The Mast part 42
andromeda of plymouth
Susan and Andrew Wilson
Wed 20 Apr 2011 23:38
together (116 self tapping screws in place – we know we have screwed in
every single one – coated in lanolin), all the halyards are in their slots
and most of the shrouds have been attached along with the spreaders.
Unfortunately this beautiful mast will not be stepped aboard until end of
next week as the lovely people in Miami forgot to send the mast step and
we are waiting for it to arrive. Clint is doing his final delivery this
week and when he gets back we should be in a good position to finish this
part of the job. We are still being very patient, very chilled (at least
we can keep going to have a look at it) and no ulcers yet...
The mast has caused a great deal of interest here in Shallow Draft and all
the folk around have come over to admire it (after all its been 4 months
in the planning so far) and chat about what will happen next. Willie,
Mikey, Steve, Steve, Cedric, Josh and Glenroy continue to rib us
unmercifully about the length of our stay and naturalisation and we are
sure they have a book running.
We were visited by a couple from the Isle of Man who were on holiday here
and stopped to talk to us whilst we were doing the laundry. It felt a bit
like 20 questions as they wanted to know all about Andromeda and our
trip......over 2 hours later off they went after talking all sorts of
boaty stuff – radar, life boats, wind generators...... and telling us
about the Hanse 47 that they bought at last year’s boat show. We also met
an American guy who had been on a trip on one of the catamarans – he
stopped to talk to us and then requested a photo as he was fascinated with
our story about selling our house, setting off on our voyage and the
challenges we had faced – perhaps fame and fortune will follow.....it
hasn’t yet though.
Early every Thursday morning at 2am, the Harbour Master, a huge 4 deck
motor cruiser that looks a bit like an old paddle steamer without the
paddles, returns to Shallow Draught after its weekly Disco trip with music
blaring at over 100 dcb. The last track that DJ Excellence plays as they
tie up has now conditioned a response in our brains so that we always wake
up to hear it and tap our feet and jiggle around in bed. And what is this
tune? Well it took us a while to track it down (there is another one that
we haven’t yet sourced) – its called Wotless by Kes The Band, who are
from Trinidad – where it has deservedly been number 1 and should be a
summer hit in the UK in our opinion. Track it down and talk to your DJ!.
It’s very, very addictive......
Surprisingly people still continue to row across the Atlantic and recently
we had a two man(Amigo) and another 6 man(Britannia III) boat arrive here
in Shallow Draught to be quickly lifted and containered and shipped
out....we have some oars but they are no where near bit enough – phew.
On a house or rather boat keeping note - we have just finished using the
UHT milk bought whilst in the Azores and Las Palmas - good forward
planning or what?
To continue our enjoyment of our stay here we have invested in a small
waterproof camera and have been having fun as you will see and we were
pleased with the photos of the wreck and the turtle. It’s not easy taking
the photos underwater as the shutter is quite firm and the water so
buoyant and of course we can’t see, but when we get around to diving it
should be a boon.
We also managed to capture a hummingbird on film at last.....again not an
easy thing to so, we hope you enjoy the piccies.
Finally Tamsin has now made it back to the UK in time for her sister’s hen
party after a relatively quick and straight crossing of the Atlantic,
passing close to the lovely island of Santa Maria in the Azores before
making landfall in Lisbon. We are looking forward to hearing what she
does next.
More in due course,
Andrew and Susan,
S/V Andromeda of Plymouth
Bridgetown, Barbados
