Wednesday 28 October
The weather forecast model I am using is the National Weather Service GFS, and I receive it on the shortwave radio, and it is displayed on the computer as arrows showing wind direction and feathers giving the forecasted velocity. Since before I left the marina it has been showing 5 or 10 knots. The forecast for today was for 15 knots. Add to that the fact that I am in an acceleration zone, and I saw 30 knots in gusts today. The wind has to come across some mountains and through the high-rise resorts, and by the time it get to me it is real ragged, gusty and veering through 90 degrees. But the wind is OK. The ocean waves curve around the ends of the island and get to me sideways. So all day I have been pitching, veering and rolling. It makes me flexible, improves my balance, and strengthens my core muscles, my arms, legs, and especially my grip.
The real project is to get everything cleaned and stowed following the haul-out last week. And get the boat set up again for sailing. Tomorrow I might explor another anchorage, or stay here. If the waves settle down I may even put the dinghy in the water. I like this better than being behind a concrete wall.
Reef Early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Tuesday 27 October
Tuesday 27 October The High Point
I made it upwind to Lanzarote. In a way this is the high point of this adventure. As I said to Normandie, it is downhill all the way from here to the Caribbean. Typically prevailing wind will take us to Cape Verde and trade winds across the Atlantic. I think I had exceptionally good weather for the five day hop coming up. Except for the first day it was really smooth. The rather strong, unusual south-east wind, and I was really happy to get to Santa Cruz Marina. Then the easy crossing to Gran Canaria, and the great anchorage in the commercial harbour of Las Palmas. Then the very comfortable anchorage at the south tip of Fuerteventura. There is a hook at the south end much like the hook at Cape Lookout that protects it from the ocean waves. There is a lighthouse on the extreme tip, and a village on the crescent shaped beach. It looks typical for Spain, White cubical looking with tile roofs, but there were some odd things about this village. It is located many miles across desert dunes from anything. I mean there is nothing there for 15 or 20 miles. No buildings, no trees, no utility poles, no fences, nothing. OK, so it is a fishing village. There were no boats on the beach, no docking facilities, no quay, no mole, no nothing. And the village seems to have been built backed up to the water. I was looking at the backs of the buildings with no roadway between the buildings and the beach. But it was a good place to stop, and I slept well. Then Monday I went to the northern-most place to anchor on the east coast of Fuerteventure. It was just a nook in the rock cliffs with some protection if needed from the north-east. Ashore were some buildings. I hesitate to call them a village. It was a row of about eight buildings? booths? rooms? and they may have been joined together. There were some people, maybe 6 or 8. One man spent the evening fishing with a pole from a nice little rowboat. At night, two of the buildings had lights, but when I left at O black :30 the Tuesday morning everything was dark. Next was the crossing from Fuerteventure over to Lanzarote, and to anchor off a resort beach back in a little bay, under the protection of high cliffs to the east and west, and high resort hotel on the north.
By far the most enjoyable time was from 05:00 until about 07:30 when it is getting light. I just loved it. So much of this I want to share. Ant this little trip uf the last few days would have been a great experience to share.
Not that I am here, I hope to explore some of the anchorages for a few days. Today the wind is from the north or north-east, and I am in an acceleration zone, so that may be something to consider when I go exploring.
Reef Early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
I made it upwind to Lanzarote. In a way this is the high point of this adventure. As I said to Normandie, it is downhill all the way from here to the Caribbean. Typically prevailing wind will take us to Cape Verde and trade winds across the Atlantic. I think I had exceptionally good weather for the five day hop coming up. Except for the first day it was really smooth. The rather strong, unusual south-east wind, and I was really happy to get to Santa Cruz Marina. Then the easy crossing to Gran Canaria, and the great anchorage in the commercial harbour of Las Palmas. Then the very comfortable anchorage at the south tip of Fuerteventura. There is a hook at the south end much like the hook at Cape Lookout that protects it from the ocean waves. There is a lighthouse on the extreme tip, and a village on the crescent shaped beach. It looks typical for Spain, White cubical looking with tile roofs, but there were some odd things about this village. It is located many miles across desert dunes from anything. I mean there is nothing there for 15 or 20 miles. No buildings, no trees, no utility poles, no fences, nothing. OK, so it is a fishing village. There were no boats on the beach, no docking facilities, no quay, no mole, no nothing. And the village seems to have been built backed up to the water. I was looking at the backs of the buildings with no roadway between the buildings and the beach. But it was a good place to stop, and I slept well. Then Monday I went to the northern-most place to anchor on the east coast of Fuerteventure. It was just a nook in the rock cliffs with some protection if needed from the north-east. Ashore were some buildings. I hesitate to call them a village. It was a row of about eight buildings? booths? rooms? and they may have been joined together. There were some people, maybe 6 or 8. One man spent the evening fishing with a pole from a nice little rowboat. At night, two of the buildings had lights, but when I left at O black :30 the Tuesday morning everything was dark. Next was the crossing from Fuerteventure over to Lanzarote, and to anchor off a resort beach back in a little bay, under the protection of high cliffs to the east and west, and high resort hotel on the north.
