By Friday, the wind was far too strong for me to consider sailing.
Some people did go out in the afternoon.
You can see my photos at
www.flickr.com/photos/windsurfnow
or on my own
photo page.
Following a particularly good forecast for wind, I booked a last minute holiday.
The flight arrived on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday morning, I was sailing a 65L Naish Pro Wave board, with a 3.7m² sail. This is a wonderful board in the waves and goes upwind well. I sailed most of the day with sails from 3.7m² to 4.5m²
On Thursday, the wind was even stronger. I sailed the 65L board with the 3.7m² sail in the morning.
By Friday, the wind was far too strong for me to consider sailing.
Some people did go out in the afternoon.
You can see my photos at
www.flickr.com/photos/windsurfnow
or on my own
photo page.
On Saturday, the wind had dropped a bit. I discovered the Naish 78L Global Wave. This is a flat board. Though it copes with chop, it is very fast, not really a wave board at all. I sailed the 78L Global Wave board with a 5.3m² sail in the morning, progressing to a 4.7m² sail in the afternoon. This board was too fast for the conditions using the 4.7m² sail. I tried the 65L Pro Wave board again, but I would have preferred stronger conditions for this board.
Sunday morning, I sailed 72L with 5.7m². Then, when the wind got stronger, I changed to the 5.3m². The wind dropped about mid day.
On Monday, no wind. Tuesday morning, the wind was on-shore, but this was only an eddy, and we did not sail. In the afternoon, the wind was blowing from a Westerly direction. This gives flat water. People sail in the corner of the bay to avoid being blown out to sea, and sail overpowered in these flat conditions. I sailed for a time with the 72L board and 5.3m² sail. Though it is a fast board, it is not as fast as a dedicated slalom board.
On Wednesday, there was just a westerly breeze. There was a violent thunderstorm overnight. Then on Thursday afternoon, the wind blew up unexpectedly. I sailed the 78L with 4.7m² and the 65L with 4.2m². By evening, I was suffering from a cold, an unfortunate hazard at this time of year.
Friday was wavy, but not much wind. I sailed a 105L Naish board with a 7.3m² sail. The sail was heavy, but sailing on waves is fun even with a large sail. The 105L slalom board handled well.
On Saturday, there was only a light wind. On Sunday, there was a light Northerly wind. There was a very noisy windsurf event taking place at Cabezo. I was unable to approach to find out whether anything was going on because of the noise from their speaker system. There was hardly any wind at all.
On Monday, there was no wind, but I was able to sail on Tuesday, my last day. I sailed in the morning with the 75L Pro Wave board and a 4.7m² sail. The sail was rather too small, and the waves were peculiar too. In the afternoon, I used the 5.3m² sail with the same board, and this was better.
Despite a favourable forecast, I sailed on only 8 days out of 14. The windsurfing I had was excellent, with significant waves. I sailed the 65L waveboard on 4 days, and one day was far too windy for me to sail at all. After several holidays with disappointing winds, it was good to see that El Medano can still get very strong winds.
As usual, I hired equipment from surfcenter in South Bay, which has Naish equipment. All the boards and sails have recently been replaced, and are in extremely good condition.
Very much at home in the waves with a 3.7m² sail. Sails well with a 4.7m² sail, but prefers large waves.
A very versatile wave board, handles sails up to 5.3m² with no problems.
Fast board, copes with chop, but not suitable for large waves. Sails well with sails from 4.7m² to 5.7m².
Sails well on waves with a 7.3m² sail.
Excellent wave sails. Handle well in strong winds. High clew stays clear of the wave when you gybe.
I visited the new OTC Windsurf centre. They have lots of boards and sails, from a range of manufacturers.
Their sails all have the correct manufacturer's Carbon 75 or Carbon 100 mast. These lightweight masts are much more fun, but cost more if you break one in the shore break. The shore break even at South Bay can be violent, depending on wind and tide conditions.
OTC Windsurf have changing facilities, and a locker area for customers' kit. Booking is recommended for June/July. They intend to limit customers to about 24 so there is sufficient for everyone. They expect to buy new 2008 kit in June or July 2007.
The paving area in front of the Medano hotel is being re-paved with an irregular pattern of slabs. Work will take months, as each slab has to be cut to shape on site. There is a lot of noise and dirt and disruption to local business.
La Braseria restaurant has closed, and is now the Peking Garden, which is very good and extremely cheap. There are now at least 4 Chinese and at least 4 Italian restaurants in town.
There is a new commercial centre on the road into town, with yet another bank and a large supermarket. This makes 4 banks, 3 large supermarkets, and at least 3 smaller supermarkets. There is a new health center too.
Some of the contracts for the construction of the new port just upwind from El Medano have now been signed.
Around 200 enormous
solar panels,
capable of a maximum of about 100 Kilowatts each
are being erected near the power station. They cost 530,000 € each.
It is estimated they should pay for themselves in about 10 years.
The pylons and power line from the power station are being upgraded.
The airport is being extended this year from 87 check-in desks to 130. They will then be able to keep you waiting even longer in the check-in queues. A new access road to the airport is planned. 8,845,000 passengers used the airport in 2006.
There is a new law against smoking in enclosed public places, but small bars and restaurants may allow smoking.
There is a new law against advertising alcohol to children, but wine is exempt, because it is a health drink, and banning advertising would disproportionately disadvantage the industry.
