We write the text for our website in English. The multiple language selection feature is an auto-translation by Google. This translation is not perfect; it sometimes uses peculiar words and even expresses things in a very different way than what we actually meant. So, if you’re reading in a language other than English, and you read something strange, switch back to the English version to read what we actually meant to write!
If you’d like a shorter/summarized version of our posts, read only the “Highlights” section below and stop before “The Captain’s Log“, which is much more detailed, more like a logbook / diary and contains information for our reference as well.
Highlights – the overview
And here we are, at a tranquil anchorage, after a deep sleep. La Graciosa. Playa Francesca. We came in after midnight on a very VERY dark night. We are anchored a bit further out and will move closer in today, now that we can see.
We are back in Spain so we have to change courtesy flags. That’s a good thing, as the Portuguese flag is a bit in tatters!
Look at that! A performance on our neighbor boat!
We re-anchor, more inside the bay. A Dutch couple (Jelle & Pat) pass by in their dinghy and they have a look at our anchor digging in the sand at a depth of 6m. We have a nice chat.
The water is crystal clear, we can see the seabed and all kinds of fish.
A Dutch guy (Anne, from the “Nomad”) comes rowing by and we have a chat. The Nomad is a sturdy ketch like Dione IV (a 15m Northern Light, Dick Zaal design) so that’s inviting for a little conversation. He says: we have to wait for all those thousands of plastic bath tubs start drifting across the ocean, than peace will return here 😅. That will be in about a month, when the ARC rally (the Atlantic Rally for Cruising yachts) departs from Gran Canaria. He says, “you know that you shouldn’t throw plastic in the ocean!” 😂. We love his dry humor!
Around noon, 2 big catamarans full of tourists arrive and anchor. They stay a couple of hours but they’re not too noisy and they don’t stay too long.
A gorgeous sunset!
We take it easy, rest and relax. We have 2 very windy days (around 25 knots) and not so sunny.
Sher has a little flu or cold, and she rests, but still doing some sewing jobs… like repairing the Portuguese flag! It’s a little short on the red side, but we think no one will notice!
Wim continues his Signal K / Node-Red dashboards. It’s getting better by the day!
October 26th: This morning, a new grandchild is born! Welcome little girl baby Noor! That’s a reason to celebrate and start planning a trip to the Netherlands!
We manage to book a berth in a marina on Lanzarote next week, even though the marinas are extremely busy in this time of year (until November 22, when the ARC leaves). So, we start booking flights, car, accommodations, making appointments, and so on.
It wouldn’t be a sailing blog if each and every post didn’t have at least some small maintenance job, right? Clean excess grease, tighten the prop shaft seal a little, and inspect the propulsion bearing. Dirty job (this picture is after cleaning 😅), difficult to reach (hanging upside down under the bed in the aft cabin), but all good!
Inspect the gear box and drive unit. All good.
A beautiful sunset today, but the air is a bit hazy from the Sahara dust.
But during the day, the breeze turns to the west and the air clears. Sher is doing a bit of sewing and taking it easy, recovering from her little cold. Wim does a dive to clean the prop. There’s only some hairy weed on it, easy to remove, scrubbing with a piece of Scotch Brite. The same goes for the bow thruster prop. The hull is still pretty clean, just some spots of very light brown algae. Saturday we’ll leave and head to the marina of Puerto Calero at the east coast of Lanzarote and it looks like there’s only a very light breeze so it’ll be motoring. A clean prop saves diesel.
We take a dinghy tour along the beach and coast. We can’t be here for almost 2 weeks and not leave the boat at all!
At the end of the afternoon we’ve been invited on the German boat “Sabir” for a sun downer drink. We know the Sabir from Porto Santo.
And we get a gorgeous sundown indeed!
When the sun rises over the mountains, we hoist anchor and head to Puerto Calero.
Bye-bye Graciosa! We’ve really enjoyed this lovely anchorage!
The Captain’s Log – the complete story
October 22.
And here we are, at a tranquil anchorage, after a deep sleep. La Graciosa. Playa Francesca.
We are back in Spain so we have to change courtesy flags.
It was about time for the Portuguese flag!
This one is going to stay there for about half a year!
Look at that! A performance on our neighbor boat!
We re-anchor, more inside the bay. A Dutch couple (Jelle & Pat) pass by in their dinghy and they have a look at our anchor digging in the sand at a depth of 6m. We have a nice chat.
The water is crystal clear, we can see the seabed and all kinds of fish.
A Dutch guy (Anne, from the “Nomad”) comes rowing by and we have a chat. The Nomad is a sturdy ketch like Dione IV (a 15m Northern Light, Dick Zaal design) so that’s inviting for a little conversation. He says: we have to wait for all those thousands of plastic bath tubs start drifting across the ocean, than peace will return here 😅. About a month. By the way, you shouldn’t throw plastic in the ocean 😂. We love his dry humor!
Around noon, 2 big catamarans full of tourists arrive and anchor. They stay a couple of hours but they’re not too noisy.
A gorgeous sunset!
October 25.
We take it easy and we relax. We have 2 very windy days (around 25 knots) and not so sunny.
Sher has a little flu or cold and she relaxes. But still doing some sewing jobs, like repairing the Portuguese flag!
Wim continues his Signal K / Node-Red dashboards. It’s getting better by the day!
October 26.
This morning, a new grandchild is born! That’s a reason to start planning a trip to the Netherlands!
We manage to book a berth in a marina next week even though the marinas are extremely busy in this time of year (until November 22, when the ARC (the Atlantic Rally for Cruising yachts) leaves). So, we start booking flights, car, accommodations, making appointments, and so on.
October 28.
Small maintenance job. Clean excess grease, tighten the prop shaft seal a little and inspect the propulsion bearing. Dirty job (picture is after cleaning 😅), difficult to reach (hanging upside down under the bed in the aft cabin) but all good!
Inspect the gear box and drive unit. All good.
Of course, all stuff in the aft cabin and all stuff from under the bed had to be moved…
A beautiful sunset today but the air is a bit hazy from the Sahara dust.
October 29.
The sunrise is a bit hazy, too.
But during the day, the breeze turns to the west and the air clears. Sher is doing a bit of sewing and taking it easy, recovering from her little cold. Wim does a dive to clean the prop. There’s only some hairy weed on it, easy to remove with a piece of Scotch Brite. The same goes for the bow thruster prop. The hull is still pretty clean, just some spots of very light brown algae. Saturday we’ll leave and head to the marina of Puerto Calero at the east coast of Lanzarote and it looks like there’s only a very light breeze so it’ll be motoring. A clean prop saves diesel.
October 30.
Dinghy tour along the coast.
At the end of the afternoon we’ve invited on the German boat “Sabir” for a sun downer drink. We know the Sabir from Porto Santo.
And we get a gorgeous sundown indeed!
October 31.
When the sun rises over the mountains, we hoist anchor and head to Puerto Calero.
Bye-bye Graciosa! We’ve really enjoyed this lovely anchorage!
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