I have been following a fun blog of a sailor from Australia for about 10 years now. His name is Lauri and he is very much a character. Early on in his years of cruising, he would go on and on about the injustices of the world with his rants and raves. He has mellowed out a bit as he has met a fine woman on his travels and is now married. They continue to travel the world on their old steel sloop, Aliisa. Here is one of their updates from the Atlantic:
Our last port in the Canaries deserves a little space here. You see, after a week in San Sebastian (La Gomera) we decided on one more port, Valle Gran Rey. We had been hanging out with Sym and Amy from Sy Quartermoon and with Simon and Lindsey from Sy Doris. All three of us mozied on around the corner, 15 miles to the spectacular cliffs, dark volcanic sand and clear water. There was naked people on the beach and - as our german rasta-friend Hannnes informed us - a yoga/meditation centre plus a few remaining hippies still living under the cliffs. Finally it was socially acceptable for me to jump in naked!
Valle Gran Rey used to be a hippie-haven in the past. Now it seems popular with Germans. Perhaps the old flower-power oldies come here to see their beach-born children who are now approcaching middle-age and live here, managing their small businesses and shops. Tie-dyed clothes, hand-made jewlery, astrology services, organic cafes etc. were dotting the beautiful narrow streets of the sleepy village. In some way, perhaps it was still a hippie-haven. Canaries had not made much of an impression on me, with the nature being almost dead and beaches crowded with sunburnt tourists and highrising hotels. But if I was forced to live in the Canary Islands, It would have to be Valle Gran Rey.
The pressure was on to make a move. We were using up our veggies and water, not knowing what the facilities were like in Cape Verdes. (If I had done my homework, I would have known that Mindelo is a town of 70 000 people and everything is available there) We decided on a 6 December departure, but not before a short ritual for the Finnish independence day. I hoisted the full size flag and assumed my original citizenship for a while. (I am a born-again Australian...) Jean Sibelius provided the emotional straight-to-any-Finns-heart-music. The piece of course is called Finlandia and we blasted it out from the speakers outside, for the whole anchorage. It went straight to my heart and tears welled up. Read more here. You can navigate to their adventures by going to the top left and clicking the Aliisa.net Menu. I hope you will look around as I really enjoy the writers stye and his views of the world and the people they meet during their travels.
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