By far the most enjoyable time was from 05:00 until about 07:30 when it is getting light. I just loved it. So much of this I want to share. Ant this little trip uf the last few days would have been a great experience to share.
Not that I am here, I hope to explore some of the anchorages for a few days. Today the wind is from the north or north-east, and I am in an acceleration zone, so that may be something to consider when I go exploring.
Reef Early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Monday 26 October
Monday 26 October
I just simply love getting underway early in the morning before the sun rises, while it is still dark. I love the sky that time of day, even before nautical twilight. To my left is the Big Dipper. To my right is Orion, with his very distinguishable three star belt, and sword. Directly behind me is the setting full moon. And ahead are two very noticeable, very bright stars. Perhaps you have seen them in the eastern sky when you ride your bicycle to work. Venus and Jupiter one finger-width apart, and Mars two fingers below them. If you watch them day-by-day, each day they change their relationships. All the other stars stay in exactly same place. But these, plus Saturn, wander around. I can only imagine the scientific quest to find out why they do, and determine their future locations.
The eastern sky is just starting to get light. I can see clouds just above the horizon. Very light wind. The ocean is calm in the lee of the island. I just love this time of day.
Reef Early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
I just simply love getting underway early in the morning before the sun rises, while it is still dark. I love the sky that time of day, even before nautical twilight. To my left is the Big Dipper. To my right is Orion, with his very distinguishable three star belt, and sword. Directly behind me is the setting full moon. And ahead are two very noticeable, very bright stars. Perhaps you have seen them in the eastern sky when you ride your bicycle to work. Venus and Jupiter one finger-width apart, and Mars two fingers below them. If you watch them day-by-day, each day they change their relationships. All the other stars stay in exactly same place. But these, plus Saturn, wander around. I can only imagine the scientific quest to find out why they do, and determine their future locations.
The eastern sky is just starting to get light. I can see clouds just above the horizon. Very light wind. The ocean is calm in the lee of the island. I just love this time of day.
Reef Early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Sunday 25 October - A Plan
Sunday 25 October - A Plan
It is about 50nm from Santa Cruz on the island of Tenerife to Las Palmas on the island of Gran Canaria. Leave at first light, have to wait until daylight to get out of the marina, average 5.0 knots, and the passage takes 10 hours. Then add two hours to go down to the harbour entrance and into the harbour. There are 12 usable hours of daylight, so I had just enough time to make a quick pass into the marina, then anchor. The marina at Las Palmas is tucked into a corner of the busy commercial port, and is the staging and gathering location for the 250 or so boats on the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC). I wanted to go in the marina just to see what the place looks like. It is the largest marina in the Canaries, which is why ARC starts there. I went in, and there they were, rows and rows of boats, gunnel to gunnel, flying the distinctive, oversize 2015 ARC banner. Curiosity satisfied I went back outside the marina and anchored in a real anchorage adjacent to the marina breakwater.
The ARC boats sail in two groups. Those sailing for Cape Verde start at 14:00 on 06 November, and those sailing straight to Saint Lucia start about two weeks later. I am sure that is to schedule their arrival in Saint Lucia at about the same time. I would love to see one of the starts. Just think about 150 or 200 amateurs trying to start an ocean crossing simultaneously. I bet it is beautiful, with lots of mix-ups.
It was interesting, and distressing to me, that there seemed to be no finger piers, that all the boats were tied up stern to, that dreadful Med-moor, where the boat is backed to the dock and the bow is held in place with an anchor. You step onto the boat at the stern. The boats are tied side by side with no finger piers between them. I would have thought that the largest marina in the Canaries would have finger piers. Distressing to me because I think I am unable to Med-moor. One reason is that Advent has a rudder protruding aft, and that is what would hit first. If Med-moor is what they do here, then I can not go into those marinas.
But on a brighter note, I just loved being anchored, in a real anchorage, with other cruising boats around me and commercial traffic rolling us around with their almost continuous wakes. The marinas all all walled in to stop the ocean swell, and the walls are too high to see over. But in the anchorage I can see, and Advent can swing with the wind, and the continuous goings-on can be enjoyed. It was raining, but I cozied up under the dodger top and enjoyed it until well after dark.
Because I was at anchor and not in a marina, this morning I could leave before daylight. It is about 60nm to the south tip of the island of Fuerteventure. Up until now I have not had a plan. I knew that I wanted to go to the windward most island of Lanzarote, and I knew that I could not go when the 20 knot north-east prevailing winds were blowing. Friday, the day I left, the wind was south-east, and it was an eye-opening experience. The prevailing wind is north-east. (Wonder how many times I have said that ?) My guide book is "The Atlantic Islands, Azores, Madeira, Canaries and Cape Verde." Very good. But all the listed anchorages are for protection from the prevailing wind, and are not OK in any other wind, just as the south-east wind and waves were going directly into the anchorage I had planned on for Friday night. My conundrum was that I couldn't go with NE wind, but any other wind made anchorages unusable, and the marinas are full or nearly full, and the only berths are that dreadful stern-to Med moor. But the forecast last night made everything OK, I hope. The winds are forecasted to be light, 10 kt or less, from the north. From Las Palmas ro the south tip of Fuerteventura, where there is an anchorage, is straight east. So I sail east to Fuerteventure, Then go up the east coast in the lee of the island, and also where there are several more places to anchor. Motor into the light north wind for the 15nm Fuerteventure/Lanzarote crossing, up the lee side of Lanzarote, and Bob's your Uncle.
