Blocks it and other irritations.....

I had a conversation with Pepe one of our mariñeros, During which I imagine he was telling me that The damage to our bow was done when one of our mooring ropes broke during the storms. Unfortunately my Spanish is still pretty basic and I regret to say I only discovered this fact much later being constrained below decks due to rainy weather. I had understood the gist but not the particulars.

Pepe, many thanks, your repairs and replacements were very well done and I also think you were probably telling me to check the other lines for chafe. I'll get on it....

One morning I was using the heads ( toilet) when a tissue fell out of my pocket and I pumped it away before I realised. Normally you can pump anything down our heads, this isn't normal for sea toilets on yachts, two sheets is a common limitation. Ours however has substantial pipe work and a large capacity pump. Lately however it had been getting more difficult to pump and due to my flushing a non dissolving hanky was now suddenly and irrevocably blocked!

One of the problems with sea toilets in general is the usual awkward nature of maintaining pipe work and fittings, ours is boxed into a kind of cistern and would tax a gynaecologist to operate in its dingy and constricted depths.

I must admit at this point to volunteering to leave the thing for 24 hours to see if the insoluble tissue would break down, this meant going back to bucket and chuck it for a while. Luckily I have an understanding wife.

The following day I began the process of disassembling the outlet pipe work, this proved easiest by completely removing the pump. This has an incredibly difficult bolt to unscrew which is only accessible by a stubby screwdriver used left handed and blind. There was already a germ of a solution brewing to this problem but unfortunately it wouldn't be fully formed until after the job was finished, about four hours away. After the pump was extracted the jubilee clips for the pipe work were loosened and a manly struggle was begun with the large stiff pipe, eventually it gave up and I sat on my arse sweating profusely and looking at a completely blocked outlet pipe.

It also was apparent that my bit of tissue was just the last straw as the pipe was fully calcified with the concrete like build up a full half inch thick around the inside of the pipe and now fully blocking it as well as the sea cock.

Luckily I had helped a poor Swiss yachtsman with a similar problem in Laredo, so I did not need to go down the stiff wire, broom handle pokey thing approach and just went straight to the large hammer solution.

A quick hammer of the exterior pipe followed by an energetic bash of the pipe on the pontoon had the satisfying result of evil smelling calcification flying out and covering the pontoon, the deck of Dark Tarn, Lynne, my glasses and everything else within a ten foot radius. A final high pressure hosing and the pipe was a clean as a whistle. Now to the seacock, this was a bit more problematic and I nearly gave up and asked to be lifted out early, but as I sat on the step ( my favourite thinking spot ) common sense said that with the seacock open to the sea I should be able to use a long screwdriver to chip away and poke through to the outside of the boat and clear the open seacock. Of course this would also leave an inch and a half hole for water to enter. As long as the seacock continued to operate correctly this wouldn't be a problem, 

Alarming, yes, but we also had a softwood Bung in case of disaster............

Suffice to say that after a few minutes of very careful excavation a trickle of water became a torrent and the seacock worked perfectly to stem the flow. However Lynne and I were dirty smelly and wet through.

I'll cut this short as the next two hours are not a time in my life I wish to dwell on , I spent an hour carefully assembling the pipe work and successfully installed a brand new pump ( we have lots of spares ) upside down, my brain had correctly married the inlet and outlet pipes but the pump itself was completely and obviously, inoperable, another hour had it the right way up but ( you guessed it ) back to front, so now it worked but pumped the sea into the toilet and not the other way round. I was getting too tired for this job obviously, after reassembling the pump to the correct orientation, body pump and handle were all in the correct place and another hour had the whole thing assembled and working. Working very well too, slick and smooth, the inlet pump by comparison was very sluggish, obviously furring up with the dreaded calcification, that could wait until we were lifted out. I was heartlty fed up of pumps and pipes by now!

The solution to the inaccessible screw was by now fully formed and for the princely price of 7 euros Manuel provided me with a watertight circular hatch.

I will fit this tomorrow, when what's left of my fingers stop bleeding and assuming I have not succumbed to typhoid or cholera in the meantime. Should make maintenance less of a chore and hopefully if we are fastidious about clearing the pipes we should keep de calcification epics in the past.

It's not all sunshine and glamour aboard Dark Tarn......

working off some weight

We were lucky initially with the weather, sunbathing was the order of the day and we couldn't quite believe the contrast with our time in the U.K.

My weight gain was bothering me and I decided to do something about it, I had a few trips out on my bike, Lynne also combined these trips with a gentler walk and lying on the beach. a good ride was to the lovely beach at Limens.

This really was a special day for March! the sun glistened on the sea and the Isles de Cies sat in a glorious heat haze out on the horizon.

The sea was clear and varied colours of blue and green. The vivid Spanish blue of the sky contrasted with the dark green spring foliage of the pines and Eucalyptus trees. It felt good to be home!

