Reaching our current location on La Palma, last week, was already something as we call it in Germany like a forceps birth, means under extremely difficult conditions and this week again, some serious decisions are pending. But one after the other. We have decided to stay here in Santa Cruz on La Palma.
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| Santa Cruz La Palma, Canary Islands |
On the one hand the connection to the airport is optimal and on the other hand the ship movements due to incoming swell are by far not as you can read in the comments of relevant navigation apps. The ferry service is also present, the humming of the generators is quite noticeable, but we don't find that very disturbing. The proximity to the city (5min. walking distance to the center) and the connection to public transport are perfect here. Unfortunately, if you are dependent on external help, you will not find a yacht dealer or a shipyard to carry out repairs on the boat. Also a sailing community is almost non-existent here. Except for the latter, we find it quite comfortable here, especially because of the low frequency of visitors, the showers are very clean and always provide warm water. So we stay here for the time being.
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| Marina La Palma, Canary Islands |
The next decision to fly home for Christmas to visit family and friends is much more difficult due to the Corona situation. Not that we are afraid to get infected, after all we have been sailing through the hotspots of Europe for half a year now, but more because the political situation makes a return to our boat difficult. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Kurz, who prevented us from visiting my family in Austria this year, because we would have to spend 10 days in quarantine and another 10 days on our return trip to Germany. This saves me at least the insanely expensive gifts, which would have burdened our budget in excess. I don't regret to thank Mr. Kurz personally, but I assure him, if he gives me his donation account, to transfer at least a part of our savings. But even in Germany, the measures taken are not really getting us anywhere. The number of cases does not really change, but they still stick to these measures. I would describe this stubbornness as political stubbornness in old age if there were not enough young people behind the measures of the federal government. Or maybe it is just helplessness and they are just waiting for the vaccine and hoping that everything will disappear. Anyway, for us there are very big question marks about returning to our boat. Last but not least there is Spain which requires a PCR test not older than 72h before entering the country. The test result must be in Spanish or English language and must include the passport number. If one assumes that the evaluation needs between one and two days, the flight alone 4 hours with arrival 6 hours, there must not be a lot of flight delay in the whole calculation. After all, there are penalties of up to 6000€ and I seriously doubt whether an airline will take care of this. In short, hopefully it all goes well.
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| The cautious one of us two in blue |
I, as the rather cautious one in such matters, would have preferred to stay in the Canary Islands, but I was democratically outvoted by one person. But until chaos breaks out, we still have some time and it itches in our fingernails to visit the marina in Tazacorte. What we already noticed in Madeira is that Google, with the accuracy of its information in Google Maps, has its difficulties on the islands. While routing, with the aforementioned service, to a supermarket in Madeira, we ended up in the middle of the forest on a garbage dump. Here on La Palma the bus schedules are not up to date. We make it without Google and sit in the right bus to Tazacorte. Once across the island. In Los Llanos we have to change buses and after about one hour we reached Puerto Tazacorte.
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| Puerto Tazacorte La Palma, Canary Islands |
A mighty wave stands in the bay and the white spray offers an amazing contrast to the black sand. Puerto Tazacorte is very touristic and seems almost extinct due to Corona. The village Tazacorte is located 2km above the mountain. The marina is indeed very crowded, but with the shipyard opposite, there is the possibility to have cranes and repairs done. Also the sailing community is much bigger here. Surely they would have found a place for us too, but just for shopping you have to go up the mountain to Tazacorte. This can be done by bus or, as we do it, on foot.
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| Tazacorte La Palma, Canary Islands |
Passing the banana plantations, the road climbs up the mountain. In Tazacorte itself the roads are also very steep and we are glad to have arrived at the bus stop to Los Llanos. On the way back we enjoy the landscape and look forward to visiting the volcanic cones. In Santa Cruz, after one week, we find our way around more and more. We found the market, strolled along the big pedestrian zone and visited the first sights. The house fronts with their wooden balconies are nice to look at and every day we discover something new.
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| Santa Cruz de La Palma, Canary Islands |
As always, you can find out which trips are coming up next week on our blog in Glenswelt. Until then, as always, fair windsl and keep a stiff upper lip.
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