Thursday 11th September 2008
Last night the wind was horrendous and sounded like an SW F7 at least with pouring rain. I was glad to be tied to a pontoon rather than ‘on the hook’ as that would have made for a sleepless night. This morning the wind has swung 180 degrees and is looking a lot more favourable, however, the NavTex is saying swell from the NW to 4m. That’s pretty big and while I can cope with wind I am a chicken when it comes to waves.
I said goodbye to Mark & Amanda on Blush who set off heading for the next Ria south which will be my next stop also – Ria De Muros.
Last night the wind was horrendous and sounded like an SW F7 at least with pouring rain. I was glad to be tied to a pontoon rather than ‘on the hook’ as that would have made for a sleepless night. This morning the wind has swung 180 degrees and is looking a lot more favourable, however, the NavTex is saying swell from the NW to 4m. That’s pretty big and while I can cope with wind I am a chicken when it comes to waves.
I said goodbye to Mark & Amanda on Blush who set off heading for the next Ria south which will be my next stop also – Ria De Muros.
Peter (French) moored to my right has also offered to ‘wind me up’, so out came the old climbing harness and up the mast I went. The bulb was blown but in a place where any vibrations cause it to intermittently work. I put in a spare 25w bulb for now as it’s supposed to be only 10w. This will hit my power consumption at anchor but better than no light at all. I did try to hunt down the correct bulb throughout the day without any luck. Memo to all those people setting off on similar trips, LED lighting - expensive but worth it in my opinion, especially those that turn themselves off when its daylight!
With the anchor light ‘fixed’ it was now time to haul the dinghy out of storage. This thing weighs a ton! After an hour there she was, like a huge growth on Doris’ foredeck. It’s a bit of a nightmare as it makes visibility of the bows difficult but it needs to be out to be used. I then started trying to locate my surfboard straps to tie the thing down. After 2 hours of looking I gave up, I have looked in every foot of this 35ft vessel and I know they are here somewhere! Using some old sail ties, I get it semi secure and that will do for the night.
I have met two guys from Sweden (Henrik – who is returning to work tomorrow, and Niels – who has sold up and set sail). Niels is using HF radio for weather and email communications and his boat seems like a NASA control station compared to mine – although he does not have a liftraft or EIPRB. When the packet modem and radio fires up everything in the boat flashes due to the 30 amp consumption!
Niels is heading south (aren’t we all) and has to get his boom fixed which broke across Biscay. They had to get the power tools out at sea – very impressive! His repairs make mine look pathetic! Niels is also waiting for his girlfriend to come out in a few months time – notice a pattern here? It seems the ocean is full of males all waiting for their better halves to make an appearance!
Not much else to report today except that I should get going tomorrow or at least go back out to anchor…
With the anchor light ‘fixed’ it was now time to haul the dinghy out of storage. This thing weighs a ton! After an hour there she was, like a huge growth on Doris’ foredeck. It’s a bit of a nightmare as it makes visibility of the bows difficult but it needs to be out to be used. I then started trying to locate my surfboard straps to tie the thing down. After 2 hours of looking I gave up, I have looked in every foot of this 35ft vessel and I know they are here somewhere! Using some old sail ties, I get it semi secure and that will do for the night.
I have met two guys from Sweden (Henrik – who is returning to work tomorrow, and Niels – who has sold up and set sail). Niels is using HF radio for weather and email communications and his boat seems like a NASA control station compared to mine – although he does not have a liftraft or EIPRB. When the packet modem and radio fires up everything in the boat flashes due to the 30 amp consumption!
Niels is heading south (aren’t we all) and has to get his boom fixed which broke across Biscay. They had to get the power tools out at sea – very impressive! His repairs make mine look pathetic! Niels is also waiting for his girlfriend to come out in a few months time – notice a pattern here? It seems the ocean is full of males all waiting for their better halves to make an appearance!
Not much else to report today except that I should get going tomorrow or at least go back out to anchor…
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