Four days after the ARC start, it is time for our grandchildren and their mother Sofia to visit us in Las Palmas. We have promised to meet them at the airport and take the bus to meet them there.

Their flight is on time and we don’t have to wait long to see them come out to the arrivals hall. Great to see them again! The last time we saw them was when we were home during the summer, just over three months since the last time.

They will stay for about a week and they are lucky with the weather, it will be sunny and warm almost all the time. There may be a little rain some day, but it’s just nice to get a little cool sometimes.

A typical day with the grandchildren

Our days together with grandchildren and Sofia begin with breakfast and morning coffee in the boat. Then we pack swimwear and go to Canteras if the weather is nice.

From the boat we are within walking distance to Canteras, the large and centrally located beach here in Las Palmas. Now they are preparing the traditional Christmas exhibition on the beach where a number of sand artists sculpt large sand works of art. Every time we pass there, we stop to see how the sculptures are growing.

There are quite big waves most of the times we were at Canteras and therefore it was too dangerous for the kids to swim by themselves. With grandfather’s help, Sixten dared to try swimming in the waves, which were sometimes bigger than both him and grandfather. We also try building in the sand, although not as big as the Christmas sand sculptures.

As a change from swimming and playing on the beach, there is a large toy department at the Corte Ingles department store. There, the grandchildren liked to spend time and dream about the toys they wanted to play with.

We eat lunch at one of the many restaurants along Canteras and luckily most of them always have a dish that the grandchildren like.

On the day before it is time for Sofia and her kids to fly hom, the Christmas exhibition of sand sculptures was opened. So we took the opportunity to view the wonders while they were still unspoiled by rain.

When we get home from the beach, we go to the pool which is at the yacht club in the marina. To be in the club area you have to be a member and it’s so practical that they sell weekly memberships, accompanied children cost nothing. They have two pooles on the roof of the clubhouse, a 25m and a smaller children’s pool.

After the swim we go back to Sally.

Most of the time we eat dinner on board, but it happened that we went to one of the restaurants in the marina and had dinner.

Boat trip

One afternoon it is time for Sally to release the moorings so that Sixten and Klara get a little ride and the chance to steer Sally when we leave the harbor. Outside the outermost pier there are several meter high waves and without a sail Sally rolls a lot, so we turn back into calmer water inside the pier. Always nice to leave the dock for a boat trip.

Car trip

We had intended to visit a crocodile farm on Gran Canaria and rented a car to go there one day. When we were on our way to find out the exact address, we discovered that the farm was closed that day. Instead, we choose to go to Puerto Mogan, a small cozy port in the far west on the south coast of the island. There the highway ends at a steep rock wall and the road splits. To the left it goes down to the sea (Puerto Mogan) and to the right it goes up into the mountains to Mogan.

Puerto Mogan

It is still low season and the day we are there, there is no market in Puerto Mogan, so it is fine to park the car down in the center. It’s time for lunch and we go to the restaurant at the far end of the pier where there are free tables with a nice view of the beach and all the boats in the harbor. Perfect place for a lunch.

After lunch we go to the beach which is right before you enter the harbour. It is a shallow beach that is protected by piers that remove almost all the swell. They also cause the water to become cloudy at the shore. We cool off after the long walk from the lunch restaurant and the grandchildren dig down a treasure on the beach.

Aquarium Poema Del Mar

Over at the cruise terminal is a large aquarium, Poema del Mar, which we have not visited before. Now we take the grandchildren there with us. It will be a memorable visit for both them and us.

It is a large aquarium with a lot of different tropical fish and some crocodiles in a separate terrarium. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Rain

Sometimes it happens that it rains here in Las Palmas, usually just short showers and then the sun shines again. But one of the days they were here, it was overcast almost all day, so we got back to the boat earlier than usual. Lucky that we have some children’s games and the opportunity to watch Swedish children’s television.

Alone again

Now Sofia and the children have flown home to Sweden and we are back on board ourselves. Now we have plenty of room around the table in the cockpit and we take the opportunity to relax with a glass of cava while the sun goes down and we think back to the days with the grandchildren and Sofia.

Up next

Now we are going to take a Christmas break from Sally and travel home to Sweden to celebrate Christmas and New Years. We will return to the boat at the end of January to spend the rest of the winter and spring with the boat as home. Among other things, we have planned to make a longer sailing trip and visit some other Canary Islands together with Mirja and Håkan in Space.