| | A sigh of relief, the starter motor works! We can continue and leave the island of Graciosa behind us. We decide to sail south along the west coast of Lanzarote to Isla de Lobos. It is not that warm, a bit cloudy and there is 5 to 6 knots of wind, but we are sailing again! We have 43 nautical miles ahead, so a full day of sailing. Lobos is located north of Fuerteventura. On this side of Lanzarote you see fewer villages with the exception of El Golfo, where we have previously been with the car. A true paradise for surfers. As the day progresses, the temperature rises and we can enjoy the sun. We have enough power and bake a delicious fresh bread with the bread bake machine. Jammie, a fresh slice of bread with butter!
General info
Isla de Lobos is an uninhabited, 6 kmē island located three kilometres northeast of Fuerteventua. Explorers and Spanish soldiers landed on the island from the beginning of the 15th century. They found a colony of monk seals ('sea wolves') that proved to be an easy prey for the hungry adventurers. The unfortunate seals gave the island its current name. In 1865 the lighthouse was built on the Punta de Martino. Since 1982 the island is part of the natural park 'Parque Natural Dunas de Correlajo-Isla de Lobos' and enjoys a protected status. There are more than 130 different plant species in the north of the island and the rock faces provide shelter for different types of seabirds. On the west side is a volcano of which one side has collapsed. On the east side there is a harbour where the boats can moor. The island has no permanent residents since 1968, when the lighthouse keeper and his family left the island. In El Puertito, the only town on Lobos there are only a few houses, including two restaurants for day-trippers,. Here the ferries also moor.
An element that you have to take into account is the wind, which can be pretty strong locally. It is nothing for nothing that the island owes its name to the almost always present trade winds ('fuerte ventura' = strong winds). This is especially noticeable when we sail around the point towards the island of Lobos. A large shoebox passes through it, as we call the large passenger boats. Just before the island we sail between the kite surfers to the anchorage. But we do not have to anchor, because to our surprise there are about ten moorings here. Fred and I are so well attuned that we pick up and moor the mooring in one go. Across the street lies the island of Fuerteventura with the large town of Correlajo. From this place it is a coming and going day of boats, such as large catamarans with screaming music and tourists who are allowed to splash around in the water. Fortunately, these boats disappear at the end of the day and we have it all to ourselves now. The next day a crew member of one of the catamarans warns that our mooring would not be safe. We do not worry too much, after all we have been sitting one night and not noticed anything. We also always use the anchor alarm. We thank him kindly but just stay there. The water is super clear here and large schools of fish swim around the boat. When we go swimming a little later, between all the fish, we immediately look under our diving goggles to see if our mooring is well fixed. Our mooring has not as big a piece of concrete on the bottom as the other moorings, but it is for our boat heavy enough. No problem! We stay here two nights quietly on the mooring and can enjoy a beautiful sunset,
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