Voyage details

Voyage Itinary:
Bessie Ellen Canary Island Itinerary
Vessel description
Bessie Ellen - 1904 historic trading ketch
Start Port Description:
Santa Cruz - Tenerife
End Port Description:
Santa Cruz - Tenerife

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Canary Islands Christmas Sunshine Dolphins and Whales 7 days only £699

Christmas Sunshine Dolphins and Whales in the Canary Islands on Bessie Ellen
Voyage Number Vessel Starting Port Ending Port
BE08 Bessie Ellen Tenerife, Canaries Tenerife, Canaries
Voyage type Voyage area Dates Voyage duration
Adventure Voyage Canary Islands 21/12/2010 - 16:00 to 28/12/2010 - 09:00
Berth Type Availability Price Special Price
Limited places n/a
Booking Fee
Voyage Description:

sailing holiday in the canaries

 

The Canaries - See them through a sailors eyes

Forget any preconceptions you may have about the Canary Islands. The voyages start and finish in Santa Cruz Tenerife which is simple to get to from the airport. Santa Cruz is a vibrant city with a large harbour and many attractions. We soon  leave this bustling city behind and head of for the Western Isles. La Palma, Gomera and El Heirro are best visited by boat, so you will see the real beauty of the Canaries archipelago and the people that live there. Unlike the Eastern Isles, which are more barren, these are fascinating Islands with green verdant vegetation and brilliant walking.

Island passages under sun and stars

Some of the islands like Tenerife to La Palma are over 100 miles apart so after a bracing ocean sail and some night sailing under the stars you will looking forward to a new island landfall. Sailing is not only about arriving but also the chance to explore beyond the more obvious port attractions. Bessie Ellen's crew is a maximum of 12 so it would not be difficult for an interested group to hire a couple of hire cars or minibus and split the costs. The permanent crew will also have some ideas on the best things to see ashore or a BBQ or crew meal ashore might be proposed. You may just fancy a quiet beer in bar and watch the world go by, people spotting in the sun, how good is that.
 

Tenerife - Mountains in the North

Tenerife’s Mount Teide is actually the highest mountain in Europe and forms part of a large National Park with walks and nature trails. The skyline of this classic volcanic cone can be seen for miles as you island hop amongst the archipelago. There are winding paths between villages in the North West of this large island that few tourists ever explore.

La Gomera

This round little island hides many of its assets from the casual observer and to appreciate its full value you need to venture inland. It has many splendid walks and the north west of the islands is a lot greener than the rest.

La Palma

The Classic Sailing team think La Palma is one of the most interesting and beautiful islands in the Canaries. The port of Santa Cruz, La Palma, has much old world charm and sitting outside a bar is a delight. We do recommend that you take a tour of this island to visit its verdant forest, sherry making and volcanic sites. The world's astronomy telescopes are based on the crater rim due to the clear skies and lack of pollution so the night skies at sea are amazing.

El Heirro - Volcano stirring

El Heirro literally means the end of the world. It was used as a last port of call for the first explorers to cross the Atlantic. Half the island crashed into the sea many thousands of years ago as a vast landslide. This is the smallest and remotest of the Canary islands and time and weather may not always make it possible to include in the voyage. The volcano on El Hierro is certainly not dormant.

Bessie Ellen 2011-2012 Winter Voyages flight information

General PDF Brochure for Bessie Ellen in the Canaries

Photo by Phillip Marks in the Canaries December 2010

Weather and wind

As a winter sailing destination there are many attractions:- the sunshine with typical average temperatures of 70 degrees F (21 degrees C) in January; good prevailing winds; and located on the migration trail for dolphins and whales. There are wind accelerations zones where the wind blasts between the mountainous islands, and quieter areas in the lee of volcanic cliffs.

 Whales and Dolphins

The South West of Tenerife,  Los Gigantes, region is internationally know as a permanent home and temporary feeding ground for a big selection of whales and dolphins. The species you are most likely to encounter are  the Bottlenosed Dolphin and the Long Finned Pilot Whale.

Bottlenosed Dolphins

The Bottlenosed Dolphins appear to be grinning as they ride the bow wave and play with each other speeding through the water. If you study them closely as they swim beside Bessie Ellen you can look for distinguishing marks on the fins or around the head. We have known regular sightings of the same dolphin which makes it like greeting an old friend.

Common dolphins off Bessie Ellen's bow - by Trevor Spittle

Spotted Dolphins

These are the acrobats of the ocean, leaping and flying through the air they make some of the most spectacular displays you can imagine. However they and their displays are a rarer sight than the Bottlenosed Dolphins.

 
 
Telling the Dolphins apart...
 
It’s easy to tell the difference between these dolphins, Bottlenosed are silver grey all over, spotted is obvious and common have a pale yellow stripe down both sides of their body. Onboard Bessie Ellen are books and display sheets helping you identify all the wildlife you see around you, cetaceans, fish and birds.
 

 Long Finned Pilot Whale

Some distance from the accelerated pace of the Dolphins the Pilot Whales can often be seen as they lie almost motionless at the water’s surface. A pod of these larger cetaceans have chosen the Los Gigantes area as their permanent home. The Pilot Whale pod can often stretch over many miles of ocean.  
The larger males act as guardians at the outer edges of the pod. The groups most often seen are those that make up the nursery pods.  This includes mothers with their young and adolescent females that take turns in "babysitting" the younger animals. The pods stay in touch with each other using a complicated sonar communication system that is made up of click’s, whistles and high pitched squeals. Perhaps one day we will be able to understand what they are saying.
 

Other Whales

The Canaries lies on the migration route of many whales and at various times it is possible to see Sperm Whales, Blue Whales, Fin Whales, Right Whales, Minke Whales and the very rare Blainvilles Toothed Whale.
 

Turtles

Loggerhead Turtles are the most common seen in the Canaries and to witness one of these amazing creatures swimming along beside Bessie Ellen would be a real treat. There are no breeding sites for turtles in the Canaries but leatherbacks have been seen on some of the islands beaches in recent times. Apart from Loggerhead and Leatherback Turtlers you may also see Green, Hawksbill and Kemp’s Ridley Turtles.
 

Manta Rays

These graceful flying machines of the ocean are found in the Canaries but sightings of them from the surface are not so common. If you go scuba diving or snorkelling in certain areas you will improve your chances of seeing them. Ask us if you have a particular interest.

 Christmas Voyages in the Canaries

There is now a regular gathering of tall ships in La Palma for Christmas and crew visiting and celebrating is the order of the day.

 New Year with the pyrotechnic locals

 The Canary Islanders like to make there own fireworks, not pretty ones but mostly rockets that go bang very loudly. Watch the hills for the tell tale streaks and listen as the explosions echo round the valleys.

 Mardi Gras - 2nd Only to Rio

Sants Cruz on Tenerife has a special reason why it is regarded as 2nd only to Rio for its Mardi Gras Carnival.
 
Under the Franco the dead and long departed Spanish dictator Mardi Gras was banned on Mainland Spain but allowed to continue in the Canaries. As you can imagine the Spanish have always come to Santa Cruz for Carnival and so the tradition has blossomed. I think blossom is a pretty good word to describe Mardi Gras in the Canaries.
 

 

 

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VN - Bessie Ellen Canaries San Miguel Marina.pdf2.65 MB

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