Corona is far from giving up

We are moored in the Marina Santa Cruz de Tenerife, a marina we like because the proximity to the city and its shopping facilities, are very attractive. We came back here because there are still some things to do before we want to cross the big pond. First, there is still my thrombosis in my left leg, which has improved significantly and which, with medication, will completely subside in the next three months. On the other hand, there is some remaining work to be done on the rig, which, due to a lack of spare parts, could not be done. The spare parts are there now, but Nordest is on vacation until mid-July. 

Katinka in the Marina Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Stupidly, the events concerning the Corona pandemic, once again overturn and something drives the infection figures, here on Tenerife, upwards. The Government Council has again proclaimed level 3 (red) for the island from Saturday. Which probably means that coming from Tenerife, for other islands in the Canary Islands, again a PCR or antigen test, is necessary. In addition, the incidence value per 100,000 inhabitants, for the entire Canary Islands, rises to over 50, which brings the Canary Islands again very close to the risk area. This in turn means that Germans who want to return to Germany have to go into quarantine. Since we are expecting visitors from Germany, the situation naturally makes us pensive. We hope that Walle will come to visit us and that the Canary Islands will not be declared a risk area. That would be a pity, we are very happy when once a visitor comes. Why the numbers increase, seems unclear. Nevertheless, it would be best to leave the island before level 3 comes into effect, because Corona is not giving up yet. For this reason, we will try to get the spare parts and do the remaining work ourselves. It should also not be witchcraft to replace the end piece on the Sailing. 

Santa Cruz de Tenerife

In the meantime, we are preparing step by step for our Atlantic crossing. In reports we have learned about French Guayana and Suriname, which makes us very excited about the two countries. With the occupation of the country French Guayana, the novel Papillon, of Henri Charriére, comes again into my mind, which describes the captivity and his escape attempts from the devil island, which lies approx. 10 nautical miles from the mainland, French Guayanas. But back to our preparations. We install a net in the cockpit, below our solar panels, to store fresh fruits and vegetables. After all, this results in a 3.5m storage area, which we can certainly put to good use. And, we are getting busy activating our Iridium Go. After testing the shortwave extensively, it seems to me that it is no longer up to date as an emergency call, and therefore unsafe. For this reason, we rely on the satellite system Iridium, especially since the satellites, our currently planned cruising area, fully covered. We will not give up shortwave completely, but we must not close our eyes to the further development in the field of digital communication. The costs are enormous, at least by our standards, but necessary for safety reasons. 

There Corona stings more than such a cactus

We actually got the spare parts, now we can go on and we will leave Tenerife, even before it goes to stage 3. That will make a lot of things easier. I have plotted a course to the south of Gran Canaria. With just over 50 nautical miles, we should reach a safe anchorage in the evening. Also the wind seems to be good for tomorrow, at least it comes from northeast and the jet between Tenerife and Gran Canaria doesn't seem to be very pronounced either. But we have already often relied on the weather forecast and then it came quite differently. Anyway, we are happy to sail again and we are looking forward to nice warm weather in the south of Gran Canaria.

Katinka under sails

How we liked the trip and what we experience again, arrived on Gran Canaria, everything, we tell you in the next blog, here on www.glenswelt.com. We wish you, always fair winds and keep a stiff upper lip.