We had been avoiding many small jobs aboard Dark Tarn and had been enjoying swimming and lying on the beaches of Cangas instead. Indeed on one memorable afternoon a pod of the local dolphins came very close in to the beach and were leaping out of the water just where we had been swimming a little earlier. Lynne is very fond of creatures and so it took a great deal longer to walk back to the marina due to constantly stopping to watch the fins breaking the surface as a pair of dolphin escorted us back.
However several days of excuses and avoidance, " it's too hot", is always a winner..and I was beginning to feel guilty. One morning after breakfast I decided to fix the log which hasn't been working for a while. I knew the reason, it was a small sea creature, usually a shellfish that had decided to take up residence in the transducer housing. This transducer is a combination echo sounder and log, the log bit consists of a small paddlewheel that rotates as the boat moves through the water. In the age of GPS some people might question the value of such a device, however we understand that in the fluid environment on which we navigate it is necessary to know both speed through the water and speed over ground.
It is a relatively simple procedure to withdraw the transducer however as it is underwater it's removal leaves an inch and a quarter hole in the boat. A small flap usually stems the flow until I can quickly fit a blank transducer, unless that is a small mollusc has again taken up residence........
As it turned out there was not just one but a thriving colony of slimy sea creatures. That will teach me to be lazy! We wil have to pull it every couple of months in future now we are in fertile waters.......
This incident prompted me to see Bea about having Dark Tarn hoisted out and anti fouled ready for our upcoming voyage. The lift was was quickly arranged for next Tuesday. This would be on the local fishermans yard on the harbour wall, for the first time we would pay someone else to do the job, this is normal practise in Spain. Hopefully we would be anti fouled with the local toxic commercial anti fouling.
The upcoming lift further led us to empty and organise the " black hole" or our hugely capacious cockpit locker.
This occupied us for the majority of a day, " too hot " was mentioned a couple of times but I ignored it and carried on to the point of no return, or " event horizon" , this is the point where it is quicker to carry on than give up. Sails ropes, warps, anchors, beaching legs,extendable ladders, scuba gear, more sails, diesel and water jerrycans etc. Etc.
All were got out and spread on deck, storm sails were hoisted to lubricate piston Hank's and check for mould. Our sea anchor was finally assembled with chain and shackles in case we ever encounter an actual hurricane.
Lunch briefly interrupted work and we discovered the jobs within jobs that physicists have speculated about. Things were disassembled fixed tested then returned to the black hole with a vague plan of if needed on voyage, stored with easy access and not needed on voyage items buried in the depths of the black hole. We also made a note ( written ) of where we had actually stored stuff, well Lynne did , she's good at that sort of thing.
We discovered spares and replacements, electric cable hook ups and hoses, a particularly useful hose we had been given in Newry, it's flat and rolls away on a cassette. Now it works as it should with the addition of correct fittings. We also topped off our main paraffin tank with our last few litres of parrafin from the bilges. Brimmed it off too much actually as it spilled out of the filler cap necessitating us syphoning back 3-4 litres with our " jiggle syphon", which still goes on my list of 10 most useful items on board. Now hopefully we can cook for a year or more and not leave an oil slick behind us as parrafin leaks out of the tank breather pipe the first time we heel over!
About an hour before dark the decks were clear and we had enough room in the locker for one of us to climb in. Result.
Tired and tetchy we retired below, it had been a close run thing but we were still talking to one another!
all tidied away and room for a couple of stowaways!
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