I had this crazy idea that I wanted to follow in my Dads footsteps and become a sailor. I spent my days surfing the net at work looking for an appropriate course to do in a warm and exciting location.

I stumbled across a company called SailUK, conveniently based in Poole, but even more conveniently were offering a 7 day, Day Skipper course in the Canary Islands.

The Canary Islands, off the coast of Africa, seemed like a rather exotic and exciting place to go, so on impulse, I booked and paid for it. Then immediately I had a panic attack of being in a confined space with a load of nutters who would hack me to pieces in my sleep.

Whilst in this panicking state, I managed to talk my work mate Grace into coming along with me.

Sat 5th Nov

So here we were on our way to Las Palmas. Neither Grace nor myself knew what to expect when we arrived.

We arrived in Las Palmas about 7pm and caught a taxi to the marina. We found our yacht, Bold Explorer, and scrambled on board with my overweight backpack with far too many winter clothes in it. (Well it was winter when I left the UK). We met our fellow crew members Mal and Mark onboard but there was no sign of our skipper. We were told he was at the bar.

We didn’t have to be told twice and trotted off to find the bar.

We both felt much better after meeting skipper Paul and realising he wasn’t the crazy serial killer we were expecting.

We had a few drinks whilst bombarding him with questions. Then we were accompanied by new arrivals Jeff and Emma. Emma works for sailUK and Jeff was just along for the ride (so to speak).

Shortly after, the inseparable Mal and Mark turned up.

We all had a good laugh and a few more drinks too many, then staggered back to the boat about 1.30am.

Sun 6th Nov

I woke up way too early Sunday morning with an extremely dry mouth. I had a cup of tea, bacon and eggs followed by a boat review. We learned about all the bits and pieces on the boat. The engine, navigation gear, safety gear but really all I just wanted to do was go out and sail.

Finally boat review was over and we headed off out to sea. There was a large Atlantic swell and I immediately felt sick. I didn’t think I got sea sick so I just put it down to too much beer the night before. I didn’t throw up at least, but as soon as we came back into the harbour and calmer water I immediately felt better. Hmmmm.

I decided to have a quiet night tonight in preparation for a longer day out sailing tomorrow.

We went out and had the worst tapas meal ever. Two people had to send food back it was so bad. I ended up drinking too much again and staggered back to the boat about 1.30am.

Mon 7th Nov

Today we are off to Positos Blanco. It’s approximately 6 hours of sailing to get there.

On the way I saw a big turtle. He looked a bit sick, I think we may have run over him.

Speaking of sick, there’s those big rolling waves again. I felt I was going throw up, so I asked where was the best place to do it. Jeff took me to the back (that’s techy speak for stern) of the boat, put a life jacket and a harness on me and strapped me to the boat. He suggested I throw up over the back. As the sick started rising up my throat, he popped a biscuit in my mouth, and like concrete it pushed it back down again. Amazing!

So I didn’t actually throw up, just felt a bit miserable until we made our destination.

On arrival, there were no bars or restaurants anywhere to be seen, nor were there any within any walking distance. Everyone decided to stay on the boat for dinner, but Grace and I had different ideas.

We got security to call us a taxi (cos no one in this damned town speaks English). We told the taxi driver we wanted to go to a traditional Spanish restaurant, so he dropped us at the tackiest touristy area possible. It was awful. Full of tourists, arcades and plastic menus.

I decided to have an alcohol free night. We arrived back at the boat about 10pm and everyone was in bed! I’m really glad I brought Grace along or else I would have been bored out of my mind with this bunch.

Tues 8th Nov

Today was to be spent again at Positos Blancos, as none of the other marinas had space.

We practiced some man overboard manoeuvres and general boat handling skills. We anchored for some lunch and a swim, but decided not to swim due to floaty bits in the water.

Grace and I again caught a taxi for out dinner. This time the taxi dropped us somewhere decent and we had a plate full of fish.

We then headed to a five star resort and drank wine and watched some entertainment.

Was about midnight when we got back to the boat and everyone was in bed!

Wed 09th Nov

Today we managed to get a spot in Puerto Rico marina, so we headed there.

There wasn’t much wind about so we had a swim in the Atlantic, then spent the afternoon blobbing by the pool.

We went out for dinner with the group and had a yummy meal of prawns and steak.

 

Then to wigwams for some cocktails.

 

And staggered back to the boat about 1.30am

Thurs 10th Nov

Today we are heading back to Positos Blancos, as it is on the way back to Las Palmos.

Again there was no wind so we anchored and had a swim off the boat.

Mark cooked a really nice meal on the boat tonight. We had gammon, mash, peas, carrots and a mushroom sauce. And a bottle of white wine of course.

Fri 11th Nov

We got up early today for the long trip back to Las Palmos. Even tho it only took 6 hours to get here, it will take a lot longer to go back as we are heading against the wind.

I planned to take some seasick tablets today, but could not find any. It didn’t seem to matter as it was calm as we headed out of the Marina. Emma said, “Looks like you’re lucky Jo, its calm as anything.”

Paul seemed to think we would be motoring all the way back when we hit a little bit of wind. We put up the no 1 genoa and the main sail and we were off.

Then all of a sudden the weather just turned. It was blowing a gale. 45 knots of wind and we were totally unprepared.

Paul turned the boat away from the wind so we could change the head sail, which meant we were heading in the wrong direction.

Waves crashed over us as Jeff and I frantically tried to change the head sail. The Genoa ripped. Sails were flapping about all over the place. The conditions were terrible. Mark came up to help. The bow suddenly dipped under the water taking Mark with it, completely submerging him and inflating his lifejacket. Lucky we were all strapped on.

It took the three of us 1.5 hours to get the sails changed, which meant we had sailed 1.5 hours in the wrong direction.

At this stage the waves were really big. It reminded me of that movie “A Perfect Storm”. I was throwing up over the side. Mal and Mark were down below throwing up in the sinks. In a way I thankful for being sick because it took my mind off the fact we were in a little boat surrounded by 5m waves.

I was wet and ill, so Paul suggested I go lay down below. So I did for the remainder of the 14 hour trip. Mark was also out of action, so that left Jeff to do most of the work as Grace was doing the navigation.

Poor Emma who had never sailed before was terrified, and had to help putting up the storm sails.

Anyway we made it back safely after 14 hours of sun, seas and sick.

Nobody made it to the bar tonight. This was because it was 11pm and someone had taken our berth, so we moored in a private berth and couldn’t get out.

hmmmm, Do I still wanna be a sailor?

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