There is a new Canarian law against excessive noise, but "popular fiestas" are exempt.
Following the very successful holiday in March, I was greatly looking forward to this holiday, and I was not disappointed.
Arriving on an early flight on the Sunday, we had time to unpack, get some food, and still go windsurfing on a 75L Pro wave board.
The following two days were also wave board weather. I used 4.7m² sails on both days.
After that, we had 4 days of lighter winds. The waves were still good, and I was sailing waves using the Naish Hybrid Slalom and 5.7m² sail.
Following that, 4 days on the wave board. On one day, I sailed a 4.2m² sail.
Then 3 days on the hybrid, 2 days on the wave board, and the final 6 days on the hybrid.
In all, 9 days on the Naish Pro 75L wave board, including the day we arrived. 13 days on the Naish Hybrid with 5.7m² sail. Of these, 2 days were particularly light wind days, when I could have used a larger sail if I had wished. There were no particularly extreme winds.
The surfcenter hire centre was fully booked in July, with all the short boards allocated to clients. I was extremely fortunate that they allowed me to use the Naish Hybrid Slalom on the lighter wind days.
There were a very large number of boards out on the water, even during the week. The beach was packed with windsurf boards.
Everything was particularly busy on Saturday and Sunday, with lots of local people.
The waves seemed particularly strong, particularly on the first two weeks of the holiday. Even when the winds were light, the waves were still rolling into the bay. I felt particularly privileged to be able to sail on these waves using the Naish Hybrid board, which turns well due to its short length and is a joy to sail in these conditions.
The shore-break was certainly very strong for most of the holiday, particularly around high tide. In the afternoon, there were surfers too in the shore break. It is quite difficult to launch in these conditions. We saw some damaged sails.
It was generally quite hot and sunny. We wore beach shorts or swim trunks during the day, and shorts and T-shirt in the restaurants at night. I wore a shorty wetsuit when windsurfing, as this gave a greater sense of security. The water was warm, and you could certainly windsurf in shorts and T-shirt, especially in the afternoon and when the wind was lighter.
On a few days, there was some grass in the water, which got round the skeg and was quite a nuisance. It appeared around the time of high tide, and probably came from the land rather than the sea.
In summary, I would have preferred slightly stronger winds. The waves were better than I expected, especially in the first two weeks. It was hot and sunny. There were lots of people, windsurfing and on the beaches. I had a wonderful time, and I expect to be back next year.
Renovation of the Atlantic Playa Hotel continues. The outside is looking much better than previously, but there is still a lot of work to do.
Click photo for larger image.
The repaving of the area between the Médano Hotel and the Harbour is essentially complete, with work continuing on new lighting and decorative pine trees. It looks much better than previously.
The Spanish Coastal department wants to demolish the
Médano Hotel, as it encroaches on the coastline. Buildings should normally be constructed away from the coast, to allow room for a promenade. The regional government would like to preserve the hotel, and have proposed that it should be made a Monument of Historic and Cultural Interest. Apparently, it was once a tomato packing factory.
There is a 5-year plan to improve the Tenerife Sur airport buildings, starting 2008. Following this, a new runway may be constructed, and this will take 6 years. The new runway could be complete by 2020.
Winds are not usually very strong at this time of year, but I had a very enjoyable holiday nevertheless.
There was no wind when we arrived, or the following day. On Friday, the wind blew up late in the day. On Saturday, there was wind in the middle of the day, but I was advised that it wasn't worth going out. I regret not sailing these two days.
From Sunday, winds were better. I had 6 consecutive days sailing, mainly on the Naish Hybrid with 5.7m² sail.
At the end of this period, the Boards magazine test team arrived, and the wind promptly dropped. You have to feel for them attempting to find interesting things to say about boards when there is hardly any wind and conditions are so different from the UK.
Then on Tuesday, there was wind again for 5.7m². On the day of my departure, the wind was even better, and I could have sailed 4.7m².
In all I sailed a total of 7 days from the 13 days of my holiday.
I sail the Naish Hybrid Slalom, a small fast light board which is happy with sails from 4.7m² to 7.3m². It goes up-wind extremely well, and gybes wonderfully on the waves. I've bought one of these boards to sail at home, but conditions in Tenerife are different.
Though the 6.6m² sail is heavier than the 5.7m², it still works well on the Hybrid. I found I could shred waves in conditions which would leave most windsurfers on the beach.
There is a great choice of kit for hire at this time of year. South Bay have new sails, and many new booms with one-piece front ends. This seems a great advance on the previous design.
One afternoon, with a 5.7m² sail, the chop was too severe for the Hybrid. A large wave board performed better. One day, there was enough wind for a 4.7m² sail. I tried the Naish 78L Global Wave, which sailed well but required much more effort.
Conditions suited teaching, and the staff at South Bay were very busy with private lessons. They teach all levels of windsurfing, and have developed their own methods to suit local conditions.
We left Edinburgh in the early hours of 24 October with ice on the windscreen of the car. By contrast, Tenerife was hot - beach shorts and T shirt in the restaurants in the evening, less during the day. I could have worn a sweater if I had wished to eat outside at the restaurants in the evening. I wore a 2mm shorty when sailing, but the water was really warm.
Following the repaving around the Medano Hotel, the local council have very much improved the cleanliness of the area. A team of 3 cleaners was out 7 days a week keeping things clean and tidy.