Cruising to Lanzarote with the Boyz!!!

Sunday 10th November

Lanzarote is HOT! We've been able to wear shorts and t-shirts for a few months now but we were still surprised by the heat during the day here. As I write this Marc is lying in the sun and Matt is putting the boat back together. Yesterday, at 3AM we arrived in Puerto Calero, Lanzarote, it a great feeling and the boys were particularly happy as it meant they could make their flight home this morning. This obviously changed as by yesterday evening they were in FULL holiday swing and wished they had another week like Marc.

I'll take you back a week to Gibraltar, Marc eventually made it to the Marina although BA - Bags Anywhere, had this time managed to get the sails on the plane but they forgot his bag! Will they ever get it right! That night I made Marc meatballs, and then the three us of headed to Da Pablo to meet Steve Jackson & Rob Liddiard, two of my friends from Southend. It was great to see them again and as you can imagine the gossip was flying. Marc also beginning from the Southend area has a mutual friend of us, they worked together in the city a few years back before Marc retired for a quieter life in Marine Electronics. Rob asked where he used to work and it comes out that Rob had got his job after he left and knew him as the legend 'Marky the Darky', we were stunned Marc - a legend, Marky the Darky, then we laughed and laughed, what a small world it is!!! Eventually our night down memory lane or Lucy Road, home of Tots & what was Buzz & then Adlib many moons ago came to an end. I woke up the following morning still smiling at the thought of having seen them, I only knew they were there because I thought I passed Steve in the street and it was through an email to Hong Kong that I got his number and it was confirmed I had actually seen him!

Time for the tourist tour, it was up the rock in the cable car and check out the views from the top. We also had the pleasure of seeing some of the monkeys. You are warned to keep all personal belongings hidden, however this one lady, had tied a plastic bag to her handbag, the plastic bag had food in it and it wasn't long until one of the monkeys had grabbed it and split the bag open to find the food, it was really funny, the lady was unhurt just a little hysterical by the whole thing! We came back down and wandered round to the other marina which is really pretty, just a shame about the permanent swell! We enjoyed an afternoon drink there! We dined onboard that night and retired to our beds early after such a busy day!

Sunday, was the typical Sunday you dream of. The sun was shining and we had tapas at Biancas around lunchtime and then a roast onboard in the evening. We were awaiting the arrival of Phil & Hutch who were flying in via Malaga and getting a taxi from there, with an estimated arrival of 2AM! Phil was introduced to Disco by Scotty, they're old teenage friends! We went to bed to get a few hours sleep before they arrived and just incase they were late. They actually arrived at 1.45AM, we said quick hellos and how are yous and then all dashed back to our beds.

Monday morning we went to Safeways to do the BIG shop for the trip, Scotty arrived around lunchtime so we headed to Da Pablo for lunch. The boys then wandered into town to buy cheap cigarettes, black label vodie & digital cameras! That night we enjoyed our last meal ashore in Biancas and tucked ourselves into bed early as we hoped to leave around lunch time.

Matt was up early and off to customs and then the delivery depot to collect the NEW Burn Rubber, Scotty and I went to buy the water and soft drinks. I ordered 2 slabs, 1 of lilt the other of coke, Scotty decided to raise the coke to 2 slabs and then to 3, clearly a thirsty boy! Matt arrived back with the dinghy, the drinks were packed away, we had an early lunch and pushed off into the Straits of Gibraltar, we put the sails up and we managed to sail off into the sunset!

The watches were set up with two people always on deck and worked a two hours on and four hours off system, it worked well and we all managed to sleep reasonably well, except the night when it blew a maximum of 37knots and the swell was large, we were all being thrown around our bunks, one off watch I slept across my bunk with my foot on the wall to hold me in! The leecloths will be up very shortly!!!

The trip was full of delights from dolphins to fresh bread and chocolate muffins. Just a few trial menu ideas for the ARC, mmmm its going to be great this year, I bought loads of bits in Gibraltar as there is much more choice there than in the Canaries.

The trip was fast until the last 12 hours when the wind started and then completely died until our arrival. So it was time for some fun. Marc went up the mast first to try and spot land, he was unsuccessful so Scotty went next, he came down the pole uphaul and from there the only way down was into the sea! He was dunked! Personally I would have felt like fishing bait being dangled off the side into the water but he was mad for it. Phil was next up, and showed off real monkey antics which just reinforced his Disco nickname of 'Monkey Boy'. He was really thrilled with that!

Lanzarote wasn't spotted until we were really close, there was a fog surrounding the south coast, we got in no problems, it came in a lot thicker once we were all sorted.

We celebrated our arrival in Puerto Calero with a bottle of bubbly and then a few hours sleep before starting the tidy up!

We were back into shape by lunch time, the boys headed into Carmen to watch the rugby and Matt and I went in search of Serendip, a Prima 38, she was originally a Sigma 38 and Matt raced aboard her with Craig & Emma who are taking her on her debut Caribbean Tour. We were thrilled to discover they were both aboard and we went and had lunch to discuss all we'd been up to, they left Cowes in the RORC race to Bayona just after Cowes Week when we left for Palma. It was great to catch up and compare Caribbean programme's, looks like they'll be regulars in Fluff's Diaries!!! Craig first appeared in the ARC photo album last year, he went with El Syd, and was caught with a beard on the side of his head!

Saturday night we met the boys in a bar when they got back from town, clearly all had drunk enough to make up for the alcohol free trip they had just had! The garlic prawns turned up and I was stunned as I watched Phil drink the oil! He was on a real monkey mission, suddenly he was up from the table and running to the toilet with a pair of shoes! Much to Hutch's dismay it was his that were missing from under the table!

For my main course I had a steak with chocolate sauce, it was yummy and could well be appearing on the Disco menu this year! Next was the butter fight between Hutch and Phil, and when the red wine started flying, Matt, Scotty and I were quick to make our exit. Scotty seemed positively sober compared to Phil. As we walked round the marina, we heard a cheer and we thought that maybe that was Phil in the water! We heard the following morning that it was Hutch and Phil having running races along the dock and drawing the attention of the whole bar!

Marc had a great night and made friends with everyone in the whole bar and introduced them to his favourite tipple the 'Wifebeater!' Hutch, Phil & Scotty left the following morning at 7.30AM, we certainly weren't envious of them. So now there are three! Its very relaxing here and we're certainly going to have a fun few weeks here before we leave.

Move on to ARC Antigua 2002

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