Happy Christmas!

We’re spending Christmas in Gran Tarajal in the south of Fuerteventura, after hopping down via Lanzarote.  It’s a small beach town with a local feel to it – not an Irish pub or Daily Mail reader in sight! It’s a shame that the Canaries have acquired their budget package-holiday image, as that hasn’t been our experience at all so far. It’s easy enough to avoid the tourist enclaves, and the landscape is impressive.
 

Gran Tarajal beach front

The friendly town, only a few minutes’ walk from the harbour, has a chandler's (hoorah!), decent supermarkets and bakeries, a good beach and swimming, and lots of fantastically imaginative murals livening up the white-washed buildings (I shall try to put some photos of these up soon).  We saw an impressive nativity play a couple of nights ago, made more realistic for being staged among the palm trees, although the donkey was uncooperative..

Selkie's crew: Ellen (4) and Cian (8)

A few drinks on Lochmarin last night

The marina here is basic (cold showers, no internet) but that suits us as it’s only 6 euros a night.  We're lucky to have a great group of people to spend Christmas with: among others here are Trish, Justin and the kids on Selkie (from County Cork), April and Cain on Spirit of Argo (adorned with strings of lights right to the masthead!), and new friends Phil and Sara on Lochmarin, a rather substantial aluminium ketch. 

Since some more windy, cool and fairly wet weather on Graciosa – where, until shortly before our arrival, it apparently hadn’t rained for 18 months! - it’s become far more settled.  We’re now almost starting to take cloudless blue skies and temperatures in the mid-twenties for granted…

Phil taking Ellen and Cian for a sail on Lochmarin's fantastic sailing inflatable (for anyone interested, it's a 20 year-old Metzeler.)

We’ve enjoyed spending time with the other guys, and sailing around the harbour in Lochmarin’s brilliant inflatable sailing dinghy (I want one!).  We’ve also found time to get some boat jobs done: Natalie’s done a great job replacing stitching on our ailing sprayhood, I’ve serviced the engine and replaced some perished cooling water hose, replaced one of our two batteries, modified the previously dim compass light with a new LED bulb and finally fitted our new boat stereo  – great to have proper sound finally! 

Limbo's home for Christmas

On Christmas day there are plans for a pot-luck buffet on the pontoon, and we’re cooking a proper roast on Christmas Eve.      

We’d like to wish all our readers a fantastic Christmas, and resolve to try and keep the blog a bit more up-to-date in the New Year!

Gran Tarajal sunset