Try again

Up at 0730 and started work installing the new water trap. Finished doing that around 0830 and started the engine. Success, thankfully. The engine noise dragged Mick out of his slumbers and we had breakfast and then set too double checking the pipe work for leaks and putting the contents of the cockpit lockers back in place.

We discovered a small leak in one of the water pipes that Mick finally managed to fix with new pipe brought back from Arguineguin by Jo. I had to alter the cockpit locker side panel due to the new water trap being a slightly different shape than the old one. In the process of installing it I broke the pipe from the stern gland greaser to the stern gland. It's essential to prevent water leaking in through the propeller shaft. I was able to shorten it OK but getting the old olive back on the pipe in order to make a seal and prevent the grease from leaking out was more difficult. Eventually Mick came up with a technique that worked - using a small socket to push the olive on the pipe. I then promptly pulled the pipe out when packing the locker and we were back to square one. Went in search of a replacement Olive locally but no luck. Really did not want to traipse into Arguineguin again and so spent ages trying to reshape the olive and get it back on the pipe. Eventually in act of desperation I hit a punch through it too hard and split the olive. That was not the intention but it did mean we could get it back on the pipe and wonders of wonders it all held together!

After a few other jobs including going up the mast to lubricate a squeaky pulley we finished all the must do tasks and repaired over the pontoon to Jo and Esther for drinks and snacks and had another very enjoyable evening. Then back to the boat to check the weather. Concluded all OK (despite the likelihood of encountering some heavy swell en-route). So, providing no further disasters we should be departing tomorrow morning.

Tempting Fate

Left the pontoon this morning at 1000 in strong winds. Still frantically trying to get boat out when black smoke pouring out of cockpit lockers. Engine overheating. Had to lie across a few other boats waiting for marina guys to help us back to berth. Turns out the skipper - bloody fool - forgot to turn engine water inlet on. Water pipe on exhaust system melted. Agustin took me into Arguineguin to get new pipe. Esther fed us on my return. After lunch recommenced battle. Found one end of water trap on exhaust also melted. Back to Arguineguin. Amazing they had one. Now in Iron Mongers looking for copper pipe to make a lightning conductor! They have some of that too! I'll have that then back to boat and Mick to fit new water trap!




Dark by the time I got back so further work suspended. We'll carry on tomorrow morning.




Too tired to write any more!

Ready to go tomorrow Friday 18/11/16 (almost - all things are relative)

Augustin (OCC Port Officer) and Sonya (back) entertaining us Yachties

After what feels like a year of preparation we are now almost ready to leave Pasito Blanco for Mindelo on St Vincent in the Cape Verde Islands.

Mick arrived on Sunday gone and we have been undertaking final preparations ever since. Of course not everything is done but I have not met a yachtie who has ever finished their to-do list.

We have in part been waiting for the right weather window and after consulting with Chris earlier this evening we are satisfied that we should have an OK passage of between 8-11 days down to Cape Verde.

We have had a very enjoyable time here for the last few days thanks largely to Augustin and our wonderful neighbours across the pontoon, Joe and Esther in Vivienne. Agustin entertained us royally a couple of times. Ester cooked a fabulous meal for Mick, Chris and myself (and Jo) last night and we had an absolutely superb evening thanks to our hosts from the emerald isle.

Chris, Jo, Ester and Mick last night

Chris and I and Sue had already benefited from their hospitality earlier in the month. They plan to cross to the Caribbean in a month or so once their son has joined them. it's possible therefore that we might see them then.

Jo, me Sue (before she flew home) and Chris on Vivean

Quite possibly the worst experience of my life was the 5 hours we spent in the supermarket on Tuesday to provision the boat. We finally left with three trolley loads of food and other stuff and I was convinced we would not be able to find enough space to stow it. Anyway we throw it in the cockpit at about 1900 and dragged Jo out for a drink or two at the Yacht club and Mick and I ate as well - god we were hungry and thirsty.

Yesterday we spent the whole morning stowing our provisions but to my great surprise we found a home for everything and still had stowage space left over. Arctic Smoke is though now rather lower in the water than she once was!

This morning was spent checking the weather forecast, yet more jobs and then we finally gave ourselves some time off and went into Arguineguin and had a great and inexpensive Paella.

View from the Restaurant

Afterwards we wandered around the town, found the two cheepy Chinese shops and bought various exciting sundries like small washing up bowls to fit our sinks! A visit to the chandlers was also made to buy more boat stuff and we bought an extra camping gaz cylinder at significant expense (60 euros). We now have three so hopefully will not run out of gas on our passage across the Atlantic.

