20. Tazacorte, La Palma, a hideout haven
- Dan Andersson
- 6 days ago
- 7 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
September 2025.
So, the boat is safe in Tazacorte. Bruce and I have a couple of days (reward for his Mal de Mere bravery) exploring and I stayed on a couple of days after Bruce left, got her on the hard, had one day of exploring before I had to get home to look after commitments and family. This post is those first few days, Trip 1, and then Trip 2 when I return in January.
Trip 1, September 2025
La Palma, often called La Isla Bonita (The Beautiful Island, no relation to Madonna's song) is not big, the third smallest of the Canaries seven islands. You can drive around the island in three hours and across it in one. Total Canarian population is some 2 million people and only 80,000 live on La Palma.
Geologically, it sits on the African tectonic plate, rises directly from the sea floor some 4,000 metres and its peak, Roque de los Muchachos, is some 2,400 metres above sea level. While there are many European peaks that are taller, still it is impressive - it higher than any Swedish mountain, for instance, and it rises some 7,000 metres directly from the seabed. Not tall on paper but enormous in geological reality.
And it's volcanically active.
In 2021 there was an eruption which lasted for almost three months, the Cumbre Vieja volcanic eruption, that obliterated some 3,000 buildings, 7,000 people had to evacuate, and when you see the black scar across the landscape it is humbling. I will talk more about this in the next blog. The film La Palma was based on this event and is well worth a watch if you like low budget catastrophe drama.
Beyond is in the port of Tazacorte, a kilometre or two away. Er... she'll be fine.
A couple of days with Bruce exploring. We lucked out and there was a random music festival in Los Llanos, the town of some 20,000 souls just a stones throw up from Tazacorte. Awesome vibe and almost a carnival atmosphere. Someone explained that La Palma has a 10% population of Cuban refugees. It mixes well with the Spanish and islanders. I am building a theory that islanders are different. More chilled and laid back.
Bruce and I also make a visit to Santa Cruz de La Palma, the island's capital. Beautiful town that somehow has avoided being destroyed by mass tourism, even though cruise ships attack the port every day.
Bruce goes back home and I have a couple of days of boat maintenance. Tidy the boat a bit and then I take a an afternoon and sand all the brightwork (the varnished wood) in the cockpit. It's well known that the older a sailor gets, his hair goes white and so does his boat - referring to the fact that teak weathers well without varnish. It goes grey first and slowly gets whiter and whiter in the sun.
My father's sailboat, the one that got me into sailing (see https://www.svbeyond.com/post/beginnings-every-dream-starts-somewhere) was pine on oak, totally varnished. Every year we would have to sand it and paint it. For a very short season in the water. He, I think, was quite surprised how much work it was and would totally applaud sanding the varnish off.
Then we lift Beyond onto the hard in the marina. Good marina crew, no drama. And I am surprised to see another Freedom 40, exactly the same centre cockpit model as mine, also laid up. A first for me, which is not surprising as only about 40 were ever made. 40 years ago. But there are still a few afloat and two of them in Tazacorte.
It's the boat of Marieke and Sebastian, running a channel called Pianocean (https://www.youtube.com/@pianoceanproject). More on this later.
And finally, all work being down I go on a road trip.
La Palma, because of its tall mountain, the total absence of air and light pollution, has one of the most epic views of the sky anywhere. 22 observatories, run by 20 countries, call it home and I decided to go up and check it out.
We are in September so it's nice crisp autumnal days. Going from sea level and an hour or two later of winding snake roads, to be up at 2,400 metres is kind of a surreal experience. It really disoriented me and I continually had the sense that 'We're not in Kansas anymore.'
And then you see the observatories and realise you are in a Science Fiction film. They loom together in a loose pack like prehistoric dinosaurs grazing on the mountain side. Some, not all, of those beasts:
An inspirational night craning my neck at the firmament. God's creation. Not much my words can add except the profound sense of gratitude that I get to live with this. It's not a small thing. And it's mysterious.
Apparently the best time of year to come is in summer. On a good night you really see the Milky Way. Or Silver River as the Chinese would say. This is September and it's chilly but not cold. When I return in January it's snow and ice cold. Nice to see. I am not really a sightseer when I travel, but I do like to do road trips.
But now it's time to go home to the UK.
Trip 2, January 5th 2026.
Time goes quickly and before I know it three months have gone by. Lots of family suff, Christmas, my wife's birthday on New Years Eve, etc etc. According to my wife, I turn into an old man at home so I reckon it's best to go back to the boat as quickly as possible.
As a young man almost reunited with my locked away boat, I think nothing of sleeping in my car.
From the log:
Tazacorte, 6th Jan
Day two of La Palma. T- shirt and shorts weather. Arrived into Tenerife with easyJet, some £40 ticket. Then a local flight between islands which cost more. Arrived late, rented a car, arrived at port even later, so slept in car. Did a days work on boat and then discovered rules had changed and when the boat is on the hard you are not allowed to sleep on it. So found a captain who Airbnb'd me a berth on his boat.
Then discovered that the whole island, including my boatyard is locked down today for this three king holiday thing. I didn't know about that - is it a thing?
Anyway, it's all good. Sitting in a cafe and enjoying random conversations with expats.
I met Marieke and Sebastian of Pianocean! There's a special recognition between sailors of the same model boat, especially when it's a rare old small production-run yacht. I walked over to their boat floating in the marina said hi and we were instant friends.
I 'knew' them from their online presence and they 'knew' me from this blog. They have had their boat, "Lady Flow", for some eight years, Marieke told me. I don't know their full log but I know they have done Iceland, Norway, France (I think they are French, though her name hints at the Netherlands), the Azores, and now of course the Canaries. They are leaving in a few days bound for Guadeloupe, the Carribbean and ultimately the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) up to New York. They travel with their young son.
Marieke is a singer and plays the piano. Ingeniously, it lives in the aft cabin and they lift it up though a hatch in the aft deck and give concerts in the ports they visit!
It really is quite remarkable and totally inspirational. So nice to meet people pursuing non-conventional paths and dreams. A road less well travelled - I have never heard of anything like what they are doing -and all power to them. You can follow them on YouTube (link above) and their website is https://pianocean.org/ Their home page shows instantly what I mean regarding the piano and the aft cabin. It's very very cool.
We missed each other when my boat was on the hard (or I would have done an interview!) and they visited Beyond when I was off doing a random errand. They left behind a lovely gift! I am sure I will meet them again, so, until then, fair winds, Lady Flow.
And we press on (because Olivia is joining me shortly!). Finish the work I have to do in the yard, splash her and get a great dock space near to the facilities.
From the log:
Tazacorte Puerto, 19th Jan.
So, did almost two weeks of work:
New anodes.
New bilge drain bronze bolt.
Primed and new coat of antifouling.
Found knot meter and freed it up.
Put a brace in for companionway shelf.
Replaced and repaired starboard lockers.
Fitted heavy weather fiddles.
Varnished most of salon brightwork.
Sanded final exposed teak in cockpit.
Painted non skid cockpit floor.
Painted white surfaces in cockpit.
Fitted new battery charger (with the help of Raul).
Some of the works are in the category of update and refresh - make it pretty - and some cut to the basics of seaworthiness. Overall very satisfied.
Beyond is in good shape. And I take a day tidying her up from bottom to top. Because my wife is coming.
The next blog post will be a little different. I shall introduce you to the 4th crew member, Olivia the reluctant sailor. For me, she is the best thing in the world. Except that she doesn't like sailing. But we are working on the compromise that she meets me in ports where ever Beyond takes me. She gets the pleasure of slumming camping on the boat. I get the pleasure of her company.
I win.
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