When the trade wind calms down and the sea is like a plate, the Maritime Rescue teams and the Red Cross volunteers know that it is cayucos time. Between September and November the weather conditions surrounding Canary Islands They are ideal for starting a journey across the high seas without encountering resistance. In addition to the absence of the trade winds, the Canarian sea current slightly propels the boats sailing north. This combination of natural factors invites many migrants to undertake the journey from the African coast at this time, with the aim of reaching Europe through the Archipelago. Proof of this is that in the first eleven days of September, 31 precarious boats have arrived in the Islands, with 2,272 people on board.. The last one was rescued yesterday by Salvamento Marítimo, 26 kilometers from Punta de Rasca, in Tenerifeand its 87 occupants were transferred to the Los Cristianos dock.
The trade winds always blow in the same direction, from the tropics towards the equator, and their intensity – about 20 kilometers per hour – is very stable throughout the year. Although they blow with greater intensity between May and August and their strength decreases between September and November, causing what is known as calm seas. Starting in September, the trade wind practically disappears and the sea, which responds to this wind, flattens out and there are no waves, explains the university professor. University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) at the Institute of Oceanography and Global Change (IOCAG), Alonso Hernández, who points out that this scenario It facilitates the crossing of the canoes that set sail from coastal enclaves located further south in the Archipelago.
So far this month, 2,272 people have arrived in the Archipelago on board 31 boats.
Between Lanzarote and The Palm, the Canary Islands current goes south, but between the islands and the African continent it flows north, so this recirculation helps to bring the boats almost flying to the Canary Islands. This phenomenon, Hernández points out, occurs between September and November, but Starting in October, the storms begin to arrive and the bad weather begins, making this month the most favorable for making a trip without elements that make navigation difficult.
natural pattern
Hernández points out that the Canary current especially helps the boats that leave from Mauritania, since those that leave from Senegal or Gambia arrive at the westernmost islands –mostly to The iron and Tenerife – after crossing the flow that heads south taking “the outer edge of the current”. The ULPGC professor details that “the current is only an aid for the boat, because it is not an intense current that can drag it.” In this sense, he points out that if the gondola runs out of engine in high sea “it’s going to be bad”although it is favored by the typical weather factors of this time of year and which do not reduce the danger of the Canary Islands route.
The Canary Islands current is capable of transporting at surface level up to 4.8 million cubic meters of water per second in the north direction and 3.8 in the south direction, a thrust that drives the boats to reach the Islands. The rest of the year the flow of currents in the waters near the Archipelago is in a southwesterly direction, so precarious boats sail against the current and, on some occasions, when they run out of motor, they end up arriving in the Caribbean after months missing in the Atlantic.
The boats and inflatable boats that set sail from the coast of Morocco or Western Sahara They mainly depend on the power of their engines to travel the 80 kilometers of Atlantic Ocean that separates them from the Canary Islands. In this case the sea currents do not facilitate their crossing and the boats are slightly pushed towards the north. Of course, the absence of wind that calms the waves makes the journey somewhat less difficult.
They rescue the 87 occupants of a precarious boat 26 kilometers from the south of Tenerife
Hernández emphasizes that this is a natural pattern that is repeated every year, although on calm days there can always be occasional episodes of wind that favor waves at sea. This meteorological pattern has historically meant that the flow of arrivals to the Islands of people from the African continent has always increased after the summer. Throughout 2020, 23,023 people arrived in the Archipelago irregularly, of which 85% arrived between September and October. This peak in arrivals led to a humanitarian emergency due to the lack of resources to house the migrants. The reception infrastructures were overwhelmed, leaving the migrants for days overcrowded, without sanitary conditions and sleeping rough on the dock of Arguineguin.
The Canary Islands authorities have been alerted for weeks that the situation of instability policy and social crisis that Senegal is going through could cause a new avalanche of arrivals, since a significant peak has already been recorded throughout the month of August that is intensifying in September. Since May, the use of canoes to reach the Islands has been detected, boats that are used for traditional fishing in countries such as Senegal and Gambia.. These are more robust boats than boats and can transport a greater number of occupants. These boats, when setting sail from enclaves located further south in the Archipelago, cross the Canary Islands current and many end their journey in El Hierro, which has already seen its limited reception capacity strained.