I know that all this doesn't make much sense. I think I am transmitting my position on the DeLorme inReach satellite communicator. It should be posted on adventtwo.blogspot.com That should show a map with my track, and you may be able to figure out where I am going.
Reef Early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
It is about 50nm from Santa Cruz on the island of Tenerife to Las Palmas on the island of Gran Canaria. Leave at first light, have to wait until daylight to get out of the marina, average 5.0 knots, and the passage takes 10 hours. Then add two hours to go down to the harbour entrance and into the harbour. There are 12 usable hours of daylight, so I had just enough time to make a quick pass into the marina, then anchor. The marina at Las Palmas is tucked into a corner of the busy commercial port, and is the staging and gathering location for the 250 or so boats on the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC). I wanted to go in the marina just to see what the place looks like. It is the largest marina in the Canaries, which is why ARC starts there. I went in, and there they were, rows and rows of boats, gunnel to gunnel, flying the distinctive, oversize 2015 ARC banner. Curiosity satisfied I went back outside the marina and anchored in a real anchorage adjacent to the marina breakwater.
The ARC boats sail in two groups. Those sailing for Cape Verde start at 14:00 on 06 November, and those sailing straight to Saint Lucia start about two weeks later. I am sure that is to schedule their arrival in Saint Lucia at about the same time. I would love to see one of the starts. Just think about 150 or 200 amateurs trying to start an ocean crossing simultaneously. I bet it is beautiful, with lots of mix-ups.
It was interesting, and distressing to me, that there seemed to be no finger piers, that all the boats were tied up stern to, that dreadful Med-moor, where the boat is backed to the dock and the bow is held in place with an anchor. You step onto the boat at the stern. The boats are tied side by side with no finger piers between them. I would have thought that the largest marina in the Canaries would have finger piers. Distressing to me because I think I am unable to Med-moor. One reason is that Advent has a rudder protruding aft, and that is what would hit first. If Med-moor is what they do here, then I can not go into those marinas.
But on a brighter note, I just loved being anchored, in a real anchorage, with other cruising boats around me and commercial traffic rolling us around with their almost continuous wakes. The marinas all all walled in to stop the ocean swell, and the walls are too high to see over. But in the anchorage I can see, and Advent can swing with the wind, and the continuous goings-on can be enjoyed. It was raining, but I cozied up under the dodger top and enjoyed it until well after dark.
Because I was at anchor and not in a marina, this morning I could leave before daylight. It is about 60nm to the south tip of the island of Fuerteventure. Up until now I have not had a plan. I knew that I wanted to go to the windward most island of Lanzarote, and I knew that I could not go when the 20 knot north-east prevailing winds were blowing. Friday, the day I left, the wind was south-east, and it was an eye-opening experience. The prevailing wind is north-east. (Wonder how many times I have said that ?) My guide book is "The Atlantic Islands, Azores, Madeira, Canaries and Cape Verde." Very good. But all the listed anchorages are for protection from the prevailing wind, and are not OK in any other wind, just as the south-east wind and waves were going directly into the anchorage I had planned on for Friday night. My conundrum was that I couldn't go with NE wind, but any other wind made anchorages unusable, and the marinas are full or nearly full, and the only berths are that dreadful stern-to Med moor. But the forecast last night made everything OK, I hope. The winds are forecasted to be light, 10 kt or less, from the north. From Las Palmas ro the south tip of Fuerteventura, where there is an anchorage, is straight east. So I sail east to Fuerteventure, Then go up the east coast in the lee of the island, and also where there are several more places to anchor. Motor into the light north wind for the 15nm Fuerteventure/Lanzarote crossing, up the lee side of Lanzarote, and Bob's your Uncle.
I know that all this doesn't make much sense. I think I am transmitting my position on the DeLorme inReach satellite communicator. It should be posted on adventtwo.blogspot.com That should show a map with my track, and you may be able to figure out where I am going.
Reef Early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
Saturday, October 24, 2015
Saturday 24 October - Normandie's Birthday
Saturday 24 October - Normandie's Birthday
Normandie is celebrating her birthday at Cape Hatteras windsurfing. I am so very proud of her. Happy Birthday Normandie.