Of course it couldn't last ..........rain and wind set in for a few days and it was nearly a week before we could again set out into the hills. I can recommend a walk through a Eucalyptus forest if you are suffering the tail end of a snotty cold. It does clear your tubes brilliantly!

The traces of the winter storms were apparent with a few trees down, the small chapel on the hill above Cangas had been a victim of the high winds. A large branch had blown down and damaged the roof.

All the detritus had been tidied away but the roof was still in need of repair. Act of God maybe?

Lynne took the opportunity later in the walk to refresh our herb supplies. Laurel  (Bay leaves) grows wild almost everywhere and the fresh green leaves were very aromatic, a good supply was gathered.

We climbed through the woods exploring a few paths we had not walked before but generally heading to the belvedere that has stunning views over Cangas and the Ria.

We came across a dappled glade that had decorated trees in it. Undoubtedly belonging to a local witches coven!

 We eventually gained the viewpoint and looked down as a large floating crane was towed in to Vigo.

The decent was again along paths never previously travelled and we were delighted by the profusion of a particular lily that seems to grow everywhere. They are absolutely huge being the size of a mans hand.

We also discovered a viewing platform that enabled you to see some Neolithic carvings in some large granite slabs.

Quite hard to spot at first but we persevered and they do eventually become apparent, maybe they are more obvious when the winter moss and lichen has burned off.
The rest of the time we spent tidying and cleaning aboard dark Tarn. The photo below shows Lynne emptying our " cocktail cabinet ".

Back to cangas

Possibly the worst flight ever for me, four and a half hours on a very uncomfortable flight which should have taken half the time, however late we arrived in Porto and were absolutely convinced we had missed the bus as we had been forced to do a last minute abort on landing as there was an aircraft on the runway as we descended out of thick cloud at about 50 feet, full power and a steep climb was followed by twenty minutes of stooging around before we landed very late. Luckily so was the bus to Vigo and ewe managed to be back in the Vigo bus station by early afternoon.

We took a walk along the boardwalk, the sky was blue , the sea was calm, we were home.
There was however work to be done, a fierce storm early in February had caused Dark Tarns bow to be damaged by contact with the pontoons, not a huge problem apart from the fact that I now felt like death warmed up.

The evidence of the storm was all over the beach in the form of masses of detritus......

On Dark Tarn however it was evidenced by a 3 inch rusty gouge on the bow, it had obviously been very bouncy!

Luckily the weather took a turn for the better, unlike my virus ridden body. I did raise myself to address the issue of the midlines that had been left unattended in the water for the last two and a half months.

My flu like virus abated leaving me with a healthy crop of cold sores so I set too with the repairs.

Lynne however was more interested in the weekly market.

We ran Dark Tarns engine and as usual it started first time, however we had a more serious problem lurking out of sight.

Our main bilge pump is a serious affair 3000 gallons per hour, as a side show it has a thing called a float switch which theoretically should kick in when the water in the bilge gets above two and a half inches. This didnt seem to be working and the fault was quickly traced to diesel leaking into the bilge which had perished the insulation of the float switch wiring.

Both of the wires should be attached in the above photo.
Unfortunately our usual help in these matters Manuel in the local swindlers was unable to provide a replacement. a call to Jabsco provide the information that a 20 amp  RULE switch would be appropriate, but Manuel couldn't provide one for less than 120 euros. This was for a part available in England for £29.95.
Needless to say I ordered one to be delivered home and hoped that Alex'
promise to fly out in May would happen! 

So that just left St Patricks day to be taken care of, bow was fixed, main bilge pump was working Sans float switch, my cold sores seemed to be drying up and Lynne was only in the tertiary stage of whatever awful virus I had acquired so it seemed time to go on a bit of a bender. we had arranged to meet up with Jim and Megan in Vigo and so caught the regular ferry across the ria.

 We inspected the new dinosaurs, apparently the mayor of Vigo is very keen, less so the general public, I think they are great....

 After a few beers along the waterfront we did the cultural thing and inspected an open air photography exhibition, strange but the photographs were excellent
To be honest it all gets a bit hazy after this. we had pulpo in the old town and then a pizza and we just caught the next to last ferry. great day out!.

Escape......

Now don't get me wrong. we loved meeting friends and family, we were even glad to be around when Gill passed away because we could grieve properly and offer what small support we could to friends who we value deeply. We were lucky enough to also get the chance to celebrate my sisters Birthday.

Again we seemed to gravitate to the \brewery bar.

Where I could agin use my cartoon skills!
We were also lucky enough to be invited to a meal with Geoff and family in a local restaurant in Horwich Leos.

It was our last chance to see and be a part of the Horwich family we love, including its newest member Ruby!

