La Bocayna

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La Bocayna
Estrecho de la Bocayna (Spanish)
Bocaina Strait R02.jpg
Las Palmas-Loc.svg
Red pog.svg
La Bocayna
LocationBetween Lanzarote and Fuerteventura
Coordinates 28°48′00″N13°48′00″W / 28.80000°N 13.80000°W / 28.80000; -13.80000
Type Strait
Ocean/sea sources Atlantic Ocean
Basin  countries Spain
Min. width11 km (6.8 mi; 5.9 nmi)
Islands Lobos Island
Settlements Corralejo and Playa Blanca

La Bocayna or La Bocaina (Spanish : Estrecho de la Bocaina) is a sea strait that separates Lanzarote from Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands. The island of Lobos is situated on the southern side of the strait, close to Fuerteventura. [1] [2]

Contents

In the 19th century, the strait was known as a safe anchorage with a sandy bottom, which shelved gradually towards Lanzarote with depths of up to five fathoms. The shore around Lobos was less hospitable, being ‘foul and rocky’. A steady trade wind could be found in the strait, although it was blocked by the hills of Lanzarote, becalming ships that were in their lee, tacking towards Lobos was needed to regain the wind. [3]

Large breakers were observed by one ship’s captain, produced by a heavy westerly swell. Waves up to 18 metres (60 ft) high were seen breaking on the northern point of Lobos, the sound of the waves could be heard up to six or seven leagues away. [3]

View of La Bocayna strait, with Lobos, and Fuerteventura beyond Lobos R01.jpg
View of La Bocayna strait, with Lobos, and Fuerteventura beyond

Lighthouses

The strait is marked by a number of lighthouses including Punta Martiño on Lobos, Pechiguera at the south western end of Lanzarote, and Tostón on the north western side of Fuerteventura. [4]

Ferries

Bocayna Express Ferry Fred. Olsen, Bocayna Express.JPG
Bocayna Express Ferry

A high speed ferry service runs across the strait, using the catamaran Bocayna Express . The crossing time is 20 minutes. The Fred. Olsen Express line has operated the service since 2003 between Playa Blanca in Lanzarote and Corralejo in Fuerteventura. [5]

Naviera Armas operates a competing service with its larger but slower vessel, Volcán de Tindaya , covering the same route in 35 minutes. [6] [7]

Open water swimming

The Travesia La Bocaina is an annual open water swimming endurance event that crosses the strait. Depending on the speed of the swimmers it can take between five and eight hours to complete the swim from Playa Blanca to Corralejo, over a distance of 15 kilometres (9.3 mi; 8.1 nmi). [8]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canary Islands</span> Spanish archipelago and region in the Atlantic Ocean

The Canary Islands, also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish region, autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are 100 kilometres west of Morocco and the Western Sahara. They are the southernmost of the autonomous communities of Spain. The islands have a population of 2.2 million people and are the most populous special territory of the European Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fuerteventura</span> Canary Island

Fuerteventura is one of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, geographically part of Macaronesia, and politically part of Spain. It is located 97 km (60 mi) away from the coast of North Africa. The island was declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO in 2009.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lanzarote</span> Canary Island

Lanzarote is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, 125 kilometres off the north coast of Africa and 1,000 kilometres from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering 845.94 square kilometres, Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the islands in the archipelago. With 152,289 inhabitants at the start of 2019, it is the third most populous Canary Island, after Tenerife and Gran Canaria. Located in the centre-west of the island is Timanfaya National Park, one of its main attractions. The island was declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO in 1993. The island's capital is Arrecife, which lies on the eastern coastline. It is the smaller main island of the Province of Las Palmas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arrecife</span> City in Canary Islands, Spain

Arrecife is the capital city and a municipality of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. It was made the island's capital in 1852. The city owes its name to the rock reef which covers its local beach. It also gives its name to the nearby Arrecife Airport. The population of the municipality was 64,645 in 2020. Its area is 22.72 square kilometres (8.77 sq mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graciosa, Canary Islands</span> Canary Island in the Chinijo Archipelago

Graciosa Island or commonly La Graciosa is a volcanic island in the Canary Islands of Spain, located two kilometres north of Lanzarote across the Strait of El Río. As the rest of the Canary Islands, it was formed by the Canary hotspot. The island is part of the Chinijo Archipelago and the Chinijo Archipelago Natural Park. It is administered by the municipality of Teguise in the neighboring island of Lanzarote. In 2018 La Graciosa was officially declared the eighth Canary Island by the Spanish Senate, with few real effects. Before then, the island had the status of an islet. It's administratively dependent on the island of Lanzarote.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lobos Island</span> Spanish Island in the Atlantic

Lobos is a small island of the Canary Islands (Spain) located just 2 kilometres north of the island of Fuerteventura. It belongs to the municipality of La Oliva on the island of Fuerteventura. It has an area of 4.68 square kilometres (1.8 sq mi). It has been a nature reserve since 1982.

