Here a the latest La Palma new and topics ........

June 5th - 29th

La Palma - Santa Maria + Saõ Miguel  (Azoren) – Madeira – La Palma

(278 hours in high seas, 1814 nautical miles)

We started on June 5th from La Palma together with Patrick P. ("the other one", our video artist), he did not even hesitate one day when he saw our date and the cruise in internet, he just bought his flight! Patrick, you were and you will be a very valuable crew on every cruise, we’d sincerely like to acknowledge again your performance, just great! It took us 132 hours to get to Santa Maria, almost all the time close to the wind, against the waves, nicely inclined and -once in a while- pretty wet. Maybe exactly these conditions, the "perfect weather", rain, the small storm front, which made us change the course for a while, the sperm whale which suddenly emerged next to "Quetzal", dolphins (even at night), the light, the amazing sunsets made this cruise so beautiful, so unique. The experiences were almost as intense as the Atlantic’s blue or the sky in the Azores (to those who might want to know: the famous high pressure was there).

Well, the Austrian "Kaiserschmarrn" (really left his traces :o)) and the delicious "Veltliner", which Patrick offered to us, won’t be forgotten as well as our efforts to paint "our Quetzal" on Villa do Porto’s (Santa Maria) pier (this is not vandalism!)…have a look:

Santa Maria is a pristine, small island with around 5500 inhabitants; it might happen to you, that you are allowed to pay your taxi bill only the next day. This nature, the colours and the interested, open minded and amiable people, their pride impressed us deeply. We’ll come back!

Sadly enough, Patrick had to take his flight back home. Quetzal and his skippers left Santa Maria on June 18th direction Saõ Miguel, to be more precise, the harbor of Ponta Delgada (yes, there are hot showers as well…..now we know which door to open). On June 19th we welcomed our new crew, Thierry, which was the start of skipper Silke’s French classes 2010 (intense!).

Originally we wanted to stay a few days in Saõ Miguel, to see the lava lakes, visit the hot springs in centre island, but very important for us sailors, weather forecasts showed us a window which we couldn’t miss (if so, we’d have been stuck for a week or so without any wind); therefore we left on June 20th already, heading for Madeira.

The wind refused to turn NE and stayed full North, so we jibed a few times on this stage of 602 nautical miles (in 96 hours), we could sail a lot in beam reach or even "butterfly". No more wet weather gear, sun protection was needed!

On the 24th we reached Quinta do Lorde Marina (Madeira) and experienced the "usual", brilliant service. The "marineros" came out into the bay with their zodiac (they really do enjoy this) to welcome us and accompany us in - a very warm and friendly atmosphere.

We took our time to stroll through Funchal and Macchico, till, on June 27th, we cast off, course La Palma. Well, we couldn’t beat our own record this time, it took us 40 hours of brilliant sailing conditions till we moored up in our box in Tazacorte.

Since a few days now we are back on "our island", but somehow we are still sailing …. It was just too good.

The Azores are a MUST, Quetzal and us, we’ll be there next summer. Want to join us?!

Ah, not to forget, have a look a tour photo gallery, just click here!

May 11th - 19th

For a short time only we are back on La Palma, as we’ll sail up to the Azores in June.

STOP, let’s start from the beginning:

Together with our friends Hans and Franz we were cruising amongst the Canary Islands – again, we have to say.  Most of the time it was pretty windy but these two, very experienced sailors, just put on their "storm hoods" and enjoy with us the freedom of sailing the Atlantic ocean. Again we logged a lot of nautical miles, trained our muscles (while laughing a lot), enjoyed the "vitamins" their brought and had a nice reunion on board of Quetzal with our English friends from La Gomera. It was just beautiful, thanks a lot for all and hope to see you very soon again.

We promise to improve the quality; on our next cruise we'll have an expert with us who might help with good advice.

February 10th - 25th, 2010

There is just one word to describe this cruise: "monster cruise"

Often we had "monster winds" and some "monster waves" coming along with it, but "monster calms" as well as – most important – "monster fun" i.e. when looking and identifying stars (oohhh i-pod....).

Patrick P. (the other one - nicknamed Matias) thank you so much for this great video, thank you, Dirk, for your understanding when we got stuck in the harbours due to gale warnings, thanks to both of you for this really unforgettable cruise. We are looking forward to see these two sailors on board again – surely under better meteorological conditions, this was unique.

Have a look at the photogallery, news pics will follow soon.