This evening we said good bye to our new friends in Pasito Blanco including Colin who's boat Roang (another ex Hoo/Medway sailor) was struck by lighting whilst out of the water. He now has a very large bill which hopefully the insurance will cover and his sailing plans have been set back a number of months.

I hope this does not prove too optimistic but next stop Mindelo, Cape Verde.

Returning to Gran Canaria

My flight leaves Gatwick at 0725 tomorrow (Friday 11/11) and so I should be back in Pasito Blanco around lunch time.

Still quite a lot to do before the off, not least provisioning.

Mick's due to arrive on Sunday.

Target departure date is 15/11. Destination Mindelo, St Vincent, Cape Verde, perhaps via La Gomera.

Plan is to be there by the end of November; have a a few days rest and then head for Martinique (or ANO island near by). The longer term plan is to get to Cuba so I don't want to enter the Caribbean any further south.

Back in the water at last and flying home

After an increasingly tortuous saga trying to import my 'special' anti-fouling from Germany, I gave up and got a refund. The suppliers estimated 4 days to get it to me. After two weeks it had still not arrived and I was informed that it was held up at Customs for the second time. This time they were demanding reference numbers and other info that the supplier new nothing about and neither did I!

Fortunately Chris had a half a can of basic anti-fouling that he had used to patch his anti-fouling (the same type as mine) and so I bought that from him and painted it on.

As you can see AS now has a touch of measles on her bottom, but not many people will notice!

I used the time whilst waiting to work through my list of other jobs. The stand out ones being: the fitting of a stand pipe around the rudder shaft in case of leaks through the rudder bearing (i might have mentioned that already); painting the decks; fitting the extra internal bilge pump (with a lot of help from Chris); completing the re-fitting the windows (also delayed waiting for a delivery of butyl tape and also with a lot of help from Chris; finishing off the installation of the electric bilge pump that Tony and I started last year; repairing the tiller (that was Chris); repairing the cockpit floor/come table and a host of other bits and pieces.

Above show the revised pipe layout for the new bilge pump following Chris' timely intervention. The white pipe is from the new pump, the clear from the existing one and both rise well above the water line to ensure water cannot get syphoned in when the boat heals over.

Re-launch day was on Saturday and it was a big relief to get back in the water, not least because it was extremely expensive being out in the yard. I could have spent a lot less time there if I hadn't waited around for the anti-fouling that never arrived!

The washing consists of two pairs of foul weather gear that had not been done since last year!

Above, Chris waits to tuck in to a celebration lunch on the newly repaired cockpit table. As you can see the repainting was not quite finished at that point but it is now.

Once back in the water I undertook a very basic engine service and commenced a major re-stowage programme to re-distribute the weight around the boat. She had been significantly down by the stern evidenced by the severe weed growth above the water-line prior to hauling her out. I move 40 litres of water in two jerry cans from the quarter berth to under the forward bunks, moved the No 2 anchor from the stern to the bow locker and moved the dinghy from a cockpit locker to stowage on deck (although currently it s now in the cabin). I will also stow the 2nd genoa on deck rather than in the stern locker).

Despite working almost non-stop for four weeks I still have a long list of snagging jobs to do on my return before we can head off, but at least all the major work is now complete. I probably need another couple of days to finish off the jobs and of course will need to provision for the passage to Cape Verde and the Caribbean. Our aimed for departure date (subject to the weather) of 15th November is just about achievable therefore.

It looks like Chris and I will sail in company to CV. I've got lots of admin to complete before then too such as sorting out insurance and visas and compiling a provisioning list.

Right now I'm waiting for my flight home from Gran Canaria. Ursula had her baby yesterday and so I'm looking forward to meeting the new arrival tomorrow.

Next post is likely to be mid November prior to departure for CV.

I hope all my sailing friends old and new are enjoying fair winds and good times and all my land based friends are enjoying similar good fortune.

The below are the last of Tony's ducks waiting to be released!

Two weeks in and ....

... things are progressing very slowly...

The good news is that my friend Chris arrived on his junk rigged boat last Thursday having sailed down from Sines in Portugal. He's come to help me with the work on the boat which is a great help. Having built his own boats in the past he knows whats what when it comes to boats. The only down side is that means he's spotted jobs that need doing that I had overlooked. It's clearly good to get them done but it does mean that my list of jobs was even longer than I had reckoned.

Prior to his arrival I had installed the pipework needed to fit a bilge pump below decks and had re-sited the cockpit pump and was feeling rather pleased with myself. I still had to find and fit a pump but...Anyway here's pipes and the end result in the cockpit.

The grey bit is the cover for the pump and the brown bit is where it used to be before I moved it, which I had to do because it fouled the tiller.

