Fuerteventura
Moonbeam
David and Lynn Wilkie
Fri 22 Oct 2010 14:59
|
28.12.440N 014.01.545W
Friday some of Team Commonwealth had been on the
RC44s again ( not us ) so drinks on 'Scott-Free' then we all went for a Pizza in
the evening followed by a sampling of liqueurs aboard 'Cosimo'.
Saturday the plan was to take it easy ( who said
'what's new? ) as we had to reserve our energy for the evening party hosted by
the Marina ( the Team had been given passes! ). Late afternoon the prize
ceremony for the RC44s with free bar then the place went quiet until 9.30pm.
There was a sit down dinner for approx. 1000 of the local regatta competitors
with a 'light show' and tribal dance then everybody ' shimmied' their way to the
bar behind the dancers and the concert and disco ran from midnight to 6 in
the morning with yet another free bar all night!
  We bowed out at 2.30 but we could hear the noise
until 6.00am at which point some of the Spanish revellers returned to their
boats! We were not up particularly early but by 10.00am the party area had been
cleared and cleaned. I think the bill for the party would have been several
times the whole budget for West Highland Week and only for about 70
yachts!
Sunday afternoon Mary came to say cheerio with a
present of a "goodie bag" of snacks for the passage and then the " Team" all
went for an enjoyable dinner aboard Steve and Chris's Contest 43 "
Scott-Free".
Up at 7am on Monday and prepared for sea, leaving
the berth at 8.30, topping up with diesel and departing Puerto Calero with Mary
waving from the Breakwater! We really enjoyed our stay at Puerto Calero which
was very friendly and competent and would have no hesitation in recommending it
to cruising yachties.
Despite the long range forecast the wind was still
variable 2/3 so a gentle motor down the east side of Fuerteventura until we
entered the harbour of Gran Tarajal.
  Here are some brand new well spaced pontoons
but on the face of it little else. However the town did 'grow' on us a bit and
we enjoyed a meal in the ' Fisherman's Restaurant' and surprisingly there
are 2 excellent supermarkets.
  We had now spent so much stocking up for the
crossing that to the surprise of the assistant we qualified for our free
shopping trolley and content of goodies.! After a couple of nights at a
princely 13 Euros a night we moved towards Morro Jable at the South end of
the island. In places the rugged dark mountain landscape had reminded us
of Jura in the winter but with even less green and a lot more
heat!
     Again we started motoring but a land breeze
gave us a good sail for a couple of hours as we passed the massive holiday
developments in the SE corner. The harbour has little to recommend it other than
being in a convenient position and being cheap ( 8 euros a night) but it was
surprisingly busy.
|