This year, January was warmer than usual in Tenerife. Most of the time, it was sunny, and very good weather for the beach. The landscape was greener than when we left the island in December, and became greener still during the holiday. We had a small amount of rain overnight, and saw some showers out to sea.
There had not been much wind in December, and there was very little wind for windsurfing in January. I sailed on 3 January, in a very gusty Westerly wind. The conditions did not seem to suit my kit at all - I had no fun that day. On 8 January, I sailed 6.2m² and 5.4m² sails. The wind died in the afternoon. On 19 January, I had a good day, on 6.2m² and 5.4m² sails. Towards the end of the afternoon, I hit a loose kiteboard in the water during a gybe. Looking around, I found the kiter some distance away swimming towards his board. The following day was also windy. I sailed my 78L wave board with a 5.4m² sail, as the Hybrid was being repaired from the incident of the previous day.
Four days windsurfing in three weeks with large sails is not good. This was more a beach holiday than a windsurfing holiday. The weather at home was dreadful, with snow on the ground most of the time I was in Tenerife. I was very pleased to be away from home.
In January, as in August, there is no reason why settled weather should change very quickly. Britain had a very long spell of cold weather, and Tenerife had a long spell without wind. These conditions are unusual. Next year may be different.
We enjoyed some walks along the coast to Los Abrigos, and round the crater of Pelada. It was good to see the vegetation recovering from the summer drought.
I had thought that this year's wind famine would be coming to an end by the March, but I was disappointed. There was no wind at all for the first few days. Instead we had glorious sunny weather, with little wind. There was a light breeze on Thursday 11 March, from the correct direction. I was sailing on Friday 12 March with a 6.2m² sail, and Saturday was 5.4m² conditions. By Sunday, the wind was too light, even for my 6.2m². After that, the wind dropped again. It came back on Sunday 21 March. My 4.7m² sail was too large, so I hired a 72L wave board and a 4.2m² sail from SurfCenter. That was a good day. Monday was good too. I sailed 5.4m², but could certainly have sailed 4.7m² at midday.
In all, just 4 decent days sailing from 16 full days. At least, one of them was with a small sail on wave kit, the conditions which make a trip to Tenerife worth while.
The vegetation was all very green after the winter rains. With light winds and little cloud, it was hot on the beach during the day, though cooler in the restaurants in the evening.
I really enjoyed the windsurfing on this holiday. After a winter with little wind in Tenerife, and cold temperatures with little wind in Edinburgh, it was good to be windsurfing again.
There was wind from the day after we arrived. I rapidly got into the habit of sailing my Naish Hybrid board in the morning with 6.2m² or 5.4m² sail, and the Naish Global Wave 78 in the afternoon, with 4.7m² or 5.4m².
On the first day out, my trusty Gun UJ broke in the shorebreak. The stainless steel nut inside the base of the UJ had entirely rotted away! Fortunately I was near the beach, not out at sea. SurfCentre loaned me a spare, and I bought a replacement from Cabezo Surf Shop.
It was good to have the 6.2m² sail. I sailed this large wave sail on the Hybrid more than I sailed any other sail, mainly in the morning when the water was fairly flat and winds were lighter. This sail was used on 7 days. The 5.4m² sail was used on 5 days, and the 4.7m² on 4 days. Only on one day did I find the wind increased to such an extent that I considered hiring a smaller sail.
It was full moon, near the equinox and tides were high. The shore break was strong, and the water state quite wavy, but without the enormous waves which I have previously experienced.
After two days of good wind, there was little wind on Tuesday 27 and Wed 28 April. Then after a further 7 sailing days, there was no wind from May 6. I had 9 very good days windsurfing.
The resort and the water was very quiet, especially away from weekends. It was good to have plenty of space on the water.
It was generally very warm and sunny, though on one day it was cloudy and the chilly breeze made it rather too cold for the beach. I wore my short sleeved summer wetsuit throughout.
Flights were disrupted by fear of the effects of the ash from the Iceland volcano, which were blowing over Europe at the time. I felt very lucky to be able to fly out as intended on 24 April. I had intended to fly back to Edinburgh on 8 May, but this flight was cancelled. I was able to rebook for the following day via Prestwick airport. The timing of this flight meant I had to take a hire car to get home. The actual disruption and extra costs were not great, but the worry was considerable. We could easily have been more greatly inconvenienced. Not only was RyanAir's Saturday flight from Tenerife to Edinburgh cancelled, but the next flight on Tuesday was cancelled too.
Our thanks to Pauline for her help in extending our stay in El Médano.
For a variety of personal reasons, I needed to be very cautious this time. Even so, it turned out to be a wonderful windsurfing holiday.
There was not much wind in the first few days, which gave me time to acclimatise. The first day, I sailed 6.2m², and again on Wednesday 7 July. The next day was 5.4m², and then 4.7m² for 3 days.
Unfortunately, on Saturday 10 July, I failed to unhook properly when going into a gybe, and was pulled forward onto the boom, resulting in a cracked rib. I have had cracked ribs before, and it can be very unpleasant, but this was not too bad. I could sleep, breath and windsurf without much pain. A little paracetamol helped too. The ribs are still sore a month later.
After that, 3 days of 4.2m² weather or better. For me, this means hire kit. Luckily, SurfCenter had a free 72L board, which is an excellent board in these conditions.
