El Sensat

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria · Category: Memory · Subcategory: Memory spaces · Year: c. 1930

How could such a large ship be anchored in our bay, and be a yacht club?

It was the early years of the last century and most of the citizens of the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria were beginning to discover the beach, and the pleasure of living and enjoying the sea.

In 1920, Las Canteras did not have the problem we now suffer with the accumulation of sand, there was much more depth in the dock and the distance between the shore and La Barra was greater, so bringing a ship of this tonnage inside La Barra was not very complicated. A manoeuvre totally unthinkable nowadays.

This floating club stayed anchored for a few summers. And although it is not pleasant to see a sailing ship with its masts cut, serving as a social club, El Sensat fulfilled the mission of entertaining the citizens of those years who alternated between walking along the beach, eating at the Caseta de Galán or taking a boat trip to El Sensat.

El Sensat ended its days on the shore of Las Canteras beach, when the anchor chains broke during a strong storm. It was never refloated. Some say that part of its structure remains buried under the beach, roughly near the Peña del Pastel.

The schooner Pablo Sensat was no ordinary ship; it successfully completed voyages to Buenos Aires, Cuba and the Philippines. At that time it set a record in the Atlantic Ocean and crossed the feared Cape Horn. In its glorious era it was captained by Salvador Maristany, a legendary sailor from El Masnou, the place where this schooner originated.

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