Week 26: Puerto Calero, Lanzarote (0nm)

The most exciting news to report is that at the moment this is published, we will be well on our way to Cape Verde having successfully completed the engine repairs on Serenity (“toca madera”). This post catalogues the week we spent in Puerto Calero waiting for the work to be done, and a combination of pre-passage craziness and the frustration of writing about a delay has meant I’ve decided to condense things down into a shorter photo-based post (that will probably not translate into the email version, so as always please click through). I’m optimistic that we’ll find more time and enthusiasm once we get sailing again – in the meantime you can track our progress at this link and if you fancy sending us a joke or riddle whilst we are afloat, please follow the instructions here. 

Organising boat repairs is maddening at the best of times, as trying to achieve the holy trinity of boat, parts and labour to be in the same place at the earliest possible time requires superhuman levels of patience and persistence, only to have to watch as unforeseen delays and holidays decimate the best-laid plans. As such, I’ve not been the most fun person to be around this last week, as spending so much time in a marina has become increasingly claustrophobic, and I’ve now run out of boat projects at which I can throw my frustrated energy at.

Thankfully my wife and our newly trained crew have put up with my occasional sulks, and come up with a wide range of activities to help distract us (“seizing the delay” in the words of our good friend Chris). It’s a shame that we’ve lost some time together as a group across our other more exotic destinations (i.e. Cape Verde and Martinique), but we’ve certainly done the best we can at creating some lasting memories on this bleak desert rock of an island, which are hopefully captured sufficiently in the following slides.

Katherine lead the charge on the bread baking experiments…

…and Ballin’s novel kneading technique was found to be inferior

We hiked the same volcano as we did with Phil and found it much greener

Laura decided to take Ballin up on his offer for a haircut….

…and we were pleased to see he had now learned how to cut layers 🙂

Wine tasting in Lanzarote is a mixed bag…

…but the vineyards are a miracle given the environment

Not all tapas are equally inviting

At least we could watch the first rugby test

An outdoor rooftop cinema that was showing Mamma Mia II

A beacon of optimism…

…to offset Mr Grumpy and his wife

Another hike along the coast was full of foamy inlets

Don’t look down

A good view over the ocean we are soon to be crossing

I must confess that I’d hoped to be better able to deal with these setbacks by now, and it’s tough reading back the last couple of paragraphs and seeing how little progress I’ve made since on dealing with the realities of a sailing life over this last year. We’ve certainly covered more miles in the boat than I have managed in the development of my own character, and there is clearly a lot more for me to learn about ‘Serenity First’ before we are done. And that is where at least I can find some cause for hope, as more time is what we have.

In fact, I’m still about to embark on the challenge / dream of a lifetime surrounded by some of the people dearest to me, despite all the setbacks. And at no point in the last 12 months has quitting ever been considered as an option. So perhaps in this light, I need to redefine what success means. I’m reminded of that famous source of motivational wisdom:

For those that haven’t see it, it might help to hear it in Sylvester Stallone’s voice? I guess we are still moving forwards and that’s all that matters…see you on the other side. x