After a couple of days on 4.7m² and 5.4m², the wind really picked up, and I was sailing 3.7m². The following two days, the wind was really strong, and I did not sail. I know it is not much fun when you are struggling to hold a 3.7m² sail. With a damaged rib, I preferred not to try.
Then back to more moderate winds for the following 7 days. The final day of the holiday, the wind dropped entirely, giving me a chance to explore the beach.
El Médano is busy at this time of year, especially at weekends. At full tide, there was not much space on the beach. It was sunny almost all the time. I wore a very thin short wetsuit most of the time, and a slightly thicker one when it was cooler.
The square can be very noisy too, especially at weekends. Sensible regulations such as you might expect in Britain do not apply here. Fortunately, I had a sinus infection, and could not hear very much for the first two weeks of the holiday. I was out windsurfing, just completed a gybe when my sinuses cleared. Suddenly I could here the wind and the waves! Does it really make all that much noise?
In all, I sailed 18 days from 23, and there were two other days when the wind was too strong for me. I sailed 4.2m² or less on 5 days, and 4.7m² on a further 5 days. I sailed 5.4m² on 5 days and 6.2m² on just 3.
It was certainly a wonderful holiday, with lots of windsurfing. I would have been happy with gentle winds. It is the variety which makes El Médano so enjoyable.
There was little wind in El Médano for most of October until a few days before we arrived. We arrived to see good winds at Cabezo beach, but it was too late to sail that day. The following day was good too. I sailed all my kit - Hybrid with 6.2m² and 5.4m², and 78L wave with 4.7m² and 5.4m². I could have sailed a 4.2m² sail at lunchtime too.
There was no wind at all on the following two days. It was rather too hot to do very much except enjoy the beach. Saturday had a very marginal breeze, and Sunday afternoon was little better.
The wind returned on Monday. I started with the 78L and 4.7m², and eventually switched to a 72L wave hire board with 4.0m² sail for the last hour. There was a nice rolling swell. D'light reported we had 28 knots gusting 40. It reads about 20% high.
Tuesday and Wednesday were good too. Sailing the 72L wave board with 4.0m² and 4.2m² again.
The wind disappeared again for 2 days, and after that we had 3 days of light breezes, during which I sailed mainly the Hybrid with 6.2m² sail. Saturday and Sunday had slightly stronger wind at lunchtime, when I sailed 5.4m² for a time. By Monday afternoon, the wind had gone again, leaving a free afternoon to get the kit packed away before the journey home.
It was generally very hot. The rescue service reported the water temperature as 24°C. When the wind was light, you could quite easily windsurf wearing just swim trunks. During the days with stronger winds, the air temperature dropped considerably, and I wore a well fitting shorty.
With light winds, Surfcenter were busy teaching beginners and intermediates. Away from the windsurf center, the town was very quiet. There seemed to be a lot fewer Spanish speaking visitors than usual. There was lots of space on the water. Everything was much less competitive than in July.
The water was remarkably flat most of the time. I would very much have liked some larger waves. El Médano can still generate chop sufficient to stop my Hybrid dead even in 6.2m² weather!
In total, 4 days good wind and 3 days of light winds from 13 possible sailing days. Good to be sailing in the sunshine. It was already quite chilly back home.
December can sometimes bring more wind and waves than October. We were looking forward to good windsurfing conditions, but we were to be disappointed.
They had had a westerly storm a few days before we arrived. We saw no damage in El Médano itself. They had taken the precaution of taking the fishing boats out of the water. A tomato growing area beyond Téjita beach had been flattened.
Out outward flight was delayed. The following day, I attempted to sail, but there was not enough wind.
After a couple of days, the wind came in from the West. It was cool and cloudy. I do not like sailing on flat water, and this was nothing special. My kit is best suited to wave conditions, and does not perform well in offshore Westerlies. We got soaked in heavy rain on the way back from the supermarket in the afternoon.
More Westerly wind on Monday. Folk were out windsurfing, but I was not tempted.
Tuesday, and we had westerly winds again. This time, it was stronger, and it was warmer too. I took my 78L wave board out with a 5.4m² sail. The wind was gusty, but I was windsurfing at last.
Wednesday had little wind. Thursday I tried sailing with a6.2m² sail. Friday was warmer. I had a good time sailing my Naish Hybrid with a 6.2m² sail. There was less chop. The Hybrid went really well.
After that, little wind.
The wind we had was best suited to intermediate sailors on large kit, who prefer the flat water and offshore winds. In many windsurf resorts this is the best you could expect !
Temperatures were much cooler than in October. I wore a better fitting shorty on the water, and longs in the restaurants at night. It was still shorts and T-shirt weather during the day.
The story behind this holiday was the weather back home. Our outward flight was delayed by 8 hours because of snow at Edinburgh airport. We were lucky the flight was not cancelled. Edinburgh had cold temperatures and snow for much of the time we were away, and we returned to icy weather.
While we were away, there was also a strike by the Spanish air traffic controllers. All outbound flights from Tenerife South were cancelled. El Médano is quiet without the reassuring noise of aircraft taking off every few minutes.
In summary, I had a few days windsurfing, but not in ideal conditions. It was good to be back in Tenerife, and away from the winter weather at home. We have never seen things so wet in Tenerife, with pools of water around for several days. The vegetation should be especially green on our next visit!