Location: Tenerife, Canary Islands
As the skipper for the first full day in Tenerife, I must say it was a huge success. We started off with a productive and calm-ish morning of boat to bed and a full deck scrub and floor scrub down below. After getting Argo sparkling clean and tucked neatly into bed after our passage, it was a mad dash to the laundromats as we had shore time until the afternoon. The Atlantic crossing is looming large for everyone, and it is safe to say we were all super excited to explore our last pre-crossing port of Santa Cruz, Tenerife, while we still have the chance. We all dispersed across the available laundromats, lugging our mesh bags through the picturesque streets. After getting our stuff successfully loaded into some XXL washing machines, Sabrina, Jem, Sam, and I sat down at a little cafe for some coffee and amazing sandwiches. We picked up some hygiene essentials for the passage at a pharmacy, and then, after a pause in activities to switch our laundry, we walked to a local market that Sam had found, and it was an absolute blast. There were vendors everywhere with gorgeous handmade jewelry and trinkets, local cuisine, fresh fruits and veggies, bakeries, and ice cream places. It was a feast for the eyes and also a literal feast as we got some absolutely unreal seafood at this one restaurant.
Jem and Sam constructed their perfect bites; Sam nearly teared up with pure emotion of the moment, which he described as life-changing to the lovely waitress. After exploring the market for a while and getting some authentic Tenerife goods, we went back to the laundromat to pick up our wonderfully clean and fluffy clothes and haul them back to the boat. Since we got back a bit before the given time, we took a quick walk to this awesome amphitheater on the shore near our marina. Shore time came to a close, and we gathered for some literature review presentations for oceanography. Hailey, Teo, Cameron, Alexa, and Ben shared their research on some really interesting topics. We had some time between class and dinner for divers working on their advanced certification to finish up some knowledge reviews, and for people to tidy up their bunks, as we have a fun coincidence at this docking. The ship right next to ours, an absolutely beautiful pirate-esque vessel, happens to be the home of another sail training program with 34 German high schoolers living aboard, also prepping for their Atlantic crossing. They offered to give us a tour of their boat, and they will tour ours tomorrow, so we are making sure to get everything looking great. Dinner was a classic, cheeseburgers and some amazing mashed potatoes that everyone really enjoyed. As dinner was in motion, the festival stage, right on the dock next to us, started doing its audio set-ups for the music festival that would happen the next two nights. Everyone enjoyed the background vibes, but it was pretty loud, so we migrated to the salon for a quick squeeze question of when everyones favorite time of day is. As the night is starting to get chilly and things are winding down, I am happy to say that today was a perfect day to be skipper, and Im looking forward to the next.
P.S. I miss talking to all my friends and family (ever since I dropped my phone into the dark depths of our anchorage in Mallorca), but I hope you all know Im sending lots of love and good energy every chance I get 🙂
Good night from Tenerife,
Maria W