Tenerife - round one

   

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.

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. 😅

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.

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.

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.

The balconies house

“Dragon tree” is the local name for this plant, which despite its huge size is botanically considered a bush.

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. 🌻.

Time flies when you’re having fun … Four weeks have passed since we returned to Ester from a visit to Israel and then to Ruth and Avi.The four weeks were packed with experiences, many hikes, some playing with the sails, some mooring in a bay, meeting new friends, gaining new insights about boat life, being somewhat detached from children, family and old friends, and also from the trouble brewing in this wirld.First I shall disclose, for my faithful readers, the “surprise” I mentioned at the end of the previous post.

A day before we packed our belongings at Ruth’s house, at the top of a 6,000 stair path (see previous post), before we dove into a deep canyon and disconnected from cell phone reception, we received a phone call from Gili. It was one of her Friday morning, weekly phone calls, when we usually discussed events of the past days. Gili told us that over the coming week she would be on “holiday” from work and studies, after an intensive and challenging period. She really needs some rest and recreation, so without missing a beat, I wove a fantasy for her – come for a vacation with Mom and Dad, we promise to spoil you and refresh your spirit. Gili has not left Israel since the beginning of the Corona, which messed up world order. Gili smiled, said she was not sure, that she really doesn’t have the time. I urged her – there’s not much time for deliberations, if you want to come and have a great week, make a quick decision. Udi checked out flight possibilities, and Ohad (Gili’s partner) was recruited to the task of kicking Gili overseas into the arms of her parents. Gili said she needed to think, and she has to complete something. I ended up not too optimistic about this happening. On Saturday morning we woke up to the phone ringing (which is a miracle in Ruth’s house, with weak reception), Gili said she was starting her trip that evening, and would arrive next noon!! Our excitement and happiness knew no bounds, wich were immediately transformed to action. Since Gili had not left Israel since the Corona started, she needed to catch up on paperwork, Covid testing and son. These were not clear to her (not to us, who are Corona Frequent Fliers), she need to start packing right away, and we tried to understand the paperwork needed and the technical details. To make a long story short, based on a combined cross-continent effort and massive support by Ohad, our girl is on time, on her flight, with all the required paperwork. Her happiness and relief are visible in the picture she sent …

 

In parallel with Gili’s leaving Israel, we made our way from Valencia to Ester. We arrived in the evening to the boat, which has been closed for three weeks, and immediately started organizing it to be as comfortable as possible for the soon-to-arrive guest. We cleaned up, vacated the guest cabin, bought groceries, etc. etc.

Gili has arrived! 

On her way from the airport to the boat Gili expressed her wish for a hiking trip of several days + sleeping arrangement along the way. That has been my fantasy for the last few years. It always seems too complicate to arrange, building a trip starting at a bus stop, picking a path of reasonable difficulty and length, reaching a point where lodging can be found. Planning several such days end-to-end, and finally reaching a bus which can take us back to our boat. That is really complicated, but my girl asked for this, and Dad immediately put himself to the task. (“when I ask that’s not enough”? asks the Polish mother hidden deep inside). That afternoon and evening were dedicated to putting it all together, making reservations for lodgings, packing small packs for the way, and next morning we were on the bus, on our way to a “trek”.

In the meantime Gili did not waste a moment, and bonded with young people in a boat across the quay from us, who sang and played especially beautifully, in various languages. These are exactly the situations where Gili is at her best, she bonds easily, impresses with her singing voice, her communication skills, and her incredible charm and talent (do take into account that I am her mother, but anyone who knows her knows that this is 100% true!).

A few words now about how Udi managed to put together such a trip, maybe they can help other to do the same. To put last things first, later on we had two more such treks, which are now called “Gili treks”. This is a great touring format, which gives a different and richer perspective on the location in which we travel, beyond views and sunsets, adding the hiking experience and nice meetings with locals.

Udi’s words …

The first step is finding out an interesting travel area. Wouldn’t you know, there is an app for that. The app is named Outdoor Active, where you can see suggestions for trips based on other people’s experiences. You can zoom in on the area of your interest and check it out.

