Captains log, star date 15 May 2013 from ALKIRA at Falmouth UK 50:10:80N 5:02:97W
ALKIRA
Charles & Maggie Bevis
Wed 15 May 2013 16:51
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> No sooner had Ann left on Sunday 5th May did the weather promptly collapse. We've had grey days, cold strong winds and rather too much rain ever since, however, we've managed to get on with the jobs and today we feel we are finally seeing the light.
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> Clive, recently retired from Brookes Bell, Shanghai, joined us for four days this week and was a great help. Being an ex mariner himself, he was put to work and amongst other tasks, he successfully sorted out the radar and instructed Charlie on it's use. By the time we dropped him off at Truro station this morning, I think he was glad to be going home, especially as he has plans to head for Scotland do commence work on his own boat.
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> We had a rather exciting time yesterday. The morning greeted us with very heavy rain and a bitterly cold wind. Fortunately we were tied up alongside the pontoon overnight in readiness to take delivery of a full new set of batteries, all the present ones on board having 'collapsed' the previous day. Another bullet had to be bitten in making the decision to replace them all at once and although expensive, at least we can be confident in using them now. Charlie and Clive had the lengthy and exhausting task of extracting the old batteries, not easy as they're big and extremely heavy, then offloading them into a cart and taking them ashore, ready for when the new ones arrived. None of this made any easier by the appalling weather conditions. They arrived back on the boat looking cold and very wet. Just as we sat down to lunch, Murphy's Law, the driver called to advise he'd arrived with the new batteries. The weather was now even more windy and the rain was lashing down but no choice other than to go and fetch them. Words can't express what the pair of them looked like after that! By the time all the new batteries were installed and tested, it was late afternoon and they were exhausted. As the wind was whipping up we decided to move back onto our mooring and have a quiet evening. Hah, Neptune had other ideas. They were just finishing picking up the mooring and making good everywhere when the weather suddenly got even worse We just had to sit tight and we rocked and rolled and swung our way through a vicious force 10 squall for the next two and a half hours. Luckily, our only casualty was a bottle of red wine, yes I did have a spare, and yes, we have got the marks out of the carpet, it was quite spectacular to watch the effect of the storm on all the boats around us. Incredibly, there seems to have been very little damage and no casualties as far as we know. Finally we were able to have supper.
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> Today is sunny although a strong wind continues to blow. We ventured briefly into Truro and Falmouth and are now back on board finishing things off. Tomorrow we plan to take a few hours off to drive to Marazion and walk across the causeway to St Michael's Mount, weather permitting. (Check it out on the web if you don't know about it, but I can tell you it's beautiful and worth a visit should you ever venture into this glorious county).
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> We leave the boat this Friday to go and visit family and friends for a few days, but due back on the 29th May, when at last, providing everything is as we would want it to be, it'll be all systems go. With a final chance on the 30/31 May to do any last minute shopping and buy groceries we plan to leave on the 1 June.
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> So, nothing further on the blog until then, but after that, you'll be able to keep track of us. I'm not promising how frequently I'll be doing the updates, you'll just have to click on the link we've sent you and see for yourselves ...
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