Graciosa

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    </B><B>|</B><B>     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="CY 2008"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> back to  <A HREF="canaries.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Canaries"><U><B>Canaries</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=398 colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <div> <B>Graciosa</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B><IMG SRC="38df48f0.gif" border=0 width="500" height="399" ALT="Bitmap Image" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Graciosa Center, Isla de Montana Clara Top, Lanzarote Below</B></div> <div> <B>Dakare is Anchored in the Southern End of Graciosa</B></div> <bR> <div> We were anchored out in Graciosa for 4 days.  There is not much there accept for the rugged terrain, some good vistas, a small village that has a nice grocery store and several restaurants and bars and a marina with limited facilities (It can take large boats like Dakare but only diesel can be found there, no gasoline.)</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B><IMG SRC="27eb2f40.jpg" border=0 width="434" height="500" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>APT Satellite picture of Thunderstorms (Red, Yellow & Green)</B></div> <div> <B>Dakare sits unscathed in Graciosa (Yellow Cross)</B></div> <bR> <div> We spent several pleasant days in Graciosa anchored out along with a varying amount of other boats.  When we arrived there were only 2 cruisers in the bay.  By the time we left, we had seen as many as 2 dozen.  Fortunately, the bay is large enough to graciously accommodate that level (and more) of boats.  Usually, on a daily basis, a glass bottom tour boat would come into the harbor and disgorge tourist who scurried  about the island and deploying the multitudinous water activity equipment that they stashed on the  beach.  At least they did not play ear deafening music like some of the tour boats we encountered in Greece and Turkey.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Position Log Report from Graciosa</B></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="508" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#FFFF99 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 757 WIDTH="496"><div> Oct 16, 2008</div> <div> Hi,</div> <bR> <div> We arrived safe and sound in Graciosa, Canary Islands at Midnight.</div> <bR> <div> Wind was between 15 - 22 knots the whole way.  We had a fast passage just missing the 200 mile a day mark.  We got in earlier than expected by about 6-8 hours so we had to find our way into a reef-lined bay in the dark.  Our chart plotter was of invaluable help.  </div> <bR> <div> Karen is thinking that she will leave to go back to Esparros sometime this coming week from </div> <div> Lanzarote, the island adjacent to us.  She needs to check airline scheds before making her final decision.</div> <bR> <div> I will start putting together a chore list to occupy my time while Karen is gone, which inevitably seems to grow faster than I can write.  Part of the fun I guess.</div> <div> Karen has made sure that taking care of Josh is at the top of the list.  ...My god is that cat spoiled.  My list for him is larger than Dakare's To Do list!</div> <bR> <div> Before leaving Madeira, we did a major update to our website.  For those of you who were inquiring about Madeira, we highly recommend it as a place to visit.  We have put plenty of pictures of Madeira on its web page: www.Dakare.com, go to pink box => 2008  => Madeira.  </div> <bR> <div> Personal Note:  Carina - If you are approaching Graciosa at night, you will see the lights of Lanzarote off your starboard side from about 20NM out. Continue in.  There are no lights on Graciosa which will be on your port side.  Max C charts are valid.  We anchored in second bay at southern end.  Anchorage unobstructed, much like Porto Santo, but with no nav lights.  Beware of the unlit boats anchored.</div> <bR> <div> Enjoy!</div> <bR> <div> Dan and Karen and Josh</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> Graciosa is a relatively barren island, mostly volcanic.  Walking paths can be found all over the island and they are sometimes frequented by mountain bicyclist who can rent bikes on the island or who bring their bikes with them by ferry.  The ferry lands at the only town / harbor on the island which is about 2-3 NM from the bay.  The town was pretty much deserted and it appeared that most of the homes were locked up tight, looking more like vacation homes than normal residences.  We thought that Graciosa was interesting enough to visit but we weren't sure that we would be interested in owning a vacation home here.  Some people obviously tried to landscape their yards, but with the lack of water, this is a task that has limited possibilities.  We mostly saw cactus and a few flowering plants.</div> <bR> <div> We went to the town looking for gas for our dinghy. There is a marina there, but as it turns out, they only sell diesel, not gasoline.  Two fishermen were there and were kind enough to give us some of the gasoline that they use to run their genset for illumination while they fish at night.   They refused to accept any money.  I figured that they gave us about 10EU, or $15 worth of fuel (Remember, here in Europe that amounts to only a small amount.) We found that there were 2 grocery stores in town and about 4 restaurants.  We stopped off at the one store and to our surprise, in this village of unpaved, wind blown sand and pebble streets, that the grocery store was quite well stocked.  Better than most!  So we bought a few things for ourselves and some beer and soda for the fishermen to say thanks.  </div> <bR> <div> The fishermen told us that they go fishing for grouper (They call it Nero) and will typically stay out for 2-3 days.  They like to come back with about 100 - 150 Kg's of fish.  They said that they fish typically at 400 meters with baited hooks.  They use frozen fish bait on their hooks.  They typically fish in very deep waters and therefore cannot anchor out.  So they use burlap bags filled with stones (about 200 pounds) and lower the bags down to about the same depth that they fish.  They drift using the sac of rocks and they told us that it is very effective in preventing them form moving about.  When it is time to leave, they step on the pedal, so to speak, with the bag of rocks below.  The burlap cannot take the stress and tears, releasing the rock to the abysmal depths below.  Once the rocks are released they hand pull up the lanyard now holding the decimated burlap bag.  They typically carry 4 loaded bags, but they showed us their stash of rocks and burlap bags just in case.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B><IMG SRC="28769920.jpg" border=0 width="873" height="146" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>A 360 Degree View from a Summit on Graciosa</B></div> <div> You can see the anchorage with about 2 dozen boats and Lanzarote is the island in the background.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="28af44d0.jpg" border=0 width="500" height="333" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>The Same Anchorage in Graciosa</B></div> <div> As seen from Lanzarote - the tour boat discussed above, can be seen in the lower right of the bay</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="716" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#FFFF99 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 240 ><NOBR><div> <B><IMG SRC="28c5ee90.jpg" border=0 width="350" height="233" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <B><IMG SRC="29c5ee90.jpg" border=0 width="350" height="233" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 ><NOBR><div> <B>Beautiful Colors in Pristine Waters</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <B>Dakare is the 5th boat from the right</B></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 240 ><NOBR><div> <B><IMG SRC="2905ee90.jpg" border=0 width="350" height="233" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <B><IMG SRC="2925ee90.jpg" border=0 width="350" height="233" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="352"><div> <B>Sunset Graciosa Style</B></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="345"><div> <B>Welcoming Sign</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 525 ><NOBR><div> <B><IMG SRC="29a5e1a0.jpg" border=0 width="350" height="282" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="2a05ee90.jpg" border=0 width="350" height="233" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <B> </B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="2980fd80.jpg" border=0 width="271" height="472" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 36 WIDTH="352"><div> <B>The only town on Graciosa, upper photo taken from Lanzarote, lower from the harbor</B></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="345"><div> <B>On the Summit of Graciosa</B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <I><B>Return to </B></I><A HREF="canaries.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Canaries"><U><I><B>Canaries Page</B></I></U></A></div> <div> <I><B>Return to </B></I><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="CY 2008"><U><I><B>CY2008</B></I></U></A></div> <div> <I><B>Return to  </B></I><A HREF="http://www.dakare.com/MedCruise/index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.dakare.com/MedCruise/index.ht"><U><I><B>Cruising</B></I></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.dakare.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.dakare.com"><U><B>Return to Home Page</B></U></A></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>