explains the place name. This town used to be the capital of the island, a title which was transferred to Santa Cruz when Santa Cruz became an important port, and merchants and the rich had an interest to transfer the capital to the ocean’s edge. The town has 16th century structures standing intact, with plaster and volcanic rock combined, black and red, small lanes paved with cobblestones, small enchanting shops, some traditional and some modern, in good taste, and a University which maintains this place alive and rocking. The houses are expansive. Built like the Riads in Morocco, with two stories surrounding a well-cared-for inner courtyard, a fountain in the middle, and balconies all around, with beautiful woodwork. The place is especially well preserved, maybe thanks to UNESCO declaring the town a world heritage site. See the pictures, which unfortunately do not do justice to the bustling spirit of this town. Maybe I can provide more in a next visit.
Once this was a cigar factory, today a beautiful hotel that keeps the original spirit.
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| A local designer that is world famous. Crazy colorfulness, no two identical pairs of shoes. You can only buy in three shops in Europe or through the internet. I even tried some on. |
An exhibition by a local artist that was created before the war in Ukraine.
Almost a prophecy. Criticises Putin’s attitude to the LGBT community.
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Notice the plants that grow on the balcony’s roof.
Seen on most balconies, and it is against the law to remove. |
A taste of the local nightlife.
The main drinks here are the excellent local wines.
Besides the visit to la Laguna, we experienced another new experience, with Udi feeling that he must get some fresh air after days of confinement to the boat, and leaving to tour another town, whose crowning glory is the “balcony house”. I stayed to do my duty to god and country and write this post. It was refreshing to separate for the first time since we embarked on our way.
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| The balconies house |
“Dragon tree” is the local name for this plant,
which despite its huge size is botanically considered a bush.
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That’s it, tomorrow we pack up and lock the boat, and you are up-to date up to this very day. We shall meet in the next post, after this coming Passover.
Have a happy and kosher holiday. ๐ป.