Anyway Chris reminded me that I still needed to fit a standpipe around the rudder shaft so that in the event of the rudder bearing leaking, the water would be contained in the pipe and not sink the boat. That however meant removing the pump and pipe work in order that I could access the space under the cockpit floor in order to remove the old steering quadrant (left over from the old wheel steering the boat used to have). Something I finally managed to achieve yesterday. Tomorrow I need to go in search of some plastic pipe from which to make the standpipe.

By far the worst job so far has been tackling the windows that were leaking badly. A really horrible messy job which along with the need to remove all the gear from the lockers to undertake the work on the rudder and other jobs, has turned the boat into a building site.....

A window back in with loads of black gunge oozing out... followed by a window aperture and a window and a pretty faithful indication of what the cockpit looks like after a day's labour and a load of stuff temporarily stored on the front of the boat.

As you can see - plain sailing is some considerable way off!

Chris has fixed a number of other things and has a number more to do. Many jobs could be done once the boat is back in the water but we are being held up waiting deliveries including anti-fouling, more black gooey stuff for sealing the windows and treatment for the iron keel. Getting things delivered here is an absolute nightmare. At this rate I'll be lucky to get the boat back in the water by this time next week. Apart from the fact that I fly home on 25/10 and must get her back in by then (and ideally ready to sail), it's much more expensive having the boat out of the water than in it!

Update: Stings, Pox and Other Issues

Apologies for style and presentation but techy issues mean having to write a lost of this on my phone.

Arrived on Tuesday evening. First job on Wednesday was to get in the water and check prop to ensure not too fouled. It was ok but cleaned it up a bit anyway. Age catching up; could not not stay under for more than 30 seconds. Noticed tingling on thighs and chest and arm pits. Turned into burning sensation. Rash developed.

No jelly fish. Then noticed tentacle growths on morning lines that I had been hanging on to. They were clearly stinging blighters.

Met Murray from Irish Eyes. Enjoyed a dinner at the yacht club and he helped me get AS ashore. Another retired GP. He's now flown to Baltic to sail with a pal there. Returns January.

Bit of a panic getting AS ashore. There was a delay at the yard so tried to turn engine off to wait but cut out switch did not cut out. Decompressed instead but then no power to panel so could not start. Thankfully engine still warm enough to hand crank start. But now got to figure out what's gone wrong!

Under water growth on AS strange. Low down only slime but where sunlight gets through say 2 feet below water line (and above where swell laps) heavy thin tubular growth like what stung me. Very clingy. Yard pressure washer excellent but had to scrape too. Unfortunately patches of expensive anti-fouling came off too so have had to order more.

Even more disappointing was discovery of osmosis blisters above water line where the growth was.

Perhaps microscopic punctures from creatures let water in? Consulted Chris who advised no immediate measures required but will have to address on return. Could be expensive:(

Chris en-route fro Sines. Should arrive here later next week to help with jobs. That will be a great help. Re bedding leaky windows which locals failed to do plus preparing prow where scraped on pontoon during gales last year when mooring line snapped. Oh and the engine electrics too!

Finding stuff/ tools took ages after so long away. Some stuff thought was here but not like the anti-fouling and treatment for the iron keel. Had to ask Sharon to post me the latter.

Saturday completed clean off of hull and prop. Took ages. The remnants of growth above the water line particularly stubborn.

Also started re-siting of bilge pump in cockpit to avoid fouling with tiller (which I added before departure from Chatham) but only realised could not use whilst tiller in use after departure.

Have now planned installation of internal bilge pump and need to go off and buy all the bits on Monday

Boat a real mess at present with gear everywhere and at least one covering of African dust. Not very pretty.

Today, Sunday. Realised that I needed to grease the rudder bearings. Guess what? The newly sited bilge pump had to come out in order for me to squeeze into the cockpit locker and contort my body so that I could JUST reach the lock nuts on the bearing assembly in order to part it and grease and then re-assemble. 

Then reinstalled the bilge pump (not connected) and blanked off the old aperture. 

The angle of the pipe to the pump now too sharp so will need to buy right angle connector. Also reinstalled the windless which I removed in March and took to the local workshop because it had seized up. They fixed it. The work cost me 50 euros which was fair enough but then I had to pay another 50 for storage which I thought was a bit steep especially given there had previously been no mention of storage charges.

Tomorrow will take bus into Arguineguin to go to the chandlery. Will probably need to order most of stuff I need - the main things are a new bilge pump to fit down below (currently not one fitted and I should really be able to pump below in storm conditions) and all the necessary pipe work and connectors. Also bits and pieces needed to apply the anti-fouling.

Given it's Sunday I've hit the sailor's traditional tonic - Rum. Have discovered that rum, ice, grapefruit juice, squeeze of lime and a dash of Allspice makes a pretty good sundowner! Cheers.