Gomera Dec 21,08
Happy Yule, Winter Solstace to you all!
Went ashore on the first skiff run this morning.
The town we are anchored at is Valle Gran Rey. It is a nice town clustered at the base of the cliffs. A deep valley runs up into the center of the island. There are a lot of Germans in town. Some of the other crew mentioned they were mostly “hippies”. My kind of place 
Spent the day driving around this very rugged island. The island is basically the eroded remnant of a large shield volcano. The valleys are steep and very deep. The vistas are spectacular and far off in the North we could see the peak of Tenerife showing above the haze on the sea.
There is a National Park that covers most of the plataeu at the top of the island. This is a forest called a “laurelsilva”. It is a forest that exists because of the fog that builds up over the top of the mountains. It is an evergreen forest very cool and green. A marked contrast to the arid bluffs near the shore. The forest collects wate from the fog and allows it to flow into the ground where it emerges as springs far down on the valley walls.
The trade winds also bring storms that dump large amounts of rain in very short periods of time which the islanders collect in lots of reservoirs and pools for use when it is dry. According to the locals the rain the other day was the first they’ve had in a while. Heh.
We went to a small black sand beach in a town called Alojera. I sat on a wave worn chunk of lava drinking wine and eating a chicken salad baguette. For desert I had a chocolate filled cruoissant and some coconut cookies… In sunshine to boot.
Strange to think that this is the shortest day of the year and that the Sun has begun his ages old journey north again.
May the rising Sun bring health and happiness to you all.
May the growing light guide you in the cold of winter.
May “that which is greater than the all” bring you safe through all of Winter’s trials.
Bright Blessings and…
Thanks for reading.
KJ