Fred. Olsen Express is an inter-island ferry service based in the Canary Islands, Spain. It operates a fleet of six modern fast ferries on five routes. Its fleet includes a trimaran fast ferry, the Benchijigua Express, which was the first such vehicle in the world when it entered service in 2005. The company is owned by the Olsen family-controlled Bonheur and Ganger Rolf, which among other things also owns the shipping companies Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines and First Olsen Tankers.

Corralejo is a town and resort located on the northern tip of Fuerteventura, one of the Canary Islands, facing the smaller islet of Lobos. It is in the municipality of La Oliva.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LZ-2 road (Spain)</span>

LZ-2 is one of the main roads on the island of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. It leads south from the island's capital, Arrecife, ending at the island's southernmost town of Playa Blanca. From here, ferries are available to cross the strait of La Bocayna, effectively connecting the LZ-2 to the FV-1 on the island of Fuerteventura. Lanzarote Airport is also accessed by the LZ-2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Playa Blanca</span> Town in Canary Islands, Spain

Playa Blanca is the southernmost town of the Spanish island of Lanzarote. It is the newest resort on the island, and is part of the municipality of Yaiza.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naviera Armas</span> Shipping company of Canarian origin, founded 1940

Naviera Armas is a Spanish company, founded in the 1940s, which operates a number of ferry services in Spain. The company mainly operates in the Canary Islands, with additional routes connecting the Canary Islands and the north African coast to the Spanish mainland. As of August 2019, the company operates a fleet of 11 ferries and 5 fast ferries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pechiguera Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse on Lanzarote, Spain

The Pechiguera or Punta Pechiguera Lighthouse is an active lighthouse on the Canary island of Lanzarote. It is the second lighthouse to be built at Punta Pechiguera, which is at the south-western end of the island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punta Martiño Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse on Lobos Island, Spain

The Punta Martiño Lighthouse is an active lighthouse on the Canary island of Lobos, near Fuerteventura in the municipality of La Oliva.

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HSC <i>Bocayna Express</i>

Bocayna Express is a catamaran fast ferry operated by the Spanish-Norwegian shipping company Fred. Olsen Express between the Canary Islands of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote in the Atlantic Ocean. It was delivered to Fred. Olsen in September 2003 and has been operating the route between the towns of Corralejo (Fuerteventura) and Playa Blanca (Lanzarote) since then. The ship is named after the Bocayna strait which separates the two islands it serves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strait of El Río</span> Strait in Between Lanzarote and La Graciosa

El Río is the name given to the sea strait that separates La Graciosa from Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. Río, in Spanish, means 'river'. At its narrowest point, the strait is just over 1.1 kilometres wide.

MS <i>Volcán de Tindaya</i>

Volcán de Tindaya is a roll-on/roll-off passenger ferry operated by the Spanish shipping company Naviera Armas between the Canary Islands of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote in the Atlantic Ocean. It was built and delivered to Armas in 2003 and has been operating the route between the towns of Corralejo (Fuerteventura) and Playa Blanca (Lanzarote) since then. The ship is named after the Tindaya mountain on Fuerteventura.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geology of the Canary Islands</span>

The geology of the Canary Islands is dominated by volcanoes and volcanic rock. The Canary Islands are a group of volcanic islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, near the coast of Northwest Africa. The main islands are Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Gomera, La Palma, and El Hierro. There are also some minor islands and islets. The Canary Islands are on the African tectonic plate but they are far from the plate's edges; this controls the type of volcanic activity, known as intraplate volcanism, that has formed the islands.

References

  1. La Bocayna can be found at GEOnet Names Server, at this link, by opening the Advanced Search box, entering " -386561 " in the "Unique Feature Id" form, and clicking on "Search Database".
  2. "Bocayna" (Map). Google Maps . Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  3. 1 2 John Purdy (1825). Memoir, Descriptive and Explanatory: To Accompany the New Chart of the Atlantic Ocean and Comprising Instructions, General and Particular, for the Navigation of that Sea. R.H. Laurie. pp.  213–214.
  4. "Museum of Traditional Fishing". Museums. artesaniaymuseosdefuerteventura.org. Archived from the original on 30 November 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  5. John May; William Mayes (1 May 2004). Ferries: Southern Europe. Overview Press Ltd. p. 65. ISBN   978-0-9547206-0-5.
  6. "M/F Volcan De Tindaya". The ferry site. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  7. "Buscar ferries entre Playa Blanca y Corralejo con Ferries.es" [Find ferries between Playa Blanca and Corralejo with Ferries.es]. Ferries.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  8. "Travesia La Bocaina". Swim Crossing. b15active.com. Retrieved 11 January 2015.

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