A message from Ferragudo

Goodbye dinner in Albufeira - Steff, Peter, Mick, Me & Anita

An Albufairy

Men behaving badly

Anita & Steff 

Blue Tack repair and offending Fuel Tank Gauge

As I write Mick and I are discussing whether I should buy an Ocean Cruising Club Burgee or House Flag. The difference being the shape  - triangular or rectangular. The etiquette governing which should be flown by whom, where (on the boat) and in what circumstances, is very eseoteric. After much research and debate we opted for a House Flag. I will have to ask Stephen and Vincent to bring it with them when they fly out to join us in the Azores.

We motored all the short passage from Albufeira to Ferragudo yesterday in an effort to reduce the pressure in the fuel tank. The Blue Tack repair held and our plan now is to attempt a more permenent repair with liquid metal or similar when we reach Legos.

All at sea!

We had a very late dinner last night and as a consequence did not emerge until 1030 this morning! After an even later late breakfast and general faffing around we started back on the jobs list (to which we are still adding). Mick had to re-position the VHF because it was fouling the chart table lid when opening it and I secured the headlining  in the Forpeak that had come detached from its fastestings. After lunch I tackled the throttle/gear lever mechanism that was misbehaving - neutral was difficult to find and the throttle eased back on its own volition, requiring a handle to be dangled from it to provide the necessary weight. This job required emptying the stern locker of loads of stuff that needed sorting out and tidying up and so kept me busy until gone 8 p.m.. Mick took the Chart table multi 12 volt socket apart and reassembled it. It was playing up.

VHF with backup set

Despite the leisurely not to say slothful start to the day, complaints were received from  the crew about not having the opportunity to see much daylight or much of Portugal! It may therefore prove necessary to provide some time off from our labours in order to forestall mutinous behaviour!