April / May 2022

Go sailing, not hiking! This could be the conclusion of the accident that I had on a small trail on April 2nd, when I walked back from Playa de Las Mujeres. (Just for clarification: there are also “hombres” on this beach!) Emergency doctor, fire fighters, ambulance, hospital in Arrecife, X-raying … Relax! The left thigh had not broken! Just a severe contusion. It took some weeks until we knew that this diagnosis was wrong!

We had planned for two weeks of sailing during Easter holidays. The first week with my son Konstantin and my daughter Karina, the second week with Anca and her son Luca. Start and end point should have been Santa Cruz de Tenerife. This would have meant me sailing single-handed from Rubicon to Tenerife to meet them there, and afterwards to return to Rubicon again solo. But no chance to do this safely with my injured leg.

So we changed plans. My kids booked a transfer flight from Tenerife to Lanzorte. However, in the first days of their stay, wind conditions were too heavy for any comfortable sailing. But then a weather window opened for Thursday 21st and allowed a 130 nm non-stop trip to Santa Cruz where we arrived after 26 hours on Friday morning.

On Sunday morning, Anca and Luca landed on Tenerife. Together, we did sightseeing in Santa Cruz, some shopping, bought medicine for my leg, and enjoyed nice food and drinks. We again visited the Mercado de Nuestra Señora de Africa. For us, this is always THE place to go when we stay in Santa Cruz.

Like in the week before, the weather forecast was not very promising and showed only one window of opportunity to go back to Lanzarote, just between two storm periods. So we celebrated Karina’s 21st birthday on Easter Monday, and at noon Anca, Luca and I released the mooring lines and left Santa Cruz, whilst Karina and Konstantin flew back to Munich in the afternoon.

Our return trip to Lanzarote was even faster than the outward journey: after 21 hours we arrived in Marina Rubicon! Here, Anca, Luca and I enjoyed the amenities of the marina, but also made some trips on the island by a rental car. And based on Anca’s medical advice, I made an appointment with a traumatologist at a clinic in Zurich.