The next step is to connect routes through villages which offer lodgings. Google Maps is rather up-to-date in such matters. Then you locate a bus line which reaches the starting point, and ask the application to put together a route from the starting point to a night’s lodging. The app provides accurate information on distance, and height of ascent and descent along the route. You can download the route, so you can use it with just GPS, even with no cellular reception. You know where you are along the route, and you can “consult” the app when you reach a path crossroad and need advice which path to take. Continue planning for the next nights until the end point’ chosen by bus lines and schedules. In Gran Canaria public transportation covers the island well, and there is a bus to every tiny hamlet. The app appears set up for anywhere in the world, and we hope to continue using it in our travels. For us, sailing without local hiking is just half the fun. The last stage is making reservations for lodgings. That is not always easy at the last moment’ some places have few openings left. This may impose constraints on the chosen routes. We use well-known applications such as Booking, AirBnB, and Agoda, but we have also had an experience where a lone lodging appeared only on Google, so don’t give up!

 

We have had three “Gili Treks” in Gran Canaria. I shall list them with maps, pictures and anecdotes. In between we had city days, three days in a bay between Las Palmas and Puerto Mogan. 

Our walking tracks

Apparently we covered a good part of the Island

 

Three day trek with Gili 

 The first day start with a serious climb to one of the island’s most-toured sites, Roque Nublo. This is one of the most beautiful viewpoints on the islands, with giant red rock columns which rise to a height of 80 meters. The entire island is volcanic, and has not has time to experience much erosion, so the landscape is very dramatic and cliff-like. The mountains are colorful, depending on their mineral content, rocky with a variety of shapes following lave vents and cooling. In short, very impressive! The surroundings are green and flowering. Over the following two nights we had many ascents and descents, saw much flowering, and a local mix of cacti’ ferns’ fruit trees, palms, and Canary pines …we suffered a strong wind that sometimes challenged us. there were big changes between day and nice.

       Atacan- Roque Nublo - La Culata - Artenara - Junacocillo

Cave houses

Each has it’s own small field for growing fruit trees and vegetables.

One of them is dedicated to grandma:

“La casa de la abuela”

A typical Canarian church 
A week with plenty of Gili time flowed by, fun and intimate, of a sort that are rare with your children, especially the more they grow. After an astounding trip, we needed a good rest on Ester, being spoiled with good food and outings together to Las Palmas. This week filled us all with good vibes. Thank you to Gili, for showing true spontaneity and for her precious time which she chose to share with us. Our gain!

Gili went on her way, and the boat felt emptied of her spirit, singing evenings with her friends from the neighboring boat, and guitar singing with her father and mother. We are sad to have her leave, and thankful for the time we had. One week later Gili directed a show as part of her studies, a mid-year mid-project show. We missed the live show (this is hard to get used to). We had a preview on a video she took during rehearsals. All who saw were impressed by her unfathomable creativity. She is always interesting, different, dealing with interesting life issues and fascinating. She blends the variety of talents she was blessed with. The show will be performed again at the year’s end, when it is fully formed. The support she receives from friends and colleagues encourage her to continue on the complicated course he has chosen, to fulfil her artistic desires without giving up her special spirit. As her very proud parents we are happy that she is fulfilling herself and reaping rewards. If only there was slightly more support of artists, so they could create and live, even if modestly. What Europe knows, our small “startup struck” nation has not yet learned. With all due respect, I believe there is a place for art and spirit in order to have a healthy society.

 

Our next “Gili trek” also lasted three days, with ascents and descents and two very special night stays. One – a room in a cave in one of the canyons next to a giant restaurant built of spaces jutting into the mountains. The food was not bad considering Canarian cuisine. People come from afar for the special experience of this restaurant. Regarding the second night I won’t tell … you have to see the pictures to believe …

A few words on the Canarian vegetation…

The vegetation is very varied and around 40% are endemic species, which means plants that are specific to the islands. Some of the area is covered by the Canarian Pines, which later spread to other places around the world, and there are also ancient forests of Bay laurel. Since the islands are insulated and many old and special plant species have been conserved, some call the Canarian islands “the botanic Galapagos” and say that if Darwin would have stopped here on the way to Galapagos (he wasn’t allowed to because of Cholera on his ship) maybe he would develop his theory on the Origin of The Species here. 

The Lichen that  cover the trees means that the air is clean

Two hours later clouds covered the view but gave a special atmosphere. The high humidity of the clouds made the pine needles collect drops of water which later drip on the ground. This process is important for the local vegetation because real rain is scarce. 

Vegetable gardens for each household. They have learned before Covid about the importance of independent food supply and organic farming.

Our first night’s stay:

a small apartment in a cave. The view is of the mountain we’ll climb the next morning.

Inside the restaurant within the cave. Above Udi’s head is a map of the cave (in blue) with the table numbers. Very special but also claustrophobic and detached from the amazing view outside.