It was with mixed feelings that we finally headed back to Spain to be reunited with DT and continue our voyage. Initially this seemed to be doomed as French air traffic controllers went on strike so we sat for an hour and a half on the tarmac at Manchester Airport waiting for an available slot, and it would appear ingesting a heinous virus through the closed circuit air conditioning . but I will continue that story in another post.........................

Loss....

We had visited Gill Seddon on our return along with Geoff and were concerned when she was taken into hospital for surgery for Gaul bladder issues. We were utterly devastated when complications set in and she sadly passed away on 16th February.
Gill had been a major part of our collective upbringing. We holidayed as a group of families together in south Wales. Gill and Geoff's tent was always the party tent and everyone was guaranteed a welcome. Whitesands Bay was a kind of mad festival, with an ever changing cast of characters. Every year themes were similar, Sea-kayaking , surfing, fishing ,climbing, lots of drinking, fires on the beach, endless games of Gin-Rummy.

It is difficult to state how important Gill was in all our lives particularly all our children's lives..
For my part when I die I would be happy if I find myself walking up to the top of the field, open the door to the party tent, crack a can and settle in for a game of Gin Rummy, I know that Gill would already have the kettle on......

Jubilee calling...............

It is fair to say that Lynne and I were shocked to the core at the news, Geoff's youngest boy had just produced (along with a big input from Naomi ) their first grandson , which Gill had delighted in, below is (from left to right) Tom, Ruby, Helen (looking shocked) Brian (cuddling Ruby) Alex and Geoff

As is probably evident from the black ties this was the occasion of Gills funeral, but it was far from a sombre event, it was a true celebration of a life lived largely for others and was fantastically well attended. of course in the spirit of Gills life it got a bit silly, but I don't think she would have minded.

Hopefully we gave her a great send off

Ennuie

We flew back to the U.K. on the 19th of December fully expecting to be flying back to DT on the 10 th of January. However we had not taken into account the glacial state of the NHS. The fantastic and immediate treatment for a gastric problem that Lynne had recieved in Cangas, ultrasound scan, x-ray, ECG, several consults with on one occasion the doctors wife and another using conference calling for translation services with another doctor had impressed us.

The fact that from start to finish the process had taken less than 24 hours obviously coloured our predictions for the one remaining procedure that the Spanish doctor had recommended for our visit home, namely the gastroscopy.

It proved impossible to arrange with our GP in the U.K. over the phone, apparently only a visit to our surgery in Horwich was acceptable, even though we offered to fax all prior investigations and results for their perusal ( we had been given these by the Spanish doctor along with an explanatory letter ) strangely it appears that dealing with the NHS has the effect of raising my blood pressure, well, doctors receptionists for sure!

We tried to forget sbout it until we had got Christmas over with and settled in to enjoy meeting friends and family again.

Our youngest relatives had sprung up in our abscence, above is Jack and below his sister Olivia.

Turned out that they were darling children. It was nice to see Lynnes side of the family and later we were invited to Christmas dinner with my sister and my extended family.

The children had to make do with the emergency chairs ( and table ) The obvious long haired lad in the above photos is our son Alex.

It was an excellent dinner. I had treated myself to a new iphone and taking advantage of a new app took photos that apeared to be cartoons, fun.......

This is Alex's bar. The Brewery with the usual suspects.

Meanwhile Dark Tarn was basking in lovely winter sun as we were freezing in grey miserable fog. One of our Irish chums checked up on  DT and sent us the above photo ( thanks to the Magnets)

We took the opportunity to visit Lynnes parents. Being without a hire car meant that we had to rely on public transport. To be honest its doable but a bit of a pain, its also ridiculously expensive in comparison to other countries.
The delays in Lynnes appointment and further delays in results meant we had to cancel our flights back, A relatively painless procedure, although like many things now becoming increasingly reliant on the internet.

 While in Wigan we rediscovered some old haunts and realised how things had changed, not all you understand Wigan will always remain true to itself, but in the detail. Above is the John Bull chophouse where in our youth Lynne and I had many a drunken evening. However the new civic centre has intruded and if you turn around at the spot where the above photo was taken you are presented with this rather imposing head.

I believe it represents a rugby player ( so that's alright then )
The extra time should have given us time to walk and explore but with one or two exceptions it just pissed down,

One of the exception we grabbed with both feet and borrowed our favourite dog Bonnie for a walk in the hills.
we also got to meet very old friends and reminisce, or possibly just compare knees ( its an age thing)

Above is our friend Geoff whose wife was in hospital having a consult with our wonderful Physio Keith on the right.

In the above photo is Lynne ( obviously ) Keith and his wife Gill, and on the left Domingo who is the significant other of Geoffs daughter Fliss, both of whom live and work in Tennerife and have become our contacts and go to guys on those windswept Atlantic islands.
Which is proof positive that it is indeed a small world..........
A world which was about to get a seismic shock.....................