The sail from Lanzarote to Tenerife didn’t waste any of the eye wateringly expensive diesel. We sailed the whole way and made good time. We’d booked into Santa Cruz at the North West of the Island. I didn’t know what to expect of Santa Cruz, but it immediately felt at ease. All you could ever need from a cosmopolitan Spanish city, piled into one small place with oodles of feel-good factor.
The decision to base ourselves here had been based solely on the fact that they could accommodate us. We’d been getting twitchy as flights had been booked home and I didn’t want to leave Elice at anchor for a month. Though it was pricier than other locations, I’d go back at the drop of a hat, it’s just a great place to be.
Enough fun time sunshine stuff, jobs, lots of jobs. The continuing saga of the reluctant alternator for one. The lack of solar, the cracked spinnaker pole deck housing/ handrail upright, the mucky looking pickled watermaker, adapting running rigging to utilise a second sail on the furler, fettling with the wind vane! etc, etc, etc.
I struggle sometimes to curb my enthusiasm to go and explore new surroundings, when I should be doing jobs. It’s not a problem once I get started, it’s just that there’s so many more interesting things to see and do. Like writing a blog!
The good thing about Santa Cruz is that you can do both! I needed to locate the useful chandlers and I did, the best being the one furthest away with an extensive selection of alternate routes to get there. And the stainless-steel welder was miles away, which meant the folding bikes could be mobilised. The Brico (hardware Shop) was a bus ride away and right next to Ikea, for all the necessary boating soft furnishings.
We were ticking off jobs and enjoying our surroundings right up until the day we departed for the UK to catch up with family and friends. It was a busy 4 weeks but well worth it. It’s always great to see everyone made particularly special this time because I met and held my Grandson for the first time.
Enough sentimental piffle, we were back in Santa Cruz in a flash and there were still too many things to sort as the clock ticked down to departure. Oh, and another thing, just prior to leaving Tenerife, we’d watched a stage being constructed right next to the marina. Our assumption was that it was the finishing point for the Tenerife marathon and that it would be down by our return. We were wrong. The stage had become an imposing part of the Santa Cruz skyline.
A few days later, we discovered it was for the annual Christmas concert performed live on Christmas day and broadcast to millions across the Spanish speaking world. Within an hour we’d booked our tickets and heard some incredible and beautiful rehearsals over the next few weeks.
No boat job is straight forward. Ever. No boat job takes half an hour. Ever. Every boat job requires a massive re-organisation of the almost everything, inside and out before starting. And during. Then, for several hours after the job is complete.
This was the case when it came to installing 2 new 100-Watt solar panels. Cables needed to be run somewhere, though I wasn’t really sure where at this stage, which meant drilling the hull at some point. The panels needed strengthening somehow, before being mounted on the guard rail. Swearing, head shaking and threatening the inanimate panels had things sorted within 2 days and the new panels throbbed into life.
The next power issue was the engine battery charging issue, the problem that keeps on giving. I opted to rope in some local help and was directed to Mark Batista I phoned Mark and he confirmed that he could come out to us between Christmas and new year. He was busy on the run up to Christmas. I assumed this was a good sign.
Christmas was on us in no time. A beautiful warm sunny day didn’t sway us from the planned full Christmas roast dinner, complete with trimmings and, a real Christmas pudding. The only thing that could top this was an outdoor classical concert performed by the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra, complete with impressive firework display. It was the best €6 we’d spent in a long time.
Our stay in Santa Cruz had seen a regular flow of travellers seeking crewing opportunities for boats leaving for The Cape Verde Islands, The Caribbean or South America. On one occasion, we were approached by a nice, friendly Belgian fella called Simon. I couldn’t believe that I had the opportunity to tell him that we already had crew, our very own Simon, joining us within days.
As if by magic, or careful planning and a car ride, flight, taxi and boat ride, Simon arrived on a pretty miserable Tuesday, straight after Boxing Day. So, we really were going to do this? After a few years of asking “do you really want to join us for the Atlantic crossing?” he was with us and all set for the big one. Some jobs had been delayed until Si arrived, as a good way to get familiar with the boat. He was also roped in as a tin can mule for Sarah’s victualing extravaganza.
Mark Batista turned up exactly when he’d said he would, the following day. He started a process of elimination in trying to identify the cause of the alternator issue. An initial check didn’t show any faults so he opted to whisk the alternator away for test. After an hour or so I received a text stating the alternator was good and he be back shortly. As soon as he returned the alternator was put back on and a section of cable attached to it and threaded to a lamp on the instrument panel.
The engine was started and the light he’d connected illuminated. He put on a few revs and the light went out, at which stage the alternator began charging the engine starter battery. The man was a genius. We’d owned Elice for 18 months and had not been able to trace this niggling problem. I was baffled how the previous owner had gotten on, as he’d no recollection of an issue when asked!!
Lots of running around doing last minute stuff was underway only interrupted by New year celebrations. We’d kept a keen eye on the weather and identified the 3rd January 2023 as being a possible leaving date. One of the last-minute jobs was the water maker. The water maker had been pickled since we’d purchased her and having Si around seemed like the ideal time to recommission the system.
The condition of the pipework was disgusting. As luck would have it, there was a lot of left over pipe from when it was installed, so we replaced most of it before turning it on. Simon’s knowhow made the start-up process straightforward until the pressure gauge got over excited and popped its lid. A trip to the finest chandlers in Santa Cruz in search of a new gauge wasn’t wasted. They didn’t have one, but called a plumbing supplier who confirmed they had them in stock.
A shortish bus ride took us to an industrial estate where, within 5 minutes we’d found the supplier, been handed a new gauge (the exact same one), picked up some PTFE tape and paid just over €10.The new gauge was fitted, the system re-started and we were away producing water. It was a bit smelly, well to be honest it stunk but, it worked!
On the 3rd January at around 3pm we were set. The 3 of us departed Santa Cruz. We needed fuel and a pretty turbulent 3-mile trip North took us to a fuel dock. As soon as the tanks were full, we left and headed straight into the wind raising the mizzen, then unfurling the genoa. And that was that. We were off on our 3,000 nautical odyssey.
Captain Jittery Mac
Our Big Boaty Adventure 