Whether the weather be fine
Or whether the weather be not,
Whether the weather be cold
Or whether the weather be hot,
We’ll weather the weather
Whatever the weather,
Whether we like it or not.

~~~ (Anonymous British poet)

A favourite British failsafe topic of conversation is to eternally discuss the weather, and that doesn’t change once you leave Blighty.  It also doesn’t change once you actually know what weather patterns mean, can read a forecast or understand clouds. 

So, our weather in Tenerife South and variations on:

– Hot and cloudless.  This is the reason people come to the Canaries, it is regularly glorious, and since we are so close to the equator it is a dry heat which feels several degrees warmer than it actually is.  One must be careful not to burn though, especially out at sea.  Funnily enough, on these kind of days when on land I actually find myself hiding inside along with all the other “locals”, complaining that it’s too hot to get anything done.  We’re never happy.

– Hot and windy.  This also doesn’t necessarily make us jump with joy; this weather means I get about 200m up the road and have to turn back on a run.  Windy here means VERY windy; windy such that you’re running on the spot.  This is why it’s an excellent place for sailing, but you also have to execute any activities before 10am, as on a windy day by 11am in the Golf Del Sur the wind is whistling down the coast.  For instance you can’t even consider making a phonecall outside, towel pegs are essential, newspapers are a no go, and if your sail isn’t correctly tethered it will work itself free and make a bit of a statement in the marina.

– Windy and cloudy.  When this happens everyone complains that we might as well be back in the UK. 

– Storms.  Every couple of months we get hit by a storm, I guess that’s sitting on the cusp of the Atlantic.  I’ve heard it rains up to 30 days a year, I’m sure it is less, but the amount of rain we get on those days definitely makes up for it.  Nothing here is prepared for torrential rain; windows and doors can’t hold up to it, no one owns appropriate shoes or brollies; you’re basically housebound, sacrificing towels to the cause.  As stated the other day, “It never rains here, but when it does, everything leaks!”

At least we don’t run out of weather related conversation, otherwise where would we be?