10. Taliarte 2013  

I had to return to my job in Sweden for some weeks and didn't want to leave the boat on anchor unattended so I checked the prices for land storage and it turned out that Taliarte, a small fishing harbour 10 NM south of Las Palmas, was cheapest. I left Bird of Passage there on the dry by the end of October and returned in mid December to refresh the antifouling and replace the zink anodes.

Tove came a week later and together we finished the job with the boat, had her launched and took her back to the marina in Las Palmas. Our two sons then arrived and together the whole family celebrated Christmas and New Year in Las Palmas. That was nice.

Old style fishing life still exists in Taliarte. Every fisherman has a small shed of his own and they often sit here outside and work with their equipment and talk and eat.

A typical local fishing boat of the traditional style.

There is also a big fish farm in the bay outside Taliarte. A lot of people seem to be involved in that work. Tons of fish food pellets was loaded every day on special boats that took the food out to the farm. They returned with fish that was put on ice in the harbour and picked up by trucks to be transported somewhere. A big business.

The two men to the left worked in the harbour, often late evenings, with the preparation of food pallets that would be brought out to the farm next morning. Each pallet had to be loaded with the right amount and mix of food for the fish cage it was intended for. The man on the right picture was responsible for the travel lift but also drove the fork lift when needed. He was the only person we met in the harbour that spoke a few word English.

After less than 5 months in the water both propellers on Bird of Passage were heavily covered by all sorts of plants and animals. The hull itself was painted in Sweden 3 years ago and was still in good condition ! The growth on the propellers reduced our speed by approximately one knot at 2000 RPM!

The propeller shafts also looked terrible. The ground plate for the HF radio was in better condition.

After 5 months the Zink anodes were heavily corroded but would probably have lasted a few months more.

We added an extra layer of antifouling on the hull and also put special paint on the propellers and shafts.

After all this work we had to relax a little and took a walk around the village. Public gym gear is available in some places also in Taliarte.

We took our bikes for a ride to a shopping centre with an IKEA store. On our way we found this huge mosaic placed in the middle of a big roundabout.

The international airport is just south of Taliarte. You see the planes coming all the time.

With only a few days left before we were ready to launch the travel lift had a serious mechanical break down. A gearbox in one of the four hydraulically driven wheels crashed and oil started leaking. There was no possibility to move the travel lift with one wheel locked so the only possibility was to repair it where it was. It took two days.

Sundown in Muelle de Taliarte.