Full marina at Gran Tarajal

We set off for Gran Tarajal at 14.00 hours with a forecast 15 to 20 knots of wind on the beam set to go down to next to nothing by the early hours of the next day. What we got was light winds on the beam on leaving Puerto Mogan - winds of the "sail up - sail down " variety. However, things hanged once we reached the corner of the island and we got the forecast winds, although not  quite the forecast direction as they were on the nose and the seas were short and choppy. We should have sailed and tacked but my stomach decided to rebel and I'm afraid we kept the engine on to lessen the distance we needed to cover.

I managed to stand all but an hour of my overnight watches, albeit with a bowl in my hands. By the early hours, the wind did indeed drop and my stomach ceased its rebellion and we arrived outside Gran Tarajal around 14-00  hours.

The pilot book said just go in - no need to call up, so, wondering what we might find after storm Emma, we entered the harbour. What we did find was plenty of empty spaces and an undamaged marina (though the main port is cordoned off and they are in the process of raising the two sunken ships.

There was a security guard on the pontoon and he guided us into a spot and we tied up very relieved to be there as we had not been sure all was well in the marina. Later a second security guard came along and asked us if we had a radio and why we had not called up. We told him that a security guard had already allocated us this berth and he went away seeming satisfied with this. We then went to the harbour office with documents and filled out the required forms. We were told that they could not take payment and that we must register online with Puertos Canarios, who manage this marina,

Easier said than done. There is no wifi in the marina (and only cold showers and no launderette). So, several visits to internet cafes later complete with uploaded photos of documents already copied by the harbour office and after finally navigating the appallingly designed and confusing website, we awaited a response.

Said response arrived 3 days later - in essence it said," You cannot come to this marina as it is full." Er... we are here - have been for 5 days and it is the emptiest marina we have seen this year - we want to pay!! I sent an e mail to this effect and also discovered that the boat next to us had been given the same response and had sent off a similar reply.

We  awaited a response. Then, the next day we wandered up to the office and were invited by a maritime policeman to pay  as he had received an invoice. Strange but true and now fully paid up and bemused, we remain in Gran Tarajal until the end of the month.

It is a real Canarian town as opposed to a tourist trap and it has real Canarian prices too. We look forward to the month here and to the arrival of our daughter Heather and granddaughter Freya with whom we will spend a week on dry land in an apartment.