Return to the Canary Islands - Sailing in Circles

“Attitude is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Optimism is a choice. Kindness is a choice. Giving is a choice. Respect is a choice. Whatever choice you make makes you. Choose wisely.”
― Roy T. Bennett

Today, I chose happiness. I may rant about the trouble we’ve had leaving the country of Spain, and their lack of efficiency in obtaining or shipping boat parts, but I still feel optimistic. I gave my husband ten years to get us around the globe by sailboat. We lost two years of that to Covid, and probably a year in total waiting for boat parts… however, the journey has still been incredible.

Sometimes I think about what we would be doing right now if we hadn’t sold our house and bought a boat. Dan would be working nine-hour days at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard; I would be miserable working in a degrading school system where politics are now a priority over the welfare of our students. We both would be slaves to paying for our home, our jobs, and our animals. As the cost of living and taxes rise, our struggles to stay afloat would increase.

Living on a boat, we certainly have our share of struggles, one of them is literally staying afloat, but we are living life on our terms. We are not slaves to stressful jobs and horrible bosses. No one tells us when we have to be somewhere or when we are allowed to leave. Other than boat parts, we have very few expenses. Other than missing our friends and family, we are living life on our terms. The feeling is fantastic.

Why Do We Wait?

We made four attempts to get to the Canary Islands. Each time we were optimistic as we set our course, the wind and seas were favorable, and everything on our boat was ship shape, yet something unexpectedly broke requiring us to begin the parts dance; locate the part, figure out where we could get the part shipped, then wait for that part. We do have tons of spare parts stowed in very large parts locker, but each part that has broken has been something new, or something we never anticipated would break.

Even when we are able to locate and ship parts to a marina, the arrival of the parts is a nebulous factor. For instance, we had our in-mast mainsail furler break on our way to Madeira. We had to divert for repairs to Lagos, Portugal. We got the system ordered and shipped but the part was too big to fit on a mail truck. It sat in a depot for a month before our repair person finally drove his personal truck to pick it up. It took two more months for the actual repairs.

In Rota, Spain, we had a part for our refrigerator that promised to ship in 24 hours. True to their word, the part shipped the day after it was ordered. Two days later, the part arrived in customs. It sat there for two weeks because of multiple random Spanish holidays and the fact the authorities decided they wanted $80 in taxes for our part which cost slightly over $100. They were holding it hostage until the bill was paid – but we had to call relentlessly to determine that information as they were not about to contact us. We had to make a dozen phone calls before we were even connected to the appropriate office.

Victory at Last – We Finally Arrived in the Canary Islands

Finally, two years later, we made it to the Canary Islands after four failed attempts. We sailed to five of her islands and enjoyed the wonderful diversity of this historical and culturally diverse paradise. While the Canaries was a much-anticipated destination, they had always been just a stopping point to continue south to Cape Verde before making the hop back across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. Once back in the Caribbean, the plan is to continue to South America, pass through the Panama Canal, and sail the Pacific.

After two weeks in the Canaries, we arrived at our final destination, the island of La Gomera (our favorite isle). We had a lovely visit when a perfect weather window popped up for us to make our trek to Cape Verde, a group of islands 800 miles south of the Canaries just off the coast of Africa. From Cape Verde, the trade winds blow in a steady direction toward the Caribbean. We have been told that one can cross the Atlantic using these reliable trade winds with ease. As the saying goes, “You can cross the Atlantic from east to west on a well-provisioned piece of driftwood”.

With excitement in our hearts, we were finally moving south, back on track to cross the Atlantic and make forward progress with our circumnavigation. While there was not much wind, we headed south motor sailing (sails up but the engine on). We were willing to motor for the first 24 hours until the wind was predicted to fill and we could sail for the duration of the six-day passage.

After 12 hours of motoring, at 2:00 AM the wind finally filled in from behind us. I to come up on deck to relieve Dan’s watch. He had just made the decision that we could begin sailing. The engine was turned off. The sweet sound of waves gently lapping against the hull and wind in the sails replaced the constant drone of the engine. We both smiled and breathed a huge sigh of relief… until our soporific sounds were replaced by the rude alarm emanating from our autopilot.

“What the hell?” Dan yelled in exasperation. “We just got this damn thing working again!”

He quickly reset the autopilot and got us back on course with the hope the alarm was a hiccough, as sometimes happens. However, mere seconds passed before the system beeped its ‘no rudder response’ warning again. Our joy quickly turned to despair. For the next few hours, the alarm repeated every few minutes and we had to take turns standing next to the wheel to reset our autopilot. It was exhausting.

Last summer we returned to the US for the birth of grandbaby number four. We returned in October with a new pump for our autopilot. We had few options for ordering one while in Spain before we left and God only knew what shipping nightmares we would be up against. So, we brought one back with us and Dan replaced the old pump. The new one worked like a charm.

