This Sunday at bus station

The trio of Tom Words featuring Strat7rieder plus Gerd on Bass will be playing at the bus station in La Calera tomorrow, Sunday April 1st 2018, from 1:30 pm. 

Double vision

Spotted in Barranco de Ingenio near Vallehermoso 

Gig of the week

Another chance to see Tom Words (left) playing with 'Strat' Siebenrieder at Manolo's intimate 'Bar Teguerguenche' in La Puntilla (near monument) tomorrow, Tuesday March 20th, at 9 pm with special guest Celine. Recommended !

Greener Gomera

Part of the mountain village of Arure

After the recent rains springtime has arrived in La Gomera with an abundance of wildflowers and the whole island is much greener now. Some of the irrigation water reservoirs are now full again after the worrying prolonged drought and farmers have planted their crops.

Lunchtime live

Significant swell

Today and until Monday a very powerful Atlantic swell will be running in the seas of the western Canary Islands, due to a very deep depression near the bay of Biscay. Be cautious near the shore.

Flower power bicycle...

...spotted at Vueltas beach the other day.

Valle Gran Waterfall

Waterfall in Valle Gran Rey seen on Saturday.

Amazing cloud formation

Amazing lenticular cloud forming near Valle Gran Rey yesterday afternoon (above) taken from the viewpoint at 'Curva del Queso'. It had developed into a large gloomy-looking cloud (below) 50 minutes later when seen from near the cemetery of Arure at about 2500ft altitude, while the sun kept shining at sea level in Valle Gran Rey.

Poisoned Folk to bring the sunshine back...

...and make you sweat. They'll be playing tomorrow (Sunday March 4th 2018) lunchtime from 1:30pm on the terrace of Ramiro's bus station bar beside the bridge in La Calera again. Last Sunday the market was abandoned and the music cancelled due to the wind and rain, but the forecast for this Sunday afternoon is much better and the sun will be splittin' stones. There'll also be another open music session to follow 'Poisoned Folk' from from 3:30 pm. Don't forget your sunglasses, and make sure to drink enough beer.

And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of rubbish

This morning there's a large fire in the area behind the council's yard where refuse trucks and other machinery are parked in Valle Gran Rey. The blaze was consuming all the organic material and tree cuttings which the council stores there awaiting to be shredded for composting. The material collected there was set on fire illegally on several occasions over the past years . Today it appears it was arson again as the fire started long before daylight and the material was quite wet. Controlled burning of organic waste can be applied for and a professional fire crew will choose a date, direct the proceedings, and have a fire engine on standby. The fire was easily brought under control today as there was very little wind this morning and 8mm of rain fell in the area during the night, making it unlikely for the fire to spread. However, a thick cloud of smoke is hanging over lower Valle Gran Rey this Saturday morning with an unpleasant smell. 
The storage and chipping of the organic material and its composting is somewhat controversial here as a few farmers reckon that pests and plant diseases are spread that way, while other farmers want to spread the composted material on their fields, having seen the benefit to their crops in previous years.
Some good news: The barranco (usually dry riverbed) in Valle Gran Rey is running with a nice bit of water all the way down to the sea for the first time in a long time.

Smoke on the water...

Emma's waves can't stop bread delivery on La Gomera

...another image relating to yesterday's post. Source: Pan de Vueltas S.L., showing their bread van delivering during storm Emma's southern cold front with heavy swell hitting Vueltas, Valle Gran Rey.

Art exhibition

An exhibition of paintings by La Gomera residents Peter Evens and Didier Ngoie will continue until March 26th in  the historic 'Casa de Colon' in San Sebastian de La Gomera. The two artists from Belgium were affectionately known as 'The Sunflowers' in Valle Gran Rey when they operated a restaurant calle 'Los Girasoles' and later the bar at Lomo del Riego.

Carnival in Hermigua 2018

Tonight and tomorrow March 3rd 2018 it's carnival time in Hermigua 

Emma left us lunchtime, but not on this ferry

Armas'  Alboran arriving approaching Valle Gran Rey's harbour today lunchtime

The 'Alboran' (Armas) ferry attempted to arrive in VGR today lunchtime and successfully docked in the harbour of Vueltas in Valle Gran Rey briefly, but then had return to San Sebastian de La Gomea soon after without discharging. Mooring ropes broke and the ramp couldn't be lowered safely even in the harbour due to the SW swell and rough sea conditions caused by storm Emma.This again highlights the urgent need to construct 'phase 2' of the harbour development in La Gomera's south-western port. Other ferries were delayed or couldn't even sail.

Storm Emma left it's mark here and there was widespread damage along the coastal fringes of La Gomera island due to the high waves. Thankfully nothing serious and I've seen much worse here, anyway. In the images below council crews are trying to temporarily fill a major hole washed out by heavy seas at the roundabout of Vueltas. Canary Islands' national TV was there again to report live for their lunchtime news program.

The weather has calmed noticeably since, and while there still is a heavy swell, ferry connections are getting back on schedule.

Armas ferry Alboran beginning to go astern into VGR harbour (above and below)

Emergency repairs. Some council workers got a soaking with larger waves while working .

Weather slowly improving but ferries delayed

Be cautious: sea conditions still very rough with a powerful swell this morning

The weather in the Canary Islands is very gradually improving after last night's extreme conditions with storm force wind gusts widely felt in La Gomera and extremely rough seas which led to the suspension of all flights and ferry connections. The highest wind gust recorded on the island was a fierce 166 km/h last night with sustained winds of 113 km/h for a time.

There was a backlog of passengers in the ferry ports waiting for the ferries which are struggling to reestablish connections and having to face extremely difficult berthing conditions, as the sea is still very rough and a warning of a powerful 5 m swell is valid until 9 pm tonight, but the winds have decreased noticeably.

Anywhere near the sea there is a haze of spray in the air and the high waves did some damage to coastal infrastructure. There's a lot of debris on coast roads, which was being cleared yesterday, but more was flung ashore during the night. Weather forecast on top right sidebar.

TV crew reporting damage live from the La Playa area of Valle Gran Rey in front of closed coast road yesterday.