Article by Paddy Smyth, published in Irish Times 22 Mar 2008, Travel Supplement
Patrick Smyth escapes the January cold for a sailing holiday in the Canaries
28°40"N 17°46”W – Santa Cruz, La Palma.
Diving to clear propellor
It had all been too good to be true. Then our luck turned ‑ 10 metres off the pontoon, a shudder, a groan from the engine, and all movement stopped. The good yacht Preciossso – note the third s for added emphasis – was going nowhere, precious or not. A mooring rope was wrapped tightly a dozen times round our propeller and the gentle northerly was taking our bow back to rest awkwardly on to the jetty, her arse (or stern, as we nautical types call it) stuck out, evidence for all of our humiliating failed departure.
La Palma is one of the two most westerly islands of the Canaries, its greenest, its spine covered by a renowned pine forest, and dominated by a spectacular volcanic mountain whose Caldera de Taburiente, a full 27 kilometres in diameter, is the world’s largest and well worth a visit (bus trips and car hire available from Santa Cruz).
The island’s surprisingly prosperous capital, Santa Cruz, on her east coast, reflects its 500 plus years of Spanish heritage, its charming narrow cobbled streets and squares, showing off classical Canaries architecture, elaborately carved wooden balconies and doors.
Chris in her element as skipper
The port is a busy commercial terminal for goods and the many ferries which serve it from neighbouring islands, its quays lined with the containers. But the new facilities for visiting yachts and stunning sailing club (two pools, gym, restaurant, loos and showers) are likely quickly to attract the many cruisers that ply these waters. Mind you, there’s now one less mooring line and anchor, courtesy of the “P” and her crew.
There’s no choice really. After squaring a distinctly unhappy marina manager with a few euros, two of the lads strip off and plunge into the harbour’s warm water, diving down under the boat repeatedly to hack away the barnacle-encrusted line. Then, just an hour delayed, it’s sails up and a course set for La Gomera and the spectacular town of Valle Gran Rey.
Preciossso is a 12-metre Beneteau yacht based in winter in the Canaries, in the summer in the Med., chartered for the week by Charlie Kavanagh, the Yachmaster-qualified one-man-band who is the Wicklow-based South East Cruising School. His crew of six, who have each paid €720 for a berth - in some cases half a berth - is a varied bunch in age, from twenties to sixties, background, and experience: Barry, a retired business consultant who once headed the Irish Management Institute and has sailed quite a bit, Teresa, a nurse returning to sailing after some years away, Chris, a German-Wicklow mother of teenagers who works in the family business and sails regularly, two young IT professionals and nautical novices, Pat (Cork) and Marga (Catalonia), very much a couple and addicted to adventure – their last trips were Everest base camp and the top of Killimanjaro. And then one overweight fiftysomething journalist with some experience.
The idea is to escape the winter blues and explore some of the further reaches of the Canaries, largely unknown to many for whom the islands are little more than sun, sangria and beaches. And in the process to refresh or learn some sailing skills.
These are stunning sailing grounds well served by many different ports of call – though many are crowded with boats, further from the main tourist destinations it is usually possible to get a place at a harbour wall or in a marina. But mooring offshore is also an option, a short dinghy ride or even swim ashore in waters that even in January are pleasant to swim in.
Between the islands, funnelled by their steep mountains, even winds that are moderate close to the shore build dramatically in “acceleration zones” to provide exciting sailing.
Life on board is distinctly cramped, it’s a bit like going on holiday in a caravan with six people you don’t know and can all be a bit risky. Unlike a caravan, you can’t just get off. But this group’s dynamic works from the off, all happy with the give and take and Charlie’s gentle disciplinary/pedagogical regime
Christmas cake - Spanish style
The easy atmosphere is lubricated by congenial evenings ashore where the local food, and to a lesser degree, the local wine, rarely disappointed: simply cooked octopus, squid, sea bass, luscious prawns, moray eel, tuna, baked goat’s cheese, a local pesto-like sauce, mojo ….Here in Santa Cruz, on a street named after an Irish merchant called Daly, we have the most delightful meal of the trip in the wooden-beamed La Placeta
Our starting point three days earlier had been the other Santa Cruz, Tenerife’s noisy, bustling capital, on the night of the local celebration of the Epiphany with crowds on the streets, parades and fireworks. A day’s sailing south brought us past the magnificent. Ayers-Rock-like Montana Roja, incandescent in the setting sun, to brash, busy Los Cristianos, the epitome for many of the traditional Canaries holiday.
From there, after an encounter with a small school of pilot whales basking on the surface, and a turtle making its stately lengthy migration south, possible even from Kerry, it was on in Columbus’ wake to La Gomera, where in 1492 he made his final landfall before America. The town hall was once the home of his mistress Beatriz de Bobadillo. Cortez , and many another transatlantic traveller to this day, also stopped off here in the natural harbour around which the small town of San Sebastian would grow (it is easily reached by fast ferry from Los Cristianos). Perched vertiginously and a steep climb above the marina is the fine, old-fashioned Parador Hotel, worth a visit. Or, nearer the harbour, the friendly and cheaper Quatro Caminos.
The island, whose hinterland surrounding the peak of Garajonay is a national park and a popular walking area, is surrounded by forbidding volcanic cliffs often flecked with red streaks like primitive cave paintings. On its northern tip, and only visible from the sea, is a spectacular basalt formation, Los Organos, organ pipe-like symmetrical stepped rocks reminiscent of the Giant’s Causeway.
Barry keeps tabs on us all
With a good force 5 behind us and white horses breaking all around, we make a brisk eight knots down the western shore of the island on our passage back from La Palma. From a distance the small white houses of Valle Gran Rey tumble from a steeply sloped valley between the cliffs like a stream of white pebbles. Perched precariously on a shelf between rockface and sea barely a couple of hundred yards wide, this small charming town with its old fishing harbour retains a feel of the bohemian, hippy culture for which it became known a couple of decades ago. Its cheap friendly restaurants serve a sizeable resident German population, many of them, it appears, came in the 1970s and stayed.
Preciossso. With three ss.
psmyth@irish-times.ie
Canaries itinerary: 5th/12th Jan 2008
Saturday night – Santa Cruz, Tenerife
Sunday night – following 43-mile journey down east coast of island - moored off Los Cristianos.
Monday night – after crossing 21miles to island of La Gomera – berthed in marina of capital, San Sebastian.
Tuesday night – after crossing to La Palma (49 miles) – berthed on pontoon in capital Santa Cruz
Wednesday night – day of rest/training – stayed on in Santa Cruz
Thursday night – following false start, we headed back to western coast of La Gomera and berthed against harbour wall of port of Valle Gran Rey (43 miles)
Friday night – after crossing back to Tenerife, 38 miles, we moored in marina of Las Galetas.
Total journey, including day of training, roughly 230 nautical miles