Arguineguín, according to official figures, has a population of 2,309. At the makeshift reception centre, cobbled together four months ago and intended to shelter 500 people, the number of occupants has swelled to almost 2,700 over recent weeks. Nowhere is the strain and chaos more evident than on the dock at Arguineguín. Last year, 2,557 migrants arrived in the archipelago, up from 1,307 in 2018. Over the past 11 months, about 20,000 people have braved the Atlantic route from Africa to Europe, with more than 8,000 arriving in the Canaries in November alone. Sailing north from the capital, Santa Cruz, you’ll find high cliffs and a sheltered bay just south of the island’s north-east tip, part of a national park and protected from all but southerly winds.īy Anne Hammick, published by RCCPF/Imray at £45īy Oliver Solanas Heinrichs and Mike Westin, published by Imray at £29.Almost 15 years after the “ cayuco crisis” of 2006, when about 36,000 people reached the Spanish archipelago in small and dangerous cayucos, or fishing boats, the Canaries are once again struggling to cope with the arrival of thousands of migrants and refugees. Lobos’s famous turquoise lagoons are a short walk away. The beach is a sandy expanse making a neat cove, well protected from the north and north-east but subject to local winds. The islet of Lobos is a mile north of Fuerteventura. Exposure to the Trade Winds mean great sailing here, too. Graciosa, just north of Lanzarote, is a marine reserve and boasts some of the most unspoilt beaches in the Canaries. Take your pick of a number of bays on this well-named coast, sheltered from the winds but open to an ocean swell at times.Ĭrystal-clear waters and a sandy bottom, but it can get busy here in the summer. Around the point to the south, you find some of the Canaries’ famous black sand beaches, many small and uncrowded. Protected from the prevailing northeasterly winds. Volcanic badlands and crystal clear anchorages at the spectacular Montana Amarilla on Graciosa, an islet just north of LanzaroteĪ series of perfect sandy beaches with crystal-clear waters. Between December and March, the winds are more variable in direction and strength. Southwesterlies and calms can be encountered in the spring and late summer. The best time to leave Europe for the Canary Islands is between June and October, when the prevailing northerly winds are most reliable. Most yachts head straight to Lanzarote, since it is the most easterly of the islands and offers excellent marine facilities. Some sea schools in the Canary Islands can organise the delivery of your yacht, or provide a skipper for the 750-mile crossing from Portugal or the Med. Essaouira, which is just to the north of Agadir, is another good jumping-off point and is also an attractive, traditional Moroccan town. Stay 30 miles off the African coast down to Agadir, one of the more popular Moroccan ports, which has a new marina. Alternatively, the Moroccan port authorities are getting more used to visiting European yachts. Once south of Portugal, there is the option of diverting to the islands of Madeira or Porto Santo to the north. A well-planned voyage to the islands should prove little more than a downwind ride of four to six days from Lagos or Gibraltar. If you’re crossing Biscay in one leap, you need a clear weather window of several days because low pressure in the Atlantic can bring fierce weather. Thereafter, the northerly Portuguese Trades are strongest from April to September. A charter in the Canary Islands is a good introduction to trade wind cruising
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