I’d intended to leave La Palma for Cape Verde on 4 January, after sorting out a few essential boat jobs. One of these, the attachment of a new moulding to the gas kicker, required the riveting services of a local rigger, Raul. I also asked him to look at the boom, as it was corroded and a bit loose around the moulding at the forward end by the mast:
I’d known about this issue for a while but naively thought it could be sorted out easily the day before I left. Unfortunately it turned out to be a bigger problem than I realised, so much so that I’ve had to ship the boom back to my riggers Nordest in Tenerife, as Raul couldn’t fix it here. So my boat is currently in two places. The repair has now been done, in very quick time, and the boom should hopefully be on its way back to me tomorrow or the next day.
Although this is quite frustrating, Raul’s general argument that I wouldn’t want a boom flapping about my ears in a storm clearly had merit. And it has given me a bit more time for such fun tasks as replacing the engine compartment lining, installing a new gas regulator and, of course, yet more interior varnishing. I felt a little down coming back to the boat after seeing family and friends at Christmas, but keeping busy has certainly helped and I’m looking forward to moving on.
Unfortunately it looks like some very strong wind is headed our way, and as I don’t fancy sailing to Cape Verde in a gale, I will be waiting for it to pass before setting off some time next week. I’ll probably just stay long enough in Cape Verde to catch up on sleep, stock up on fresh food and buy anything I’ve forgotten, so maybe a couple of days if the weather looks good. Then it will be D-day for the great pond-hop, probably to Antigua I think.
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