Spirit of Adventure blog

After a lovely sea day, we were able to find our destination and the first island off the Canaries. Arrecife is located on the eastern side of the island of Lanzarote. Staff Captain Kirill was designated driver for arrival. We picked up our pilot, came just south of the breakwater and swung 90 degrees to port, in order to align us for the approach to our assigned berth. Then all that was left for Kirill to do was to back us up and come alongside.

Our guests went off on a variety of offered tours. Lisa, the classical quartet pianist, went on Cesar Manrique’s (the most celebrated artist in Arrecife) Foundation tour that included a Cactus garden, containing over 1100 varieties of cacti in a former quarry, and the International Museum of Modern Art in San Jose Castle. Thank you for the photos!

I went ashore for lunch in the same tavern as I always do. I ran into Nurse Vukashin so we shared a table. He has never been in Estrella, so I did the ordering. The waitress recognised me and confirmed that all I wanted to order was available. Tuna tartare, sizzling shrimps, grilled and fried calamari. The table was full with plates and yes, we made all of the food disappear.

Back on board, we got ready for departure and 2nd Officer Lennon was the one taking us out. It was windy with the wind blowing us off the berth. Lennon used the wind to our advantage and took us nicely out of the harbour. I changed my uniform from day rig to “full blues” – long sleeves shirt, tie and a suit jacket with stripes on lower arm, then went to the Grill to join guests for dinner. I know that lunch was big, but that was hours ago and the menu in the Grill was hard to resist thanks to Executive Chef Francis and his team. I thoroughly enjoyed the venison carpaccio and the sirloin steak that followed. Hard life, wouldn’t you agree?

Kind regards,
Captain Franko Papić