Sail the Atlantic with strangers

Would you sail across the Atlantic with someone you've just met? Ali Wood meets the cruising crews who've done just that

- Ali Wood

Gran Canaria is a crossroads for transatlantic sailors. For many young travellers, the vibrant Spanish island marks the start of an adventure. But for others, it's the end of an ordeal, an ordeal some never make it through.

Last year over 36,000 migrants arrived in the Canary Islands by sea, more than 4,000 of them unaccompanied minors. Some of the exhausted refugees from sub-Saharan Africa ended up at Atlas Hostel, a rustic backpackers hostel traditionally used by crew or 'boat hikers' looking to find boats across the Atlantic.

Each year, when I interview participants of the ARC rally, I scan the noticeboard in Gran Canaria where would-be crew advertise their skills in everything from sailing to medicine and childcare. I see backpackers slipping into gated pontoons after boat owners, and wonder if they'll be lucky enough to find a boat.

Boat hiker hostel

So when I found a poster in the marina advertising Atlas, the 'Boat hiker' hostel in Las Palmas, I was curious to find out more... and then surprised to learn it accommodated 'arrivals' as well as those hoping to depart the island.

Hostel manager, Manuel Cabezudo, showed me around the charming, slightly dilapidated building and gave me an insight into the two worlds that meet under his roof, describing them as 'those who sail for pleasure and those who sail for survival'.

"It doesn't matter if you are a migrant, a boat hiker, a traveller or a tourist, there is a place for you here," he said. "As you can see the house has lots of character. We didn't want to create this fancy hostel. We just wanted to give it the atmosphere of a really old welcoming house."

As we walked the lime-green stairwell and peeped inside dorms full of guitars and unmade beds, Manuel told me about the cultural events he holds so that backpackers and migrants can swap stories with Gran Canarians.