The second night’s stay, outside the village of St. Lucia. Looks innocent from the outside, but within adult content. Don’t worry - Ayelet had a headache…

 After two in-depth hikes, and quite some city time, we went on another shopping round to improve comfort on Ester (decorative hangers, a vacuum cleaner, and gewgaws for the kitchen), and we spent two days of boat work – I dismantled my toilet completely in order to reseal it. Not everything was pleasant in this, but it was very educational. We also fulfilled another touristic duty and visited the Columbus museum. I’d say that is not an absolute must-see. The building is nice, there is a nice exhibition accompanied by reasonable audio guidance and two gorgeous free-roaming parakeets in an inner courtyard. They made a big deal of an “esoteric” visit by Columbus in town, as part of his world-discovery travels. He probably slept in this building, so there’s a reason to make it a museum …

We are excited to embark on a day’s sailing which as you may have realized is not very frequent in this part of the world. We try to use the sailing periods to learn more about the different sails we have on Ester, and accumulate ocean-going experience. This time we decided to try one of the happier sails on board. It is an enormous sail of thin material that serves in very specific conditions of light winds from the stern. They say it is very useful when crossing an ocean, when stern winds sometimes fade away and you may be almost completely immobile, unless you are equipped with such a sail, nicknamed balloon, or spinnaker in sailor-speak. Our sail was patented into a trick sleeve, so that when everything goes fine, you pull the sleeve up towards the sail head to spread it, and pull the sleeve down when you want to furl it. In the few times we tried it in the Mediterranean we did not do very well. The sail is fragile, and may tear. This time we opened it out and spread it on the quay beforehand to study it from the inside out, and we spent three hours playing with it until we thought we got the hang of it.The next day we had perfect wind to open the spinnaker while sailing south, with a stern wind of 12 knots. We set up the relevant rigging, connected to a line to raise to the top of the mast and … success! The sail spread! At the end of the sailing, when the wind started rising, the sail furled into its sleeve. The real test will be what happens next time we raise it. Will it stick inside its sleeve, or have we finally understood this? Until then, enjoy! We had a 12 knot wind at our back and sailed at a record pace of more than 9 knots! That is really great use of wind.

After the wonderful sail we anchored in a reasonable looking bay, if you ignore a cement factory (we note it was quiet) at the end of the quay. The bay provided relatively good protection from waves and wind – you can’t ask for more. One can jump in the water and go for a swim, meeting giant stingrays and eaglerays. Udi set out every day kayaking in the red kayak, and found us a new pair of friends. A nice Swiss couple, who came to visit the following day, and in the evening invited us for a sunset drink which turned into a good meal. In all we spent 8 hours together that day. She is a scuba aficionado who dove in many worldwide locations, so we had an important subject to discuss and share experiences. 

The Swiss couple that Udi met

The next day, after the nights of bobbing on the waves and a lower-than-average sleep experience, we decided to enter the Port Mogan marina. This is a tiny village, very touristy, but nevertheless pleasant and pretty. This is not a continuum of hotels on the beach, but a village which was prettified (a little too much in my opinion), with a small and cute marina, and the weather in comparison to the north of the island is significantly more warm and stable. There are some sailors who have made it their home port and live there for a great part of the year.

Puerto Mogan

 

Now that we are at the south-west of the island, we are closer to good hiking areas in this part of the island. After two days of rest we took up staff and pack and went out for two more days of scenery, cliffs and adventure.

 

Cruz Grande - Soria - On the Road to Mogan 

The valley and village of Soria. We stayed at a farm house and the owner supplied us with olives, eggs and wonderful avocado from his garden. The village is above a huge dam that creates a small lake. It is unclear why they bothered to build it so big

Close to the end of the trail my knee couldn’t handle the steep walk and we had to catch a ride to the end. As usual, hitchhiking presents interesting encounters. This time we were taken by a couple of spanish police officers on vacation. She is charming and has reasonably good English, he didn’t say much and can’t speak English, a stereotype of a macho policeman. They insisted on taking us all the way to the boat, and on the way we stopped in a good local restaurant which even had live music!  

 

Back to Ester, tomorrow we will have a weather window with good weather for crossing to Tenerife (at least that is what the forecast is now). Tomorrow we plan to say goodbye to this island, which we did not expect to surprise us so pleasantly. One of the problems with receiving opinions from sailors is that most experience the coastline and don’t really travel inland. Their loss!

The next post – Tenerife.