I arrived in the Canaries with no plan as to where to go and what to do. There are seven islands, roughly northeast / southwest, and the prevailing wind, almost trade wind, is from the northeast. There was no particular reason to chose Tenerife as landfall. All I knew was that there was an airport there. And since I checked in at Santa Cruz on Tenerife, I want to go back there to check out, in a month when we leave for Cape Verde. Now I want to visit the upwind islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. Now is the time to make the move. The wind forecast is for light and variable for four days.
Starting at the south tip of Tenerife the firsr step is to go about 40 miles back up to Santa Cruz. But I need to back up a few days. I had it scheduled to have the boat hauled out of the water to paint the bottom, a hot, hard and dirty process. It was scheduled for the 19th and it happened the afternoon of the 20th, and I frantically went to work. The wind had died and the forecast was for no wind and I wanted to get the boat back in the water and heading north-east. In record time about 10:00 the 23rd, splash, Advent II was back in the water. I said goodbye to my friends and was underway at noon. Everything was piled up everywhere, all the painting supplies, dirty clothes (old scrubbed off bottom paint laying under the boat dirty) tools, have to remove and re-jury rig backstays so the travelift can pick up and to do that have to remove solar panels, plus eight bags of provisions for a month, all piled in the boat. That's OK, there is no wind and I can do some straightening up underway. Thee is an anchorage just north of Santa Cruz, and it will be a good staging place to cross the 60nm to Gran Canaria. True, there was no wind, but the ocean was just about a rough as it could be. I don't know why. There was a large, close swell mixed with a viscous surface chop coming from the south-east. Dog-gone I was getting knocked around. I had the solar panels on the floor with settee cushions on top in case something heavy jumped out of a locker and landed on one of them. One thing about it, when everything in on the floor nothing goes crash. Then the wind cam up, from the south-east. Good strong 15-18 knot wind. That caused another problem. The place I was going to anchor is exposed to the south-east. Change of plan. I rolled, bucked, tossed and jerked into the Santa Cruz Marina. That was a good call. I even saw three boats that had been friends along the way, and we had a German/Austrian/French get together.
There may be some convolutions of messages. Advent II doesn't go but six miles per hour, but it is faster than the internet. Normandie gave me a GoPro camera and I wanted to upload some video clips. A one minute clip took 280 minutes to upload. That is darn near five hours. When I get back to the internet I want to upload some pictures, etc.
Happy Birthday Normandie.
Love,
Bill
Normandie is celebrating her birthday at Cape Hatteras windsurfing. I am so very proud of her. Happy Birthday Normandie.
I arrived in the Canaries with no plan as to where to go and what to do. There are seven islands, roughly northeast / southwest, and the prevailing wind, almost trade wind, is from the northeast. There was no particular reason to chose Tenerife as landfall. All I knew was that there was an airport there. And since I checked in at Santa Cruz on Tenerife, I want to go back there to check out, in a month when we leave for Cape Verde. Now I want to visit the upwind islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. Now is the time to make the move. The wind forecast is for light and variable for four days.
Starting at the south tip of Tenerife the firsr step is to go about 40 miles back up to Santa Cruz. But I need to back up a few days. I had it scheduled to have the boat hauled out of the water to paint the bottom, a hot, hard and dirty process. It was scheduled for the 19th and it happened the afternoon of the 20th, and I frantically went to work. The wind had died and the forecast was for no wind and I wanted to get the boat back in the water and heading north-east. In record time about 10:00 the 23rd, splash, Advent II was back in the water. I said goodbye to my friends and was underway at noon. Everything was piled up everywhere, all the painting supplies, dirty clothes (old scrubbed off bottom paint laying under the boat dirty) tools, have to remove and re-jury rig backstays so the travelift can pick up and to do that have to remove solar panels, plus eight bags of provisions for a month, all piled in the boat. That's OK, there is no wind and I can do some straightening up underway. Thee is an anchorage just north of Santa Cruz, and it will be a good staging place to cross the 60nm to Gran Canaria. True, there was no wind, but the ocean was just about a rough as it could be. I don't know why. There was a large, close swell mixed with a viscous surface chop coming from the south-east. Dog-gone I was getting knocked around. I had the solar panels on the floor with settee cushions on top in case something heavy jumped out of a locker and landed on one of them. One thing about it, when everything in on the floor nothing goes crash. Then the wind cam up, from the south-east. Good strong 15-18 knot wind. That caused another problem. The place I was going to anchor is exposed to the south-east. Change of plan. I rolled, bucked, tossed and jerked into the Santa Cruz Marina. That was a good call. I even saw three boats that had been friends along the way, and we had a German/Austrian/French get together.
There may be some convolutions of messages. Advent II doesn't go but six miles per hour, but it is faster than the internet. Normandie gave me a GoPro camera and I wanted to upload some video clips. A one minute clip took 280 minutes to upload. That is darn near five hours. When I get back to the internet I want to upload some pictures, etc.
Happy Birthday Normandie.
