Lanzarote

Reluctantly we pulled up the anchor at Playa Francesa on Monday 9 October.  Nonetheless, there was excitement at the thought of being on the move again.  With no wind in sight we had a 5-hour motor down to the Capital of Lanzarote, Arrecife.  This gave us plenty of opportunity to get stuck into BOAT SCHOOL!  Lessons started today for all of us, including Dave and I… one teacher at a time; patience ++.

Boat School!

Captain hard at work

We arrived at Marina Lanzarote in time for an amazing hot shower, then we took a walk into town to look around and find somewhere to eat.  We found a small bar serving tapas near the water.  It felt quite strange being amongst so much activity after 2 weeks relatively remote, but good to see the world getting on with things.

We spent four nights at Marina Lanzarote.  The first day was chore day.  School in the morning, work on the boat for Dave, food shopping for me after school.  I learnt a big lesson doing the shopping – do not shop alone in Spain if you need to use a trolley.  As I wandered around the supermarket, which takes time when you need to work out what everything is, I noticed how everyone (with a trolley) was shopping in pairs.  ‘How nice’ I thought that everyone was doing this mundane task in company.  It wasn’t until I reached the checkout with my abundant trolley that I realised why… its self-pack.  On your own it is impossible to unpack the trolley in time to get through the checkout and start packing the bags at the other end.  I caused quite a kafuffle, especially when the cashier tried to explain to me in Spanish that I needed to put all the fruit and veg in bags, weigh it and put a sticker on the bag BEFORE I got to the checkout.  Note to self – take the kids next time!

Wednesday we hired a car, so boat school finished early and we set off to find a volcano or two.  We drove south from Arrecife down to Yaize, then turned north to fuego country.  The landscape was harsh – lava flow as far as the eye could see.  It looked so angry and twisted.  We arrived at Timanfaya NP, paid our entry fee and joined the car queue for a short time before they ushered us (Perisher car park style) up the mountain to the car parking area.  We were then ushered onto a bus that took us around the volcanic area.  Amazing to see.

Timanfaya National Park

Timanfaya volcanic area

Volcano!  Last major eruption in 1730s

Still hot  - ranger just poured water down the hole

After a quick look at Yaiza and the south west coast, we head north again and back out to the west coast to the town of Caleta de Famara.  There was surf!!!  Well, more surf than we have seen so far in Canary Islands, so it didn’t take long for us to get changed and get into the water.  This is more our style of sightseeing.  The water was warm, the waves were just big enough to kind of catch a few and we could see Isla Graciosa in the distance.

Surfs up!

Back in the car, we drove to the northern tip of Lanzarote, to Mirador del Rio where we looked across the strait between Lanzarote and Isla Graciosa and over to the boats anchored in Playa Francesa.  By now it was getting late so we turned down the east coast to head back to Arrecife.  We stopped in the seaside town of Arriete for a meal at Bar Cafeteria El Pisquito, looking over the bay and all the fishing boats.

Crazy hairpin bends on the drive to north of Lanzarote

Mirador del Rio, with Emma (from Dutch)

Thursday was a long school day to make up for the previous day.  The kids played around the marina with new friends after school.  We were not sure when we would see them all next as our plan was to depart the next morning.

Painting with Nele in Arrefice

Friday 13^th was a hot day at the marina, not a breath of wind.  It was good to be leaving, but it was hot even as we motored down the coast to the southern tip of Lanzarote.  The ocean was glassy all the way until, with classic sailing timing, the breeze came in just as we turned the corner and motored into Papagayo, our anchorage for the next two nights.  We were not long at anchor when our neighbours from Antares visited us (Nina, Casper and Maria).  Soon Tuvalu came around the corner (with Nele and Noah) and anchored nearby and we had all the kids on board daring each other to jump off the bow until they were freezing.  Then Dutch too came around the corner (with Emma and Macsim).  The kids couldn’t believe their luck – so many kids all together AND it was the weekend.  No school!

