After a three hour process with immigration and customs to clear out of Tangiers four sailboats all left within a few minutes of each other, all bound for the Canary Islands. It was nearly noon and the wind had kicked up to 20 kts at the marina entrance and 25-35 kts blowing in from the Strait of Gibraltar. Heading due north from the marina I was climbing and crashing down on the big waves the wind had created. That lasted for a couple of miles to the point where we could all turn due west and the winds from the Strait were at our sterns. At that point I started with 2 reefs in the mainsail and no genoa. That still pushed me along at 6-7 kts. After another 7 nm or so we could turn southwest and eventually out of the main easterly wind stream.
From there it was about 600 nm to the southern end of Lanzarote Island, one of the northernmost of the Canary Islands, where I had booked a berth at Rubicon Marina. I soon lost sight of the other boats as they chose their own course and angle to the wind. The passage south lasted about 5 days with variable winds on the stern, sometimes disappearing so I occasionally used the engine. There was a fair amount of north-south shipping traffic and occasionally other southbound yachts would pop up on the radar and AIS. At one point along the coast of Morocco I was intercepted by a small, fast fishing boat that just came by to wave hello. I was wary they might have other intentions.
The day and night before arrival at Lanzarote the wind picked up considerably to the point where I had to slow down so I would arrive at Rubicon in daylight. I furled the mainsail and was only using a reefed genoa. That still pushed me along at 5-6 kts. The timing worked out fine, arriving at Rubicon late morning. Even in the relatively protected marina the wind was still 15-20 kts making docking a little tricky – help from the marina’s marineros to handle the mooring lines was definitely needed.
Rubicon is a great marina with wide berths and waterways (fairways) between pontoons. I expected that. What I didn’t realize is that Rubicon marina is in the middle of large resort complex, generally known as Playa Blanca, with dozens of restaurants and bars, endless shops, luxury 5 star hotels, and of course, mobs of tourists drawn to all that. I suppose it is the beginning of the season where Europeans, the English especially, seek a sunny refuge from increasingly dreary homeland weather. Among boat owners, I met a few who brought their boats into Rubicon for the season, intending to leave them here for 6 months or more.
I rented a car for a couple of days to have a look around. The island is basically a volcanic desert with only a few places where they appear to have successfully turned the volcanic soil into something fertile. I drove passed an area with vineyards spread across a broad valley. The largest natural attraction on the island is Timanfaya National Park in the center of the Montanas del Fuego, a still active volcanic area with vast sharp-edged lava flows. At the tourist center at the top of a hill they were cooking chicken for the restaurant over an active thermal vent. Along the coast there are large salt recovery ponds that have been in operation for a long time.
In addition to the replacing the failed Iridium GO on the boat I also has some work done to repair damaged places on the luff tape of the mainsail. I now think rolling the sail on the boom stresses the points on the luff tape at the battens because that’s where the damaged occurred. There are many benefits to a boom furler for the mainsail but fairly careful rolling and reefing is necessary to get an even rollup and protect the luff tape.
Given the touring and repairs, I’ve stayed in Rubicon a few days longer than originally anticipated. I plan to make the next leg all the way to Cabedelo, Brazil, a great circle distance of about 2500 nm, maybe 20-25 days en-route. I plan to pass just west of the Cabo Verde Islands. In the event a tropical storm pops up after I leave Lanzarote it will give me a place to seek shelter at Mindelo until the storm dissipates of move on.