Our new pump was tested to the max on our passage to the Canary Islands as we encountered huge waves, confused seas, and heavy wind. It didn’t falter once during our passage to the Canaries and in the rough conditions we experienced sailing between the islands. It had passed with flying colors and we never gave it a second thought. Now, with calm conditions and a light breeze, it had quit working. It was an enigma but we had to face reality.

Tough Decision – AKA Back to the Canary Islands

We knew two things: there would be few parts and even fewer repair options in Cape Verde, and neither one of us wanted to hand steer our boat for three weeks across the Atlantic. With heavy hearts, we decided we should return to a major port in the Canaries and get our problem resolved. In the darkness, we turned the boat 180 degrees and set a course for Gran Canaria.

By now, the wind had filled in nicely behind us. This meant, when we turned around to head back to the Canaries, we would be beating into the wind. Our return trip would take us several more hours than our trip down had taken as we now had to fight against the wind and tide. We would be using another third of our fuel, money down the drain. Dawn broke forth and dispelled the darkness, but did nothing for our growing feeling of unease.

Twenty hours later, we pulled into an anchorage on the south end of Gran Canaria at 1:00 AM. Exhausted, we anchored in the dark and fell asleep, thankful at the very least we were safe in a harbor. The strange part? The autopilot resumed working without a hitch the moment the sun rose and continued working all the way back to the Canary Islands.

Hurry Up and Wait

Las Palmas is a huge harbor with commercial and pleasure boats. Ships loaded with containers, ferries, cruise ships, and hundreds of sailing vessels call this port home. During the month of November, hundreds of sailboats flock here for the beginning of the passage season to cross the Atlantic to the Caribbean. To accommodate the various boats, there are many marine stores with parts and services.

It was a good choice for us to motor up to Las Palmas to repair our autopilot. There were two other boat parts we had put off ordering, for obvious reasons, so we decided that while we were here, let’s get all three. We arrived just in time for Three Kings Day and anchored in the harbor. Everything in Spain was shut down for the weekend.

Three Kings Day is bigger than Christmas in Spain. No gifts are exchanged on Christmas, it’s a day for religious services and family gatherings. Three Kings Day, however, is when the partying starts. There are parades, fireworks, and loud raucous gatherings, and not a single store was open for the long weekend as the holiday fell on Friday. It was our luck that we would spend three days without being able to begin exploring our repair options.

On Monday morning, we went to shore and made inquiries. We scheduled a technician to inspect our autopilot the following Friday and also secured a spot in the marina. None of the repair people would be willing to look at our boat out at anchor so we had to pay to get a slip. Thankfully, winter rates applied and the slips were the cheapest anywhere we had stayed in Europe. We also ordered engine mounts and a new pump for our water maker. We were told these two parts would arrive in 7 to 10 days. Life was good again. Temporarily.

We took some day trips, followed up regularly on the parts being ordered, and got our autopilot pump repaired by the following week. The tech confirmed the pump has some debris in the motor. This had caused the temporary shutdown. The debris was cleared and he deemed the entire system in good order. He even repaired our original pump that broke. Now we have a spare.

Had we known what we know now, we would have never ordered the other two parts. However, we did and now those parts are somewhere in the netherworld, the black shipping hole where parts go in Spain to disappear for a few weeks. Our engine mounts were shipped on January 11^th. It is now the 24^th and the company has no idea where they are.

Our water maker pump is also in limbo. We can’t get a status update. We were assured the pump would arrive quickly as the marine store was ordering it from the Spectra warehouse. They ship parts often and use their own dedicated delivery service… and yet, the part still has not been delivered in the promised time frame.

Today I Choose Happiness

We could be full of chagrin, but despite the delays, we wake up each day with a smile. As you have heard time and time again, as long as we are still alive, still in love, and still afloat, life is good. We have so much to feel happy about. This is a beautiful harbor with lots of interesting features. We have met new friends here and actually have people to talk to and socialize with. We are able to take the bus to other parts of the island to explore. Hopefully, soon, our parts will arrive and we will cast off the dock lines once again and attempt to make the passage to Cape Verde.

Most of all, I’m happy for my wonderful friends and family. Your support is greatly appreciated. We love sharing our journey, the good parts, and the trials and tribulations. They are all part of the story. The difficult times make the good times that much more special. We are masters of our domain, our own bosses, and answer only to the wind, waves, and broken boat parts.

Oh, and we do answer to one other entity. God of course, but that’s not what I’m referring to. Babies. We promised our kids that if they had a baby during our trip, we would put our boat in a marina and fly home to help. It’s the least we could do after abandoning them for ten years to sail around the world. Since we left, they have called us home twice for three babies. Lo and behold, we got the news that grandbaby number five is on the way.

This will be yet another delay come next winter, but the good kind. Our family grows, as does the love in our hearts for our new arrivals. Today, I choose happiness for all we have to be thankful for, even for the delays because they don’t all mean something is broken. We firmly believe we are exactly where we are when we are meant to be there. When you adopt that attitude, delays are not an issue, they are just stepping stones to get where we were meant to be.