A Santa Cruz Christmas

We left Las Palmas, Gran Canaria at sunrise and the weather forecast was spot on.

No wind for 3 hours then 25 knots the rest of the way. A fantastic sail, 50 miles in less than 10 hours. We got to Santa Cruz before sunset and in time for a beer with John and Alison.

On the way I caught another Mahi mahi with a reel Russ gave me, many thanks mate. Such a delicious fish. If that's the only species of fish I ever catch I'll be happy.

Mandy was a wee bit calmer this time.

Santa Cruz is a surprisingly lively cosmopolitan town. The marina is in the heart of the madness next door to the cruise liner terminals which come and go daily somedays adding thousands to the local  population. 

We came here to provision for our crossing and pick up our crew who are due to arrive on 30th December.  And of course have Christmas here. It's quite the festive place.

So we started provisioning for our crossing and to stock up on items that are costly in the Caribbean. This was quite a task but the good news was the local supermarkets deliver. So we went twice to the giant Carrefour, did a massive shops and got them delivered to the boat. Also we did an online Mercadona shop and got it delivered. €600 got us enough food to feed 4 people for 4 weeks and a few canned goods that you can't get in the Caribbean. Then Mandy pre cooked 10 meals that we can just warm up if the weather is a bit rough. Provisioning was a lot more time consuming than we expected. Buy the food, find places to put the food and cook as many meals for 4 that we can fit in the freezer.

Burky came out for a couple of days to say hello. We visited the archeological and mummy museum as it rained all day.

Lots of disturbing looking skulls and mummies. Humans have lived on these islands forever.

In between doing jobs we had a few evenings out with John and Alison from Libby who have been sailing around the world for 20 years and are currently heading home to Oz. So we'll hopefully see them again as we are heading in the same direction.

Very festive evenings, lots of great live music, lots of people dancing, great atmosphere. Of course Mandy put the decorations up as soon as we arrived.

 

Then it was suddenly Christmas eve, our second one away from the UK. Yes, we really missed our family and friends but we had loads of fun in Santa Cruz. Out with all the young people.

Christmas lunch was amazing. Mahi Mahi, which I caught, in a creamy lemon sauce with sprouts, roast potatoes, carrots, parsnips in honey and dates wrapped in parma ham.

After Wallace and Gromit we went for a walk. I think every person in Santa Cruz was out for the Christmas night entertainment. Particularly the orchestra playing on the stage next to the marina. Just as we arrived an amazing Spanish guitarist started playing Recuerdos de la Alhambra by my favourite composer, Francisco Tarrega, to which Mandy shouted out "you can play this!" (I can't) then he played romance to which Mandy shouted out "I can play this!" (She can)

There were thousands of people out and about.

On Boxing day we went for a walk and got a great view of Santa Cruz and just how big the place is. 

Last job, climb the mast and check out the rig. 

Another great view of the port.

Got our Atlantic chart out so we can mark our position the old fashioned way in case of a coronal mass ejections. We sail below the wine bottle to catch the trade winds.

Next stop Barbados.