December 2009 / January 2010

Just like the rest of Europe (and not only Europe) we had / still have a very unstable meteorological situation here on the Canary Islands. There is one low pressure after the other crossing the Atlantic Ocean and we stay without the normal NE winds. Christmas was very stormy with lots of rain, big waves and landslides; so the archipelago was in "alerta" for weeks.

Due to these really bad conditions we unfortunately had to cancel our Christmas- / New Year Cruise. Safety first and we'd like our sailors to have fun out there on the ocean. We honestly do hope, Doris, Dirk and Haimo to welcome you on board in the very near future with perfect weather conditions!

2010 started with a 3 days cruise to La Gomera, due to waves we postponed this one a day but all the six of us stayed on board, discovered the area around Los Llanos de Aridane and for sure had delicious tapas in "La Luna". Well fed we started on Jan. 8th pretty early, had a great long stroke, a few pilot whales and a bunch of nautical miles. Jörg, you won't forget your birthday present, right ?! Susanne and Jörg got addicted and want to sail again with us; we are already looking forward to it and keep on training our risible muscles. Thomas and Martina were on a "discover Atlantic cruise" and wanted to experience Quetzal. It was an advanced cruise but they, better all of the crew, could see what kind of a boat and how good Quetzal is. With a lot of enthusiasm our helmsmen and -women posed for some photos, have a look at the gallery!

We would like to thank the 4 of you for the good time we had, lots of fun and the great photos. See you soon aboard!

October 16th - 30th, 2009

Together with Gudrun and Detlef, proud owners of a Dufour 32, we left for a 2 weeks trip starting and ending in La Palma.

This was a real holiday cruise, we had a few stops so that our sailors could learn and discover a little the beautiful Canary Islands. We sailed amongst La Palma, La Gomera, Tenerife and Gran Canary, we had gentle winds, saw lots of whales, enjoyed excursions and typical food on the different islands and all this under "burning" sun (to escape was easy, a swim in 23ºC warm Altantic ocean or taking snorkel gear…).

Thanks a lot for your company and hello to Kyritz!

October 1st - 11th, 2009

La Palma – Madeira – Tenerife – La Palma

This time the two of us left La Palma to pick up our sailors Hans, Franz and Erich in Madeira. As kind of habit we logged 470 nautical miles (instead of 250 direct), 'cause we love sailing and because we had headwinds. It was a bit annoying that we caught kilos of ropes during the second night in our propeller. So motoring was "a little difficult". In case something similar happens to you once, make sure it happens close to Marina Quinta do Lorde in Madeira. The "marineros", assisted by a zodiac, helped us to berth Quetzal safely. Once in our berth we could clean the propeller from its ropes, Quetzal was well prepared for new adventures when Hans, Franz and Erich arrived. We had good reasons to celebrate this in Lord’s Restaurant (big recommendation again!).

With the crew complete we put out to sea, bearing Lanzarote. The first night was just awesome, the second – unfortunately – we had to motor as southerly headwinds were too smooth. This happened again when we reached Lanzarote, the first day we enjoyed sailing in the channel between Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, the next day this was impossible – dead calm. So, we made the best out of it and took the chance to change the rubber washer of our Maxprop. Hans, thank you very much for your valuable help as board mechanic; Franz and Erich thanks for your support and your understanding. Back to cruising we spent a great night mooring in Punta del Viento (Fuerteventura), next day we stopped in Morro Jable, which had really changed in the last 15 years - right, Patrick? We had favorable conditions to do a long sail over night to Las Galletas; we all enjoyed the acceleration zone between Gran Canary and Tenerife. Sadly enough, we had to leave our sailors in Tenerife, as their flight back home was starting from there.

It is a shame, that you weren’t able to see the "dolphin-soup" ("Patrick") we had on La Gomera’s south coast while the sunlight was  fading …..

Quite a long entry, right? We’ll stop now and would like to thank you for cruising with us, all the vitamins and presents you brought and are looking forward to seeing you very soon again!!

September 8th - 18th, 2009

Well, this cruise started off in a very special way. Winni, Frank and Dirk brought a self-designed crew shirt for us all. With great pleasure we wore it on all the evening events, meaning lemon and vitamin drinks. But it wasn’t just that Polo; we all formed a really good crew. For us, Patrick & Silke & Quetzal, these 10 days with you guys just passed too quickly, your cool jokes, your will to share the work on board, awesome sailing, the "FOBs" and "PAN PANs"  (insider  ;o)) … we miss it already. When did you say you’ll come back?!

