La Gomera was really nice but it was time to get closer to Gran Canaria where we have booked a berth in Puerto Rico marina for Christmas.

We left Marina San Sebastian at nine fifteen in the morning. Nice sailing at first but the wind dropped and we had to motor.

A pod of pilot whales kept us company for a while. The last miles into Las Galletas were very windy, the wind right in the nose of course. Tricky to get the mooring lines in place in the strong wind. Nice little village and we went out for a meal. The marina not so nice.

Sailed distance 26,3 nautical miles.

After 4 days of cleaning the boat from ash we felt we had enough of La Palma and it was time to move on. We left Santa Cruz de La Palma late in the afternoon as we wanted to get to Gomera at dawn.

Very little wind so we motored slowly towards Marina La Gomera at San Sebastian. We arrived at 8 a´clock and had to wait at the fuel dock until the marina office opened and the marina staff showed us our berth.

San Sebastian is a nice little town with a lot of restaurants and bars. Quite a lot of tourists around, mostly people hiking on the island. We rented a car for two days and drove around and saw picturesque villages and holiday resorts.

We went for several hikes, taking the bus to Garajonay national park and visited Alto de Garajonay, the highest peak on Gomera and other places of interest, a lot of nice views even if it was a little bit too cloudy or misty to get the really good views.

Sailed distance 61,0 nautical miles.

After 11 days in Quinta do Lordo it was time to move on. It was very difficult to get a berth or mooring anywhere in the Canaries but Marina Santa Cruz de La Palma welcomed us so together with sy Capella we left Quinta do Lordo in the morning November 18^th.

Really good sailing to start with, dead running and around 15 knots of wind. In the evening the wind shifted more towards east but still nice sailing. In the morning the wind died and the rest of the trip was a mixture of sailing, motoring and motor sailing.

When we got closer to La Palma the sky was red from the erupting volcano Cumbre Vieja. After almost two full days we arrived at Santa Cruz de La Palma.

Very few boats and we could pick and choose a suitable berth. The volcano is very active and the air polluted bye ash. We had to clean the boat at least twice a day and at one time we had to wear googles and mask when walking into town.

Together with the Capella crew we rented a car and went for a trip around the island. We stopped at Roches los Muchachos, 2426 metres above sea level and then went on to see the vulcano. Spectacular and a bit scary. The next day we took the car to do some shopping.

Sailed distance 254,9 nautical miles.

We left Viveiro at dawn. Light winds and to be sure to reach A Coruna before dusk we had to motorsail.

We arrived just after 5 pm and was given a good berth by the marina staff. We Took a walk into the town. There was a lot of activities going on.

The next day we walked out to the Hercules tower and the city centre.

Sailed distance 55,6 nautical miles.

We left Luarca at 6 am, rather tired after two nights with very little sleep. Light winds meant motoring ones again. We could sail for a short while at lunchtime and then the wind died again.

At 4 pm we arrived at Viveiro marina. We went for a walk and did some provisioning at the local supermarket. The old city centre was quite nice and the marina was ok.

Sailed distance 52,6 nautical miles.

After two days in Gijon we continued westwards.

The winds were light and we could only sail an hour or so and had to motor the rest of the way to Luarca.

There was no marina in Luarca but there was 4 buoys for visiting yachts inside the breakwater.

There was some bad weather coming so we took 2 buoys and a line to the breakwater. We inflated the dingy and went ashore.

Luarca is a very picturesque fishing village, a bit worn but nice buildings.

We went up to the lighthouse and the spectacular graveyard overlooking the bay of Biscay.

The next two nights were really rolly as the heavy seas found there way inside the breakwater at high tide.

Sailed distance 44,4 nautical miles.