Love,
Bill
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
19 October - Kiteboarding
About five miles away is the vacation resort village El Medano. It has
one of the only sandy beaches on Tenerife, certainly the largest. As the
wind blows around the very high mountain which is the island, it
accelerates in certain areas. At times the wind will double in velocity
near the downwind edges of the island. El Medano in in one of those
"Acceleration Zones". The combination of constant strong wind, a sandy
beach and resorts makes this beach world famous for windsurfing and
kiteboarding competition.
So good ole Bill had to go do it. Something I
quickly realized is that (in a snow skiing reference) the olympic
downhill venue doesn't have a bunny slope. All of my kiteboarding
experience has been in flat, shallow water. This is in the open ocean
waves and deep. I am not used to not being able to stand on the bottom.
(You might say that I was in over my head) It was really difficult. Then throw in crowds of tourists walking along the beach. Yes I did it.
But to be really honest it was a struggle, and each time when I made it
back without someone getting hurt, I was thankful. In August and
September the winds are consistent, and strong. Now the season has
changed and the winds are very light and coming from the wrong
direction. But if the right wind returns in the next few days before I
leave, I will grab the kite and hit the beach.
Try this link. It is a webcam at the El Medano windsurfing beach. With
no wind all you will get is European tourists, but if the wind blows it
is fun to watch:
https://www.skylinewebcams.com/es/webcam/espana/canarias/santa-cruz-de-tenerife/surf-kitesurf-medano.html
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
one of the only sandy beaches on Tenerife, certainly the largest. As the
wind blows around the very high mountain which is the island, it
accelerates in certain areas. At times the wind will double in velocity
near the downwind edges of the island. El Medano in in one of those
"Acceleration Zones". The combination of constant strong wind, a sandy
beach and resorts makes this beach world famous for windsurfing and
kiteboarding competition.
So good ole Bill had to go do it. Something I
quickly realized is that (in a snow skiing reference) the olympic
downhill venue doesn't have a bunny slope. All of my kiteboarding
experience has been in flat, shallow water. This is in the open ocean
waves and deep. I am not used to not being able to stand on the bottom.
(You might say that I was in over my head) It was really difficult. Then throw in crowds of tourists walking along the beach. Yes I did it.
But to be really honest it was a struggle, and each time when I made it
back without someone getting hurt, I was thankful. In August and
September the winds are consistent, and strong. Now the season has
changed and the winds are very light and coming from the wrong
direction. But if the right wind returns in the next few days before I
leave, I will grab the kite and hit the beach.
Try this link. It is a webcam at the El Medano windsurfing beach. With
no wind all you will get is European tourists, but if the wind blows it
is fun to watch:
https://www.skylinewebcams.com/es/webcam/espana/canarias/santa-cruz-de-tenerife/surf-kitesurf-medano.html
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
Friday 09 October - Bill Comes down from the Mountain
Volcanoes are not part of my experience. Never seen one before.
Never been in one. I was impressed. I was also impressed with its
elevation. 12,000 feet rising out of the ocean impressed me. I came back
down to the visitor's center, bought a coffee cup, climbed in my little
rented Panda, and headed down. I had about 8,000 feet of elevation
change and about 15 miles back to the marina. The first few miles is
relatively even being inside the volcano, then the road crosses over the
edge, and down it goes. I am surprised at the high quality of the roads
here, good surface, well marked. But curvy, really curvy. I had just
gotten to the going-down-part when I rounded a curve and saw confusion
in the road ahead. Remember those four-wheeler tourist "trains"? Going
fast? Looking dangerous? One of those "trains" had gotten tangled up,
several had tumbled, and scattered around the road were damaged
four-wheelers and injured tourists. I must have been one of the first
cars to come along. There were four injured, two guys with road rash,
walking, and two gals with unknown injuries, down. I went to each of the
women to make sure that no one tried to remove their helmets (which
might exacerbate a neck injury) and went back to the car to move it to
block oncoming traffic. The two injured women were lying still and
nobody was trying to move them, so things were stable for the moment.
Then what? who is in charge? what is going on? The tourists were
Italian, the four-wheeler safari operator was Spanish and I spoke
English. None could talk with the other. After a few minutes it was
apparent that nothing was happening and apparently no ambulance was on
the way. I decided that it was time to start playing EMT. It was
becoming obvious that someone was going to have to take these people to
medical help, and it was time to find out what was wrong with them. None
spoke English. I went to the more seriously injured of the two and tried
to explain that I knew what to do, because I didn't want to start
pushing, twisting and feeling if they didn't understand what I was
doing. I was aware that someone came to me, said nothing, and went to
the other woman and was examining her. Then, as I was starting at her
feet and working my way up he came back to me, and lo-and-behold if he
didn't speak Italian, and some English, and he knew how to examine an
injured person. There were no apparent broken bones in either patient.
Both had bled some, but it had mostly stopped. Both were bloody, badly
bent, but not broken. Now what? The four-wheeler operators had
four-wheelers, but no car. I had the only car, and it a Panda. I
strapped my kiteboard bag on the roof. The lesser of the injured women
rode in front. In back were the more seriously injured woman, and the
more skinned up man. I had no idea how to find a medical center.
