Sunday was spent getting the boat ready for sea once again. It sounds easy but once the boat has been Marina bound for a while every flat surface seems to acquire a collection of unstable bits that are just asking to fly around in a seaway. So lockers were tidied and spaces found for the seemingly endless bits and bobs we had aquired. Judicious use was made of the bin and anything which wasn't 100% working was thrown away.
Lynnes new hair do was declared fit for purpose as was Dark Tarn, we did a final laundry and dried everything on the guardrails and boom. Normally I`m a bit fussy about this but the drier wasn't working in the laundry shed.
Mondays weather brought wind and rain. 30 knots over the deck in the marina meant a full gale outside the harbour and it was blowing from the west, just the direction we needed to go! Accompanied by heavy rain, we were a little despondent until we heard on the radio about the floods in the north of England.
However it wasn't all bad news, A.S.A.P. Supplies were better than their word and our pump and spares arrived Monday morning, one day early. They now officially have the parcel delivery record to Spain from the UK. Well done.
Nothing to do now but watch the weather.
I discovered that the mischievous pixies at Google photos had been busy again and had transformed one of my photos into an oil painting, I think its rather good, its the Grande Hotel Colgante and if you look closely you may spot Lynne on the balcony.
We went to visit Alvero in the Capitanerie to inform him we planned to leave the following day weather permitting.
He informed us that there were strong westerlies forecast but we had decided to do a very short trip up the coast to Castro Urdiales, its about 9 miles or so and would be a good shake down and a chance to test the engine after the work we had done to it. The plan would then be to sit out the westerlies and travel further along the coast when they subsided.
We then tried to pay our bill and Alvero surprised us by refusing to let us pay for May and June. Thats a lot of euros that can stay in the cruising kitty and a very generous gesture from a truly lovely man. He even gave us a couple of the shock absorbing springs that have been attached to our mooring lines over Winter. These soak up the snatch on the lines when swell gets in and are very useful in the Cape Verdes for example where Mindelo marina is very prone to swell as are many other places open to the Atlantic.So, Alvero Basterra Lopez-Tapia we salute you!
We went out for a final drink around town after our final shower ( well not literally) and tomorrow should see us in the small harbour of Castro Urdiales. We shall be sad to leave, once more we find we have been made to feel welcome and can call another place a kind of part time home from home.
(The title is from a sea shanty by the way, Spanish Ladies)
I discovered that the mischievous pixies at Google photos had been busy again and had transformed one of my photos into an oil painting, I think its rather good, its the Grande Hotel Colgante and if you look closely you may spot Lynne on the balcony.
We went to visit Alvero in the Capitanerie to inform him we planned to leave the following day weather permitting.
He informed us that there were strong westerlies forecast but we had decided to do a very short trip up the coast to Castro Urdiales, its about 9 miles or so and would be a good shake down and a chance to test the engine after the work we had done to it. The plan would then be to sit out the westerlies and travel further along the coast when they subsided.
We then tried to pay our bill and Alvero surprised us by refusing to let us pay for May and June. Thats a lot of euros that can stay in the cruising kitty and a very generous gesture from a truly lovely man. He even gave us a couple of the shock absorbing springs that have been attached to our mooring lines over Winter. These soak up the snatch on the lines when swell gets in and are very useful in the Cape Verdes for example where Mindelo marina is very prone to swell as are many other places open to the Atlantic.So, Alvero Basterra Lopez-Tapia we salute you!
We went out for a final drink around town after our final shower ( well not literally) and tomorrow should see us in the small harbour of Castro Urdiales. We shall be sad to leave, once more we find we have been made to feel welcome and can call another place a kind of part time home from home.
(The title is from a sea shanty by the way, Spanish Ladies)
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