Tenerife, Spain, Part One

It's been a wonderful month on Tenerife Island, Spain. I finally made the time to make a few posts! We've been sailing for a few days now and are scheduled to arrive back in Monrovia, Liberia on Febuary 5th. The seas have been smooth and ship is running well.

The last month has been great. The ship had a ten day holiday (to give long term crew a break after ten months in Liberia). For engineering the break was spread over 3 weeks, as everyone took turns with days off. We have 24 hour engine spaces watch to keep an eye on the generator engines, septic and water systems.

The last 2 weeks have been busy with receiving supplies. One day a semi truck container full of frozen chicken, beef, pork, and the dreaded lamb (mostly liked by the British, Aussies, and New Zealanders), and various vegetables arrived. We had over 50 people passing food in a long snaking line, from the dock, in to 3rd deck, down the hall and to 2nd deck, and finally into our freezers. It took most of the day to empty tons of food. About a week later a second food container of milk (non refrigerated type, ultra pasturized), flour, rice, canned goods, cereal, and so on. The last two containers were full of hospital, spare main engine parts, parts for our Landrover vehicles, parts for parts we use. You get the idea.

In this post and the next few I'll share of what's been happening.

This is a map of Tenerife Island. We were docked in the city and port of Santa Cruz, the top right yellow area.

Tenerife is part of Canary islands which are made be volcanic activity. The landscape reminds me of Japan and Hawaii with it's sharp ridges and steep valleys.

Our ship was docked at a passenger dock. Mostly on the weekends, cruise ships would stop for the day. They were mostly full of British and German folk.

On her maiden voyage, the luxurious Queen Victoria stopped in for New Year's celebrations.

Santa Cruz held a beautiful firework display.

The morning began with lots of dancing to Spanish music.