I was led by a four-wheeler who had the lesser of the skinned up men riding
double with him. We are 8,000 feet up, maybe ten miles away, and he can
not ride the four-wheeler on a major highway. The next hour and half can
not be described. Extreme downhill roads. I am in 1st gear riding the
brake. Visualize a very steep driveway. That is how it was, going down.
Some seemed like water drain courses, not roadways. Back roads, alleys.
We mush have gone through three villages, the back way, me following the
four-wheeler with two on it. The lesser of the injured women is
beginning to complain so I am not worried about her. But the other seems
to be hurting more. I can see her eyes in my rear view mirror and her
eyes were OK, but I really wanted to get her to help, but this obstacle
course of near impossible down with twists, turns and switchbacks went
on and on.. Then, after emerging from a twisty road about as wide as a
driveway (the two way roads were only one lane wide) we were suddenly at
the emergency entrance of a modern big city hospital.
I sure was
relieved. Hospital staff took care of the patients and I cleaned up the
car. I had some towels in the car which had been used to mostly keep
blood off the car seats. It was OK for me to leave, but my adventure was
not over yet. I had no idea where I was! I found a policeman who showed
me on a map where I was and where I wanted to go, and as it was getting
dark, off I went in rush hour freeway traffic, trusting God to get me back.
I was there, I could help, and I did. There is no greater privilege
than to be able to help someone when they need help.
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
Never been in one. I was impressed. I was also impressed with its
elevation. 12,000 feet rising out of the ocean impressed me. I came back
down to the visitor's center, bought a coffee cup, climbed in my little
rented Panda, and headed down. I had about 8,000 feet of elevation
change and about 15 miles back to the marina. The first few miles is
relatively even being inside the volcano, then the road crosses over the
edge, and down it goes. I am surprised at the high quality of the roads
here, good surface, well marked. But curvy, really curvy. I had just
gotten to the going-down-part when I rounded a curve and saw confusion
in the road ahead. Remember those four-wheeler tourist "trains"? Going
fast? Looking dangerous? One of those "trains" had gotten tangled up,
several had tumbled, and scattered around the road were damaged
four-wheelers and injured tourists. I must have been one of the first
cars to come along. There were four injured, two guys with road rash,
walking, and two gals with unknown injuries, down. I went to each of the
women to make sure that no one tried to remove their helmets (which
might exacerbate a neck injury) and went back to the car to move it to
block oncoming traffic. The two injured women were lying still and
nobody was trying to move them, so things were stable for the moment.
Then what? who is in charge? what is going on? The tourists were
Italian, the four-wheeler safari operator was Spanish and I spoke
English. None could talk with the other. After a few minutes it was
apparent that nothing was happening and apparently no ambulance was on
the way. I decided that it was time to start playing EMT. It was
becoming obvious that someone was going to have to take these people to
medical help, and it was time to find out what was wrong with them. None
spoke English. I went to the more seriously injured of the two and tried
to explain that I knew what to do, because I didn't want to start
pushing, twisting and feeling if they didn't understand what I was
doing. I was aware that someone came to me, said nothing, and went to
the other woman and was examining her. Then, as I was starting at her
feet and working my way up he came back to me, and lo-and-behold if he
didn't speak Italian, and some English, and he knew how to examine an
injured person. There were no apparent broken bones in either patient.
Both had bled some, but it had mostly stopped. Both were bloody, badly
bent, but not broken. Now what? The four-wheeler operators had
four-wheelers, but no car. I had the only car, and it a Panda. I
strapped my kiteboard bag on the roof. The lesser of the injured women
rode in front. In back were the more seriously injured woman, and the
more skinned up man. I had no idea how to find a medical center.
double with him. We are 8,000 feet up, maybe ten miles away, and he can
not ride the four-wheeler on a major highway. The next hour and half can
not be described. Extreme downhill roads. I am in 1st gear riding the
brake. Visualize a very steep driveway. That is how it was, going down.
Some seemed like water drain courses, not roadways. Back roads, alleys.
We mush have gone through three villages, the back way, me following the
four-wheeler with two on it. The lesser of the injured women is
beginning to complain so I am not worried about her. But the other seems
to be hurting more. I can see her eyes in my rear view mirror and her
eyes were OK, but I really wanted to get her to help, but this obstacle
course of near impossible down with twists, turns and switchbacks went
on and on.. Then, after emerging from a twisty road about as wide as a
driveway (the two way roads were only one lane wide) we were suddenly at
the emergency entrance of a modern big city hospital.
relieved. Hospital staff took care of the patients and I cleaned up the
car. I had some towels in the car which had been used to mostly keep
blood off the car seats. It was OK for me to leave, but my adventure was
not over yet. I had no idea where I was! I found a policeman who showed
me on a map where I was and where I wanted to go, and as it was getting
dark, off I went in rush hour freeway traffic, trusting God to get me back.
I was there, I could help, and I did. There is no greater privilege
than to be able to help someone when they need help.
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
Saturday, October 17, 2015
Re: Friday 02 October - Bill Goes to the Mountain
Hello all!
