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White Satin - arrives in Las Palmas



Dear All

Tuesday 1st November

A very hectic 48 hours began with an emotional departure from home, with
three different neighbours standing at their windows/front doors to wave us
off early on Sunday morning - thank you Pete, Lynne and Jennifer - that was
very special. With the flight behind us, Vicki started to relax (she has
been known to inform the stewardess that the airplane she was about to get
onto had a crack in the tail - to which the stewardess most tolerantly
responded "Madam, that is the rudder." ) The boat, having been left under
the watchful eye of a British couple who are permanent live-aboards in
Lanzarote, was exactly as we had left her (apart from a small problem in the
Heads which will be fixed imminently). Puerto Calero came highly
recommended as a safe place to leave a boat unattended for a long spell and
we would most certainly endorse that.

We had booked a 'lift-out' on Monday morning, thinking it would be better to
get that done in Puerto Calero, rather than forming a queue with all the
other boats in Las Palmas and this proved to be an excellent decision. The
hull was hosed down - this could give us an extra half-knot of speed which
over the entire crossing will not be insignificant. We also had a thorough
check of the rudder and propeller and cast an eagle eye over the keel to
make sure that is undamaged; Skipper David really has tried to think of
everything.

We set off just after 3 pm yesterday afternoon for a glorious overnight sail
from Lanzarote to Gran Canaria; a wonderful reminder of why we do this. The
sea state was slight (ie not dead calm but no white horses) and as soon as
we rounded the bottom of Lanzarote the wind picked up and we set our course
on a very comfortable 'beam to broad' reach; one straight line all the way
here. Vicki has always had the ability to sleep anywhere, anytime - whilst
annoying sometimes, it is particularly useful when there are just the two of
us so she went to bed at 7 pm. We swapped over at midnight giving David the
opportunity for a 5 hour sleep, sadly not one he took full advantage off -
possibly worrying about Vicki being left in charge too much to relax! It
was a warm night with lots of stars and fun witch-on-broomsticks-spotting in
the sky as it was Hallowe'en. The wind finally died at 04:00 leaving us to
finish off the 18 hour/103 mile passage under engine but it was a very
stress-free journey. We are now surrounded by other ARC and ARC+ (who
depart this Sunday to go via Cape Verde) boats, so we are introducing
ourselves to the neighbours and gradually acclimatising ourselves to our new
surroundings. Exciting times.

Lots of love
Vicki


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