GOMERA :
arrival on September 7th, 2001
Departure on May 9th, 2002

The good thing about travelling in the Canaria islands from north to south is that each new island is nicer than the one before (except for Gran Canaria which is a good technical call, but not as interesting to visit as the other islands). So here we are finally. The long awaited Gomera Island. We've been hearing so many nice things about this island, and guess what ? They're all truth !
Just sailing along the coast is spectacular. There are either high cliffs falling into the water, or black sand beaches accessible only by the sea, and beautiful deep valleys with palms trees. Here and there, traces of past cultivations appear as we go on, the sun plays with the reliefs to alternate shadows and lights, making the scenery even more dramatic. There are very few touristic areas as most tourists come in the morning ferry from Tenerife and leave in the evening (Tenerife is just 45 minutes away). We stayed a little longer than that, and still, we've never been tired of this enchanting place.

September 7th to 25th, 2001

We came to this quiet fishing port to meet our friends on board "Constance" who had spent a week anchoring in calm, crystal clear water, right in front of the beach. Except for a small rent-a-car business, there is no sign of tourism in this authentic village. A couple of skates live in the port and no one thinks of hurting them. Ludo went swimming one day and saw the big one right in front of him. What's big ? Well about 2 meters wide...
But we didn't come here (only) for vacation, there was a leak in the hull right underneith the mast, and we wanted to repair this before taking off to Cabo Verde. We agreed with the shipyard to lay down Askoy in the afternoon. A big swell coming into the port made things difficult and dangerous both for the boat and the crane. Thankfully, the crane driver knew his job, and Askoy came out unhurt. We had serious doubts about the way they wedged Askoy piling up logs on top of big rusted oil cans, but it seemed to work on other boats, and we knew it would not have been a good idea to criticise their methods.
"As long as there isn't any wind, we're okay", said Ludo. For two weeks we walked on the boat as on eggs, trying to make it move as little as possible...
Ludo fixed the hull and did some woodwork he had wanted to do for a long time while I finished the half-yearly varnishing of the exterior woods. After a couple of layers of antifooling on the hull, Askoy was put back into her element, and we sailed to San Sebastian, some 6 miles away.

A surprise visit of our friends Carlos and Javier distracted us from our work for a day. We traded our tools for walking shoes, and went to the "Garajonay" parc, the oldest forest in Europe. We were stunned by this forest and mountains. There are many trails where one can walk for hours coming across unexpected sites which reminded us of Swizerland (except for the palm trees here and there...
"Valle Gran Rey" is the most sepctacular "barranco". The valley is deep and wide, quite a few houses with palm trees and gardens bring an oasis look to this otherwise stone and rock scenery.

The capital of la Gomera is in accordance with its island in its size and atmosphere. There are two main streets and a square where, according to the Spanish tradition, kids of all ages play in the evening while parents have a drink at the cafe nearby. Dogs come and go freely and have their own habits like everyone else here.
In the marina, life is really good. Everyone agrees to say that this marina is the best we've ever seen. People are the nicest, it's clean, safe and pretty. And, it's a real aquarium ! We are used to see those ugly mullets eat anything that's throwed in the water (and they're huge here !), but seeing barracudas, balistes, turtles, etc, is quite new to all of us. The sad thing is that we can't fish them, which drives our friend Carlos crazy !
But that's okay since we go fishing along the outter pier every day. Apnea is fun and a good exercise but we're exhausted for the rest of the day. We usually bring back enough fish and octopusses for 5 people. We've been discovering many new different ways to cook fish. My favourite is barbecue with "mojo", the local sauce with either coriander or chili pepper.
Novembre is here already and everybody is ready and impatient to leave but there is no wind ! We watch and discuss weather charts every day, but since it looks like it's going to take some time for northerly winds to come, we might go camping for a change, so that the fish by the pier can have a break for a couple of days... What a life !

In the center of San Sebastian, one can visit this old tower where, they say, the mistress of Columbus used to live. I guess she feared sunburns...
The tower is in the middle of a parc which lies fallow and where many half-wild cats live. Many passerbys feed them plenty of goodies thinking they're starving which really they aren't but, hey, it makes everyone happy !

All right. One last picture before we leave la Gomera. Here's one of the sunsets we can see from the top of the hills. This is only a medium quality picture, imagine what it was to see it for real !
Tenerife and Gomera are two great destinations for relaxing as well as active vacations. We've found some very cheap flights from Europe, think about it next time you want to see the ocean !

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