This is your friendly neighborhood geologist here. To answer Bill's 2 questions-
First-
caldera is a correct term for the lower, larger crater. Calderas can be
as large as Yellowstone NP or as small as Santorini, Greece.
Second-
geologically "in the long term" is a vague term. It depends on who is
using it and in what context. I know a bit about Teide so I have some
context in this instance. "In the long term" means anytime in the next
1,000 or so years. There is a crack that divides the island into 2
sections. The northern 1/3 of the island is on one side of the crack.
That 1/3 has moved a bit down slope. As water enters the crack the
crack both expands and becomes more likely to expand. If the surface of
the crack slips and the 1/3 of the island slides off into the deep
ocean, a tsunami may result. This is really the only tsunami risk we
know of in the Atlantic. If an earthquake hits this area tomorrow, it
could happen tomorrow. If the process is left up to water in the crack,
it could 1,000 or so years.
Thanks for the wonderful travel update!
Will
"With a little Love and Luck you will get by." Jimmy Buffett
Friday 02 October - Bill Goes to the Mountain
I think the most amazing thing about the Azores is the island of Pico, which is the volcano Pico. It rises up from the ocean to an elevation of 7700 feet, 1,000 feet higher than any mountain east of the Mississippi. From where we were in the Horta marina it was only about ten miles over to it, and it dominated the view. I was really impressed. And then I got to here, Tenerife, Canaries. Like Pico in the Azores, Tenerife island in the Canaries is also simply a volcano, named Teide, rising up from the ocean. Except Teide is not 7,700 feet high, it is 12,200 feet high. Wow! It is at the latitude of Cape Canaveral, Fla. and is snow capped in the winter. Well nothing would do but I had to up there.
Here people don't turn left, or turn right. You turn up or turn down. Last week I found my way to the church but had to ask directions how to get back out to the Interstate Highway. I was told to go up the road to the intersection and turn up, then go to the round-about and turn down. (The other directions are left around and right around) You either go up, down, or around. The road starts at El Medano (the windsurfing center) and goes up. You start the car, put it in gear, and drive up. Sometimes in 3rd gear, sometimes in 2nd gear, but up. And windy, as a winding road (not as the wind blows) (maybe I should say "twisty") Turns and twists with one turn leading directly into the next, so that I was turning the steering wheel 270 degrees first one way then the next, up, at 30 kilometers/hour, whatever that is. There was surprizingly little traffic. Most of it was motorcycles going much faster that I was, going up and down. What a fun ride it must be on a motorcycle. I also met several "trains" of four-wheelers, four wheel drive motorcycles. These are called "Four Wheel Safaris". They take maybe 10 of these things to the hotel, pick up the tourists who signed up for an adventure, and off they go. Coming down the road at you they don't really look safe. They must be going 30 mph, and I wonder about how much training the people get. (I guess it is like renting a jet-ski. Show them how, and turn them loose.) So up I drive, and enter the National Park, the 9th most visited national park in the world. One minute I am driving up, then through a pass, then I am inside a volcano. A volcano from the inside, looking up at the ridges around the caldera (if that is the correct word). The landscape is that of an old science-fiction movie, incredibly sharp jagged rocks of different sizes and shapes. (When I say sharp, I have been doing some rock-hopping. At one point my footing was not perfect and I reached out to catch my balance, and sliced the ends of two fingers) Clinkers. The rocks are like clinkers from the coal burning furnace on Iredell Drive. And the landscape looks like the scene from a wild-west movie, with the vertical scale was multiplied times four. The elevation of all of this maybe 8,000 feet. Of course there is a National Park office, visitor's center, hotel, etc. But then another volcano rises up from inside the first. A cable car takes people up to about 11,600 ft, maybe 1,000 feet from the absolute top. I wanted to climb up to 12,000 feet but it was too late in the afternoon. Besides, there is not much air up there. Two tourists "fainted" and were lying down, feet up. It was cool, windy, and jagged. The view was impressive, but not unlike that from an airplane. But the rocks, everything jagged. The edge of the crater was jagged, the individual boulders were jagged, and the structure of the rock itself was jagged enough to to cut your fingers.
A quote from Wikipedia: Teide additionally is considered structurally unstable and its northern flank has a distinctive bulge. This bulge is not believed to be associated with an influx of magma, but stems from a slow northwards collapse of the edifice. The collapse could, in the long term, potentially accelerate into a cataclysmic landslide, which, in turn, could potentially produce a mega tsunami that could cause significant damage and loss of life around coastlines in the Atlantic Ocean. An accepted model shows a tsunami wave 40 meters, 150 feet high along the east coast of the US. Will, in geologic time what is meant by "in the long term" ?
A very impressive place.