Thanks a lot for this really wonderful cruise with you!

June 2nd - June 17th, 2009

Madeira – Tenerife

May 23rd - June 2nd, 2009

La Palma – Madeira

On May 23rd we left together with Stefan, Albert and Axel Santa Cruz de La Palma, bearing Madeira. As we had northerly winds we had to tack "a little", instead of 250 nautical miles we sailed 492. Well, this is what we are here for, to enjoy sailing! It was great, even though these 72 hours were demanding untill we tied up in Funchal. Anyway with such a good crew – no problem at all. Well, Stefan once had a "polar bear" feeling (sorry – insider ;o)) and we have to say "chapeau" as this was his first sailing trip ever. It was an immense pleasure to have you on board and we hope to see you very soon again. Starting from Funchal with Axel and Albert, who had longer vacations - and just couldn't get enough miles - we headed to Islas Desertas and Porto Santo and returned to Madeira. This time we found berth in Quinta do Lorde, a brand new marina with an incredibly good service and a top quality restaurant. Finally with more than 600 logged nautical miles our two sportsmen started hiking the stunning São Lourenço trail. We had wonderful and intense ten days with you guys, some photos (a very small selection only) can be found in our gallery. Quetzal and the two of us are looking forward to put out to sea again with you in the near future.

End of March - Beginning of May

Quite some time since our last update in this section…. Why? Well, we were out there – sailing.

The end of March we had Uli with us, that was good fun and we learned a lot from each other (well, mainly the skipper, she got "brush-up" French lessons). A shame that Uli was not in his best of health, but we all will remember how we enjoyed  this common trip (yes, just keep on going with your distance teaching  – we both love it!). Hopefully we’ll manage to arrange another cruise together.

Shortly after that we had three sailors who have chosen Switzerland as their new home country. What a coincidence! Anyway, this time it was pretty sportive with good winds, but this crew really loves the sea. Daniel is looking to buy his own ship soon, Marie-Pierre remembered her childhood and got addicted again to sea and sailing, Michael is just a phenomenon helming and absolutely seaworthy. Patrick and Silke will start their training now, as they plan to cross La Isla Bonita (La Palma) together with Marie-Pierre and Michael on their next visit (pssst, it’s a secret) and maybe / hopefully (!) we’ll sail a longer trip together. Hey, thanks ever so much for the chocolate ;o)).

Then we had Matthias, Claudia, Alfred and Petra on board, originally the wanted to sail the Balearic Islands…. Well, what else to say? The Atlantic is not bad either! La Palma, La Gomera and Tenerife were the islands we touched on this cruise. Once in a while we sailed a little sportive, on other occasions we anchored in lonesome bays for swimming. During this week, you won’t believe it; we had DOLPHINS EVERY DAY, and not just a few. Occasionally they were joined by pilot whales and on our last day we saw turtles as well. Awesome!

You’ll find some new photos here on our web.

March 17th, 2009

Very sad news today: our good friend Andy, a pasionated sailor, died last Saturday on his sailing yacht "Three Coins" in the harbor of Tazacorte.

Today we joined him together with his family and friends on his last cruise. His ashes were given to the ocean he loved so much. Whenever you feel a wave knocking on the hull of your boat or even entering your cockpit, be happy, this might be Andy joining you for a few miles.

Andy, dear friend, you’ll always be with us!

February, 2009

This month we started a 2 weeks cruise with Dirk and Heinz, two Germans, among the Canary Islands. Unfortunately the weather forecasts weren’t that stable, so we didn’t sail up to La Graciosa; "next time – Mr. Man". But we enjoyed these days, we had it all:relaxed sailing, swimming and anchoring in lonesome bays all around La Gomera and Tenerife, we sailed Tenerife’s North coast (those who know the waters will recognize that this is only possible a few days per year), we had some sportive sailing (especially the 1st week) as well. We’d like to close with a personal hint: whenever you got Heinz on board – forget about your diet.

As usual, you’ll find photos in our gallery.

