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).
|