Monday 29th March (Lini’s Journal)
Brindabella's Web Diary
Simon Williams
Fri 9 Apr 2010 13:27
west of the harbour. I was thankful for a gentle breeze as it very
soon becomes unbearably hot in the mornings. Pelicans entertained us
along the shore with birds and goats rising up along the hills. We
came across a couple of very young goats nestled up against some stone
ruins and wondered if these were the ones Phil and Lynda had seen
being born on Saturday. There was a marked difference in these
Antiguan hills with grey stone and cacti between the gorse. The views
were spectacular and just as we neared one summit another would come
into sight. The track led us back down to the entrance to Falmouth
Harbour which was an ideal opportunity to ask about my glasses. Just
as I find my phone, I lose my reading glasses!!! Arrhhhh!!!! We also
called into the immigration office and coffee shop to retrace all of
my last steps ashore.
Simon has paid $50 US for wifi so it is very frustrating for him
that it seldom delivers. This afternoon all seemed well though and
after Si had sorted all his research for the watermaker I was over the
moon to be skyped by Ami on her birthday. I haven’t spoken to her for
a very long time and we had an awful lot of catching up to do: A
special treat for me on her special day. The rest of day disappeared
with swimming, boat scrubbing, barbecuing and then bed.
Tuesday 30th March (Lini’s Journal)
Julian was due first thing this morning to look at the watermaker
so Brindabella was pulled apart to make all the working parts
accessible. From the cockpit I listened eagerly for positive news. He
was amazed to hear that they had fitted such an old model watermaker
on such a new boat and he too thinks the pump had been damaged. He
will send an email to Hallberg Rassy with his findings but I still
think it’s outrageous that the whole thing hasn’t been replaced. It is
an ongoing cause of great stress. While Si put the boat back together
I did a rubbish and bread run arriving on the dinghy dock at the same
time as a coach load of day trippers from a cruise ship. One guy stood
on the pontoon and took a video of me arriving! Why me when eighteenth
century Nelson’s dockyard was right behind him? What a shame it was an
inexperienced crash landing followed by a tangle in the security wire
and a high scramble for short legs onto the dock. I brushed myself
down, took a deep breath and carried on pretending not to be
embarrassed. The whole dockyard, shops, museum and café’s were filled
with a dozen languages, the Japanese taking photos, the German’s being
guided round the museum, Americans filled the boutiques and who knows
who filled the cafés.
Back on Brindabella we didn’t really know what to do next. It was
too late to leave for our next stop as we needed overhead sun to see
the reefs when entering. We have to be back in a few days to get the
new pump, so places further afield were ruled out. In the end we
pottered and while on the internet I found ‘fatfree.com’ my new
favourite website with recipes for yummy things that I too can eat. I
cut and pasted a selection onto a memory stick with tummy rumbling and
a baking session planned very soon. The afternoon was brightened by
the arrival of another transatlantic rower. I manned the horn as
usual, shouted my congratulations with goosepimply arms, and watched
the crowds cheering on the shore.
By 4.30pm we were both tired and decided on early sundowners, early
dinner and a film before bed. We were already on our second large gin
when Phil dropped by and asked us to join them for sundowners with
Alex and Daria from Irish ‘Alleria’ who Si had sat next to at the
barbecue in Dominica. I was sitting too far away that night to hear
the conversation so it was nice to hear about their experiences and
plans. Tam and Will also joined us from a Sigma 33 which we later
found out young Will had won a single handed transatlantic race in. He
had also just returned from St. Barts where he was racing on Liara, a
huge yacht and the only size acceptable in that race. The injuries
received by crew didn’t make it sound very appealing to a woosy girly
like me!
Lynda makes the most superb rum punches with a wonderful spicy
grating of fresh nutmeg on top. The only problems is, they slip down a
little too easily, so needless to say it was a miracle that dinner
actually made it from barbecue to plate and Lini managed to stay awake
through ‘Ghost Rider’. What a shame I didn’t have time to shop for
DVDs when I was home!