January, 2009

What does a sailor do on January 1st?! Right, just like us he’ll be out on the seas to enjoy. Under best conditions we enjoyed a few trips in January. Thanks a lot to Susanne, Axel, Alejandra, Marcelo and their 13 year old son Fran, who recently managed to qualify for the Spanish Championships in the Optimist class (Congratulations Fran, we are really proud of you!). On one of these occasions Marcelo managed to grab this video (thanks’ Marcelo!)

video: Dolphins

December 8th - 10th, 2008

Now we are known as sailors in Chile and not only as affectionate hikers over there. Thanks a lot Matías, Patrick and Roland for this great trip to and almost around La Gomera. We started pretty relaxed and ended more on the sportive side ;o).  We are looking forward to seeing you again in 2009 (?!).

November 15th - 30th, 2008

Your skippers brought Quetzal over to Tenerife to welcome Hans and Franz, the ones who just love to fill their nautical millage account, on board. Needless to say that with this experienced crew it was just a pleasure. Thanks a lot for all, as well as for all your presents! We are looking forward to our cruise next year, starting in Madeira…… we’ll be there to pick you up in Funchal.

October 17 th – 20th, 2008

It’s hard to find words to describe this trip. First Iris and Alfred gave it a try on a daytrip – with quite a nice wind. Right away they decided to book a 2 days trip as well, heading to La Gomera and spending the night anchoring in Valle Gran Rey (despite they had booked a very beautiful Finca here on La Palma). This was a great trip, not that many animals this time, BUT perfect sailing days. Such conditions with this fine crew – again a dream! Hey, seems that glider pilots have got a slight advantage when taking the rudder, or did he just copy his wife ;o)?!

September 2nd - October 7th, 2008

Just a few words are sufficient to describe this trip:

A gourmet tour, this reflects our food on board (Rainer, your farmer’s breakfast – just delicious) as well as the wind conditions (never without and once in a while a little sportive with refs taken, always in time as we know the acceleration zones – Rainer and Nele will know them now as well). A small hiking trip and the "Fiesta Lustrales" in La Gomera and a stop in Tenerife were further highlights on this trip. You were a superb crew and we hope to see you again on board soon!!!

September 2nd - 8th, 2008

The original plan was to sail Quetzal back via Montaña Roja (Tenerife) and Valle Gran Rey (Gomera) to La Palma. But a group of interested people in the regatta Las Palmas (Gran Canaria) to Funchal (Madeira) showed up. So, change of plans, even though we didn’t compete (as this is not in the skipper's interests) we joined a little later as accompanying boat. These 284 nautical miles were quite a challenge for our Spanish sailing beginners. 104 boats started, but only very few finished the regatta under sails as winds were really low. It was a wonderful experience. All boats were accompanied by a Portuguese frigate guarantying radio contact and security all the time. Most of the competing boats withdrew from the race and started motors. We, too, had to use our machine for about 15 hours. In total it took us 64 hours to get to Funchal. Both skippers shared the night shifts in well proved manner.
The committee responsible for the anniversaries (Funchal 500th and Real Club Nautico de Las Palmas 100th ) organized a lot of activities like sightseeing trips on the island or dinners for all the participants. The 2 skippers will surely come back; they like to cross the island on food (yes, these 2 sailors like hiking, too).
The way back to La Palma, this time with an experienced crew, was just a dream; constant winds of 15 to 20 knots and very calm seas. It took just 40 hours to get back to Santa Cruz de La Palma, sort of a shame as the skippers and their crew could have easily continued under these perfect conditions.

Shortly you’ll find some more pictures here on the page.

August 2008

Quetzal sailed with his owners to Tenerife in order get the yearly maintenance work (new antifouling and anodes, check on maxprop, all the valves, mast, rig …) done. The possibilities on La Palma are a bit limited for a yacht with 2,10 m draft. Now he's prepared for new adventures.

Juli 2008

2 nice trips in July with very good crews! Unfortunately no dolphines on these trips but we enjoyed "Alisio", "Hemmingways" ;o) and much more. Quetzal got a great present and he's really appreciating it. Thanks again friends for the good time with you all and special regards to Mühlheim.

Also we'd like to thank Karen and Matt, our Australian friends, for their great company, we keep our fingers crossed for you, have a safe trip with "Where II". Hope to see you soon again on La Palma. We are ready for new adventures.

June 19th

We managed to load some pictures of our last trip. Have a look. We'll provide more pictures from our different trips shortly.

