EP. 12 - Champagne Sailing from Madeira to the Tricky North-Coast of Tenerife

Friends were already waiting for us on Tenerife, at the city of Garachico. As beautiful as it is there, unfortunately it is located at the lee-shore of the island where the high Atlantic swell hits the rocky coast line. However, we untied the lines, left Madeira and set course South. Only fifteen miles off Madeira we nearly bumped into a group of sperm whales. We were so overwhelmed that we almost dropped the camera. During the next two days we had the best Atlantic-sailing so far: calm seas, good to moderate wind from broad reach, the night with clear skies and a shining moon. In the early morning hours of day 2 we could see the peak of the volcano Teide sticking out of the clouds at the horizon. When at starboard side dark clouds appeared we suddenly got a very strange navigational warning on VHF. Anyway, when we approached the lee-shore coast of Tenerife, it got a bit tricky to navigate between the rocks through the swell.