Tales from Tenerife - Los Gigantes harbour

Tales from Tenerife

A boat for all seasons

Tenerife is something of a home from home for us.

Where Wand'ring Bark serves as a holiday retreat for Belle and I, some of our friends have more exotic arrangements which they kindly allow us to use from time to time.

Our dear friends, T&M happen to own a very large and lovely apartment in the Tenerife town of Los Gigantes, a property which has the most spectacular views over the town and along the row of enormous sea cliffs which rise 2000 feet straight out of the water.

I love the warm climate (20 to 30 degrees C all year) but I can tire of too much sun and inactivity so, within a couple of days of being there I was to be found prowling around the harbour wandering up and down the pontoons, having a good look at the wide variety of boats moored up. It's impossible to be in a place like this and not be tempted to play the "which one would I choose" game. At first glance the greedy child within me took over and I was drawn to the biggest and flashest gin palace, sporting the obligatory brace of scantily clad bathing beauties, which demanded close inspection. However, I soon found myself drooling over a gorgeous 50ft twin masted schooner, capable of sailing across the Atlantic.

The thing is that my passion for watery travel isn't restricted to the inland waterways. I know that if I lived on the coast I would almost certainly be tempted to buy a cruising boat and satisfy my desire to sail around the coast of Britain and beyond.

But enough of my dreams. Los Gigantes harbour is a great place for boat watching and, when you tire of observing the coming and goings, you can always watch the huge shoals of fish which patrol is aquamarine waters, fed by the visitors and protected by the harbour authorities.

My fascination with boats is shared by the owner of the apartment who idly explored the idea of having a craft in the marina, but baulked not at the price of the craft, which is similar to a narrowboat, but at the marina signing on fee of about £60,000, onto which one has to add the annual service fee! It makes our moorings look very cheap indeed.

All in all, this has to be one of my top 10 locations to sit and watch the sun go down into a glittering ocean.