It’s time for a boat update. I’ve had a fun few days getting my standing rigging replaced by a nice man called Henning of Waterline Yacht Service. The mast needed to be craned out of the boat; here are some photos:
That’s Henning dangling from the crane, looking cool. Here’s one of Suzerain, looking sad without her mast:
I had a lot of help moving the boat back and forth from my nice neighbours Mattis and Mo. Thankfully I managed not to put any dents in their boat, or anyone else’s. While this was going on, a beautiful wooden motor yacht that Mattis had been working on was finally being put back in the water, using the yard’s larger travel lift. It has a capacity of 820 tons, and is apparently the biggest in southern Europe:
Must be one of the largest radio-controlled vehicles in the world I should think. I’ve also had the extremely good fortune to make friends with Adrian, a former Royal Navy electrical engineer, and his wife Sam, owners of a beautiful boat called Neva. They replaced the mast electrical cable, masthead light and steaming light for me, and are coming over tomorrow to sort out the connections. This is a big deal for me, as electrical stuff is currently one of my many blind spots. And all for the price of a few drinks, which are fairly cheap in these parts!
In addition to the above, I have replaced the main and genoa halyards with cruising dyneema, washed the main and genoa sheets, and stripped, sanded and varnished the exterior woodwork. I have also fixed the engine gearbox connection that previously caused me to lose reverse gear and have rebuilt the steelwork holding up my solar panels.
Best of all, my new sails have finally been delivered, so I now have brand new main, genoa and storm sails, courtesy of Jeckells and the magnanimity of Canarian customs, who only saw fit to slap 70 euros import tax on them after a week’s delay. I don’t understand the calculations, or why I was required to pay at all, but I’ve decided to let it go for fear of the bill growing. I just need to reattach the boom and gas kicker, with a few repairs, and I can put everything back together hopefully. Henning is also fixing my outboard, which seems not to have been used for two years or so.
I believe the only remaining major jobs for me to do are resealing the portholes and hatches, touch wood (of which there is no shortage, sadly). I should be able to do all of this during the next week, allowing me to move south on Friday after doing a massive food shop. I’m planning to head to Playa Blanca for a week or so and, weather permitting, anchor by the beach at night and sail / snorkel / take it easy during the day. Should be lovely.
After that, I’m either going to head straight to Santa Cruz de Tenerife, or possibly explore Fuerteventura a bit before heading to Tenerife, where I am hoping to get Old Stinky serviced by a Beta engineer. And after that I am booked in to the marina in Santa Cruz de La Palma from late November to early January, during which time my dad will be visiting.
To finish, here’s a nice photo of a french couple sailing off the pontoon in their old school wooden boat Thalia, which looked a little like my old boat Quest, if a little bigger and with a few additional interesting features:
They will go far I think. Love to all and see you soon.
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