Bad smells and game shows (Gran Canaria)

 

Arrived safe and sound in Gran Canaria after a somewhat fraught crossing. We spent the next few days anchored safely, if not altogether comfortably, in an industrial port. It’s far from pretty (despite the nice sunset pic above suggesting otherwise) It's ringed with around 300 wind turbines, one corner is dominated by what appears to be a massive scrap metal processing plant. When the still brisk wind dips enough to be able to smell it, the air seems to be infused with what I can best describe as a combination of raw onion and poo.

The howling forecast wind is yet to pass, so here we stay for the moment. It’s too choppy to get the tender down, and as I write this, a clearly ‘over it’ Chez is sitting on the transom looking a little green.

We have the port to ourselves boat wise , but the wind has attracted a number of wind and kite surfers who buzz past us at incredible speeds - none have hit the boat yet, but the way they bear down on us does make me think they might actually be using the boat for target practice.

After yet another night of uncomfortable rolling, with neither of us getting much sleep, we upped anchor and headed off. Chez’s (sadly quite frequent) bad back has her wincing with each wave that sways us to and fro. This improves as we head SW down the island, and by coffee time we have the swell behind us, the main sail up, and it’s pretty close to being a lovely day.

The southern end of Gran Canaria (as does Fuerteventura) has impressive sand dunes rising up from the sandy beaches that lines the shore - the light sandy colour of the beaches and dunes are in stark contrast with the rest of the dark volcanic island - I’d assumed the sand was blown over from the neighbouring Sahara desert - but having Googled, now know that they were in fact formed from crushed coral reefs during the last ice age.

Our new anchorage is on the Southern tip of the island, just outside the marina at Pasito Blanco. It still has a little of the signature Canary island swell rolling us around, but it is significantly more pleasing to the eye (and nose!) than the previous stop.

Entertainment is provided from the beach where a TV show is in the process of being filmed. It appears to be a cross between ‘Its a Knockout’ and ‘Survivor’ - the contestants have to swim out to fetch net bags filled with footballs, which they then return to the beach. They then jump on a trampoline and try to land their balls in human sized big red ‘beer pong’ cups. These cups are manned by teammates who try and catch the balls - not sure I’ve got the rules exactly right, but there’s a lot of cheering every time a ball is caught. There's also a lot of stopping and starting, probably 90% of the time is spent standing around, shouting or adjusting this and that - similar to sailing in that respect!