June 1st - 15th, 2008

We just came back from a superb trip. This time we noticed that the „Alisio“ is getting stronger, the acceleration zones between the islands are wider and more marked. With changing crew members we sailed amongst La Palma, La Gomera, Tenerife and Gran Canaria (route: Santa Cruz de La Palma – Valle Gran Rey (Gomera) – San Miguel (Tenerife) – Valle Gran Rey – San Sebastian (La Gomera) – Montaña Roja (Tenerife) – Puerto de Mogan (Gran Canaria) – San Miguel – Santiago (La Gomera) – Valle Gran Rey and ending again in Santa Cruz de La Palma). Highlights on this trip were the encounters with fin whales (common rorqual, see picture) and lots of dolphins which joined us the first days. Omar often spotted them first. This time we also hiked and rented cars for sightseeing on Tenerife and La Gomera; nevertheless we logged 432 nautical miles, we anchored in lonesome bays or spent the nights in different harbours. Another speciality on this trip: the „Gourmet-Effect“, thanks again Huguette and Norbert for Fois Gras, Saucisson, Picodon........Résumé: just delicious oops sorry a great trip with a great, international crew. Thanks a lot Omar, Huguette, Norbert, Harald and Jay. Quetzal and his skippers are looking forward to see you again on board.

May 10th- 17th, 2008

301 nautical miles in 1 week! Again we enjoyed Sailing, once in a while with sportive winds - but with this crew pure pleasure – we had it all: anchoring, tacking, gybing, goosewing, reefs, dolphins, turtles, cap over board manoeuvre (with success!!), Sailing at night (which is unique due to the clear skies here). Again the "carajillo" was very much appreciated. Hans and Franz: WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO SEE YOU AGAIN NEXT YEAR!

April 12th- 19th, 2008

"Quetzal" enjoyed a wonderful 1-week-trip with a superb crew.
From time to time we had little winds but on the other hand we experienced some sportive sailing as well due to the acceleration zones between the islands. Over all fantastic sailing, lots off encounters with whales, dolphins and turtles. We enjoyed bathing in Valle Gran Rey, lonesome moorings and a beautiful little hike on La Gomera.
We found the place for the best „Carajillo“ on the Canaries! (Please tell us in case you doubt!!). You’ll find very soon some pictures in the photogallery.

March 22nd / 23rd, 2008

"Quetzal" did his first trip to La Gomera. We anchored and slept in Valle Gran Rey. Even a little discovery trip with the zodiac to the beach was on the schedule. On our way back to La Palma we saw some common rorquals , we managed to take a few photos but quality resulted pretty bad .......

March 15th, 2008

"Quetzal" is online. Find out ;o).

2007/ 2008

It was pretty quiet on our topics for a while, sorry for that. You'll find the reason on this page. Some new photos are already in, more text and explanation will follow shortly. Enjoy ;o)

September 19th, 2007

Mother nature was really generous today: half an hour our boat was accompanied by roughly 30 dolphins. They even presented a little show of somersaults an other tricks. This was magic....

August, 2007

Ryanair now offers flights to La Palma and / or Teneriffe. Connections from Teneriffe North to La Palma are provided on an hourly basis by Binter airways.

June 25th, 2007

No dolphins today, but a nice snapshot ...

May 12th, 2007

For three days now “Calima” provides us with temperatures around 35°C. What’s better than enjoy a fresh breeze while sailing? Furthermore we were really lucky today and could observe a school of dolphins for quite some time.

May 10th, 2007

Virus moved to his summer berth near the lighthouse (Faro) on the south peak of the island. Due to the North – East Passat winds we’ll be able to enjoy good sailing conditions on a calm sea for the next weeks. Additional fun is guaranteed as the transfer from the beach will be done with “Titanic 3”.....find out!

March 26th, 2007

You were missing entries here? Well, we had some bad weather (rain, thunderstorms) but still there are positive news we don’t want to hold back:

- “Virus” is now on Club Nautico‘s jetty in Santa Cruz
- Today again we experienced “Virus” in surf on the waves. (winds of 3-4 Beaufort). Awesome, the whole crew was enthusiastic!

March 14th, 2007

Finally....our guestbook is online.

March 4th, 2007

Even though we enjoyed a perfect lunar eclipse last night, we met our Virus early this morning (tough enough), had very nice winds and were rewarded ....Our highlight today: a TURTLE! A little surprise every day.....

March 1st, 2007

WE ARE ONLINE! Many thanks to Ingrid, Huguette and Norbert, Conchi and Patrick, Carmen and Federico, Gabi, Olli and some special ones to our cats Ruby and Topazio for impressive skills on the keyboard and with the mouse.