Tenerife, Canary Islands

November 10, 2012 – November 14, 2012

Departure day from Morocco was a long one, reminding us that Class Afloat is more than just camel rides and desert sunsets; it is a crazy, challenging journey. We spent the entire day on deck doing sail manoeuvers, bracing and wearing (turning away from the wind with the sails) and I went aloft to help take in three sails. It was a lot of work and I only got about an hour break before I had to begin night watch which is now from 8pm-10pm for me. We were all exhausted! After a tiring watch though, the night ended well with the first Crêpes Afloat night of 2012-2013! We had been trying to have it for so long, but rough seas hadn’t yet allowed us to. The crêpe night was a success and we made and sold crêpes to the crew. Yum!

The sail to the Canary Islands was short, but we did get to do some actually sailing! I got to go up to the t’gallant (short for top gallant, the second yard from the top) for the first time! I admit I was a little scared as it was the highest I’ve ever been on the ship, but the weather and the view from up there were beautiful and I actually really enjoyed it. As I was climbing down the shrouds (sort of like a ladder to climb up and down) we saw dolphins just off the starboard side where I was climbing! 

After what seemed like almost no time at all we arrived in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands. 

Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Our first full day in port was Remembrance Day and we had a short ceremony just before colours, playing the Last Post as the ship’s flags were raised. After that it was time to leave on a port program. We loaded up on to buses (so used to it now after Class Acoach!) and drove about an hour to El Teide, the highest mountain in Spain (the Canary Islands are part of Spain). What is really special about the park is the landscape; people say that it is like another planet and they are not exaggerating. As we entered the park the bus driver blasted Star Wars theme music on the speaker system. Part of a Star Wars movie was actually filmed there! We went for a hike through what looked to be Mars (or how one might imagine Mars to look). We walked by the base of the mountain through incredible reddish-coloured rock formations. There were so really neat igneous intrusive rocks, so they were formed as the magma cooled inside the volcano (Teide is a volcano). We stopped for lunch up high on some rocks by a large formation called the Cathedral with Teide behind us. 

On the hike

El Teide and the Sea of Clouds

The hiking trails were really nice and well-kept and I really enjoyed the hike. After the hike we got back on the bus again. We were driving above the clouds and could look out over them at what was called the Sea of Clouds! We got back to the ship and...surprise! Mail had arrived! Lots of people got letters and cards from their parents and it was so nice and lots of fun to open! We left for shore leave after that, and went to a real man-food restaurant – 1 metre of ribs! Better be hungry!

 The next day was another port program day – surfing! We left Santa Cruz and drove to another city where we had shore leave until 4pm when we had a surf lesson. During shore leave we were walking around looking for a place to eat lunch when we came across a Subway! Don’t get me wrong, I love trying local restaurants, but I think we all miss home a little bit so it was nice to have something so familiar for once. It was exactly what we needed! After lunch and gelato it was time to go surfing! We went to the surf shop where we got wetsuits and boards and met Lynn, the awesome, super friendly and fun instructor. We walked down to the rocky beach and as we waded out we got a little pummeled by waves (the waves were pretty big for a beginner surf lesson). Lynn led us to a better part of the water to learn to surf, and we had a blast! Lynn was really helpful and by the end of the lesson almost everybody had learned to stand up on the board by themselves! I wasn’t very good since I was just learning, but it was still so much fun! Smiling and sticky with salt water we boarded the bus and returned to the ship for the night after one of the best port programs ever!

Our surf group

Surfing!

Next came provision day. As we have quickly learned, when it comes to provisions, the question is not whether or not they will arrive late, but rather by how much. They were supposed to get trucked in at 9:00, but after half an hour of standing around waiting, we got a call saying that they wouldn’t arrive until that afternoon. So we were given shore leave until then and shopped around the downtown area of Santa Cruz. The port has been really relaxing after Morocco which was fun, but so different. Here, things are a lot more like they are at home, and also unlike Morocco, everything you want (good food and wifi!) are only a short walk to the ship. After a short shore leave we returned to the ship for provisioning and had to wait again for the food to get there, then for customs to clear it all so we could finally bring it on to the ship! How stressful; at least we won’t be provisioning again until Brazil!

The next day, November 14^th, was supposed to be departure day. However, we had problems with a generator on board and had to wait for new parts, which couldn’t be delivered due to a protest in the city! We were on shore leave for the day, shopping in a store, when we could hear people shutting and they closed the store (with us in it!) as a huge crowd marched by, banging on the door! Then, when it came time to return to the ship that evening it took so long since we had to make our way against a seemingly endless stream of people protesting! Back at the ship we got permission from the First Officer to go aloft. I had never before been in the rigging at night, and to be honest I was a little nervous, so I wanted to do it while in port when the ship would be hardly moving and there would be lots of light. It wasn’t really scary at all, and from up high we could see the constant flow of people marching past on the main road; it was so loud and I’ve never seen anything like it! The protest was over by the next morning so we were able to get what we needed and head begin our week-long sail to Dakar, Senegal.