sailing in Canaries

[douglas_family]

We are considering traveling down to the canaries to spend the winter before returning to the med in the spring has anyone experience of cruising the canaries rather than just using it as a staging post for Atlantic crossings?

 

[starfire]

heading out there to do just that in a few weeks !

Good sailing, some nice spots, Try La Gomera but don't tell too many people !

Also, Puerto Mogan in Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

 

[webcraft]

We have just done exactly that - arrived in Tenerife in November and left Graciosa in May for Madeira.

We were lucky in as much as the Canaries have just had an exceptionally good Winter, but we thoroughly enjoyed it.

You will be in marinas nearly all the time as any anchorages are too rolly in the Winter swells, but the marinas are good and cheap.

Sailing between islands can be lumpy and you will often find yourself in 25-30 knots in the wind acceleration zones,but with moderate seas.

Read more about our cruise on our website HERE or check out marinas in the canaries HERE

- Nick

 

[douglas_family]

Thanks Starfire although we hope it wont be to quite as we have young kids and meeting people is high on our itinery.

Great site Nick, i've just had a quick look but we'll explore it in detail over comming days.

We move on board perminatly at the beginning of September and would rather not winter strait off (boat in Med Spain) so we're attracted to canaries but we're novices so not sure if trip down will be to demanding for us so early into our cruising life!

Was there much of a cruising community down there?

 

[AndrewB]

Several of the islands make for great cruising (though the northern coasts are untenable) and its a relatively easy passage to sail there in autumn.

The reason they are not more popular for cruising from Europe is that the prevailing NE wind and current are steady, so with the strong winds and rough seas between the islands that Webcraft mentions, it is of the nature of a one way trip. You do get the occasional SW wind. But its all but impossible to sail direct back to Europe. Best is to return via the Azores which makes for a long and quite tough trip.

 

[starfire]

Tends to get very busy around the ARC, there is a steady stream of boats in & out, with quite a few who decide they like it there & go no further for a year or two!.
Nice people away from the tourist traps. If you want to do things for the kids, hit Tenerife for a day or so & then return somewhere quiet. Most island hops can be from 4 hours to a day.

As I said, good sailing, 25+ winds if you want them, BUT, shirt sleeves stuff ! Will be there end July with family & again on my own early Dec.

 

[mikewade]

SwMBO and I moor our boat, a VDS 34 in Las Palmas. Cooler than the south of the island and in the Marina about 60% of the cost. The wind, as stated earlier is invariably northerly and sea state can be quite lumpy. There are significant wind acceleration zones both sides of the island which can make sailing more than a little adventurous. Journey times between the main islands are about 15 hours if sailing but good links by ferry or aircraft. Big problem with Las Palmas Marina is the ARC in November as they tend to throw out pontoon rentals to make space for the arc. You can anchor in the bay outside the marine for very little or you can try and book space with a couple of private operators inside the marina, but it does get difficult and even in the south, Porto Rico or Mogan will fill up as the ARC approaches. No doubt however the weather is great over the winter, even in the north of the island. La Palma is a beautiful island, just about the furthest out and very undeveloped but only a couple of small marinas. Email me if you need anything further /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif