Marina life in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria

Well, here we are in Las Palmas....our last stop before leaving Europe and setting sail across the Atlantic.  The marina is full of boats who are part of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC).  Most of the "family boats" are on the same pontoon together so we have had an instant group of international friends to meet and play with. Our neighbours on either side are from Sweden and Norway. Just down the dock are families from Mexico, the UK, Denmark, Portugal, USA, Germany, Belgium and even from Alberta 😀There will be a large number of boats leaving tomorrow, November 6, as they are part of the ARC+. This group will stop off in the Cape Verde Islands on their way to the Caribbean. Our group, the regular ARC, will be departing November 20 and will sail non stop from here to St. Lucia in the Caribbean. When the ARC+ sailors leave their slips tomorrow the empty spaces will be refilled over the next week with more new friends who will be on the same crossing as us. 

Our last 20 hour passage before arriving in Las Palmas was textbook happy sailing. 

Here is a photo of us taken by another boat when we had both our head sails up:

At dusk, we took our spinnaker down and continued through the night with our poled out genoa sail.

Aria and Micah were quite keen to get to Las Palmas for Halloween. While Stu and Lana were napping and recovering from night watches they got busy and created their own Halloween costumes. There were no pumpkins to carve but some boats were decorated and we put up a sign to welcome trick or treaters.  And yes, there was candy!!!

There is always work to be done on a sailboat, especially when you are preparing for a large crossing. Everyone around us is in the same state of repairing, replacing, provisioning, cleaning and maintaining. It is a great space to be in as everyone is focused on the same goals. 

 

Aria and Stu are servicing one of our winches here:

We have been exploring a little bit but mostly just to marine supply stores, groceries and a couple of meals out. The girls stuck to the familiar burgers and pizza while Stu and Lana enjoyed a tapas plate of local fare. It was delicious! We love to try anything new we find in the fresh fruit and veggie markets too.

                                                Dragon fruit and persimmons!

The scooters and rollerblades are in constant use. There are lots of paths for moving around the city safely.

We were even able to get our covid boosters at the Vaccuguagua!

The marina here has rooftop pool at the clubhouse. Our days have easily slipped into a pattern of boat/school work in the mornings and then the afternoons are spent with friends at the pool.

We are looking forward to exploring more of Gran Canaria in the next 2 weeks before we untie our lines and set our sails for the Caribbean. Check back in a week or so to find out what we get up to.