Gran Adventure starts from Gran Canaria

NOT!

Had to get around these guys at Las Palmas

& around this big guy

Marina San Miguel in Tenerife

After much excitement & fanfare from our new crew's friends, filling up MORE jerry cans w/fuel, & stowing everything away, we bid adieu.
More than 20 knots of wind to see us off, we were hitting 8-10 knots, it was a good omen...for 15 minutes.  Wind died & we motored on in the ship channel, can't dawdle there.  On my watch (0200-0500) Francois handed over the helm, having had to make several adjustments to it to avoid ships.  We were following the blue line set by the skipper on the iPad, everything A-OK.  As we approach Tenerife I'm seeing a lot of chatter in front of us on the radar, looks like we're heading straight for shore.  There's a BIG black headland sticking out just in front of the airport runway bright lights, & what looks like a ferry because it's also so brightly lit coming up behind me.  It's the 2nd one tonight.  I'm wondering what the best course of action is to avoid collision.  It seems like the shore is getting closer, & the chatter is still there, dead ahead, must be waves.  The ferry is getting closer on the other side.  I go to the radar to mark the ship, to see if it is indeed on collision course & press a button I think is "Marks". The screen changes completely & an alarm goes off.  oops.  Serge is sleeping & I don't want to wake him up.  I pace back & forth, like that's going to help.  Keep returning to the stupid radar & pressing buttons to get the picture back.  I decide to check the iPad & our course.  It seems like we are heading straight for shore because WE ARE HEADING STRAIGHT FOR SHORE!  I start to panic because changing course now could put us right in front of the ferry.  It's closing in on us fast (less than 3 nm) & now I'm wondering if it will turn in front of us to go into port.  NOW WHAT!   Finally I change Otto's heading & Serge comes up. "Why are we so close to shore?" he asks, "what's that alarm?" It's been about 45 mins. since it started.  I have some splaining to do.  He asks me, "WHY DID YOU PRESS THE MAN OVERBOARD BUTTON?"   Well, you'd think I'd just launched nuclear weapons into the free world.  It was marked MOB above the button.  I didn't have my glasses on, it was dark.  In truth, if there is a button to press, I will press it, it's a good thing I'm not in charge of nuclear weapons.  He frets & asks me exactly what I've pressed, as trying to correct it involved a lot of button pressing too.  He tells me, "The manual is 3 in. thick, what am I supposed to do now?"  At any rate, the ferry didn't pass in front of us, & there is still no wind, so we decided to ditch the crossing & pull into port.  "What a bunch of pussies" I think, we didn't even go 24 hrs. yet.