TAHIRA ARC BLOG
D-Day -3 [16-Nov-23]
Location: Gran Canaria - West of Africa
Our first sail together in Gran Canaria. Our objective today was about making sure the boat was ready for our trip and that the team was working efficiently. It turned into a 5-hour round trip into the bay off Las Palmas and then back to the
marina, and was a very productive day but not without its challenges.
The most noticable thing when arriving at the boat this morning was that it looked tidy, and everything appeared to be in its place other than some of Kate's clothes - Kate being John's daughter who had been on the leg to deliver Tahira to Gran
Canaria a couple of weeks earlier. It felt like we were ready, and probably somewhat ahead of the other boats in the Marina.
Getting out into the bay was very easy in a light wind, but it soon became apparent that there was a very uncomfortable swell, and after an hour or so, Andy revisted his coffee - feeling grateful he had not had breakfast earlier on!
Even though the wind was light, it gave us an opportunity to practice our downwind sailing, and in particular the sail configuration. Essentially we will be flying two 'Yankees' - genoa sails cut high, and both flying side by side in a 'goose
wing' configuration. This works well for downwind sailing and suited Tahira, but as we needed to use two spinnaker poles - one on either side, we needed a total of 10 ropes to get it set up correctly.
We had one or two technical issues such as needing to change one spinnaker pole mounting bracket, but no real concerns. It also gave us an opporunity to familiarise ourselves with the boat such as the new chart plaotter - with Chris, John and
Peter providing great tips for the rest of us.
Andy was also delighted that his new sailing knife - bought only that morning, came in handy - helping John to undo a tight knot!
We are ready to go in 3 days!