Friday 25th September (Lini’s Journal)

Brindabella's Web Diary
Simon Williams
Sun 27 Sep 2009 10:36

 

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     *****MORNING HEADLINES*****

DIVE TEAM BRINDABELLA SPRING INTO ACTION


A highly successful dive took place this morning on sailing yacht Brindabella, anchored in Espenada de San Simon in North West Spain. Skipper Simon Williams donned wetsuit, snorkel and torch for an inspection of the propeller while head of support team Lini Lowman was on hand to deal with

any problems. “The problem was immediately obvious”, reported Mr. Williams, “A fishing net was tangled round the propeller”. Back on board Mr Williams was photographed with the offending net and latest reports are the engine is now running smoothly.


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   After all that excitement it was 1pm before we hoisted the mainsail, weighed the anchor and slowly retraced our steps. The winds came and went: We sailed, we motored. Si played with the Hydrovane – Oh Dear! I hope we can get the damn thing working correctly soon! At present it only steers on one tack.

   The mist was sliding down the hillsides as we approached a wonderfully looking anchorage on Islas Ceis with a sweep of white sandy beach, dense woods and multicoloured rocks. Day boats were heading home and we were able to tuck ourselves round in the shelter of the hillside. What a perfect evening for a row ashore and a brisk hike around the National Park we both thought while mulched in the cockpit with G&Ts and nibbles. I have GOT to get some daily exercise – I’ll start tomorrow!

   As well as more exercise I also need to stop sampling all the local delicacies, but for now I had the challenge of how to serve up bacon in several different guises over the next few days. I had packed some with good ‘use by dates’ before leaving home and Si also bought a load on his last shop before we left. Those dates had now arrived and it was ‘use it or chuck it’ time. I chopped a pack and sautéed it with onions making a quiche for lunch tomorrow with some and throwing tomato, peppers, herbs and couscous into the rest to stuff red peppers for dinner tonight. I also opened a vacuum packed white cabbage which has lasted ages and made coleslaw with some carrots I’ve been carefully monitoring in the fridge. I think we should still be able to eat a variety of vegetables after three weeks at sea.

   Between the islands the sun sunk in another blaze of colour while I patiently attempted to photograph the silhouettes of birds flying past to roost.  J