Swell in the south of La Gomera
Arriving in La Gomera, we anchored in a bay on the south-east side of the island to be sheltered from the swell which is dominant from the north-west. Well…, sheltered… In fact, we were rocked the two nights we stayed there, the first one strongly enough that our night was rather… bumpy: imagine that you are lying on your side and that, because of a wave, you find yourself on your back… that is what happens at an anchorage with a side swell! When the wind comes from the same direction as the waves, no problem, but when the wind changes direction during the night and the boat offers the side to the wave, there is quickly +20°/-20° of listing…
The next day we put the dinghy in the water and went to the small village of Santiago, which turned out to be a very charming place, as we like it. The harbour was not organised for yachting and the mooring next to it would have been even less comfortable than ours. As we were about to leave the village, we saw a fishing boat unloading a 290 kg tuna – so impressive! In a way it was sad, because it was such a beautiful creature…
The green Gomera
If you want to learn more about laurysilva, check out La Gomera! It was already very beautiful in Tenerife, but the “La Gomera Garajonay National Park” tops it. You need good shoes and motivation to go on hikes that go up and down all the time, but all the trails are well signposted and start from several car parks in the national park. We took the opportunity to combine our hike with a full tour of the island on curvy roads.
roadtrip up the hills, Teneriffe’s Teide in the background 
hiking trails start from all parking places 
needle volcano on La Gomera 
view over to Teneriffe 
where palm trees meet pine trees 
walking paths through the laurel forest 
pretty flowers everywhere 
pretty flowers everywhere 
mossy trees on the north side 
… with monkeys at times 
laurisylva forest on La Gomera 
green valleys on La Gomera 
Hermigua’s steep coast, terraced agriculture 
Hermigua, north-east coast of La Gomera
Last stop before the crossing?
Initially, La Gomera was supposed to be our last stop before the crossing to Cape Verde or Senegal. But everything changed… (read more in our previous article).
In the original plan, we had come here to explore the island, but we also needed to stock up on food and fresh products for a week or so of sailing. In addition, we needed to pick up several packages containing technical parts that we had sent to the shipyard in San Sebastian. If you need things that you can’t easily buy on the Canaries, you have to have them shipped. So you have to plan in advance when you will be where… Not always easy! The winds and therefore the plans often change according to the context…
We had planned ahead, but in the end a package from Germany (SVB, nautical equipment) only arrived after we had left back to Teneriffe, from where Jean-Luc had booked a flight to Switzerland. As we decided to stay in the Canaries a little longer, there is no big problem: we will come back to La Gomera to get our parts and a storm jib that we had fitted to our 2nd furler by a nice Swiss sailor living on La Gomera. If you need his contact data, pls don’t hesitate to send us a message.
She’s happy to be clean!
We also wanted to check Illika’s hull and especially her rudder, the back of which had slightly touched a rock in a Sardinian harbour. So we had her lifted at the shipyard, which the Practicos team did with great care and professionalism. Nothing to worry about! But we thought it best to wash her while she was out.
small beach at San Sebastian 
San Sebastian marina 
church in San Sebastian 
the olympic flame past through here at one point 
bonite ceviche 
traditional Gofio, here as breakfast 
preparing to lift out the boat in San Sebastian shipyard 
impressive every time again 
her hull needed to be checked 
Harbour of San Sebastian with a cruise ship docked – lots more people on those days
A sporty sail to Tenerife
After a week in La Gomera we set off for the Amarilla marina south of Teneriffe, about 4 hours sailing in normal conditions. There was supposed to be a little wind at the beginning, then an area of no wind where Teide protects the southwest of Teneriffe and then a little wind after the southern tip for a few miles. After the southern tip, over a distance of 500m we went from almost nothing to 7 bft (up to 33 knots!) with waves that rinsed us a lot… We struggled in these near stormy conditions, with minimal sail and engine and tacked upwind towards the harbour with a speed varying between 2 and 4 knots due to strong waves and a contrary current, … NOT FUN – and NO, we didn’t think of and didn’t have time to take any pictures! We were happy to arrive after 7 hours, finally! And in time for Jean-Luc to catch his flight to Switzerland the next morning.
In the follwing days, other than school and waiting for my nephew Neil to arrive for his holiday, we visited the surroundings of the harbour and went to see and enjoy the beaches in the big tourist areas of Los Cristianos and Playa de las Americas.
How many planes does it take to fill all these hotels?
Lovely island, La Gomera
Glad I didn’t know about the stormy conditions!