“43:10.22N 9:12.906W”

972 Miles since leaving Sandwich

The spare parts didn’t arrive, but the weather did - still in Caramarinas 7th Sept 2022

The mechanics mate came back yesterday and gave the compressor another good hard stare. He then pronounced that it was definitely dead and went through the costs of replacing it. First on the item list was a new compressor at €800 followed by gas, transport, time and labour all in all, €1200. I hadn’t been just sitting around over the weekend (mostly but not all of it) and had found a new replacement on the internet at a bit over €200 which I showed the man. He wouldn’t budge on the price, and I wasn’t going to pay more money than a new freezer cost, so we shook hands and called it a day. I may have the moral high ground, but I also still have a broken freezer. Ice bags will only keep things going for so long and yesterday evening we had to throw about 5kg of meat over the side to the great delight of the local seagull population, I hate waste! Plan B is to order the spare part from Slovenia, 5-day delivery time, and get it delivered to us in Muros marina. There we will get it fitted or somewhere else along the way. With this in mind I reached out to Michal my friend in Barcelona to borrow the usage of his excellent Spanish to book us into Muros in a couple of days’ time when there is a weather window to move. I also asked him to negotiate the parcel delivery to the marina and find out the full postal address. Good old Michal readily agreed, and I supplied him with Spectra’s vital statistics for the booking in process. He called them and of course they needed more information; is Spectra a long Keel and can I maneuverer her easily. I replied yes and yes but I suspect that the second yes could come back to haunt me later. That is it for that particular saga so far, Michal will call Muros again tomorrow and we plan to move on Thursday.

I have continued to fix things while the wind continues to howl. Yesterday I rigged a new fixing point for the main boom topping lift, remember the old attachment point snapped in half while crossing Biscay. That is all secure now with a substantial stainless ring that we can clip the topping lift to installed on the boom end. I have also been very diligent with my brass polishing and do one porthole or fitting as a first job every morning. The weather is so bad that we have had to put the winter covers back over the cockpit. Norma has fired up the washing machine and it now looks like a Chinese laundry out there with drying clothes hanging from numerous bits of string stretched across the space. In fact, I feel like one of the children from the Lion Witch and the Wardrobe as we push our way through layers of clothing every time we have to go out on deck, at least 10 times a day in Norma’s case as she is still a dirty tabber, yuk!

Unfortunately, the fiesta in Caraminaris was a complete washout after the first night and second day. Even the local’s endless enthusiasm couldn’t overcome driving rain and relentless strong winds. We braved the elements and walked out to see the castle on the headland this morning which was bracing to say the least. Once we rounded the corner, we were met by steady 30 knot southerly winds straight off the Atlantic Ocean and a panorama of whitecaps as far as the eye could see. Things could be worse; I checked the Atlantic weather patterns when we got back to the boat and the Azores have winds showing 68 Knots at the moment (no thank you very much indeed says I). Things are looking calmer for Thursday and looking further ahead we actually have some northerlies popping up in the forecast around about the 15^th on the long-range forecast, that should get us heading south at last.  I have been checking up on noonsite and Morrocco is looking more and more enticing to me as an extension to the cruise before we turn right for the canaries. It’s a month or two before I have to make that decision so I will just keep it in the back of my mind for now.

Wednesday night now, and we are heading for Muros first thing in the morning. I re attached the main boom kicking strap bracket to the mast this morning. Another casualty of Biscay as all six rivets had ripped out of the mast. With that all secure I tidied up the metal work at the end of the boom with my angle grinder as the old topping lift attachment point had left a jagged, rope grabbing, edge when it snapped. Final job of the day was my brass polishing, once that was done I looked at my watch, 11:00 and I was bored already. Time to move on we think. This evening we have paid up the marina guy and done a few little preparation jobs in readiness for the morning and that’s it for this blog, goodnight from Caramarinas.