Fuerteventura Sand Dunes
We have recently arrived in Rota, on the south coast of Spain, about 10 miles from Cadiz. The sun is shining here, and temperatures still well into the 20’s. What a difference 800 miles makes, which is how far we are south of Plymouth. In 4 weeks time we will continue another 500 miles south to Lanzarote, where again the temperature will stay in the 20’s!
We had a great trip here. The wind was kind to us, allowing us to sail down wind for most of the passage – but the sea was a bit rolly at times. We visited Bayona, Cascais, Lagos, Vilamoura and Puerto Sherry in Cadiz bay before ending up here in Rota. The only disappointing thing about the trip was that where we had 5 people last year for the passage this year we only had 2. In general the feedback has been that at the moment people are looking for cheap ways to get away, and 10 days makes it too long away from work, and too expensive because of the extra days.
This has caused Richard and I to have a serious rethink about our winter sailing schedule. Christmas, New Year, and the first relaxed sailing holiday in January are all filling up nicely, at £595 for 7 days. It seems this might be the right price and time for the market at the moment. So we have taken the plunge and rewritten our programme. Instead of having 10 night multi island dashes in February and March, we are going to stay in Lanzarote and run some more 7 night sailing holidays for £595 per person.
Why Lanzarote? We feel at home here! We like it in Marina Rubicon, where the friendly marina staff always make us feel very welcome, and everything we need is on our doorstep.
Lanzarote is very different to the other islands in the Canary Island chain mainly due to the influence of Cezar Manrique. As artistic advisor to the government he ensured there was strict control in the planning and building of tourist developments and tourist attractions. Everywhere is a theme of simplicity, with whitewashed buildings and colourful fishermens huts. With no building allowed to be more than four stories, there is none of the ‘concrete jungle’ appearance of Playa de Las Americas.
As with the other Canary Islands, Lanzarote is Volcanic in origin. Due to the recent eruptions during the 18th and 19th Centuries, many parts of Lanzarote appear to be from another world, often described as ‘lunar’ or ‘Martian’, so much so that parts of ‘Planet of the Apes’ were shot here. The dry climate (and lack of erosion) means that the Volcanic Landscape appears much as it did just after the eruptions.
Despite the Volcanic nature of the island, Lanzarote has several beautiful white sandy beaches.
Lanzarote is ideally suited for our relaxed week sailing holidays. There are two modern marinas, and plenty of bays with golden beaches to anchor off. Our local favourite is Papagoyo, and we have spent many a night watching the sun go down from here. In addition, there is the beautiful island of La Graciosa situated just off the north coast. A place many people do not get to visit as it is only accessible by boat. On our relaxed sailing holidays we sail for 5 days and aim to spend the 6th day ashore in La Graciosa – weather permitting. We expect to sail 120 – 150nm on these weeks
Close to Lanzarote is the island of Fuerteventura. On our more adventurous canary island sailing holidays, we plan to circumnavigate Fuerteventura as well as visiting Lanzarote anchorages. Fuerteventura is famous for its miles and miles of sand dunes, and we will have the opportunity to see them as we sail past. The main difference from our relaxed sailing holidays, will be longer sails during the day, and even some night sailing. We expect to sail 200 – 250nm on these weeks.
All levels of sailing experience are welcome on either type of trip, we are also happy to take families if you book the whole boat!
Here is the new look programme
20th December – 27th December – Christmas week – £595 per person, only 2 places left
29th December– 5 January 2011 – New Year week – £595 per person, only 4 places left
30th January – 6 February 2011 – Relaxed sailing week 1 – Sail around Lanzarote – £595 per person, only 2 places left
10th February – 17th February 2011 – Relaxed sailing week 2 – Sail around Lanzarote – £595 per person
20th February – 27th February 2011 – Adventurous sailing week 1 – Sail around Fuerteventura and visit Lanzarote – £595 per person
3rd March – 10th March 2011 – Relaxed sailing week 3 – Sail around Lanzarote – £595 per person
13th March – 20th March 2011 – Adventurous sailing week 2 – Sail around Fuerteventura and visit Lanzarote – £595 per person
23rd March – 30th March 2011 – For an even more adventurous week, why not try our Blue Water Adventure now from Lanzarote to Madeira – £595 per person
The Programme then reverts to how it was before with Madeira to Azores and Azores to Plymouth ocean passages.
Full details and sample itineraries can be found from the Schedule page of our website
Only 4 hours away by plane, and 1500 miles further south, The Canary Islands are an ideal place to go sailing and soak up some winter sunshine. It is daylight here for 11 hours. Sunset is around 1800 ish, a perfect time for a sundowner on deck!
Apart from Christmas and New Year, where the dates of the holidays affect our change over days, all our other change over days are Thursdays and Sundays. These days are the same as the tour operator turn around days, to give you more choice of flights. Come with Thompsons or Thomas Cook, and you can usually book yourself a seat on the transfer coach to Playa Blanca and be dropped off right at the marina!
www.skyscanner.net will give you lots of options for flights.
Feedback about this change in schedule would be welcome, and we hope it will help more of you to join us!