Glass out

Saturday morning was a guilt free sleep-in.  We were still up at what has become ‘normal’ time, somewhere between 8 and 9am.  As soon as we got up we went straight for a swim.  There is something so magical about being able to dive off the back of the boat into cool, crystal clear water.  There were so many fish – I even saw a good-sized sting ray resting next to the anchor. 

After breakfast we head straight to the beach and were soon joined by Tuvalu, Dutch and Antares.  The beach was beautiful, with a huge volcanic cliff providing a wind break (of course it is windy today!) and some shade.  The kids played in the water and on the sand until about 3pm when we head back to the boat for some lunch.  The girls did not rest long before they both jumped onto the surf mat and kicked across to Antares to start rounding up the kids.  We soon had all the girls on Raftkin – lots of fun jumping off the boat, listening to music and convincing Dave to put a patch on a blow-up boat that had been left on board by the previous owners.  A new toy to play with.

Kids round up at Papagayo anchorage

Chicks on board!

Saturday afternoon fun

The boys were sailing Casper’s ‘Rabbitoh’ optimist.  When Simon asked if any of the girls would like a go, Hayley excitedly put her hand up, grabbed her life jacket and hopped into the opti.  More than a little relief to see she has really learnt to sail… and she says she has missed it! 😊😊

Optimistic!

Worth mentioning was that whilst all this was going on around us, I managed to find a quiet corner in the sunshine where I could provide moderate supervision and read my book.  Heaven!

The wind picked up overnight, and so did the swell - forecast due to Hurricane Ophelia, but earlier than expected.  The kids were playing in their new boat after breakfast and were soon picked up by a couple of the dads in dinghys and a kid train made its way to the beach.  It was a tricky exit from the water onto the beach in the big surf.  Dave dropped me off by dinghy just behind the break so I could swim to shore – I managed to get dumped on the way in. We watched the surf while the kids played on the beach and we planned our re-entry strategy.  We all worked together to get the kids into the water, the dinghies into the water, then the kids into the dinghies with no major damage.

Kid train - Simon takes the kids to the beach

At the beach near Papagayo anchorage (Playa Mujeres)

With a forecast increase in swell and wind, it was time to pull up the anchor again and head for the safe shelter of Marina Rubicón, which was just around the next point.  After dinner we all met up on Tuvalu for a drink – another fine finish to a great cruising week.

We spent the next four nights in the marina.  Monday was boat school, washing day, time to call home and do some chores before we met all the kids down at the pool.  Tuesday we had a short boat school session, then joined German School (with Tuvalu and Dutch).  German School today was to climb the mountain to the north east of the marina.  It was quite a walk across a barren landscape, and then up the mountain.  We may have been a little overambitious with the climb.  We made it to the false summit and looked back down across Papagayo and Rubicón below. 

Walking towards the bottom of the mountain

Summit (for today)

The clock was ticking and we had to get back to the marina in time for Nina’s birthday party.  Nina celebrated her 9^th birthday with a pool party.  So much fun to have so many kids all together for this.  Fun to have so many adults together to swap stories with too!

On Wednesday morning we were woken in the early hours of the morning (it was probably 6am…) by the sound of trolleys moving along the marina.  I thought a whole lot of sailors must have just just arrived from the airport and were planning to sail out early.  When I got up and looked outside I was surprised to see a market had materialised overnight, right in front of our boat! 

We had a long school day today to make up for yesterday, but we broke the day up by taking a look around the market.  Strangely it reminded me so much of Paddy’s Market days.  There was the guy peeling vegetables, the stalls selling mechanical toys that rolled over and kept walking after they hit a wall made of wooden blocks and there was even the man with the bird whistle!

We finished the day, our stay at Rubicón and a time on Lanzarote with a few drinks on Antares.  Tomorrow we will go separate ways.  Megan made a fair statement before we left on Thursday morning.  ‘It’s not fair!’ she declared, ‘what is the point of making friends if we just have to say goodbye’.  Such a hard life lesson to learn, but I am sure she knows as I do, that there is a point and that the great times she has had over the past week is all because of the friends she made.

Kids line up in the pool at Nina's party

Just hanging about with friends at Marina Rubicón