Saturday 24th October (Lini’s Journal)

Brindabella's Web Diary
Simon Williams
Sat 31 Oct 2009 12:11


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*****SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT*****


It is with great sadness that we must report the passing of Basil Jrs.

They will be greatly missed for their contributions in the galley; they could always be relied upon to liven up meal times.

Dehydration in these warmer temperatures was the most likely cause of death and rumours of neglect by the guardians have been circulating.

As expected �mum� is not looking too healthy at present but with her new diet it is hoped that in the future more Basil Jrs will be produced.

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I was desperate to talk to my family this morning before departure from wifi; I miss them so much, so it was rather frustrating that we didn�t slip our lines until 10.30am which would have been plenty of time to Skype �em all. I was anxious about getting out of the berth with all the equipment on the stern as turning space is minimal and our fenders were hard against the pontoon and other boat. I will not miss that awful noise at night like wet hands on balloons. From the sea the construction work at Quinta do Lorde looked much nearer completion. It was so odd to see a whole village being created complete with church. A return in the future would be most interesting. I was sad to leave this wonderful island and could have easily spent another two weeks walking and seeing the sights.

�� We had left the marina together with many other familiar yachts and as we skirted the Islas Desertas and set a course for Islas Selvagem the VHF was jammed with traffic between them. Cap d�Or radioed us as they left Funchal and we hope to catch up with them further down the road. Minimal winds were forecast with a northerly element so we rigged lines for Porsche the Parasailor. We got the opposite so hoisted the main and headsail and bombed along on a beam reach for quite some time. As night fell so did the wind and we suffered another rolly, noisy night with minimal sleep.