6th Oct 2008 - A smelly day

Bali Hai
Neal Stow
Mon 6 Oct 2008 23:12
Richard has steadfastly been avoiding doing any cooking so far on the trip ("that's Carol's job") but having claimed to be an expert on the barbeque, last night he was forced to demonstrate his skills by preparing the dinner (although needless to say Mo was hovering over his shoulder with ready advice most of the time).  At first I thought that the strange smells in the saloon were the result of Richard's cooking efforts but when they persisted in the morning, particularly when people visited the heads I realised that something was wrong.
 
Richard proved to have the hooter of a bloodhound and we eventually tracked down the problem to a blockage in the air vent to the holding tank.  This prevented the stale air from escaping and instead it seeped in to the boat.  Initial worries that this was going to be a very unpleasant unblocking job proved unfounded as it turned out to be another bit of poor installation by Moody's who had put a U bend in the vent which had filled with water and so stopping the air from getting out.
 
After this latest repair job the crew went swimming while I did various chores.  We then pulled up the anchor and motored in the light winds around the end of Menorca to the second largest town of Ciudadela.  This is another very picturesque place, the berthing is along the quay in front of restaurants and there are very few spaces.  If this was the high season there would be no chance of Bali Hai getting in but luckily there was one stern to space left that was just large enough for us to squeeze into.  The mooring went well, it was the first time we had not had any assistance from the marina staff (it being siesta time) and we had to send Richard ashore in the dinghy to take the lines.
 
After a pleasant lunch just yards from the boat, Mo and Richard walked around the town while Emma and I went in search of an internet cafe.  When we had looked at the weather forecast a couple of days ago it had not looked promising and looking again now it seems even worse, with a large storm coming with 40 knot winds on Thursday and lasting though the weekend.  Much to Richard's little disguised annoyance I have decided that the best thing to do is to stay and see Ciudadela tomorrow and then head back Barcelona overnight on Tuesday to arrive Wednesday evening.
 
We all turned up back at the boat at about five and then Mo, Richard and Emma set about my request to get rid of the gin and tonic as we had too much on board and I do not like it.  We then moved, somewhat unsteadily, to a restaurant in town (El Jardi).  The place was very nice and the food and wine superb.  However, we were the only people in the restaurant and, as we have found elsewhere, because the season is at an end many of the dishes were off the menu.
 
With two bottles of wine during dinner and a third brought back to the boat.  Richard and Mo were now in true party mood (but you will have to see the photos).