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
Sunday, October 4, 2015
The Age of Wonder - some answers
Wednesday 30 September
The marina is just about full. About every other day a boat arrives
or leaves. A week or so ago a British boat came in. Until then I had not
seen even one native-english-speaking boat. Many people speak english,
and I can communicate, but I have difficulty with spontaneous
conversation. I was sorry to have them leave. They were going up to
Santa Cruz, whee I first went, to be hauled out while they went home for
a month. Not only are there not many British boats, but I haven't seen a
US boat since New Bedford. I am somewhat of a, not celebrity, but a
person of interest, not only with the other boat people, but with the
tourists and vacationers. The Marina is in a vacation resort, Golf. I am
alongside the marina breakwater, and there is a roadway along the top
going out to a restaurant/bar looking out over the ocean. In the
evenings I sit on the foredeck with my drink and book (POB) and exchange
greetings with the tourists/vacationers walking out to the end. The
greeting in "hola", a Spanish greeting. About one in ten will see the US
flag and say,"hello", and occasionally someone will stop and talk. On
the stern is, "ADVENT II" - "Washington NC". One man asked me the
difference between Washington NC, and Washington DC. But I do have a
language problem. I left with only two pairs of pants. I want to buy
some more shorts. It is really hard to not get sent to the local "beach"
shop, and then I can't understand the directions, etc. I wonder where I
can buy some kahkai shorts?
Since this is my home for now I figured it was time to find a
church. It could be Catholic, of anything as long as it was Christian.
Asking where a church is, another language problem. have driven around
looking, found one but the doors were locked on Sunday morning. Then
last week I looked on the internet, and lo 'n behold, an Anglican
congregation. The problem was that it is up at the top end of the
island, maybe 40 miles, on the other side of Santa Cruz. Well, the next
Sunday morning intrepid Bill started driving north. As a general rule
the roads here are really good, wide, good smooth pavement, well marked.
And, there is an interstate highway going from north to south. How hard
can that be? everything was fine until I missed the turnoff from
Interstate-1 to Interstate-2. Interstate-1 goes into downtown Santa Cruz
and dissipates. And there I was, lost in downtown Santa Cruz. The good
thing was that it was Sunday morning and there was not much traffic. And
I wandered, and I wondered. Something to keep in mind is that most
people who get lost, eventually get back. I started driving up, and
eventually I found the highway, and I found the town where the church
is, and I found the church. And there, on a semi-desert Spanish island,
nestled in a lush comfortable garden, is a traditional English church! Wednesday 30 September - Some answers
The marina is just about full. About every other day a boat arrives
or leaves. A week or so ago a British boat came in. Until then I had not
seen even one native-english-speaking boat. Many people speak english,
and I can communicate, but I have difficulty with spontaneous
conversation. I was sorry to have them leave. They were going up to
Santa Cruz, whee I first went, to be hauled out while they went home for
a month. Not only are there not many British boats, but I haven't seen a
US boat since New Bedford. I am somewhat of a, not celebrity, but a
person of interest, not only with the other boat people, but with the
tourists and vacationers. The Marina is in a vacation resort, Golf. I am
alongside the marina breakwater, and there is a roadway along the top
going out to a restaurant/bar looking out over the ocean. In the
evenings I sit on the foredeck with my drink and book (POB) and exchange
greetings with the tourists/vacationers walking out to the end. The
greeting in "hola", a Spanish greeting. About one in ten will see the US
flag and say,"hello", and occasionally someone will stop and talk. On
the stern is, "ADVENT II" - "Washington NC". One man asked me the
difference between Washington NC, and Washington DC. But I do have a
language problem. I left with only two pairs of pants. I want to buy
some more shorts. It is really hard to not get sent to the local "beach"
shop, and then I can't understand the directions, etc. I wonder where I
can buy some kahkai shorts?
Since this is my home for now I figured it was time to find a
church. It could be Catholic, of anything as long as it was Christian.
Asking where a church is, another language problem. have driven around
looking, found one but the doors were locked on Sunday morning. Then
last week I looked on the internet, and lo 'n behold, an Anglican
congregation. The problem was that it is up at the top end of the
island, maybe 40 miles, on the other side of Santa Cruz. Well, the next
Sunday morning intrepid Bill started driving north. As a general rule
the roads here are really good, wide, good smooth pavement, well marked.
And, there is an interstate highway going from north to south. How hard
can that be? everything was fine until I missed the turnoff from
Interstate-1 to Interstate-2. Interstate-1 goes into downtown Santa Cruz
and dissipates. And there I was, lost in downtown Santa Cruz. The good
thing was that it was Sunday morning and there was not much traffic. And
I wandered, and I wondered. Something to keep in mind is that most
people who get lost, eventually get back. I started driving up, and
eventually I found the highway, and I found the town where the church
is, and I found the church. And there, on a semi-desert Spanish island,
nestled in a lush comfortable garden, is a traditional English church!
Everything about it made me feel at home. The liturgy, the music, the
architecture, even the language. And the nicest things happen when you
go to church: I found people who understand my questions, and I can
understand the answers! I will continue to attempt one new Spanish word
a day, but now I don't have to wonder about everything; I have people I
can ask. They live here and know what is going on. It is such a relief.
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
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